What Is Your Timetable

[Verona]

Hi

We have a large church hall (just the one room), and a small kitchen. There is not a secure outside area, so free access is not available. We are open from 9am - 12 noon with lunch club 12-1pm Mon - Fri. We have to put everything away at the end of the morning.

 

After children arrive we have an short "register" time and then free play until snack around 10.30 then back to free play until 11.20.

Then we do some kind of physical (parachute, ring games, music and movement, "sticky kids", etc) but all the equipment is still in the hall - tables, chairs, book corner, sand, computer as well as other things. We have changed the routine slightly, but now we are squashed up one end of the hall doing our physical and trying to make the most of the space available and it's not a lot.

 

We fit in the physical things and circle time before going home but it is chaotic - not enough room with all the equipment out. ~We can't put it away while the children are around for safety reasons.

We have been thinking of ways to organise the morning so that the staff aren't tidying up round the children - yet - have the space to spread out for physical time.

If you are in one hall - how do you organise your morning?

 

Sue J

[hali]

hi we are in the sdame situ as you although we do have an outside area.

Daily_Rota.doc

[Guest]

We are in exactly the same position as you. My hard working staff have to put up a temporary fence every time we want to use our outside area. We ask children and parents to self register as they arrive by placing an animal picture with their name on a board with a woodland scene picture. I mark them off on the formal register at the same time.Children have free play with groups doing a focus activity until we all sit down together around 10.40. I screen off the book corner where they sit on a mixture of small chairs and a mat. Two of us do rhymes, weather chart, story with puppets, flannelboard etc while the other staff clear the halland set up three tables for snack. Children then have their snack with an adult at each table. They then have about 20 mins play with floor and table toys which can be easily cleared up with the children's help. They sit back very briefly in the book corner while the tables are stacked and we can they use the hall for music and movement, circle games, indoor PE or whatever we have planned. Ofsted were happy with this arrangement when they visited last year. We do have a kitchen large enough to take a table and six small chairs so we do small group time with the older children in there. Hope this helps.

[Running Bunny]

When my mum ran a playgroup in a church hall, she had similar issues.

 

The children all helped to tidy up as part of the routine - sorting toys at the end of the hall near the cupboard. As it was almost tidy, staff took over and children were able to wash their hands in preparation for snack time and then sat at tables for drinks.

 

Children then had small group story time/circle time in the corners of the room according to key groups and tables were pushed to the side of the room.

 

The final activity before going home was either music and movement, physical games or a group music/singing session. Tables were then put away after the children had gone home.

 

It took some planning, but the staff and children all knew what was expected of them at certain times of the session.

[Guest]

Hi, ohh the head ache (& back ache!) of putting away! We run slightly different as we have a self reg board, free play with foucsed activities also a rolling snack bar, then tidy up time, story, song & movement time followed by physical play on the sessions we have to put away or table top games when we leave out. I wonder in your setting could snack be aranged slightly later and some staff tidy away leaving other staff to sit with the children then followed by story time when the staff whom have sat for snack could continue with more putting away.

I'm glad we have to put away some days other wise I would have mess every where and loads of things put to one side for later!!!

[Guest]

I'm the same we have a rota of one staff member putting things away to clear space. we have fences in doors as well to cordon off areas we move alot of equipment around during our session to make the space useable

[Guest]

I am in a large scout hall with two small cupboards for storage. I have lots of furniture on wheels, my largest tables fold in half.

We set up and clear every day (apart from Thursday-yipee)

It takes 2 staff 20 minutes to set-up and if all itoys are tidy and put away into draws etc then 20 mins to put away. We open at 8:45 so arrive at 8:15, we close at 3:15 then clear when children have left.

I like the parents to see their children 'at play' when they collect, not 'waiting' on a mat etc.

 

The children do like to help move chairs to the end of the hall, roll up carpets and obviously are encouraged to put things away in their boxes or draws.

 

The children self register. Because arrival time spans from 8:45 - 9:15, often children are too engrossed in play for me to then say, stop register time. They continue free play until about 10am then we go out for a walk / park / beach / shops, we count how many children etc when we line up to go out. Story is when we get back ( all ready to sit and rest ) free play until lunch/home time for some.

Children use the far end of hall for running, balance beams, climbing frame, seesaw, slide, trampoline etc throughout the session. If the children are not playing 'productively' then we play it by ear and go into circle games, etc. It is about one third of the hall floor space. Today we played What's the time Mr Wolf ( child request) and later built a very long rail track on a rolled out length of wall paper, which was drawn on with trees, houses etc.

We have a rolling snack bar. Songs are sung during play, ie: today the children 'nursed' me ( I have a sore eye) and we sand Miss Polly had a dolly. We sing as we play with the dough, sand, listen to music tapes and access the musical instuments ( out all the time). We sometimes go into a group just before lunch, but not always.

 

I tend to use group time when children need a bit of structure, are not listening as individuals or for going out. The rest of the time is continuous provision.

I have attached a floor plan of my setting.

 

Peggy

 

forgot to say children wash-up snack bar plates/cups etc, and we use snack bar table for lunch, adding another table if numbers require. We do not need to move furniture once we have set up.

room_layout_autumn_2006.doc

[Inge]

In otehr setting i have worked we ended the session in an area where we had story, songs etc with some of the staff sometimes only one needed for this while the others put away and clear the tables, (children having put everything else near the cupboard to put away) leaving a space or often empty hall except for the carpet and screens used for story time for music and movement parachute etc. we had to do this as another group came in the second our children left, waiting outside for access!!

 

Currently we are lucky to have 2 rooms which can be divided so children have story etc while other one is cleared, and then music or other organised games while second is cleared. Only takes about 5 mins when children have tidied the toys.

 

Again we have other users coming in when we leave so not enough time to tidy when they have gone...also cost of staff employment for this additional time is causing a few problems this term, everything seems to have increased in price more than the grant and numbers while same as last year are taking less sessions!!

 

Inge