Nursery class-what are your dc doing when you collect them?

[SavoyCabbage]

I am starting a job share in a nursery class. At the moment, the door is opened at 11.45 and the parents can come to the door and pick up their dc between 11.45 and 12.00. When that is going on the dc watch a CBeebies programme on iplayer.

I'm trying to think of something else we could be doing in that time. Firstly because you will need a tv licence from September to watch iplayer but mostly because it makes me feel like the only time the parents are seeing their dc in school, they are glued to the tv.

I don't want to suggest they just sit there instead, which is the only other thing I have seen happen at picking up time, but I can't think of anything else either.

We will have already done singing. And if it's educational then parents will pick their dc up at the end of the fifteen minute window! AGH!

Colouring? Reading? Could each child choose 1 toy eg. A car to play with (so not too much tidying up)?

Why is there a 15 minute window? That seems disruptive in itself.

Singing a couple of goodbye type songs in a circle

This is going back a while but when I was at nursery our teaching would sing the goodbye song with a guitar. So we'd all sit on the carpet and when she saw little Timmy's mum or dad she'd sing, "goodbye Timmy, good bye!". Maybe a bit corny, and would rely on being able to recognise all the parents! Where I work now parents come all day, but the ones who come at six usually see their kids helping tidy up, which they like.

Watching Come Outside on YouTube.
Nursery rhymes on whiteboard...not sure if You Tube too.
Singing nursery rhymes/action songs.
Listening to a story.

I think it is bizarre to watch telly at that time or actually at all at a childcare setting. Also i f I was the child I would be annoyed to miss the ending of the programme.
Story?

Mine tend to be doing something from a small selection of activities - duplo, colouring etc.

Are there not enough staff?

Our preschool would never have had them all watching TV every day.....

They usually sang their goodbye song and sat on the floor with the staff -parents would be queuing to get in. Why a 15 min window? It sounds like a short session.

I would do a circle time activity. Great idea above. No way would I have the TV on. It would give a poor impression.

Quiet table top activities, colouring, jigsaw puzzles.
What about the story CDs like "and we all go travelling by" There are loads called barefoot singalongs.

Whenever i pick dd up from nursery or preschool she is playing. Sometimes they are all in a circle having a story read to them but mostly they are playing. I love to look in for a few minutes before she sees me to see what she gets up to when I'm not around

Poo - staff wise you can have a lot less if you have a trained teacher. One reason I preferred the local preschool, less "school" like, more staff etc!

DD is usually outside. Watching tv only if weather is awful.

I'm quite happy for them to watch a bit of TV as I know they're very busy at other times.
Pick ups at our nursery are staggered....though I'm talking about the end of the day pick up. There's prob a half hour window you can collect. In that time they'll be playing, then tidying up or in the quiet room waiting for collection, depending what time you arrive.
I think Come Outside is a good choice as its calming and educational. Good for knowledge and understanding of the world if it's still called that!

Oh and TA runs the quiet room usually, another greets at the door and the teacher and another TA are floating so available for a quick chat.

We just let ours play, usually outside
No way would I let them watch TV every day
Sometimes they might be having a story but you always get the parent that say " oh stay and listen to the end of the story" and send their child back to sit down once they have run to their parent

I think pick up needs to be 11.45 or 12, problem solved. Staggered finish sounds like a nightmare-I would collect at 12 and you might find all the parents do (hopefully).

On my half day, all the dc are generally out the way while the staff clear up lunch, so in the book corner, sat round a table colouring, or at the side of the room with something fairly static like building blocks.

On my full day I am that parent sprinting in at 5.57pm, so dd is usually 'helping' tidy up, so she's washing stuff up (a 3yo version ) or putting stuff back in boxes / books back on the shelf etc. In this weather they tend to be outside so just running around because all the equipment is put away by 5.45ish.

Ours are always outside in the garden unless it's very wet when they're doing circle games in a small room where they do gym type stuff.

Dough disco
Stories
Celebration of morning's events - showing models etc

Garden is perfect as they already have coats on.

If this is a school nursery then watching a video is not acceptable. How long is the session? Is the 15 minute apart of the funded 3 hours or additional? Do they start at 8.45 or 9.00?

It is a school nursery yes, which is why I was surprised that they were watching tv every day. They start at 8.45.

The reason for the 15 minute pick up window is that there isn't much space at all anywhere. So parents collecting with a pushchair with another child would find it almost impossible to negotiate their way through the tiny playground to the door.

It's a great idea to have them already outside but the parents have to come through the small nursery playground so it would be too hard to manage any escapers I think. I'll take a look though.

I had never heard of dough disco but I've looked it up and it looks like a lot of fun.

Carpet time -teacher handing out models and paintings etc

DTs were in nursery (part of the school) last year and collection was at 11.30. All the kids who were being collected were on the mat watching an episode of something (sometimes educational, sometimes peppa pig) on the screen.

I think it's easier to have all the kids on the carpet with shoes and coats on ready to go and then when parents arrive their names get called and they come out. The full timers would have gone to lunch already as they eat at 11.30 and the afternoon lot start at 12.15.

I don't have a problem with them watching something for 10 mins when i've already seen on Twitter that they have baked cakes, been to forrest school, been counting beads and drawing in foam etc.