louby loo

I'm so excited for you!!

My dog died in January after a very sudden ilness- and I hate being in the house alone the hols are the worst.

We were going to wait 'until retirement' too........ but we've decided we want one now, and a border terrier is top of the list at the moment, small dog - big character!!!

post more photo's when he arrives!!

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so far this holiday i have ~ washed all my 'daughter home from uni's' clothes, ironed (I NEVER iron) a stack a mile high, gone into town to buy a paint brush because all the ones we have just weren't the right size, decorated daughters bedroom, taken a midday nap (oh the luxury) the one thing i haven't done is picked up the sef and i really need to get on with it ....... after i have caught up here, had a cuppa, cleared out the cupboard under the sink

similar motivation here!!............mind the lunch time naps really are to be recommended!!

xxx

I've done a bit of personal research on paint stains (I have a bit of a thing about getting out stains!!)

On enquirng many years ago - I was told my 'red paint' problem was due to using 'detergent'(which I was told 'sets' the paint) rather than 'soap', so now when mixing powder paints we no longer put washing up liquid in, and recommend to parents just rubbing any stains with a cheapo bar of pure-soap before washing.....works wonders. Never tied putting soap flakes in the mix though.

That said, of late we've become lazy and tend to by ready mix, however nothing beat teaching children about colour mixing better than letting them help making the paints up.

So, it's a baby room - max of three children, you say it has a half door leading directly to another room. I think you'd have to have to see a floorplan layout to make an informed decision.

Although not good working practice to be alone you can understand the finanical implications of 2 adults with 3 babies (mind you think of the wonderful care they'd have)

xxx

we've just amalgamated the two.... and given it a fancy new name - which I can't remember ~but is the two headings together!!!

xxx

We have sperate A4 sheets which we then file, but I was thinking of getting small 'bound' book and logging ref numbers/dates into that - with perhaps brief but not confidential info in.

xxx

This can be a tricky area, I think - the charity's commission/PLA or whoever was handling the closure of a charitable group would want to be clear which items belong to pre-school and which belong to someone else. Either way so long as you have receipts to show who paid for them, there shouldn't be a problem.

 

The problem arises when no receipts exist because then ownership cannot be established - in which case items may pass to the group by default.

 

Not that Cait is likely to have this problem, knowing how organised her accounts are!

 

Maz

I think this is a problem for many working in small settings with low bugets.

Over the years I have brought many resources from my own pocket, but having my fingers burnt once - I now keep them at home and take them in when needed, luckily for me I have a spare room and a very understanding husband.

xx

you can always check it out on the CWDC website.

xxx

Have you tried looking on the EYFS disk/website itself? lots of resources on there to help with training.

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we're topic free too........ staff found it difficult at first- but are now ok with it.

We keep a print-off from- I think it's Woodland Junior School webiste...which has to month- by- month calender of events which we keep in our planning folder for 'blank moments'........ They seen to have found events and special days for almost every day of the year, these often link up to little snippets on the news or the daily papers, which make them 'relevant for the moment'...which our parents pick up on too, such as world enviroment day etc.

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just re-read that...sorry lot's of 'whichs' in there!!!!

we had one sesion where we were given some paper to cut up and then all given scissors , but they were all left handed ones... made you aware of need for correct equipment etc.

 

Inge

we had one where we had to link paperclips up wearing wolly gloves!

xxx

Now I am going to stick in my twopennath... and I don't want to offend anyone but...

A NVQ is what it says.. a National Vocational Qualification - meaning a 'workbased' qualification. Students doing NVQs need to be supported by the workplace...... the Assessor is an 'assessor' and not a tutor! Yes assessors may set tasks etc, but much of the 'learning' should come from the workplace itself. So it's down to the workplace to arrange LA training, and do substanstial [s?] in house training events. etc.

I know some go to college one day a week, but this should only be seen as 'extra' to what they learn in the workplace and not the sole 'taught learning'content of the NVQ.

I think a lot of young people struggle doing NVQs because not being given the support they deserve (and need). Often being paid low 'training wages', but not really being given the full workbased training the NVQ route needs to be effective.

Ohpppss and sorry.......... welcome to the forum, you'll find lot's of support here to help with the training.xxxxxxxxxxxx

Well I'm going off the Reggio approach... I'm beginning to get the feeling of late it's becoming more of a 'Brand Image' to sell. My reason for this -

1) at a recent training event given by someone who had visited Italy, the first thing she said was 'I apologise for the photos - I am only able to use the one purchased at the setting"

2) When asked about the Reggio appraoch to SEN the speaker shuffled uncomfortably and said "well they don't adapt each setting as such......" and went on to say "well all the settings are quite close to each other in the village. and siblings can sometimes go to different setting depending on their needs"

Maybe the speaker just had a bad trip, but after the talk it certainly made me think a bit more about the approach.

I love the original Reggio ideas/concepts.......... but I do think of late it's just becoming a commercial enterprise.

Not sure about this one ..........but have a friend in a bourough that is 'considering' taking away funding - or I should say discontinuing funding if settings do not participate in quality assurance schemes.

xxx

We had a prospective parent ring first to ask if should could bring her child with her... apparently she had been told by our neighbouring 'all singing, all dancing, brand new purpose built setting' this was not acceptable on a first visit - needless to say her son comes to us now!!!!

xxxx

We're having trouble finding level 3s too.

We had one start, she had level 3 diploma, and a degree (unrelated) - and she has since proved to be totally useless with regard to actually working with the children. We even had her in for a session prior to employing her, I don't know if she had to work really hard it- but all I can say is on that day she 'performed' well.

Fortunately for us she had decided not to stay, which makes it easier for us in a way.

What worries me more, is not the lack of level 3s but the thought that this girl could actually gain her EYPs in a short time and them be highly qualified - but without a clue!........ the thought of her working a 1-13 ratio scares me!!

Now it's back to advertising again.

xxxx

good news!! must be such a weight of your minds

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Same as previous posts - but saw somewhere yesterday the ISA launch has now been put back till April 10.

xxx

If only life were simple - we accept them, but there's different kinds each with it's on method of payment!!

Best to ask the parent for details of the system she'd like to use then go from there. We're a pre-school and have no difficulty with them. Some come through as direct payments, and some are like the old 'luncheon vouchers' and we just ring to activate the amount on the voucher given to us. We've had to register with the voucher suppliers - but this has not been much more than a simple regisration form.

xxx

well I think it's stupid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!............... (nothing to do with the fact I can't get below 1. something!)

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Although there may not be a 'rule' as such - I'm sure this would be covered under 'effective deployment of staff' which I would understand to mean more staff where the majortiy of children are?

xx

I think nappies are just too comfortable now

We have a little girl coming up to three - she told me last week 'I'm always going to wear a nappy - because I like them!'

xxx

If you have up to 18 children then surely you need 3 staff anway? I didn't think volunters count in ratios- but maybe I'm wrong and that's just our policy. Are all your children over 3 years?

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I went to settings personally with my CV and asked about 'bank' staff opportunities from that I did regular work for two local settings - and I got a better rate than through an agency.

xxx

def not 'sharp sand'- horrid stuff turns your hands orange!.........but is the other type called 'silver sand'?

xx