AnonyMouse_22607 Posted December 15, 2016 Posted December 15, 2016 Hi all! Just wondering how much time everyone spends on planning? At the moment, our key workers complete tracking and use this to identify next steps and activities and experiences across all 7 areas for each child for the next term. These are mainly completed during the sessions (Ie no non contact time) We have team meetings to discuss these together and decide which activities etc to provide each week, including: indoor and outdoor focus, writing, small world, maths, sand/water, messy and natural play, table activities like games and jigsaws, plus group times: maths, stories, letters and sounds, singing, circle time.... And here's the problem, we get 1/2 an hour every 2-3 weeks for this (non-contact time). We physically cannot talk and write fast enough! Is this ridiculous, or am I missing a trick? I'd love to hear any thoughts How much team planning time do you have? TIA!
AnonyMouse_64776 Posted December 15, 2016 Posted December 15, 2016 We have a planning meeting every week. A paid hour outside of session times which all staff attend. It means we can discuss individual children's needs in depth and plan for them, sharing ideas.
AnonyMouse_23964 Posted December 15, 2016 Posted December 15, 2016 We have hour a week after session to plan the 'environment' using a mix of children's interests. Key persons will then add in their children's next steps.
AnonyMouse_5970 Posted December 15, 2016 Posted December 15, 2016 Each room (we have three) gets an hour to an hour and a half for planning each week during working hours.
AnonyMouse_22607 Posted December 15, 2016 Author Posted December 15, 2016 Thanks for your replies everyone. Finleysmaid - we are a nursery, open 8-6 mon-fri, so there is never a time when there are no children about! I'd like us to have an hour a fortnight, or maybe even just an hour in the school holidays when we are a little quieter, just to give ourselves a head start! I shall lament on this over Christmas! X
FSFRebecca Posted December 19, 2016 Posted December 19, 2016 We timetable in about a day a week per team (3 teams) which is shared between the team members depending on the individual team members' needs (some might have 2 year checks or SEN bits to do, each team is 4 or 5 staff) - this ought to be ample. This is a 'mission' of mine from when I was teaching full time and we were expected to do all our paperwork in our own time (before the PPA days). However, the system falls apart when staff are off sick as people can't be released from their groups and this can make people very cross. I'm yet to hear of a system that works really well in nurseries - we're open 11 hours a day, 5 days a week, 51 weeks of the year - there isn't any 'wiggle room' or opportunity for day closure to have INSET so everything has to be done after hours or at the weekend - and I believe staff need this time to recuperate! If anyone finds the 'golden ticket' could they please show it to me! I'm lucky enough to be able to employ a full time manager who is always supernumerary (unless the absence levels are really really bad) and also a 0.75 office manager who does all the money and staff hours bits. I've come to think that how ever many staff you employ there's never enough!
AnonyMouse_30128 Posted December 19, 2016 Posted December 19, 2016 Thanks for your replies everyone. Finleysmaid - we are a nursery, open 8-6 mon-fri, so there is never a time when there are no children about! I'd like us to have an hour a fortnight, or maybe even just an hour in the school holidays when we are a little quieter, just to give ourselves a head start! I shall lament on this over Christmas! X I cant see the planning in the holidays working....how do you know what the children will need to earn and what their interests are going to be 3 months in advance! I have reduced my planning to the absolute minimum....next steps are set on a fortnightly basis as a whole group (we have 60 children) ...if I did 60 childrens obs on 7 areas over 14 weeks that would be over 5000 obs per term!!!!! IF I added separate planning for maths /stories ....etc etc that would certainly be unmanageable for my setting.!! Perhaps try going back to basics and trying to re-work the system...what do you actually NEED???? not every child will need to concentrate on every area all the time (that's not the way they learn) they also need time to consolidate their learning ...I think we should be really careful not to constantly be pushing them to the next bit ...we need to make sure they have really embedded that learning or they will not put it in their long term memory banks and all that teaching will be a waste of time. 3
AnonyMouse_7120 Posted December 19, 2016 Posted December 19, 2016 We don't have planning meetings (well you could count the 10 mins a week when all staff are in the place at the same time ), It was to much hassle trying to get everyone to agree on the same day/time, and don't find it's really necessary as we don't really plan much (only a couple of large group activities) staff might add an activity or resource they really want the following week to our 1x A4 bit of paper :-) 3
AnonyMouse_30128 Posted December 19, 2016 Posted December 19, 2016 I cant see the planning in the holidays working....how do you know what the children will need to earn that was of course supposed to be LEARN...I haven't started the sweat shop yet...although i'm sure the government would approve of such a forward thinking idea to get everyone to work asap so we can all start to pay in to a pension pot from birth! 4
AnonyMouse_22029 Posted December 20, 2016 Posted December 20, 2016 Finleysmaid could I give you a big kiss! I so agree about planning. We don't have planning meetings either. my practitioners plan for their own key children and any activity they plan will provide benefit to all the children in the nursery. I have 2 practitioners who actually write the plan so all the others have to give them the activity to put on it. It could be as simple as trains or as grand as art & craft adult led activity. The child it is aimed at will be observed (Tapestry) other children to may be observed depends on time and appropriateness. when uou are sitting with a child and join their play you are planning. No pen or paper but planning how you are going to allow child to lead whilst carefully dropping in learning. With my pen and paper I am now going to write a list and plan my Christmas shopping!!? 5
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