Guest Posted January 29, 2007 Share Posted January 29, 2007 Can anyone help I am trying to find information on keyworker systems where the children are split into groups and one adult looks after that group. Do mix abilities or seperate into two groups of more able and less able. Do we have two sets of planning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rea Posted January 29, 2007 Share Posted January 29, 2007 I havent got any info to share except at playgroup with 4 members of staff we worked the keyworker groups by splitting the register for each session, we didnt look at ability or ages. Each keyworker was good enought to be able to differentiate when it was her turn to plan, with others feedback, which all children took part in. With some children coming to 2 sessions and some to 4 it did mean that on some sessions a keyworker might find she had fewer children present than on another but as we all took obs of each others children on a day to day basis it didnt worry anyone. We found the keyworker system was more of a help to the parents than to the staff or the child, parents had a definite person to go to with any concerns, info etc, while the staff and children all worked together as we were in a large church hall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 29, 2007 Share Posted January 29, 2007 We have keyworkers but,as with Rea, they are mainly a point of contact for parents. We all work with the children, making observations and having them in small group sessions, story etc. We have split them mostly according to age/when they started, but some are put into an older group if we feel necessary. We have two main groups, sunshines and rainbows, and these are then split into 2 sunshine groups and 3 rainbow groups. The sunshines are the older children who will be going to school in September, and the rainbows are the children who have started with us since September. We have some different planning, one of the older groups are a very bright bunch, but mostly we differentiate our activities within the same planning. Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Running Bunny Posted January 29, 2007 Share Posted January 29, 2007 Keyworkers are not usually based on ability or age in nurseries - it is usually down to space in each group or if a child bonds with a particular member of staff. Keyworkers are main contacts for parents, particularly in the early days of settling into a new provision; they then get to know the children and the family so they can understand why a child may be feeling anxious, quiet, upset, tired etc; keyworkers carry out observations on their key children and get to know and understand their interests and learning styles and then they plan for their individual learning i.e. Johnnie shows an interest in the water tray and is already fascinated by boats, so they keyworker may plan a floating and sinking activity for him. Activities would run alongside the group planning, so long, medium and short term planning (if done in your setting) would still be carried out, but the individual planning would be a lot more focussed. This method allows children to cover the same outcomes but tailored to their individual needs. Areas that the children are not confident in can be explored using existing knowledge on that child i.e. Sophie doesn't play much in the construction area but loves small world animals, so the keyworker sets her a task of building a zoo with enclosures for each animal, therefore problem solving on size to fit each animal. Development records are built up by the keyworker using the observations and individual plans, with input from the families on what is happening at home - what do they enjoy doing, what is their interest at the moment? A great book is Peter Elfer's Key Persons in the nursery I hope that helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hali Posted January 29, 2007 Share Posted January 29, 2007 ours are based on th children being in on the same days as the staff, all staff do observations at present on all children Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 Our system is similar to what has already been described, key person rather than 'worker'. Our children dictate who is to be their 'key' person, which 'key' group they are in, by us observing over their initial settling in period who they make a bond with and which staff the parents feel comfortable with. As there are only two of us, this equals out quite nicely. The key persons singular responsibility is to write the record of transfer for their key children when they leave. Everyday assessments and planning is shared. I would say that this system ensures that there are no 'invisible' children, you know the ones who arrive, comply, play/learn quietly/ easily and could if not careful be 'missed' in the busyness of the day. Peggy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hali Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 sounds lovely Peggy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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