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Paid childcare

Discuss everything related to paid childcare here, including childminders, nannies, nurseries and au pairs.

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Original poster

does everyone do a daily diary

14 replies

missymoo2411 · 21/02/2009 21:26

i dont do a daily diary i tend to spend 20min over a cup off t talking to the parents how our day as being and when ofsted came they said his was fine so am i missing somthing and none off the oter cm do them near me either were in west yorkshire ..

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purepurple · 22/02/2009 09:01

what works for you is fine for you, as long as you can justify it to ofsted.

HSMM · 22/02/2009 09:45

I do

PAPERFREEK · 22/02/2009 10:45

I would only do a daily diary for babies up to 12 months, so parent know their feeding and sleeping times and if they had been off colour etc.
For my others I do a daily provision sheet. This is just a piece of paper stuck to my wall with masking tape, so it can be changed weekly without damaging the wallpaper.

On this I record any wow moments through the week, this helps when i take photos off my camera to put in kids file, it reminds me what happened and what the kids have said. Sort of like post its (which I always lost).

Parents can look at this daily when they pick up. I couldn't imagine spending 20 mins chatting with each of my parents, I have too many. If they need to chat they do, but I usually find they just want to pick up and go, unless the kids want to show them something.

I do give parents observation sheets and summative assessments to comment on and sign at regular intervals, parents use these to let me know if there is anything they would like me to work on with their child and on my inspection the ofsted inspector marked me outstanding on this aspect.

SecretSlattern · 22/02/2009 11:10

I'm not a CM but wanted to add my bit on diaries for the parent's POV.

DS has started going to an amazing CM, we have an arrangement whereby I collect one of her charges from the school I work in as she does school pick up at another school at the same time. When she comes to collect her charge, she brings DS back for me. So there is plenty of opportunity at the end of the day to sit and discuss what he has been up to and what he has been doing.

When he first started, she gave me a contact book where she writes food times, nappies, and general stuff in. We still have our daily chat about how he has been. Anyway, DS was taken into hospital recently, first with bronchiolitis and then a day after being discharged for respiratory failure. The CM had been taking care of DS whilst he was ill (we thought he had a cold ) and any medicines he had been given or his general well being was recorded in the contact book. It was showed to the medical team caring for DS and was invaluable in gaining a picture of how he had been and how his illness had progressed.

I know this is an extreme case, but that book, I strongly believe helped to get DS better by identifying what was actually wrong with him. Obv DH and I told the drs what DS had been like, but it really helped.

Blondeshavemorefun · 22/02/2009 11:10

no diary but i am a nanny

i pick mb up from station so i chat to her then

any funny things they do i text to mb/db

PAPERFREEK · 22/02/2009 11:27

If a child is ill in my care I contact the parents and the child is picked up. Any details of the illness is recorded in my accident/injuries book which parents sign and have a copy of. If its just a cold, yes I do not exclude, but anything more and the child goes home, for the sake of the child and the other children in my care.

Parents do come in and chat anytime they want to, however, when it is hometime, 20 mins for each parent wouldn't be practical, what would the other children be doing while I was sitting with the parent and what would I do if more than one parent wanted to sit and chat at once about things that were personal to their child? At pick up times the children are still engaged in activities and need my attention. For safety reasons too, I would not sit with a parent while other adults were coming and going.

Numberfour · 22/02/2009 12:52

I could not have all my parents stay for a 20 min chat at the end of the day. just not practical. I used to do diaries only for under 3's now I do it for under 5's because I am applying to become accredited. i only have 3 under 5's at the mo so it is not too taxing. My own diary tends to be neglected though.

Shoshe · 22/02/2009 13:11

I do daily diaries for all under 5's, with what we have don that day, food, any meds, and such plus photos.

purepurple · 22/02/2009 14:59

I am not a CM but a nursery nurse in a pre-school room of a private day nursery and would love to have the time to do a dairy for each of my key children, but don't have the time!!
I do, however, do one for a child with additional needs, and think it is great to get the feedback from his mum. It helps with our relationship too. She feels like he is getting special treatment, he's not. She used to be one of those awkward mums, now I can write more honestly in the diary, which is in the child's best interests.

RosieGirl · 22/02/2009 15:02

I have always done daily dairies for all my mindees under 5 (my rule of thumb is that if they can't explain what they have done I do it for them) althought when the EYFS hit, I couldn't cope with learning journey's as well, so I cut it down to "parent contact sheet" on which I have a space for "activities today" and "special moments" then space for food, sleep, nappies (if required) and an "other comments" box and at the end of the week a space for parents/carers comment. It may sound a lot but I did them myself on the computer and it cut down on the tons of waffle I was doing in a notebook and parents commented how much easier it was to read.

thebody · 23/02/2009 10:41

I do daily diaries for all mindees, can sound a bit repetative though. just include any obs, food, nice moments, etc etc.
Now what the hell is a learning journey RosieGirl?, is that EYFS for kids doing what
kids ehav always done, learning through play.oh dear...

RosieGirl · 23/02/2009 17:06

Yep! you are right its the good old EYFS, its what Suffolk CC cobbled together to try and get all the childcare providers in suffolk to do, which in a way isn't all bad because we are all doing a similar thing and helps to make sure all "learning" areas are covered, although many adapt it to their own personal ways.

thebody · 23/02/2009 18:31

you have made a good point, It would be so nice to get a definitive answer to what we are supposed to do and what we have to do by law.
my area is Worcestershire and at cm club meetings noone has a clue really.
As hubbie is in London today, and back late, I am now going to tackle my sef form,he gets cheesed off if i spend all evening on the computer and I dont blame him.
I also took the mindees to a shock horror farm today to see the lambs, omg.. will we all survive without a written risk assessment....

Original poster

missymoo2411 · 23/02/2009 20:34

thanx ladies you have given me food for thought the daily contact sheets on the wall sound a really good idea and the 20 min i have at the end of the day works as i tent to onlt have 1 after school and no parent picking up at same time as each other and ihave morning mindees and after school so it works at the min for me but will def have a go at some off the ideas it can only improve things xx

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