AnonyMouse_51737 Posted March 10, 2016 Posted March 10, 2016 Right people im in need of some like minded people who operate in the moment. We started in the moment after Christmas holiday, yet its good in some ways but im hitting way too many obstacles for my liking and the staffs! i feel im doing something wrong or if im not then its just not for us! Our set-up: We are pack away and are open on two days for 2 sessions and lunch, then on the other three days we are open for a 3 hour session each day. we have up to 35 children each sessions just in the pre school area. We have two rooms which children free flo through, and an outdoor area off one of the rooms. we operate on a 1:8, staff are on rota for each room. We currently have 10% focus children over a term (i know this ones a short term so bit more hectic in terms of fitting every child in over a 10 week period) the focus sheet is then disused with parents after and around three next steps are derived from it to continue working on. Other children are set one next step to be looking at on an ongoing basis (not confident yet to get rid of next steps all together) My issues! staff are getting the focus child bit (Just) and know what i mean when i say run with the child's interest and expand that day or in very near future such as next day, but they arnt doing it! they are putting in much more quality teaching during the play but then are trying to record it (tapestry) there and then as no non contact is given and due to staffing its now not going to be possible for a while to even think of this route. Ive tried all the empowering speechs etc and examples but interests are not being fulfilled therefore not taking the child to their potential and challenging their learning with new vocab/experiences etc. Children might be playing in say home corner then take that play into other room so then staff member can not follow child to remain in play with them or build on what child and they have been talking about. Staff are struggling with having the time to give quality, sustained interactions as a child needs this, another needs toilet another needs that and oh there arguing in corner - you know im sure how it is! now thats us, long winded but thought it was best to try and give it in context to how we are set up, most sessions are hectic and fast paced as being pack a way the end of the session is lost to tidying away. Any ideas where im going wrong, why its not working? in my head and in the book its fantastic and i tried to tweak it to our setting and using tapestry but it feels all wrong.
AnonyMouse_2268 Posted March 10, 2016 Posted March 10, 2016 My issues! staff are getting the focus child bit (Just) and know what i mean when i say run with the child's interest and expand that day or in very near future such as next day, but they arnt doing it! they are putting in much more quality teaching during the play but then are trying to record it (tapestry) there and then as no non contact is given and due to staffing its now not going to be possible for a while to even think of this route. Ive tried all the empowering speechs etc and examples but interests are not being fulfilled therefore not taking the child to their potential and challenging their learning with new vocab/experiences etc. Children might be playing in say home corner then take that play into other room so then staff member can not follow child to remain in play with them or build on what child and they have been talking about. Staff are struggling with having the time to give quality, sustained interactions as a child needs this, another needs toilet another needs that and oh there arguing in corner - you know im sure how it is! now thats us, long winded but thought it was best to try and give it in context to how we are set up, most sessions are hectic and fast paced as being pack a way the end of the session is lost to tidying away. Any ideas where im going wrong, why its not working? in my head and in the book its fantastic and i tried to tweak it to our setting and using tapestry but it feels all wrong. Oh my I feel your pain!! I'm having similar issues about having time to record the teaching and dealing with interruptions...the day is just so full on, little and irregular non contact time, and end of the day there's no time due to cleaning etc I have to make do with keeping a mental note until I can write at home ...and by then I sometimes struggle to recall things and so a lot is missed. I try to take heart from the fact that at least the teaching did happen and children did benefit even if its not recorded..so it seems in your case this is also a positive - but the fact that pieces of the 'story' are missing or fragmented does frustrate. You say the interactions have improved but that interests are not being fulfilled or taken forward...do you mean at the time because of staffing / layout issues? Could you have staff swap room if engaged in a transitional play scenario? (The easiest option would be having 'floating' staff to allow movement between rooms while maintaining ratios but you've already mentioned staffing is tight so I can see that probably wont work). I'm in one room but taking children to the toilet involves leaving the room...so I frequently find I have to leave a group / activity too. The only other thing I can suggest is being ready to reignite the play when they reappear in the room...introducing resources to extend or exploring what happened after they left and using discussion as a prompt to develop it further? However planning in the moment is worth persevering with all the challenges.
