Inge

I do enjoy it, but can take it or leave it. It has changed as contestants now know what is expected and what has gone before so I find it a bit too much of 'we must be bigger or more elaborate this year'

That said I found Junior Bake Off with Mary and James Martin by accident one year.. and really enjoyed that.. it was amazing how much they would have a go at..James had them all making crumpets and some really complicated bakes.. He was really good with them and helped with tips if they really needed it .

I do love to bake but tend not to as it is too tempting to eat it all .. better for us that I watch others and save our sugar free diet.....

We had one.. it was a simple one sided letter that gave things we asked of them and what we would also do..

It clearly stated the fees due for the individual family and a date when each payment was due, and we would remind them once before following through with our policy of xxxxx etc..

start and finish times..

Term dates

No changing of days or swapping sessions, all must be paid for even when not attended for whatever reason

We would give xxx notice of any closures unless in an emergency or unforeseen circumstances like snow, heating failure etc.

and any thing else that needed stating clearly ,

We had a bit about our child protection policy and sharing information , and where to find the full versions of all our policies recommending that they took time to read them.

Think we had about 10 points to make.. we signed and they signed, both had a copy that went in our folder with registration forms.. we did find it very useful many times when we had issues with payments as we could clearly show we had informed them and they had signed agreement with it.

it was easy to set up, a standard letter with gaps for us to fill in the individual needs for each family.. and took no time to print off. fill in and get signed.. We found some families just needed to have everything set out in simple terms and an easy to read format. There are far too many policies etc, long and time consuming for them to read and take in.. a simple basic information sheet was all they ever wanted.

I used to claim 1 weeks wages over the summer break.. had a big discussion with committee and gave them the list of things that needed doing as priority over the break and told them they would have to do them all if they did not pay me.. not surprisingly they paid for a week..

Then I made sure that the weeks work was all I did .. ok may have split the hours over the break but did keep to those paid.. and only did the must do jobs.. others were left .

Things like SEF - I felt could only be done as a team.. no point in just my input - others needed theirs too.. additionally we did not do the Ofsted one but had out own, so no need to wrangle with their website and getting access etc.. .. our LEA encouraged settings to do their own as a working document that was constantly in use and being updated and changed.. We used to base it on Bristol Standards accreditation as we had done that and found it very useful to continue doing the same. (note- Ofsted were very happy with this and the setting did get an outstanding doing it this way)

Ordering was done during term time.. we had a ordering list that staff used to add to when things ran out and then did the ordering from work or had a committee member do it.. gave the list and the place to buy then over to them.. Term time was better for us as delivery to the setting was better when we were there and some companies only deliver to a setting not a home address..

I found it best to have a must do list and a 'others' list.. Must do included all the things we needed to open in September, rest was only done if I had time in the paid hours, otherwise it waited..

Reading a bit between the lines..

I have been wondering if it is more about mum and either she really did not bond well with her son,has some mild post natal depression or once she had her daughter tended to spend more time with the baby and the little boy is trying to gain more of the attention back in the only way he knows how.. All she sees is negative behaviour and to her it is continual.. but if she does not give this child equal attention or even a bit of extra for him to feel less pushed out it is not likely to improve.

It is difficult as it sounds like mum needs support to learn how to deal with the issues . it is easy to try to see a medical reason when she may be well aware but unwilling to accept that it could be due to the way he is being sidelined a bit for the baby. He is still only a baby himself and could be finding it very hard at home with a younger sibling . Maybe her expectations of what a 2 year old is expected to achieve/do are unrealistic.

Hope they find out what is wrong and you begin to feel better soon. Not nice when it all comes back and no one knows why you are ill, been there... so has hubby, but excluding everything did help me worry less..

I was a prolific reader, always head in a book.. these ar a few, and I still have some of the books, with all the pages falling out because the glue has deteriorated .

