Long and Medium planning

[louise]

Hi, I'm just wondering what you have been told to do for long and medium term planning.

On my course we were told for long term to do a mission statement saying what we will do to reach the standards and EYFS.

Medium was just you weekly time table. With keys for which area it covered.

I thought it would be interesting to see what everyone else has been told.

Lou

[mrsb]

I've not done any training yet but by what you've said it looks like what I have done I have done wrong:panic: :eek:

my long term plan I have done a table grid with what my topic is each month, my medium term plan describes the topics more in depth for each month and how they meet the eyfs sections, then my weekly planning goes even more in depth for each days planning:o

[Rubybubbles]

I haven't had any training on this, only from what I did with my NVQ and by working at the pre-school

long term is all the topics to cover, but everything in the end needs to be broken down (when goes weekly/that day) to show where and how it meets the EYFS goals iyswim

sorry brain freeze I sound like I know what I'm talking about

[Spangles]

Blimey! I really need to pull my finger out! I've not done anything like that at all! In fact, I have managed to do nothing EYFSy at all yet! Oooh er!

[Rubybubbles]

Blimey! I really need to pull my finger out! I've not done anything like that at all! In fact, I have managed to do nothing EYFSy at all yet! Oooh er!

EYFSy:laughing: I like that

[sarah707]

My long term plan lists important dates through the year ... festivals, birthdays, celebrations, themes linked to things that are happening, multicultural stuff.

My short term plan says how we will cover all those, plus how my themes fit in and if we'll be looking at anything special.

I don't do a medium term plan because it just says all the stuff I'm already saying and I'm not one for repeating myself :D

[louise]

Thats what i thought the planning will be mrsb.

Sarah the long plan has those in aswell. I should really start doing themes but i found myself not going by it at all only at xmas when i had an after schooler. I think i stray as at the mo its only my son and mindee. so we are a lot more based on them. It feels pointless at the moment doing the time table as it will change come sept. I'll get back on themes i think.

[sarah707]

I find themes useful for lots of things ... they fill a hole when nothing much is happening... children enjoy them and look forward to what we are doing next, even more if I involve them in the planning process ... if I follow from a 'happening' they are relevant and teach soooo much ...

But I started 2 years ago putting together a folder of themes and I've now got lots built up ... it wasn't easy the first year, then the second year I tweaked them to work better and this year I'm still tweaking them to make them fit ...

I sometimes find now I've planned something and we don't do it ... but that's fine because I might use it next time. It's all about being flexible as well :D

[Gherkin]

I should really start doing themes but i found myself not going by it at all only at xmas when i had an after schooler. I think i stray as at the mo its only my son and mindee. so we are a lot more based on them. It feels pointless at the moment doing the time table as it will change come sept. I'll get back on themes i think.

Don't worry about straying. I was told in training that yes have themes but ensure that you are tailoring activities in individual needs and interests. if my lot are not interested in what we have planned then to be quite frank we change what we are going to do. Basing stuff on what the children want is really important. We were told in training that it shoudl be 80% child led and 20% adult led activities.

[Tatia]

Long term planning is from Sarah Nev, a calendar page for each month of the year with important dates (I think it was the multi-cultural pack I bought from her). I've added all dates that are pertinent to my setting.

Medium-term planning is half-termly (6 weekly) and is where I incorporate the theme we are following. This is the plan that normally falls by the wayside as we begin to follow children's interests.

Short-term planning is weekly, building on the fprevious weeks obs and planning plus following the child's individual interest. I look back and think, wow, short-term plans resemble medium not at all!:laughing:

I think inspectors would worry if your plans were all followed to the letter, really.

[MissTinkerbell]

We were told in training that it shoudl be 80% child led and 20% adult led activities.

This is the observations NOT the activities - the activities should be 50% child-initiated and 50% adult-initiated activities. The observations that you do should be made up of 80% from child-initiated activities as these will be the ones where the higher order learning is taking place. However the other observations have their place especially if you want to find out if a child has reached a particular milestone or grapsed a specific concept.

[Gherkin]

This is the observations NOT the activities - the activities should be 50% child-initiated and 50% adult-initiated activities. .

That is not how it was pitched to us in training at the EYFS workshops the other week. Not once did they say what percentage of the obs should be based on child led vs adult led activities.

It was very much based upon planning when they were discussing 80% child led and 20% adult led. We were told to have the broad themes but let the children take it where they want to. Which would naturally led you into child led activities as well as in general picking up on the childrens interests.

[bubbly]

We were told not to do much long term planning as it should be child-led and spontaneous rather than focused on set themes. Basically, go with what the child wants to do and not sit down and say "right, today we're going to do this, that or the other because I planned it six months earlier".

[Tatia]

But everyone always does long-term planning anyway because there is always Christmas, Easter, birthdays, special cultural days, Spring, Autumn, that sort of thing. That's how I do my long-term planning anyway. Because we obviously have to do planning in order to have the proper resources in for the children to do all their child-initiated activities with!:laughing:

[hillbilly]

I use long, medium and short term planning, with each one informing the other. so,
Long term: lists month by month what my topic will be, eg, homes, spring, growing etc. This needs to be really flexible, as I might plan to do, say, growing in April, but then find I have a new mindee or that they want to do 'Space'. If what I have planned for long term isnt appropriate when I get to that month, then I change it to something that is.

Medium: With this, I list all the 'developmental matters' that I would like the children to be working towards for each learning area for the topic. eg for August, im doing a topic of animals (long Term Plan) then under Personal, social and emotional development I have thought about the development matters (EYFS) and chosen these :Explore the environment with interest, Have a strong exploratory impulse, Feel safe and secure within healthy relationships with key people, Express their feelings within warm, mutual, affirmative relationships. These are the key things that I feel the children in my care need to be working towards, and are appropriate to them.

Short Term: This is then a week in advance, detailing what activities im planning to do throughout the week to help the children with the development matters in my medium term plan. eg Personal, Social and Emotional Development:Using the soft animals to give cuddles, stroke, touch, describing feelings.

It sounds really complicated. but its not once youve done it a couple of times. I also have to keep looking at the EYFS pack, which is a good thing, as its an important document for us all to understand, imo!
If any one would like me to send them a copy, just pm me.

Kelly
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