Devondaisy

Thanks for the replies, though not what I wanted to hear! It seems unfair that the people who will be most affected have no say in the matter, although we would have been outvoted anyway.

We have just had an EGM to decide whether our pre-school should be taken under the 'umbrella' of the local school federation. The reason for this change is that I as pre-school leader am leaving at the end of the summer term and we have struggled recently to get a committee together. We are full, but have a lot of disinterested parents!

At the EGM this week the proposal was put to the vote. No parents were present (did I mention how disinterested they are?!)  just staff and committee members. All the committee members voted in favour but none of the staff at which point the chair said "Well only committee and parents can vote anyway so it doesn't matter what staff think!"

I just wondered if anyone knows if this is right? It's irrelevant as we would have been outvoted anyway but I feel strongly that our opinions should count! We are members of PSLA.

Thanks for any help.

I've had loads change sessions today, it's been a complete administrative nightmare! Plus the parent who arrived mid afternoon bearing flowers for all the staff because her child isn't coming back due to work issues.....he was supposed to have been with us at 9am! Needless to say I won't be attempting to charge her, or any of the others...what's the point? This always seems to happen at the beginning of term but it is frustrating

Hope it went well Berryred

She told me they are playing catch up now so hopefully you will be visited soon Littlemissgiggles. Our previous inspection was 2008 so I know how you feel.

I was told the report would be emailed in about 2 weeks....they don't send out printed copies any more!

I was told the report would be emailed in about 2 weeks....they don't send out printed copies any more!

Thank you for all the congratulations, and well done to you too Melba

It's such a relief and is just starting to sink in...

Morning off today and I'm not doing any paperwork!!! B)

I sympathise with those of you still waiting, but it really wasn't as bad as I had been expecting. Our last visit was 2008 so I had had plenty of time to stress!

She had done her research before the visit, and stressed how useful the SEF was for giving her lots of information, and also the website. That meant she could spend almost all of her time in the setting watching staff interactions with the children and talking to me. The rest of the staff were so pleased she didn't ask them any questions!

We were definitely lucky with the inspector though, she's an ex reception teacher, clearly very experienced in early years, and just seemed to 'get' us. She really wanted to see us at our best.

After a very long wait Ofsted finally arrived yesterday! I was starting to think they had forgotten about us!

We had a really lovely inspector who was very complimentary about everything we do, it was a really enjoyable experience with none of the nerves I expected. The staff were all amazing and the children were too!

Not allowed to divulge the result but suffice to say our smiles could not possibly be any bigger!!! It still seems a little unreal

Can I join in too?!

It's been a hideous term! Thankfully my staff are fab, but having a nightmare with parents - not all, just the odd one or two, and committee is hard work too. I took on way too many new 2 year olds this term too!

I think 2015 will be the year I actually give up working in early years It's all become a bit too much....

Still waiting for Ofsted too which doesn't help! 5 years 11 months since they've been!

I will be taking my younger daughter and my parents up to Skipton in Yorkshire so my dad can revisit where he was born and spent his early childhood.

 

Might see you there Upsy Daisy! I'm visiting Skipton over half term too!!

 

 

Ours was December 2008 - SueJ you just beat us!

I've been expecting them for about 3 years now!!

Good luck for tomorrow x

It's difficult isn't it? But I have just done one for a child who started with us in Sept who will be 3 in Dec. I needed to do a review anyway as we always do a parent review after 6 weeks, so have done the 2 year check instead of the usual review. This particular child does 2 mornings a week with us and I feel I know her quite well so happy to do it. But I make decisions on an individual basis and I don't think I would be so confident if I had only seen the child twice in the setting....if it needs to be done it would be mush more of a 2 way flow of information with parents I think, to get a true picture of abilities.

I have so far only managed an annual appraisal, and only because I have pushed for it! To be honest it only helps for me to let the committee know what problems I am struggling with. The last one appeared great, but nothing came of any of the plans to support me!

Sorry, sounds very negative but having a complete downer on committee at the moment!

As I understand it, employers are not allowed to give a 'bad' reference, so it is a case of reading between the lines. If I got no more than dates of employment I would take that to mean there was a problem.

Thanks everyone for the replies, very helpful.

The idea of interest being added to invoices is now going to be discussed at the next committee meeting. To be honest we have always been really relaxed about payment, because everyone has always paid eventually. We are in a small village so I think people are usually too embarrassed not to pay! More and more are leaving it to the last minute though so I think we need to get tougher.

With the family in question I am hoping I can persuade the committee to refuse to have the child back until payment is made, regardless of whether that means we end up not having him for the term or not. I think that is the only way parents are actually going to pay.

Thanks Silvermist. I did a search prior to posting and have read the thread, but it was referring to sharing information about non-paying families with other settings. What I am wondering is if others have added clauses to policies to cover, and hopefully avoid, this sort of problem happening in the future.

Does anyone have a clause in their policies to cover non payment of fees?

We usually do not have a problem with this but have had on-going problems with one particular family for the last year. I should point out that this is not a family in genuine financial need but a family which chooses not to pay and to prioritise different things instead! We have spent a lot of time working with this family and have tried all sorts of different ideas to make things easier for them. They have made some payments, but we have had to resort to stopping the child from attending in order to prevent the bill from escalating. Mum has been extremely difficult and rude.

They currently owe around £160. The child will be funded from September and Mum has just informed me that he will only be doing 15 hours in September (despite already booking him in for more sessions.) It seems there is no intention to pay, and we need to accept him because his hours are funded now. I'm really frustrated by this as we are a charity and have to work hard to fundraise just to break even.

I'm thinking we need something written in to our policies to stop this type of thing happening in the future, and wondered what other settings do. Is it feasible to add interest to monies owed? Obviously we would use our discretion but I feel we need some kind of deterrent to stop families simply choosing not to pay because they know they can get away with it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Oh good luck Narnia, this is ridiculous! Many hugs!!!

This is such a sad thread to read and I sympathise with everyone who has posted - I feel the same and am seriously thinking of leaving the profession now too, I just can't take much more. We are due an Ofsted and everything hinges on that, so I'm trying to keep on top of everything and be in ratio but it's impossible!

Well done!

December 2008 here too! It's agonising isn't it?

I started doing more formal observations on staff practice and giving feedback a while back, so that we were all used to it for when Ofsted come (if they ever do!) The staff have all said they find it really helpful and a positive experience - they often say they didn't realise they were so good! Obviously I have excellent staff - might be more tricky of staff are less experienced! I don't have a proforma as such, but I do write these down and keep them in the staff file.

I have a three year old child attending my setting who has started using foul language. This is child with quite severe delay, especially in language and social skills. He is just starting to put 2 or 3 words together and is having speech therapy. He also hits and throws things, which he has been doing for some time, but he has started spitting and biting as well as swearing recently. This behaviour is generally aimed at his mother when she comes to pick him up, although he has bitten a child and member of staff this week and spat quite a few times. He also displays all these behaviours at home regularly. There are a number of issues at home and our relationship with the family is quite delicate.

The biting and spitting I think we are managing, but I would really like some advice on how to handle the swearing. He uses a particular, quite abusive, word which he shouts quite clearly at his mother. I have suggested that she try to ignore it as much as possible so he does not get a reaction, but obviously in the pre-school environment, in front of other children and parents, I want to stop it happening! Mum is embarrassed too and I really feel for her. Am I right to suggest ignoring it? Any other words of wisdom please??