What Katy Did and what Katy Did Next

Famous 5 and the Secret 7

Secret Garden

The Borrowers

Narnia series - Dawn Treader was always my favourite

Winnie the Pooh and House at Pooh Corner

Five Children and It, The Amulet , Phoenix and the Carpet, Enchanted Castle, The Treasure Seekers by E. Nesbit.. just loved those.

Plus many more like The Moomins, Worzel Gummage, The Wombles.. Paddington Bear to name a few..

We used to pay for the role that had been applied for, and while many could be higher qualified it did not automatically get any pay increase because of it.

Any money that came in because of someone undergoing further training tended to be used on cover staff / their wages for when they had to be out of the setting, and if there was any left we would buy books needed for study that could be used by all staff. or other costs involved in the training.

Occasionally a small wage enhancement was possible but as it was only for the duration of the training did not actually remain once it had been completed.. We tended to class it as help with travel expenses as training was often at a Uni over an hour away

http://eyfs.info/forums/topic/43990-bank-staffcasual-workers/?hl=%2Bself+%2Bemployed&do=findComment&comment=415202

Beware.. as self employed technically she could charge whatever she wants per hour for working , you cannot say she has to charge xxx per hour for her services.. it is her decision on what to charge.. you may need to agree a sum before every time she works at the setting, either per hour or per day

She should really give notice so you can give her the P45 at end of her employment with you, and then apply to be offered hours you may have as self employed.. as casual self employed staff, or bank??

Must admit all our staff were on zero hours contacts and understood that they would change in Sept if we needed to , but would be increased as soon as we could. All were aware that without this we would have to reduce staff and someone would lose their job, causing issues later in the year when we needed to re employ on short term contracts. They preferred to reduce hours to keep the stable staff they knew and who all worked well together, we had a few 'unsuitable' staff at one time and it caused many issues for all..

I used to work as bank with several settings for a while,I was on their books and paid as normal ,had tax code split between them.. was not an issue other than a clash in days occasionally.

We just did an annual visual check, no one asked for it , could not find anywhere that said we must do it , and most of our items were new or a couple of years old.. but as klc has found some find it a part of their hire agreement..

When I needed to get stuff done for son going to uni ( it was part of his agreement to have it done) we called around local electricians and found their prices.. some charged a blanket one for all items, others a call out and then per item, some per item.. such a variation so worth calling a few ..

It can be very useful to also keep a log for each member of staff that records these extra little 'favours' for an odd hour or so . This quickly shows who is becoming a bit complaisant and constantly taking time off.. it also helps when others comment if you can show how much they have had., assuming they have of course..

One of the best ways to stop this was for us to say no pay for those hours.. and they had to find the cover before asking for the time off.. It made them realise how hard it can be to find someone to cover for those times.. and if no cover was needed as the ratio would still be ok for that time, the loss of income was enough for them to think again. I did find that staff would end up swapping hours - they had to get the swap approved but it usually worked out well..

All staff should have a contract.. so that is where you will need to start..

We too did this,

We found a mixture of hours being taken, some liked starting with lunch and staying for the afternoon rather than a morning .. so work out the hours you would be happy with , we had morning only, morning plus lunch, lunch plus afternoon, afternoon only or all day..that way we could work out an plan staff needed..

We never used mats for sleep but had a small rug , cushions and a blanket should we need it.. and found a quiet corner.. but we seldom had any child sleep.

If you read the criteria it does say at the bottom ..

Practitioners who registered for a qualification from 1 September 2014

All of me - John Legend

If the idea is to increase occupancy in the hope they will keep the hours once the offer is over, it would be better to have a substantial minimum number of hours to be eligible for the offer.

Buy one get one free or similar may not work as parents could just end up with the same number of hours but cheaper..

it could be worth a try with a good , clear policy..with a set number of hours to qualify for the offer , and a clear time limit..

PSLA documents found here

It does only apply to those from Sept 14 - and should have been implemented better .