AnonyMouse_19802 Posted March 11, 2016 Posted March 11, 2016 Hi we have been TITM since Autumn. There are difficulties in a pack away setting - mainly I find - providing a thorough learning environment! Our place looks like a bomb has hit it most days....... We however do not 'follow through' as you both describe. Like you are finding, playschool is becoming more and more hectic with the diverse collection of children each session. Sooooo, we all work the room(s) in and out - moving to where and when we are needed. We have 3 focus children a week. We all focus on one anothers children - so for instance: you come across Billy trying to cut with scissors without a correct grip - you stop, help him correct, watch, help again if needed, watch and praise his efforts! Jot on note pad in pocket and walk on.......... Sally needs help with her shoes....you stop show her the best way, praise. then walk on........ Do you get my drift? That way it is Teaching In the Moment! The only time we may look for opps to extend is if its really possible.....John shares his book on trains that hes brought in, after, I say, shall we try to draw a train track....go to creation station, show him how and John draws a train track. John drwas another train track as I walk on! (maybe) At end of session we stick post its on the Focus Childs sheet or if time fill it in! Keypersons job to see its finalised. We do not speak to Parents about them (most are'nt interested) we put it on Tapestry to celebrate their Focus Week -when we have time.(?) Delivering the eyfs is becoming very challenging for reasons we have all mentioned. I think we can only do our best with the finances we are given to staff and resource. If you are Teaching In The Moment, offering suggestions for extension (you do not have to always be involved) then, for us, its a job well done. Our children are pretty much all self sufficient learners. Know they can approach adults for help and support if needed and enjoy learning and developing skills in their play - wether its self initiated or adult suggested. - In a bomb site!!! Ha! I'm trying very hard to ensure staff enjoy their job too, I see no point in tying ourselves in knots - the children seem to be happier because we are less stressed trying to record all and sundry! We do have time to stop and chat, give a cuddle, show interest in what they are doing etc etc. Ask yourself, Who are you writing it all down for? We dont have next steps - just areas to focus on whilst they are focus child. After that we take the childrens lead and move in when we can see an opportunity to offer an extension to their play or a teaching opportunity!! Not sure if our way will suit Ofsted - but a bit beyond caring...... 5
AnonyMouse_13453 Posted March 11, 2016 Posted March 11, 2016 Yes, I'm very much in the 'Who am I writing it down for?' camp. On our notebooks it used to say on the front cover 'I need to record this because ...... It is a new development for this child. It is something I want to study further. It is a planned next step for this child. I need to discuss this with Cait. It focuses the mind a bit on why you pick up that notebook in the first place 2
AnonyMouse_4562 Posted March 11, 2016 Posted March 11, 2016 Hi, We have been Planning/Teaching in the moment for 2 years now although I would argue that we've always done it but we're just naming officially now - and we do record some of the interactions on our 'Planning in the moment' sheet. We have created our own version to suit our setting. I was also very scared to come away from the security blanket that was individual next steps and we kept them for year 1. However, I have always found next steps restrictive and in some ways narrows down teaching we were so pre-occupied with the next steps that other teaching opportunities sometimes may have been missed. We also started using Objective Led Planning and after feeling that was successful, we decided to do 2 next steps in the form of objective-led-planning each week or fortnight depending on how quickly we get through the children and I don't stress about how long it takes! This means that the children have a similar next steps which are based on needs of the class which are identified through assessment. So this week we have been looking at forming letters and answering questions but the children are grouped by ability and given an appropriate and achievable next step. Next week we will focus on 2 different aspects. This means that we all have an idea of what the next steps are so if we don't have the clipboard with us we can still teach towards the next steps where appropriate. In term of planning in the moment we support when needed and extended where possible and necessary. Usually it feels like a natural opportunity or something that we are aware that the children need to practise more. Sometimes, it's extended over different areas of the provision e.g. found a worm outside, what do worms like to eat, search on the computer etc but we would pass that over to the inside staff if it started outside. Sometimes we do something the next day or even in a couple of days depending on resources. I think that you definitely have to find a way that suits your setting. Maybe focus on good quality interactions and less on extending - possibly just record something that could be done in the following session if necessary or as advised above, suggest an extension, supporting where possible but don't stress if something else comes up that takes you away. Good Luck Green Hippo x 1
AnonyMouse_19802 Posted March 11, 2016 Posted March 11, 2016 Whats your age group Green Hippo? and are you a school nursery? You sound very organised!
AnonyMouse_4562 Posted March 11, 2016 Posted March 11, 2016 Yes, I'm in a school Nursery and we do benefit from the same children in every morning and also only 3-4 year olds (all going to Reception next year). I know that this gives us much less challenges than you would find in a pre-school with younger children and children coming in different sessions. I do think that it is easy to try and do too much. I find myself reading posts on here thinking that I must try this or try that and questioning what I do. We did get to a point where we were trying to spin too many plates! We've reduced the quantity but the quality has definitely been improved. Green Hippo x 3
AnonyMouse_51737 Posted March 13, 2016 Author Posted March 13, 2016 phew ! thank you i dont feel as alone in this now !! I felt like i must be implementing it wrong and have missed a crucial stage, the quality of interactions is something we have focused on strongly for well over a year and im feeling this is working better and strengthened by ITMP. I have started supervisions and asked how everyone is during a planning review and most KW said they like the focus sheet and how it is meant to work but then having NS for their other key children is adding too much to everything and they feel they arnt offering them children enough. I'm pondering in getting rid of the one NS for each child in addition to focus child NS. As i too feel we record these usually for no benefit as NS should be so small to be achievable and by the time you write it a child could and can have moved on! Im thinking of introducing a adult led activity (children can choose to join in or not during free play) that is set up by a staff member and ran by them with a specific learning outcome identified using our cohort tracking data for example wood work or large collage hand/foot painting etc etc. Then in additon to this continue with focus child sheets getting rid of the other NS. This way children are a fcus child once per term, but then using cohort analysis we can address the needs of the children?? We already do end groups based on each child's LA skills and the activities are letters and sounds based, as this is a main fouc already of ours to increase developement within Listening and attention. I feel im getting myself confused lol, staff are doing well but trying to do a tapesty obs while being within the play stops the play from moving forward as much as it could but last thing i want to do is go back to lots of paper when we are computer based. Currently the focus sheet goes in the childs file which has their termly snapshots. I like the idea of the KW writting it into Tapestry at a later date, could i suppose they summarise this and keep the sheet with post its in addition? thinking out loud. I felt like the system wasnt working as extensions were not prevalent but i suppose the benefits so far out weigh that aspect not being as embedded. Thanks everyone x 1
AnonyMouse_42551 Posted January 10, 2017 Posted January 10, 2017 Has anyone got anymore suggestions on this? Myself and the manager are going round in circles trying to figure out the best way to make this work without having extra sheets of paper as I want it on Tapestry, our environment is set up and the children are using it, although the children that have been used to coming into a set up preschool every day for 18mths are unsure..... I am finding that the mark making is not being accessed independently, so its now about the observations and recording the teaching, and working out how to get them to do more mark making bearing in mind we have 2-4s in same room and freeflow garden........
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