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Reflective Planning... Your Thoughts?

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in Observation, Assessment and Planning

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Hello everyone.

Just having a think about our planning and we very rarely actually do much of what is planned - due to children wanting certain things out free play etc etc. So was thinking maybe we would be better to plan bits of the session - i.e adult led activity and child target initiated activites but leave the rest blank to be filled in as a reflection of the day.

 

Does anyone do anything like this, or tried already? any thought/comments please.

x

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AnonyMouse_13453 15+ Years

AnonyMouse_13453

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Our planning is actually very loose these days. Planning for children's interests around some sort of holistic activity such as Autumn. So we have some children whose next steps are to encourage messy play, and their focus is sponge painting, finger painting etc. in autumn colours. Some children are interested in aeroplanes so I've been playing with sycamore helicopters with them and making paper helicopters. For other children it's communication so they're exploring the feeling of crunchy leaves, smooth conkers etc. etc. etc. Do you understand what I mean? So planning is just on a next steps basis although we know what we are planning to do to help achieve these steps.

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Our planning is actually very loose these days. Planning for children's interests around some sort of holistic activity such as Autumn. So we have some children whose next steps are to encourage messy play, and their focus is sponge painting, finger painting etc. in autumn colours. Some children are interested in aeroplanes so I've been playing with sycamore helicopters with them and making paper helicopters. For other children it's communication so they're exploring the feeling of crunchy leaves, smooth conkers etc. etc. etc. Do you understand what I mean? So planning is just on a next steps basis although we know what we are planning to do to help achieve these steps.

 

Yep I understand, Do you have any examples you could share? Also do you put child name with next steps on planning? Our planning is on a board for everyone to see and some staff were concerned that parents wouldn't want other parents seeing their childs next steps...? is this an issue? AS a parent myself it wouldn't bother me but then we do have some children with behaviour targets etc which are more personally....

 

Sorry few more questions - is this weekly planning or does it last longer? and do you include a next step for each child (how many children do you have?)

 

thanks

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AnonyMouse_13453 15+ Years

AnonyMouse_13453

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Yep I understand, Do you have any examples you could share? Also do you put child name with next steps on planning?

It's on the child's own next steps sheet

 

Our planning is on a board for everyone to see and some staff were concerned that parents wouldn't want other parents seeing their childs next steps...? is this an issue?

Our board just shows the activities that are available, you can lead a horse to water and all that. After all, even if it looks fab, 'little Jimmy' may have a different agenda for today and we'll need to go sideways with that and think of other ways to meet the next steps

 

AS a parent myself it wouldn't bother me but then we do have some children with behaviour targets etc which are more personally....

 

Sorry few more questions - is this weekly planning or does it last longer? and do you include a next step for each child (how many children do you have?)

 

Each key person has 7 children and at our weekly meetings we chat about the next steps we're looking at - I may have a child who has the same next step as other children in other key groups and we can pool our ideas on how to meet these

 

The children's next steps sheets are kept in their learning story files, so available for parents to see whenever they want anyway. We share them with parents at 'stay and chat' and they have input from parents comments on them. As far as I'm aware, I don't think that there are any 'targets' that we wouldn't want parents to read

 

thanks

Key_Person_Observation_Notes_Cait.doc

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thank you!

 

I think I need to brain storm with the other staff!! feels like we repeat to much but at the same time our planning doesn't really reflect what we actually do!

 

I've attached a very quick plan sheet I thought we could try and see if it works, if you have any comments please share. - it is very basis but I think that might be more use to use as we can then marry it up with our next step sheets.

wk_reflective_planning.docx

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AnonyMouse_834 15+ Years

AnonyMouse_834

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We get in such a mess with our planning and showing next steps etc.

 

So how often do you plan each childs next steps?

We currently write a development plan (a next step under each area of learning we plan to )to cover these steps over the 6 weeks then we review them and do another plan for the next 6 weeks.

Does this sound right?

 

Then we stumble we try and group children together and think of activities and put them on a focus activity sheet and also plan to add things to a weekly planning sheet so for example we might add balls to a physical area for child x on monday as he is in.

