Help

[hali]

Ok girls,

 

feel like im drowning now ( may be due to glass of red wine after returing to work and telling deputy i wanted to change planning to child initiated)

 

Read all of Sues motivational (shes a godsend)

 

can get to grips with long term plans ( based on 6 areas of learning)

short term planning ( based on child and adult iniated ...am i right on this - please someone tell me if i am wrong)

 

but am completly stuck on medium planning...we used to base this around our theme of the term but am really unsure if we are going by what the children wnat to do each week how to go about it ...if we need to ( do the big 'O' want medium term oalanning or not!!!!

 

please help

[Guest]

in my medium plans i say what skills i would like to focus any activities on and what stepping stones i will be planning for learning around

[Marion]

We have abandoned med term planning apart from literacy/numeracy.

 

If you look at the QCA guidance p3 Ive hilighted the bit re med term planning.......

http://www.qca.org.uk/3759.html

 

What are long-, medium- and short-term plans and do I need to do all three?

However long a child spends in a setting and whether they attend full- or part-time, you will want to be

sure that they are making good progress towards, and in some cases beyond, the early learning goals in

all of the six areas of learning. Therefore it is important that each child has a broad, balanced and

purposeful curriculum, including those that attend part-time. The first step towards achieving this in

practice is to develop a long-term plan.

A long-term plan is a way of ensuring that all six areas of learning are given equal emphasis and that all

aspects of learning within the six areas are covered regularly and frequently. As some children may

attend one setting for several years, it will be important to ensure that their curriculum varies from year

to year so that the children are motivated, challenged, and that their experiences broadened.

A long-term plan is usually drawn up in preparation for up to a year ahead. It provides an overview of

the range of learning opportunities that will be offered. It sets out in broad terms what you intend the

children to learn and, as it is drawn up well in advance, it should be used as a guide and not stuck to

rigidly. Unplanned events will often occur that capture the children's imaginations or interests, for

example the opening of a new playground in the community or a heavy snowfall. It would be sensible to

make the most of these events by including them in your short-term plans if they can be used to enhance

children's development in the six areas of learning. A long-term plan is usually designed with whole

groups of children in mind.

A short-term plan is based on the long-term plan and developed using ongoing observations and

informal assessment of the children. It is usually drawn up on a day-to-day or weekly basis. It includes,

for example, sequences of experiences and activities designed to promote new learning or to consolidate

or apply things just learned. Like the long-term plan, it should be used as a guide and not followed

rigidly. Using your observations of the children, you should be able to adjust your short-term plan to

take account of the interests and needs of the children and to capitalise on unplanned events,

particularly those initiated by the children. A short-term plan is usually designed with individual or

groups of children in mind.

 

 

Examples of long- and short-term plans have been included in this booklet. You may find it helpful to draw up medium-term plans which bridge the gap between the broad outline of the long-term plan and the day-to-day detail of the short-term plan. For most practitioners, long-term and short-term plans are sufficient.

Edited January 5, 2007 by Marion

[Inge]

Ofsted didn't ask for Med plans, just glanced at long term and short term , so long as you can justify and explain it they were happy.

You could state which areas you plan to cover or aim to cover in the med term plan, our staff like this as they can plan a little ahead with ideas which are adapted to fit in with children interests.

Inge

[Sue R]

Hi hali! thank you kindly!

 

Our MT is similar to how jojom's sounds, but you don't really need one, as Marion says - I think it's more for staff to use as a prop if there's no obvious interests going on. At least, that's how I've always regarded it!

 

Keep pegging on, there!! And of course, let us know how you're getting on

 

Sue

[Guest]

I do not have a medium term plan.

 

Good luck Hali with your new presentation, which offers the same curriculum as ever before. I say this because I sometimes wonder whether staff / managers etc actually 'trust' that childrens instinctive interests, motivators, self initiated learning, will 'fit the boxes' so to speak. be assured that they will, adults have spent too long 'leading' the presentation for childrens learning, In child initiated play the children are not leading the curriculum, they are just embracing it; adults maintain coverage of the curriculum because as we all know, it is holistic and that nearly all aspects can be covered by our holistic environment. The adults interactions within the childrens chosen methods / presentation of the curriculum ensures that the learning that the children are showing within their chosen activity is consolidated. Adults interactions can explore other areas of learning within their chosen activity , over and above what the children are discovering themselves.

Remember an active child ( in terms of interacting with what and who is around them) is always learning.

 

Does that make sense.

 

Have trust in the children, that they will learn, and confidence in yourselves ( staff) that you will recognise, consolodate, refresh, empower, acknowledge and extend what learning the children present to you, as seen in your observations ( formal and informal).

 

To me it is a bit like management discussions, we say that if we empower staff to come up with ideas of how to do a certain aspect of their job then it is more likley to succeed, rather than if the staff are told what, how and when to do of their work, we find that staff are not motivated. Allowing staff to develop their practice, from their own ideas works, the staff learn from this 'trust' in their abilities, thus developing their professional expertise. This is a classic people development tool, the same 'theory' works for children too. We, as professionals are realising this now, hence the development of child initiated, non topic based planning.

 

Settings are becoming more democratic rather than autocratic in their style of curriculum presentation and delivery, in terms of how children are part and parcel of what goes on rather than consumers of what is presented / expected of them. I think this is a great way forward for everyone.

 

Peggy

 

Peggy