Man Alive! I don't know where today went – didn't think I could possibly have much left to do and then got to 5.30pm and still had loads to do! Children and parents in tomorrow, am nervous, but keen just to get going with my little cherubs. Had a team meeting tonight and piloted the planning formats. Team were really keen to use the child initiated planner up to Year Two. Have done that before in other settings – just pleased they wanted to do it here. Am going to rewrite the format so that it can include FS and National Curriculum points/levels. Bought a sofa today to enhance my dedicated talk area. I am going to create a 'talk … Read More
First Day!
First day back at ‘proper school’ but no children for Nursery today! Did give me some valuable time to meet all of the team and explain the ethos – they seemed to get it all…the thing that caused the most confusion was the fact I used cream backing paper on the boards – YES CREAM! Bland, non-descript almost Magnolia cream. Nothing neon, giltter, shiny or featuring a border of children’s hand prints! Team were great especially as the first task I gave my TA was to put up some paper light shades as a room divider! Now that I have really opened up the space I want to demarkate the various areas without putting solid structures in place that restrict my … Read More
Environment Audit
Cant quite believe that it is actually 'back to school' tomorrow! Am going to complete one of these with the Nursery team and ask Reception to do the same. They make you really consider why you have the environment that you do and make sure it is driven by the needs of children. Also found it a useful tool to use with staff who are more reluctant to shift their practice and they have to be able to find credible answers the the 'why' question rather than just say that they have always done! An added bonus is that it is very Ofsted friendly and shows very simply and clearly that your 'drive and ambition' is to move children's learning … Read More