Do Your Learning Journals Look Like The Dscf One?

[Guest Spiral]

Here's the link;

 

http://nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.g...cc8b1edf719.pdf

 

I just wonder how many of you have a journal that functions like this - ours do seem to be more like a scrap book, with parents sections, I'm considering changing the format for September,

 

any helpful thoughts?

[Guest]

Ours are a bit like yours, scrapbooks with lots of photos and lnks to the eyfs plus next steps. We use a range of formal observations plus 'post it note' style ones with the parents encouraged to add to them. All our staff complete the Larning Journeys for their key children.

Looking at the link you showed I personally think alot of my colleagues would be too daunted by the formal content. I work in a pre-school with one or twoof my colleagues who are excellent and brilliant practitioners butlack the literary skills to cope with much more.

Ruth

[AnonyMouse_1027]

the borough i work in have ones like that we have front pages, parents pages, obs, 6 weekly reviews and spaces for childs voice etc

[Guest]

Mine have photos, comments, post-its, childrens work and comments from home. They are nowhere near as well presented as that one. It takes several hours over my directed time to do 30 learning journeys as I do them now. How can anyone possibly present them like those shown?

[Guest Spiral]

Mine have photos, comments, post-its, childrens work and comments from home. They are nowhere near as well presented as that one. It takes several hours over my directed time to do 30 learning journeys as I do them now. How can anyone possibly present them like those shown?

 

 

Do you have to do 30 yourself - are you in school or preschool?

 

Spiral.

[Guest]

Hi I have 40 childrens work I am going to put in some sort of file for individual children - I have good staff however writing not always recognisable.........

 

But I do not want to keep doing this for them - but then what can I do - Parents need to be able to read the comments.

[Guest]

Do you have to do 30 yourself - are you in school or preschool?

 

Spiral.

 

Hi Spiral - yes I do them myself. I'm a Reception teacher. I have a TA who sometimes files but I find that to get them done the way that I want, it's easier to do myself than ask the TA. Also as I am effectively the keyworker for all 30 children, I need to know them all and putting their files together is part of getting to know them.

 

I'd love to know what everyone else does now. That link you put on has worried me a little. What do you do?

[Guest]

've not seen that before - I love it!!

I've just begun to experiment with changing mine following my involvement with 5x5x5 project making it more about following a child's threads of thinking and documenting it in the form of a learning story/mini project rather than recording the day to day stuff.

[Guest]

I have 8 Key persons with varying abilities and qualifications. They all use the digital cameras, post it notes and some narrative observations to make the bulk of their observations in date order. They then pull the observations each term together into a summary for parent's evening and to see where their key child is to plan the next steps.

 

I think this works well but I was told at inspection I should be doing a spreadsheet similiar to progress matters to track children that might slip through the net. Still working on this as I feel it is a whole lot more paperwork for practitioners that are already taking too much work home. Be interested to know if you are all tracking children as well as these Learning Journals?

[AnonyMouse_12805]

Ours are more like scrapbooks, containing obs (long, short formal & post it type notes) photos, childrens work and comments from parents. We have actually been doing this sort of thing for years and with the EYFS we just formalized them a little and update them with parents a bit more regularly.However I cant help feeling that as interesting as that example was a least two of my staff would balk at the formality of it (and they are brilliant EY's practitioners) and really I wonder how many of my parents would have the time or indeed the ability to contribute those sort of comments and obs that are in there. I honestly dont think I would have done so with my children, maybe with my first because it would have been a novelty and English is my first language. I know that for some of our parents now they just cannot write much that makes sense in English & I mean no disrespect when I say that.But by the time my 4th came along, I barely had time to notice what he was doing half the time let alone do these sort of observation on him!! I wonder as well do parents really want this sort of thing?

Edited April 2, 2010 by lynned55

[Guest Spiral]

Wow, I can't thank you all enough for your responses.

 

 

I have to say I feel the same - that these are too formal and my staff would be pretty scared by them, however, there are aspects that give me a further thought process (that's dangerous for meee to be thinking)!

 

I'm looking at the links in more depth - if the folders are being done every three weeks by some staff and every week by others - who is right? After all - if you have observed, planned for the next step (which we do on a different sheet) and taken a further observation at the point that the child moves forwards, but don't get to stick it into the book for three weeks you have still done the legwork, just not the practice of sticking it in!

 

Does that make sense?

 

Our books look more like scrap books, but they also have a contact form where parents can write down the answers to some questions we pose such as;

Is there anything new your child is doing?

Have you any concerns?

Are there some favourite activities at home that you have?

Have you taken part in the free Swimming scheme/library service etc?

 

So there is a two way communication.

 

Ours is very different from the DCSF one, but when ofsted visited they liked it. I think I'll stick for the moment and refrain from introducing changes again as it does drain the staff team spirit and is difficult for the part-time staff.

 

thankyou everyone,

 

Spiral.

[AnonyMouse_21338]

i think we should do them the best way that suits our staff, setting, children and parents.

every setting is different -so all the learning journeys will be different.

i think that as long as i am observing my children and documenting it -and can show an understanding of where each child is and the process they may have used to get there, and where i think they may be heading ,and how / if i can help them - then i am happy with that.