"Staff holding qualifications started before September 2014 will still be able to practise. The new criteria and entry requirements have not been applied retrospectively. This will ensure that practitioners already holding qualifications are not disadvantaged by the changes."

Everything in Early Years is a gamble, it changes before any time is allowed for it to bed in and be of any use.. I had no 2 Ofsted inspections on the same framework/ criteria since it was introduced, qualifications are changed before many are able to even finish the courses, and they wonder why everyone is so confused.

(As an aside -seems I would be ok, seems my O levels from 1973 are still suitable.. )

It may depend on finances.. that extra money outgoing for 6 months could be a deal breaker if the income is not there to make it viable..

It is just wrong that everyone is in a position of not being able to pay a decent wage because there is not enough income from the government.. it was the only/ main income and did not increase at all for years, the books simply would not balance without fundraising to cover the shortfall..

We all remember when the funding more than covered the costs .. but it never kept up with the inflation or extra we all have to pay out.

I did my level 3 in my 50s, when I could not find answers - with a lot of experience it was more a paper exercise really.. I remained as manager / in ratio while doing it ..

I have a nursing qualification and it was not classed as relevant.. and I also had children's nursing .

I think it was ok for a while as I had a letter saying I was suitable from Ofsted but with all the constant changes they were not happy with it. One inspection it was questioned and they gave me time to do a level 3 . As I had a lot of experience college helped me complete it in a few months.. that was a few years ago now..

May be different if you have paperwork to say she has level 3..

They change things so often it is impossible to keep track, and unless they actually tell you how is anyone expected to know what has changed..

I tended to 'bury my head in the sand' and deny any knowledge that things had changed as I had not been informed.. and work on it from there..

It would have to state working weeks in the contract.. it cannot be implied..

ours was 6 working weeks, but only once did we hold someone to it as it was Christmas and could not recruit easily over that period..

Looking into the parental leave further gives many criteria to be followed,

things like to take it they have to give 21 days notice before taking time off, it can only be taken as whole weeks so not occasional days , part time week is what they normally work in a 7 day period.

and the employer can postpone the leave if it causes significant harm to the business, you have to write back to them within 7 days of the original request with the reason and give a new date within 6 months of the original request..

It is unpaid leave.. I used to allow this occasionally anyway with agreement and prior notice.. so it may not be worth worrying about until it happens, but would be worth printing off the criteria to be able to refer to should it be needed.

Lego Tower of Imagination!

Children build a tower with Lego, take a picture and upload it to the Lego site. The child's Lego tower is added to a mega-tower created by children across the world!

we always had a big basket of our own..they were printed with our logo , we could also use them out on trips as an identifier for our children.

We once had a child who developed an allergy to a sun cream she had used before many times , she ended up in hospital . Luckily this happened when mum was with her, but it always worried me that it could happen in the setting any time. We did ask parents to supply and apply sun cream and had a huge bottle we gave to parents to apply on arrival -

wish we could buy the ones my son buys in Australia a 3 litre pump bottle of factor 50 at a low cost ..

We also had a supply of long sleeve shirts for those arriving burnt.

and factor 50 works if applied correctly, most people do not apply enough hence the reason it doesn't work..

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/~/media//Educators/Educators_downloads/icecream_in_bag.ashx

you could argue that the reason you use a mat on the floor is for H&S reasons.. as it means staff do not have to lift a child up onto a table, not all children are able to climb up and it is possible the child could slip and cause a back issue if staff has to catch them.It could also be argued to be safer for a child to be changed somewhere they cannot fall off..

I am sure there are reasons that both ways are fine..

I would ask to see the written health and safety legislation that relates to this.. where is it found..

Ours was also a changing mat on floor in a toilet.. Ofsted very happy with it.. never an issue

Remember they are advisor's and while they can advise there really is no reason to do all they say.. we found they used to get a bee in their bonnet about one thing and it seemed like a stuck record, even if we could say why we were not doing it.. WE used to consider it and then say why we were not changing not adopting it..