Steve

Nice and simple for me though!

It was quite mind blowing wasn't it. I loved the simplicity and elegance of the painting finished off by the footprints of the athletes. That's art and philosophy, not just money.

I have to say I've met Ruth Pimentel a couple of times (some of you may have read the article we published a while back which was based on an interview with her) and I've always found her to be someone passionate about young children and the EYFS professionals responsible for them. She's also a very engaging speaker so if any others get a chance to hear her talking, take it!

I think the same as the others wolfie. They can't possibly expect you to prepare a PP presentation in 15 minutes - I think they must just be after your ability to muster your experience and knowledge, and then give it back to them. It's not a marketing/design job you're going for, is it?

As it is that's a tall order - but remember, with tasks like this the timescale is a deliberate factor. They will be aware of that and won't be looking for polished presentation but a demonstration that you have a good understanding of the subject. I reckon if you spend most of the time on your content and the rest of it just putting a skeleton or set of bullet points which will allow you to put that content across, you'll be fine.

Good luck with it and let us know how you get on!

Hi Reeza -

Can't answer the question I'm afraid, I'm just letting you know I've moved your query as I think it will find more readers in the research forum area than in the introductions one.

Hi Nikki -

Welcome to the Forum! Have you found our Night and Day topic support article yet? It has a number of outline ideas and two activity plans for K&U as well as the other areas. You can find it here.

There you go. I've downloaded it and saved it as an ordinary word document which should open up for you all.

questionnaire_to_professionals_Research_Project.doc

Inge has it entirely. It's the 2007 version of MS Word which has the suffix .docx and is consequently only readable by people with that version of Word.

Inge's husband also has his finger on the pulse. Debs can save it as an earlier version by clicking 'Save As' and then choosing the document type - Word 2003 should be fine. Alternatively, there's a download from Microsoft which enables those with earlier versions of Word to read .docx files - but since that didn't work for Inge last time I won't bother linking to it again.

The reason it's happening more often Inge is that more organisations are upgrading to MS Word 2007.

Hi Claire and Dee -

Welcome to the Forum! I'm sure someone better placed than me will come along with something useful shortly - just wanted to say hello!

And Claire - we're always nice!

lol - thanks Belle - wish I could. I should also point out that I provide virtually none of the solutions (and more than my share of the problems....). That's down to you lot!

Ok chaps. We're now running on the new server. Shouldn't be any noticeable difference except, hopefully, faster response when there are lots of people on. Let me know if you have any problems, or if you notice the improvement.

Hi apple -

Sorry to disappoint you but I've never used them myself. I think they look very funky, but I've always felt in an over technologised home they would be just one more thing to have to regularly supply with batteries or other power, and then worry about when the screen didn't show anything (I think I'm developing an allergic reaction to technology generally...).

If you have a local PC World, however, I've noticed they have a number of displays of these frames, so perhaps you could just pop in and see what looks good there? And let me know. If they don't consume much power and seem very reliable perhaps I'll have a crack myself (Atchoo! ).

Peggy and Shiny may well have noticed that their brain and typing speeds haven't changed. Sorry chaps but it didn't happen this morning.

Definitely tomorrow, probably!

There are limits to everything chaps!

Bit later than anticipated, but the upgrade to a new server is scheduled for tomorrow morning. There should only be a brief interruption to FSF availability but just in case I'm letting you know now!

lol - of course Rea. I don't mind paying for a Mars bar at the newsagents, but if someone else paid for me I'd be even happier!

Thanks for your comment Jessica - it means a lot!

Didn't think it had been quite that noticeable chaps! I'd have done something about it sooner if I'd known.

Should be a LOT better in a couple of days.

Hi all -

In recent months we've noticed at times that the FSF has slowed down when lots of people are logged in.

So over the next day or two we're moving to a new and much more powerful server which should see these problems disappear. We don't anticipate any significant disruption to availability but I'd like to let you know what is happening in the event of any problems with access.

I'd also be very grateful for feedback over the next couple of weeks to let us know if you've noticed the change.

Hi Wayne -

Welcome to the Forum and thanks for posting.

I am the founder of the FSF (the organisation to whom you paid £20), and am ultimately responsible for the development and maintenance of the features and resources of the FSF, having set the site up in 2003. I think the point that others were making regarding your original post was that as a community they 'pool' the resources and experience they build up over many years, and possibly your first post implied that you were really just asking for a set of template planning processes that you could take and use on a commercial product, or possibly even that what they were doing was basically very simple and could be automated without too much trouble.

I think what they have been trying to explain is that actually the planning they undertake regularly is the most intricate part of the job that they do - child focussed and requiring in depth knowledge and experience that takes years to really absorb. A planning activity will require knowledge of an individual child's abilities across a number of different areas of learning, and both practical and theoretical knowledge of how to draw out their potential. This is why it can't easily be systematized and automated, and why it probably shouldn't be.

You'll have read the passion and commitment in the conversations that fill this community, and therefore will be aware of what a special vocation your wife has entered. You and she are welcome to make use of the FSF and join in with that passion if you wish - however, if you feel that you've misunderstood the nature of the site I will be happy to refund your subscription payment.

Hi Titian -

Sorry to hear that, and hope you find whatever you next decide to do rewarding and fun. Drop in from time to time and see what's going on here if you have a moment!

Best wishes,

Steve

Wow - great lines Peggy! Have you carried on as a poet? And I love it that the poem was not only moving to your other half, but profitable!

I'll have to think about the 'our song' question. Nothing comes to mind immediately, although 'Wonderful Tonight' (referring to me obviously) was the tune we started the dancing to at our wedding.

Ah yes Peggy, sorry. 'Without You' - not 'I can't live'. I'm the only person I know who sings that song better than Nilsson. Though strangely, it only seems to come out properly when I'm by myself in the shower...

Now, if you have a desire to explore Leonard Cohen further, I'd recommend this video on YouTube of his 'Closing Time' from a great album called 'The Future', which came out in the early '90s. At the risk of it sounding like I'm doing an 'Our Tune' I spent a lot of time singing songs from this album wandering round the mulit-layered floors of Southampton General Hospital in 1994 when we were there suddenly and unexpectedly for six weeks with our six month old son as he went through a number of operations*.

Might not be your style, but just listen to the beauty of his lyrics.

* He's fine now, in case you were wondering!

You're absolutely right of course Maz - I never really understood why they had a different version on the soundtrack album. I mean - don't you buy the CD expecting to hear what you heard on the film? (excepting of course 'True Stories' by Talking Heads...).

We may talk about Neil Diamond and I'm a Believer another time, but Helen always ribs me mercilessly about the fact that the first albums she found in my collection were 'Hot August Night' and 'Love at the Greek'...

But wonderful famous songs come from unlikely sources. Kris Kristofferson is one of the finest songwriters around, having written 'Help me make it through the night', 'Me and Bobby Mcgee' and 'For the Good Times' amongst others.

Think I'd better stop now!

Hi Jenny -

Good to find another fan! Is Glastonbury called The Big Chill this year? I did have a llook at his latest tour but it's all a bit far away from me - and actually I really hate going to big tour gigs. I'd rather stay at home and listen to the music. But I reckon Glastonbury would be the exception to the rule...