Have you filled in your Self Evaluation Form? Did you lose the will to live towards the end?

[geraldinetheluckygoat]

I am struggling with this so much, the first set of questions are ok, but the ones towards the end just seem to be asking the same things over and over again, and I am really, really, really, fed up!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did anyone enjoy doing it?

lol "enjoy" sould read "do it without chewing off thier own fingers"...

I have started mine and have been told by the other cm's in my local group that it starts to repeat things.

It needs to be made shorter.

Over & over & over again

I chewed off my fingers & toes

I had one weekend to do it & then on Monday morning OFSTED cancelled

Mind you it made me think that parent get a good deal based on what I wrote n my SEF

O M F G This reduced me to tears (literally).And I was ready to give up.
I had a weekend to do it and was bored rigid with repeating myself BUT it did help with the amount of time the sods were in my house!
As it gave them good background info about the setting etc

LOL @ over and over and over again. I have done mine in a weekend, ofsted coming on seventeenth but wanted to get it out of the way so that i can go through all the other paperwork and make sure it is ok. it has been kind of helpful in that it has reminded me of what I do well, but also areas that i am a bit weak....which is the point of it! But GOD it is lonnnnnnng and repetative! Glad its done, but feel my answers got shorter and vaguer towards the end and i havent got the will to look at it any more, so it will have to do...

did you go into as much detail in the last section (the management of your setting, the bits that start to repeat) as you did in the first, or were those answers significantly shorter

i felt ready to cry in parts too, rasberry tart, felt positively inadequate to fill parts of it in!!

It took hours/days with no idea whether or not it is good/accurate/any use at all

The first time was a nightmare. When I went back to update it, it was easier, because you can edit and existing one (but I was still asleep by the last page)

Oh blimey, I need to do mine, did first section, then gave up . Really should get back to it...

just started mine......

gave up quite quickly lol

Just typing mine up now and it is sooooooooo sooooooooooo mind numbingly tiresome... I have started just to say as previously stated and awful lot and now I just don't care! You're not acctually graded on it are you? I just can't face reading it through once I'm done!

i've just started mine too, i looked through it and thought sod that i have better things to be doing! i may have another go tommorow!

I've been filling mine in with pencil - wasn't planning on typing it up - jesus - that would take even longer?!!

Does it matter do you think that mines handwritten - maybe I can come up with something about it being a work in progress??? (she hopes...)

lol i did that jackmummy "i feel i have answered this in previous section....!" emailed mine off just now, couldnt face checking through it properly either, so know what you mean.
nomoreamover i dont think it matters at all, its only if you are emailing it thatyoud need to type it. You can hand write and post it, totally fine!
I feel reassured that everyone else hated it!

Leonifay, your post made me chuckle as I feel exactly the same, spare time is precious and I have far more important (if not equall tiresome) things I could be doing.

hi all, I too lost the will to live when i was trying to complete mine, its far too long and repetative like u all say. Basically for Ofsteds benefit more than anyone elses, I guess it does help us see where we need to improve but that could be done wiht a simpler and shorter version!

Ive emailed mine off now, so thats that. I expect they'll have ditched them by my next inspection, to be replaced by something just as daft!!

Oh I'm thick - I thought the inspector went through it ojn the day.......didn't realise she needed it in advance....

Like everything else you prepare for your Ofsted inspection, how much effort you are prepared to put in depends on what grade you are aiming for.
If you can use your SEF to fully describe how you deliver the EYFS, with examples of evidence that can be backed up on the inspection day, then you are more likely to achieve the grade you want.
If you don't use the SEF in this way, you may find it hard to demonstrate everything you want to show on the big day, especially if you are minding to capacity.
I think the SEF is a great opportunity to be able to put all your evidence forward for assessment in advance, so leaving the actual inspection for showing how you interact with the children.
Childminders who have bought the EYFS in Practice Evidence File have had individual telephone and email support with filling in the questions on the SEF - explaining what is being asked for and given examples of what to write.

nomoreamover, I think the ideal is that you send it to them, but i've heard of quite a lot that havent completed it and the inspector looks at it on the day...so not thick lol.

yes I like the theory of the SEF, NanaManchester, however I found that the questions were a bit vague and difficult to fill in without rambling. I also thought that it was quite repetative, and could have been more useful if they had a seperate SEF tailored to a childminding setting.