Topic Cycle

[Susan]

Just had my topic cycle, for Reception, thrown back at me as it is too similar to Yr1!

We used to work alongside 1 of feeder nurseries to ensure continuity when children moved from 1 setting to another. It was a 2yr cycle ---Colour, Toys, Journeys, Food & Festivals, Shapes, Water. However, with children now spending the whole of the Reception year in school, the Nursery have changed the way they plan and no longer start from topics although I suspect they must use something to get started from! The children who have come to me are actually much more aware than previously although I don't know whether this can be directly attributed to the children or their previous learning.

 

So for the last 6 terms I was planning to those topics. I found some quite deadly & uninspiring. If the teacher thinks that how can the children benefit? However, in July my Head agreed that I could build my own topic cycle based on "ME" so in term1 children would learn about themselves, in the 2nd it would be extended to their homes and families and in the 3rd to the world around them.

 

The complicating factor seems to be that we have started sending home curriculum leaflets. If each year group had their own the problem may never have been noticed but Reception, yr1 & yr2 are altogether So it has been noted that my topics are very similar to those in Yr1. This is apparently not ok and as yr1 are using QCA schemes, I have to change!!

 

Any thoughts or ideas please of a manageable way forward. We are being given planning time next Wednesday so I need to be able to sort my ideas out for my team if we are to make best use of this time. I always seem to be planning from scratch rather than tweaking and adapting too.

 

Stricks me that other year groups actually have quite easy options compared to our wide all encompasing curriculum?

 

Please help, what do you do?

 

Susan

[mundia]

We are currently rewrititn our long term plans across phase so I know how you feel.

We are actually being a bit unconventional (as always with me) and basing our LTP around the stepping stones/ELG rather than topics, then putting the topics in the medium trm plan. This gives us the flexibilty to change topics when we want to, as we have a low boredom threshold and having done the hungry caterpillar for the past 3 years I am fed up with it and need a change. So we are creating broad heading along the lines of your 'me' idea which can then take a slightly different shape each year. So for this trem we have been doing ourselves, family and celebration. next term we are doing Bears (because we want to) and in the summer we will do 'the world around us' This can then incorporate homes, transport, holidays, school, people who help us etc etc. This is a work in progress so we do expect all sorts of potential problems but it seems to work very well so far. We make sure that reception are not convering the same aspects as us so that we dont need the same resources (we are very under resourced).

Can you give us an idea what year 1 are doing that is so like waht you were doing? And does it matter anyway, because they would be doing it at a different level anyway and would not be covering the same things.

If yiu have you planning meeting on Wednesday, can you see what your staff would like to do and work from that (that's how we came up with the Bears theme but we will change the stories each year)?

 

Is that of any help or are you even more confused?

[Guest cat33]

Mundia, sounds very similar to what we do and ensures all areas covered. I like the felxibility to change the topic title but still work towards the same scales. We did decide to keep our Autumn topics the same as , after OFSTED, we need a bit of chill time.

Susan I know what you mean about the wide range! Cant you just disguise the topics, call them something else? Like what can I see? (colour) Can always tell the head that the topic is about glasses!!

What about a book to start eg Elmer (colour)

Chris

[Susan]

I'm working on it!

Always use Elmer for something at some point. Also like it for special people.

Actually feel as if I'm slowly being pressurised noe to be mor formal than I want to be and to place too much emphasis on lit & num.

Its been targets, G&T all term and this!

I'm not a happy bunny at the moment, but as usual reassured by the responses of everyone here.

I just feel as if I'm always planning.

 

Susan

[Guest cat33]

Susan, I know how you feel! I really feel that we dont quite know what the government wants and we are the guinea pigs trying to work it out. I think it is wrong to have a key stage that you cannot work together and then pressure from Y1 to send up children who are ready for the lit hour and the daily maths lesson. If a child has not completed the early learning goals, do they continue them inY1? No, I dont think so as they have to deliver the Nat. Cur.

Oh dear.

Chris

[Susan]

Thanks for that Chris, They're real words of comfort.

At the moment I feel so demoralised as I thought I had my Heads support, we've a new deputy and everything seems to be changing, so much so that I now feel like the square peg and am summoning up the energy each day to carry on!!

I've indicated my need to talk and I'm now being ignored, thought I was imagining it yesterday but don't think so today!

 

Now theres something on the news about poor teaching! When will everyone wake up?

We are part of an EAZ and the message at every conference is to stuff the initiatives and get on with it but is anyone brave enough? Doesn't seem so to me!

That's my rant over.

 

Susan

[Guest cat33]

Susan, you mention targets, do you set them and if so, what kind of targets? We are in a quandry as to what makes a good target and if the children really understand what we are saying to them when we say "and your target is" or words to that effect.

We have tried calling them next steps to keep in line with the Guidance but the rest of the staff don't understand so perhaps we have to go with the flow.