[Guest]

I agree - we are all unique

I also feel that you couldn't just expect staff to change to that sort of format without lots of underpinning knowledge

[Guest]

Hi

Our childrens files are made up of 2 things..a scrapbook that contains, photos, "work" etc and then our local authority "Starting with the child" book. This is the development matters book and it is in here that we put our post-it notes obs as evidence, as well as refer to the photos in the scrapbook, that children are achieving. We also determine the childs next steps from this.

 

Each childs next steps for each of the 6 areas are then put on a laminated sheet for each child in the rooms so that keypersons and others can see what each childs next steps are and be on the look out for it. Planning for the next steps is achieved by taking 2 next steps per week and planning a focussed activity for them. Our weekly planning covers a development matter statement one for each of the six areas and the supervisor monitors over the year that each has been covered. Two staff per week do the planning with the 2 next steps and the 6 development matters statements. It works quite well until you have to plan for one of the obscure development matters statements. Supervisor is unsure if this is the way we should be going as no-one from the early years team can seem to give her an answer as to if this is right or wrong. Staff are all happy with it.

 

I think childrens files and planning etc are being done differently wherever you are. I think the DSCF one is quite frightening! The amount of work that must go into producing that and

as said in previous thread we are not paid for doing this sort of thing. To be honest I think the scarpbooks of ours are brilliant and i must admit to loving putting them together!

[Guest]

i thought that planning to the development matters statements was a no-no as children do not have to and should not be expected to 'achieve' each statement - it should be used as guidance and way of checking progress through the age bands

I'm not sure that the dcsf is more work - i think it would be less - it's certainly much less than i put in my learning diaries right now, just much more focused and skilful in following a child's development and fascinations

however - it doesn't tell you much about a child's development in say PSRN

[AnonyMouse_8282]

i thought that planning to the development matters statements was a no-no as children do not have to and should not be expected to 'achieve' each statement - it should be used as guidance and way of checking progress through the age bands

I'm not sure that the dcsf is more work - i think it would be less - it's certainly much less than i put in my learning diaries right now, just much more focused and skilful in following a child's development and fascinations

however - it doesn't tell you much about a child's development in say PSRN

 

Well my development worker/advisory teacher (whatever the correct term is nowdays!) was definately impressed when I told her I had got rid of all Development matters statements in list forms. This was something I was a little worried about but staff kept falling back to 'ticklist' mindset, so I binned them all in frustration. As dcn says - we just use the guidance book for age bands.

 

We looked at dcfs one on the progress matters training - I like the sheets with all the 'words' on to highlight - I think this could help staff a lot, but they do not give any blank templates. It was suggested that we might like to contact Shropshire LA direct for ourself and ask if they'll let us share them.

 

I think if I looked after 'one' child full time they may have a learning journey like Ben's - but with lots of children - some for only 3 hours a week......I don't think so!!!!

 

xxx

[Guest]

Tattybogle - your in a reception class and would have a profile to complete where as in pre-school we dont and most have developed their own systems for recording obs etc

[AnonyMouse_25098]

Here's the link;

 

http://nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.g...cc8b1edf719.pdf

 

I just wonder how many of you have a journal that functions like this - ours do seem to be more like a scrap book, with parents sections, I'm considering changing the format for September,

 

any helpful thoughts?

 

I teach in a nursery in a school. I'm not a fan of the DCSF one you posted a link to (either as a teacher or a parent). It is too formal and as a parent I would much rather see photos of my child enjoying nursery and learning than all of those observations/next steps etc. We do the scrapbook idea like you and parents/children love them. We don't get much parental input to our learning journey possibly because I won't allow them to go home (experience has shown there's a huge risk they wouldn't come back or would be eaten by the dog or younger children). I've decided to have a separate book which goes home in which parents can have their input. Time will tell how this works.

[Guest]

Well my development worker/advisory teacher (whatever the correct term is nowdays!) was definately impressed when I told her I had got rid of all Development matters statements in list forms. This was something I was a little worried about but staff kept falling back to 'ticklist' mindset, so I binned them all in frustration. As dcn says - we just use the guidance book for age bands.

 

Ys, I agree we are using it like a ticklist...so why does our LEA produce this and give to all settings in Notts? Have seen what other settings do with it and like us they highlight and date when a child has been observed to do something off the development matters.

We only plan activities with the development matters in mind and also use any interests expressed by the children. We are not expcting children to achive what we set out to get. eg

My next planning cycle has

Are curious about the environment (KUW 16 -2 6 months) - looking at nature walk, discovery bottles. Not a bad one this one to plan for.

But also got

Often need adult support to meet needs eg eating, sleeping, hygeine. (PD 30 - 50 months)- looking at more of a look, listen, note appraoch from staff at snack time, toileting, getting ready to go out etc etc

 

We do find that if staff observe with these statements in mind they become more familiar with them, also are more aware of what to look for and although a child may not "achive" what is planned for, staff may observe something else in that area.

 

Planning is something that as previousy said we are not getting any support with. I am going to check out the disc again and see if I can come up with anything to help my supervisor over this.

[Guest]

I am using it summatively, every half term I am looking at it when I collate post it notes and observations to check where children are up to. The children are following their own agenda within a large fs unit but we know which children we need to focus on. I haven't taught nursery before and I am trying to do my best. I have 52 children in the unit and keep all the records myself although all staff input into them. Is this what is expected?