AnonyMouse_2157 Posted November 4, 2007 Share Posted November 4, 2007 Hi all feeling extremely bogged down and very low. I won't go into all the details why... half personal and half professional but need some support. I am trying to sort out lots of issues within our setting too numerous to mention and trying desperately to prioritise but can't see wood for the trees sceanario. Anyway, this is about assessment mainly. I have been reading ofsted reports about where nurseries have got outstanding but alas they dont give you the ins and outs; so I was wondering if there was any nurseries - attached to schools like us or other- that have been given a big thumbs up for their assessments/tracking of children's progress and was wondering if you could share this with me. Currently we are in the process of taking up the LA's new nursery profile but I am worried this does not give enough detail for the beginning of the year. What do your 'on entry' assessment look like? How do you monitor and keep track? I have compiled a booklet or 'learning journey' for each child which includes a copy of the LA's profile on one sheet - a bit like the scale points of the FSP and sheets for each area of learning where we can add the children's observation notes and photos, it also includes a sheet for parents to add to of things the child might achieve at home. I would be grateful if anyone could share their experience with me... jjust seem to be the only one if the setting wanting to make improvements Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_79 Posted November 4, 2007 Share Posted November 4, 2007 Oh Apple, sorry to hear you are feeling so down. I cant help Im afraid but I'm sure we would all like to know what has ticked the outstanding boxes to enable us to improve our provision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_7677 Posted November 4, 2007 Share Posted November 4, 2007 i know how you feel sometimes it seems like we are wading through quicksand in early years - especially when Ofsted are concerned! we had our inspection in May this year and were judged to be outstanding in all areas but obviously, i can only comment on where our inspector came from because they are often a law unto themselves! we cover children's assessments by completing anecdotal books for children and because we are a high/scope setting these relate to key experiences and are linked back to the f/stage. we also complete the 'what step am I on?' booklets for each child three times a year and our inspector was quite happy with what we covered we link both record books so we don't need to write out two lots of info relating to the same area of development. it sounds from one what you are doing the learning journey records - sounds similiar to our anecdotal books - we put items of children's work in them, plus input from home and photos etc. of children at work. hope this helps apple - keep you chin up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 Have you used this site: http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/portal/site/Inter...0003507640aRCRD Hope that works as link to Ofsted Getting on well where they show you examples of outstanding practice from recent reports. There is also a list of questions to help you reflect on your own practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 I can't help you with the Outstanding - wish I could! One pre-school near us got it last year, and apparently it was largely down the the excellent Behaviour Management. Children were praised so much that they didn't want to misbehave. It created such a positive learning environment that everything else just fell into place. I'm doing some whole team training on BM this month if you want to nick my notes. Apart from that, try not to feel bogged down. I am like you - I can see what needs doing, and want it all done NOW (!!!), but as you know, if you want to implement things well, then they all take time. You can do only one thing at a time - I know this is hard - but very true!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_2157 Posted November 5, 2007 Author Share Posted November 5, 2007 thankyou all for your help... the foundation stage forum is like one giant hug when you are feeling low Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 6, 2007 Share Posted November 6, 2007 We 'got it' last summer. I'm still not sure how! The hint I picked up from the feedback was that it was largely because we hadn't just done what was required but had gone several steps further in some areas, like having completed evaluation sheets from our Parents' Evenings to show them, and a daily diary sheet to show parents what activities children had been involved in. [On the minus side, one or two parents have moaned that they can't actually be bothered with it all!] I remember one comment about healthy eating. I'd carefully worded the letter about not having crisps etc in lunchboxes so it read 'we ask you not to include ----' rather than 'we'd prefer you didn't' and she was rahter tickled that one child sponatneously took out a chocolate bar, said it wasn't healthy and he wasn't eating it! So the staff sitting and eating with the children, talking about healthy eating, had obviously paid off. I don't know if any of that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 What area are you in- there are a few in Bimringham, you can see who if you go to the Ofsted page- there is a list! I'm sure lots of them wouldn't mind if you had a visit or even contacted them! Depends on your area really! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_73 Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Its a bit trickier to locate FS in schools with outstanding, as this will be part of a whole school OFSTED and their inspection will be int he context of a whole school. Apple I certainly know of a school that got outstanding recently, and I'm fairly sure I know of another that recently got outstanding in FS, but I need to check my facts there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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