Whole Group Activities And Key Person Activities

[AnonyMouse_834]

Ok getting in a bit of a muddle

• Many of you have said your keypersons do activities for their key children - can anyone share a planning sheet for this please?
  

• How many activities do you have happening throughout the session?
  

• Can you tell me do you do whole group focus activities as well as individual keyperson activities?
  

I get that we meet our key childrens individual next steps through playing, enhancing provision

and activities but we are also trying to do a main activity to introduce new knowledge and skills- maybe we are trying to do too much!

 

Can you lovely people help please

 

thanks

[AnonyMouse_2418]

we do a key group activity morning and afternoon in Key person time, which happens before the group go into child initiated play, and there is also a focussed activity running alongside Child Initiated play . IT seems to work for us - the key person activity runs for a whole week, and meets the needs of some key children - others needs are met by the focussed activity and some through continuous provision and enhancements. Will see if I have the format saved for key person planning .

[AnonyMouse_2418]

Here it is

ADULT LED ACTIVITY pre school KEY GROUP.doc

[AnonyMouse_2418]

And here is the one we use for the 2 year olds ( or children working at that level)

ADULT LED ACTIVITY toddlers KEY GROUP.doc

[Guest]

We do key group activities during the morning and afternoon sessions for 10-15 minutes. We have 4 members of staff, 2 do activities based on one of their key childrens interests, 1 does an activity based on the chosen focus for the week be it a topic or an aspect of the EYFS and the fourth is floating so she can mop up those children who do not want to do any of the activities on offer.

[AnonyMouse_2418]

Seems like a good balance between adult led and child initiated to me and very similar to what we do. Will be interested to see what others think ? :1b

[AnonyMouse_8282]

I think you all write to much! ::1a

 

............. or maybe I don't write enough :o

 

We do a short register + circle time with 'whatever of the week' and 2/3 songs.

most children participate in this - not forced but gradually encouraged.

 

We have one 'creative crafty' type activity each day could be cooking, craft or just some new kind of painting (marble rolling, bubble painting etc)

All children are given the opportunity to participate at some point during the session, never pulled away from child-led, but when staff see 'wanderers' that encourage/ direct them towards the activity.

 

The rest of hall it set up with the main focus of enhancing to met individual needs - so maybe train track and ticket office for little Jonny, nail and tack for Suzie etc. We try to fill up our daily set-up directly following observations of needs - so a bit of a 'rolling document'.

Staff float and interact during this time - chatting with children joining play, or playing board games etc.

 

I do not write DM statements on a weekly basis - we have CP sheets that can be referred to if/when necessary.

Any time spent writing is spent on individual books/records rather than 'blanket planning'

 

Having said that - we do have mature experienced staff. Might do it differently if I had less experienced staff though, and when a student comes in I do get them to write up detailed plans for activities- but that is more for their own learning than for our benefit.

 

Sometimes I think we get too wrapped up in paperwork. For example as a student you need to do fully detailed plans/observations because you need to learn what/why you are learning and embed that knowledge. In the working world you need to turn that knowledge into action- and not spend endless time writing it it all up :1b

Your evidence is watching the children progress, which is usually recorded in their LJs etc. ::1a

[AnonyMouse_11396]

Couldn't have put it better myself.

[Guest]

Neither could I :1b

[Guest]

we have child initiated activities as the children come in and practitioners help and support children in play. After song time we divide children into key groups - and key workers plan for childrens individual need etc

[AnonyMouse_19802]

Well said Loubylou! I'm definately on the side of 'action speaks louder than words'! It beats me why some feel they have to justify everything they say and do by writing reams of extensive planning?? Is it to please the Great Ofsted in the Sky who may or may not be looking down on us lowly practitioners? If you know it - do it ! Simples