CMs - Have you got your head round EYFS yet???

[underpaidandoverworked]

I know it's supposed to be just what we were doing before but is anyone else struggling with the paperwork, obs, assessments etc that it brings with it?? My parents can't get there heads round why we need to do it (1 a teacher, 1 a uni lecturer, the others aren't bothered as long as their children are happy!!) and they aren't really bothered as long as their children have fun, are happy and are thriving! I send the daily diaries home, they either don't come back or aren't filled in, I ask for their input into the assessment files and they 'didn't have time' - no reflection on the parents, they're all fab but if they don't have time how are we supposed to??? I work closely with my nursery, which my DS attends, but I've asked them for guidance recently and they didn't have any answers - infact, I think I know more about it than they do! DOes anyone out there know exactly how much we should actually be doing? How often should we be observing?

I feel like I spend most of my spare time on paperwork, on the computer researching or preparing activities - I've never done so much work for so little money! I've never felt so unmotivated in 25 years of employment (only 3 in cm mode). I ring my area coordinator with a query and then listen to her turning the pages of the Statutory framework looking for an answer - doh, I can do that, I'm looking for support not instructions on how to look through a book!

I've been reading recent Ofsted reports and it seems that different inspectors in different regions are looking for different things - risk assessments, self-evaluation, assessments, individual learning plans, etc, etc. My inspection is due anytime and I haven't a clue what they will be looking at. I have more files than I care to mention, a 3drawer filing cabinet dedicated to my business, yet I feel like I'm splashing around in a great wide ocean with no idea which way to go! Many CMs in my area have given up - brill cms included - because they feel they can no longer do what we set out to do, look after children in a home from home environment and watch them learn and thrive from the experiences we put before them. I for one am always thinking 'hmmm, was that an opportunity for an observation, what other areas can I link it to?'. I spend more time planning in my head than playing - isn't that what EYFS is supposed to be about, PLAY!?

Have probably opened a whole can of worms with this one, but I think this site is brill and welcome all your views - and tips on how to survive EYFS and not give up (I do love what I do most of the time!).

I haven't had an inspection under EYFS, but try to look holistically at it's main principles and then apply them in my management to make it the best I can to be a child here.

I think first of each area of each day and each activity, daily routine, rather than starting from thinking about each individual child.

It is even possible to write a document that links to all areas of the EYFS for all ages which is based on your daily routines rather than on each child.

The EYFS does focus on each child as unique, but to get to a point where children can be confident and easy in their play, the staff, physical and emotional environment and each daily routine have first to be considered.

It IS all about play as far as I am concerned. I create an environment and a predictable routine for rest, refreshments and indoor/outdoor activities, and the children do the rest with me to assist where necessary.

I don't know if I am doing it right for Ofsted, but I am confident I am using the underpinning principles of the EYFS and am doing it right for the children.

Thanks gooseegg, think might be focusing too much on paperwork and not enuf on the children. Just find that when I 'plan' they don't want to do the activities - or is that the quirk of under 4's?? Don't really think the EYFS was written by anyone with children and certainly not with pre-schoolers in mind! I have 3 children of my own, aged 4 - 18yrs, all very individual and I don't believe children should be subject to 'curriculums' at this age. My eldest children went to childminders and loved it, without the pressures of having to fall within a 'framework' for learning and development.

Get me a sugar lump for my high horse! Thanks again gooseegg, just me being hormonal (I think!)

When I 'plan' I use things like
'work on fine motor skills'
'develop sharing'
'encourage self-care'

These are all really easy to adapt to what ever the children want to do

underpaidandoverworked - I've got four of my own from 6 to 21 so do understand.

I don't think of a framework as a constrictive rigid box but rather as fluffy moving clouds for me to float through.

One thing I don't do is plan activities and certainly not plan anything with an end product mind. I plan time and resources instead.

E.g. I set out a table with a big roll of lining paper, the children help themselves to aprons and add whatever they like in the way of paint, pens, glue, shaving foam, other toys etc.

If we do music we start with something random e.g. banging a simple rhythym and see where the children take it.

Today two boys were dressing up and one of them said he was a wise man. So we drew a tiny star in chalk in the garden and sent them out to look for it. They were busy for ages with that idea and didn't want me around after that. The garden is now covered in all sorts of Christmas related drawings and they have lost a toy sheep in the bushes!

underpaidandoverworked - I am going to print out your opening post and pin it to my wall so that I can remind myself that it isn't just me.

I have found that the EYFS training courses I have already attended consist of paid tutors reading out passages from the same literature that I already have, and then asking us to all write out lots of ideas for activities for each of the different age groups.

I very much admire those of you who seem to be able to get to grips with all of it. I am not a stupid person whatsoever, but I do tend to be a bit anal about paperwork.

My network co-ordinator commented on how much "paperwork" I actually had (and how nice it was!) at my last visit - when I asked her what I could actually get rid of if it wasn't needed, she couldn't answer me.

I'm really struggling with eyfs and just how much I need to be doing for it. If my parents of mindees aren't in the slightest bit bothered about it, can we just say that they only want daily diaries and a portfolio of pictures and art work at the end of their time with me - is that really not enough?
I'm sure I am getting into more of a pickle then is strictly necessary!!?

Apparently we need written observations and assessments for each individual child and we must show how we use the observations and assessments to 'plan' for the child's future development - oh, and don't forget your risk assessments, some cms round here have been hammered for not having them for each type of outing the child may go on!

Apparently it's being reviewed in 2010 - watch this space for another round of changes (hopefully to our benefit this time!). Am pleased it isn't just me - I thought I was quite well organised until I started reading the online ofsted reports, but it seems like bureacracy gone mad!! Like ThePrisoner said, even the netwrok coordinators haven't got a clue - if we can't go to them then just who do we have to turn to apart from each other. COuld ring Ofsted I suppose, but inspection now over due and would like to keep it that way for a little longer....

do you think it would ok just to use my current portfolios for each child with their photos and art work (lots of photos!) and maybe use colour coded stickers to link each activity to one of the 6 areas of eyfs? that way i can carry on doing what i am already used to and making it tie in somehow? not sure if this makes sense to anyone!?

The way I tackle it is to only look at one child at a time. I have 5 under 5 at the moment of which 3 are under 3, so it would be too time consuming to look at all the children together. I ensure I observe each child at some time during the week. I think about what each child needs to develop, for example one of the children has a delay with speech development, another is gross motor skills and another is personal care skills. As we go through the week doing our usual child/adult led activities, I ensure I add something specific for each child's needs. I only record wow moments where a child has achieved something new or where it is something I would remember days later. I observe, I record, I plan for the next step, I observer, I record, I plan for the next step.... I don't get fixated on one aspect of a child's development unless the child is struggling.