AnonyMouse_25678

I was told that as long as the Level 3 was within ratio - the 2nd person did not need to be qualified. We are also a small setting but due to the age of the children we couldn't do it. 

I was the same, my head was spinning with all the guidance which seemed to change by the minute.  We only have 7 out of 28 return but those 7 are having  a great time and parents have said their behaviour at home has improved. Just seeing them run in without a backward glance to their parents is reward enough.  I certainly think i over thought stuff.

We have had a few children who cannot be in photo's so we take a whole group for that child and either stand them on the end so we can 'crop' or take two photos one with them in and one with them out that is then shared.  

I include a 'Summary of policies' in the welcome pack advising parent's they can view the complete policies on our website, Tapestry or in a file in the foyer. Never seen a parent pick up the folder 

I added mine to documents

Thanks louby lou - I didn't know they had that function 

I'm not sure if I am being a really grumpy manager but I would be interested to see if anyone has banned staff wearing watches that display texts etc.  I am finding that staff are regularly looking at their watches and then having a bit of a chat about a text or Facebook comment they have seen. I have a policy regarding phones, that they are kept in a locked cupboard and should only be accessed when they are on a break and they have to give the setting mobile number for emergency contact so wonder if this should include watches.  I know I would have a backlash as they also record their 'steps' and do wonder if I am just being over sensitive - would really appreciate other's thoughts.

People used to boast that their child was potty trained, the earlier the better, now it almost seems the opposite.  

We are using Tapestry very successfully, we always did a daily blog anyway so I am just keeping that up and adding suggestions of activities.  Getting some great parent/family feedback so at least Ofsted will be happy after this chaos   

No I don't - it's hard but you have to put your 'business head' on - they cost the same to care for etc so should pay the same as everyone else. Last year I had 3 sets of twins and if I had offered a discount I would have lost even more money than I did.  Whilst I agree it may be difficult for the parents nobody else would offer it, e.g play parks, restaurants, school etc. 

I don't offer a discount for siblings either for the same reasons.

I would recommend becoming a Community Interest Company as opposed to LTD Co.  but it depends on why you are doing it.  If you have  a strong committee I would stay as you are assuming you are a registered charity. To change would mean new Ofsted - you old outcomes still show but when I took over our pre-school as our committee folded I had to go through re-registration, medical, interview etc which was expensive and stressful bearing in mind I had been the manager for 8 years.  As a CIC you are still able to access grants etc which a LTD co can often no access and although you have to submit accounts to Companies House they are not as complicated as LTD Co accounts. We owned our building as a committee led and it wasn't a problem.

we built an extra room with partition walls for their sleep area and on the edge of that used Community Play Things room dividers to give them a 'safe' area should they want it but to be honest they are much happier in with the older children who respect their different needs and really look after them.

Our children self register when they arrive, taking their name card off the office door and put it on a board in the main room.  If they go outside they then put the same name card on the back door so we can see how many are outside. It's not perfect as they sometimes forget but generally it works well.

We do our's annually but I have heard that only one member of staff needs to do the training and can then disseminate to other staff. (It never changes and does seem a waste of money and time doing it annually) 

That is exactly what I expected Finleysmaid - but the LA have said no, SS have no money apparently, I am giving some extra hours using the EYPP but he needs a lot of support 

We have a child who has just started with us in Foster Care, desperately needs 30 hrs as he is going to school in Sept and very delayed but I have been told Foster Mum needs to have another job as well to get the 30hrs! How is she supposed to do that? System is wrong when the children who need it are not getting the support.

This is the first term I have not had keychildren but do everything else, I do however, have deputy Senco and DSL and try to delegate tasks such as checking Tapestry obs etc - the workload is massive, I own my setting so do the wages, accounts etc but feel happier knowing I know exactly what's going on - I have been criticised for not delegating enough 

s

Not sure how your LA Portal works but ours clearly shows the dates of eligibility giving us plenty of time to remind parents - so far we have not had a problem although on parent has just lost her 30 hrs due to a clerical error on the Working Tax Credits side - term before she goes to school so she would really benefit from continuing the 30 hrs but understandably Mum can't afford to pay the extra - system has flaws

Tesco, Waitrose and Asda offer funding with Bags for Life and similar - I recently received £4000 from Tesco and you can apply as many times as you like - Also used Lottery Funding although that was a long time ago.  It is also worth asking parents if they have any employee reward schemes, we had £150 from Worcester Bosch and the local school get a good donation from a local business every year.  It is a little time consuming but worth doing but I agree surely the landlord are responsible for the building maintenance - worth checking your lease.

We are based in Worcestershire and use Red Hen Catering - with so many schools now using outside caterers you should be able to find someone locally.

Agree with the above, we are in a similar situation and actually contacted the hospice who are supporting the family and older children, they came and visited us and gave us loads of ideas, book recommendations and 'Worry dolls' Worry Monsters' etc - which we will use with all the children to help them understand feelings etc.  They were really helpful and are now at the end of the phone if we need support, staff are struggling as well as we have known the family a long time.

I am interested to see how many other settings have to pay for Inclusion Support? I am based in Worcestershire and we have to pay £180 for an Inclusion Adviser to visit the setting if we have concerns about a child. That £180 'buys' 3 hours of the advisers time, this would be a visit to the setting and then time for any paperwork. We used to be able to ring the Inclusion Team, share our concerns and an adviser would visit and offer advice and support - we have all had that 'gut' feeling about a child and we really benefited from the experts confirming our concerns and supporting us with strategies, referrals etc.  As with the majority of settings we are very tight for money and I feel we are letting children down as we simply cannot afford to pay this sort of money and I am interested to see if it is nationwide and if not if I have a case to fight these charges?

Lots of our children say Farmer Christmas and yesterday we went on a trip and one little girl asked 'When the money bus was coming' - I wish 

Brilliant - I love the idea of all the different mark making surfaces. I know it should not be about Ofsted but they love this sort of thing - we have a 'Reflection Diary' where we record all our changes and take photos of the before and after, why we did it and the outcome - on our last visit the inspector commented on our good 'reflective' practice. 

I have serious concerns about the children going through early years at the moment - we are the same with no support from County unless we pay, yet we are struggling to meet staffing costs etc.  These services should be free, children are going to get left behind and in 5 years plus there will be an outcry saying we failed them. I currently have 6 out of a cohort of 22 who I have concerns about, 3 very serious concerns with delayed speech etc. GP's don't seem to be interested and 90% of our parents have no idea who their health visitor is.  Sorry rant over

Should I be worried? - We had out inspection 3 weeks ago and no email yet re the report - the inspector said 2 weeks - I am now worrying there is something wrong.