Makes me laugh because how can we always know what a child has learned or got from an activity. Our OFSTED lady said we should have said to a child "now you have learned to jump over something" but actually, the child felt they had learned to take their turn!!

You can.t win these days

Chris

[Susan]

Hi again

Don't you think some of this is almost derisory?

 

For the first time this term I have been asked to record against the profile statememnts as a number out of 9, what the children could do at the end of the first half term for phonics, reading & writing,

And for numbers as labels & calulating combined so out of18.

 

The deputy was going to then give each child a target number. We would monitor progress towards this each half term.

I tried to say I didn't think this was appropriate as my targets were to get each child to as many Goals as possible.

The initial scores were max of 3 for our children. The deputy was surprised! so far we've not been given our score/target sheets back. I shan't be asking for them.

 

At the moment we do talk to the children about what they have been learning / doing; what we are going to learn and why but most of the time they just think they're playing anyway! Certainly haven't gone the individual route, except as general encouraging as you do.

 

Susan

[Guest cat33]

Susan, sorry, my last comments focused on a target set for and with each child. You mean target setting for the year - just another thing foisted on us by those who do not see what the Foundation Stage is or is trying to be if they would let us! I agree with you that the target is to complete the goals therefore 9 points for each scale but they do not balance out over the term, they are more summative assessment.

Whwn the new E.Profile comes out, I am hoping that it will keep people like your Deputy happy as it will give all sorts of information and graphs. I wish they would stop trying to "fit" us to the Nat. Cur. and what they do in key stage one and two. We are meant to be a stage in our own right!! It is bad enough trying to fit with FS1 never mind Y1!

Ah well, at least it is soon the xmas break!

Chris

[Susan]

Well I've had a topic cycle imposed on me now. No discussion.

It will be "Celebrations" "Fantasy" "The World around us" .

 

Within the Fantasy topic will be sub sections on Space, Jungles, Under the Sea, Traditional Tales, Dragons and Mythical creatures to include dinosaurs, Adventurers & Explorers.

 

We have brainstormed ( I hope) along lines of Role play, writing, key vocab, creative, physical, Knowledge & understanding.

But my brain is dead. Any ideas gratefully received of activities etc.

 

I shall post this again as well as a plea.

 

Thanks Susan.

[Guest]

Susan

 

Do you have Reception? For traditional tales last year I did a literacy fortnight (which then ended up encompassing all areas of learning on the Gingerbread Man. Maybe this would work for your traditional tales. I found all sorts of great ideas on the web. Lots of them on American sites. The children were thrilled with the topic and it was a joy for us. If it seems like a good idea, I can share the activities we did with you? We're planning on doing it again next term, whilst OFSTED are in. It seemed sensible to go with something that worked for that week!

 

Any thoughts from anyone on how to prepare, plan for OFSTED and remain sane would be gratefully received.

 

Thanks Angela

[Susan]

Hi Angela,

I would be really grateful if you could share that with me. At the moment, I've so many other things going on I can't see the wood for the trees.

We have enough material to make any one of those topics last a term and as far as I can see, we are going to need to do all of them.

 

My advice for Ofsted is to do something that you are comfortable with. It certainly doesn't matter that you did it last year. If you know it works, go for it and fun that will keep you sane!

Your decision will to be whether to be in week 1 or week 2. If you are sure you can keep it going, go for week 2 otherwise week 1 and indicate the progression, somewhere.

 

Good luck

 

Susan

[Guest]

Well and here I was thinking that I was the only one who wasn't sure what I was doing, for who, when or what! What a relief to know that I am not alone. I am coming to the end of what has been a learning curve as steep as Everest, we have a brown envelope looming and my planning is still all over the place. My main problem is having reception in a morning joined by year one in an afternoon - to QCA or not to QCA because I really cannot do both! they just don't fit. The topic cycle I was given does not fit the year 1 QCA but hey ho - who am I to question the wisdom of a pen pusher who has never been inside a classroom! I have not always been a teacher and came to it late in life (38) and am now 43 and I have always worked hard, but I am so tired all the time there is now nothing left to give and I still have 6 working days left and a performance management ob by the Head on Monday afternoon in which I am supposed to be very good. Still take heart everyone - we are all singing from the same book and tonight is POP IDOL and FREIXENET night in my house with my friend - perhaps I could base my lesson on Monday afternoon on that? what do you think? I should really spend the rest of the day planning a super lesson, but the tip we call home is needing my attention far more, so I will be cleaning up and stuffing files in boxes and cupboards out of sight so that I can RELAX this evening and think about the rest tomorrow. Sorry Sue that you feel so stressed, I do understand as do many others and I hope that this helps to know that you are not alone. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

[Guest cat33]

Soul sister, you made me chuckle! As another pop idol fan, perhaps you are right, lets base a topic around the childrens media!! (Sams the man!)

Angela, I like the sound of the Gingernbread man topic! I can think of lots of activities accross the goals.

Any tips for writing?

Thanks Chris <_<