 

But staff say they need more info on the weekly planning sheet to say why the balls are being added for child x?

 

We dont currently display their next step sheets on the planning board as each one is a4 and we would need a huge board and staff would be forever looking thru sheets, we are trying to find a easier way too.

 

We did used to do a matrix which we recorded all he children on and all their next stes so it was on one bit of paper maybe we should go back to this?

 

Do you focus on all your children every week or do you split them into groups?

 

oh soooo many questions! sorry x

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AnonyMouse_13453 15+ Years

AnonyMouse_13453

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But staff say they need more info on the weekly planning sheet to say why the balls are being added for child x?

 

Do you focus on all your children every week or do you split them into groups?

 

oh soooo many questions! sorry x

 

Child x's key person will know why the balls have been added - we don't specify who they've been added for.

 

I do have some focus time with each child at least once a week - going with their interests, for example I took my son's old Tomy Thomas trainset down this week to play with a child who is currently 'fixated' following a trip to Thomasland. I built a track with him and he told me all about the points and crossovers etc, so I got some great language out of him and some good next steps about shape to be working on. Some next steps are necessarily group ones - simply because that's part of the next step.

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AnonyMouse_25331 12 Years

AnonyMouse_25331

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our planning is very much like you have described, there is a rough idea of what we are planning to provide, then we annotate it througout the week to reflect what the children have chosen, initiated.

 

Then we prepare sheets for each staff member to work on throughout the week with next steps and which children and what is going to be provided.

 

So for example I might have

Mount stairs, steps or climbing equipment using alternate feet

Use increasing control over an object, such as a ball, by touching, pushing, patting, throwing, catching or kicking it

with a list of children who we would like to focus on (this is taken from 'missing' areas from profile).

 

Very much 'work in progress' though because I never feel that the planning is easy, clear or workable enough! :o

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Do you focus on all your children every week or do you split them into groups?

 

We are only a small setting (reg for 12 children, although have approx 8-10 per session) so we plan for 2 children on each day, this means on average each child has one day a week planned around their next steps (to a bit) reviweing the next steps happens continually throughh observations. We have diff staff on each day so we need to make the planning simple and quick to read but so they can see why and who for we are doing something - does that make sense?

 

x

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AnonyMouse_834 15+ Years

AnonyMouse_834

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I think the only reason our girls need explanation is that we have 2 playrooms and the garden and the children can freely play between all throughout the session. so for example we add balls to physical area outside that childs keyperson may be in the front playroom and nowhere near the garden.

 

Does anyone else have the same problem with staff deployment and planning that could offer us some advice, would you say that maybe the staff dont stay in set rooms and float and follow their key children maybe? but when we did try this we found it to be a nightmare. Its a pain isnt it because on the other hand if we go to the trouble of writing out planning sheets why we have added resources because of each hild and what we are hoping for them to learn it might be a waste of time as that child might ot even visit that area when in! Oh DOH!!!

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AnonyMouse_13453 15+ Years

AnonyMouse_13453

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but if you are planning that little Jennie needs some mark-making, that can follow her about, so outside staff can encourage her drawing on the path with chalk. My staff take loads of photos and we chat amongst ourselves so that we're all a bit aware of what children's needs are. A key person can look at a picture of one of their children, taken by another member of staff and ask for some more information on what was going on. Could you make a sticker for children to wear so your 'non-key staff' are more aware of what's being looked for?

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AnonyMouse_12969 12 Years

AnonyMouse_12969

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but if you are planning that little Jennie needs some mark-making, that can follow her about, so outside staff can encourage her drawing on the path with chalk. My staff take loads of photos and we chat amongst ourselves so that we're all a bit aware of what children's needs are. A key person can look at a picture of one of their children, taken by another member of staff and ask for some more information on what was going on. Could you make a sticker for children to wear so your 'non-key staff' are more aware of what's being looked for?

 

 

We are a pack away sessional 2 rooms and outoor area. Like Cait we take lots of photo's and chat to one another also my staff are all part tiume so its important to talk to one another.

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