A couple of questions about before schooler

[venus89]

L (age 5) started today, all went fine. I'll have him most school mornings from 7.25 then we leave for school at about 8.40. In that hour and a quarter he has breakfast here and does his teeth and face, which will obviously leave limited time for anything else.
My questions:
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What records do I need to keep for a child who is 5? I don't need observations or anything, do I? Do I have to keep any record of what he does while here? I plan to start a mini observation sheet for him (eg for today I'd just write what he ate, that we'd played with cars, and that he settled well) for my own peace of mind and for the parents but do I need to do any more than that?
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Do I need to do any planning for him? This morning we had about 15 minutes for play and obviously there will be things out he can do, but am I all right not specifically building him into my weekly plans?
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I have a verbal agreement with Mum that once he's through the school gates I am free to leave the school - I'm now thinking that it would be a darned sensible idea to get this written on paper..... (That wasn't a question - sorry - just me blurbling on)

[Chatterbox Childcare]

2 issues here:

1. EYFS does cover him but you don't need to plan for play. Use the food and teeth cleaning and relate that to your routines and the areas it covers

2. If you leave the boy, even with verbal parent permission, before he goes in to school and you are still contracted, then you will be responsible if something goes wrong.

My advice would be to either wait until he goes in or change your contract. Verbal agreements mean nothing when things go wrong - no matter how nice the parent might seem.

[venus89]

Thank you

You see, I don't understand why he is covered by EYFS - he starts year 1 today, he was 5 last term..... but if he is EYFSish then am I right in thinking that as I'm not his main provider of care then I'm not responsible for the record keeping? Do I have to approach his teacher and th eafter school club?

I will be geting written agreement about leaving the school once he's in. The contract says 7.25 to dropping off at school, I'm pretty certain I didn't write a time in there for dropping him off.... hope not

[sarah707]

Eyfs learning and development requirements are NOT about the age of the child!

It is about the class a child is in at school.

Once children leave Reception class, they are no longer working within the learning and development requirements of the Eyfs.

Of course, the rest of the Eyfs statutory and other requirements still apply. :D

[crazybones]

If he was 5 last term and going into year 1 then I dont think he is in your EYFS as its the 31st August after they turn 5. I think, I hope, I might be wrong :o

[venus89]

Well, I could have made it clearer..... Phew! One less thing to do, I really am not a big fan of his teacher (she was the one who made my daughter go into the corner to read to herself while the rest of the class did group reading :angry: ) so i could do without having to try to talk to her about whether he ate his breakfast nicely or not..... :laughing:

[venus89]

Does this sound OK?

'As agreed verbally between ****(mum) and *****(me), once **** is seen safely through ****** Primary school gates by ******(me) at between 8.45 and 8.50 am, he becomes the responsibility of the school'

Then get Mum & Dad to sign, and have a copy for me and one for them

[sarah707]

I have been thinking about this one...

I would check the school, your insurance company and Ofsted are ok with this one before writing /signing anything!!

If you go ahead and the worst happens school could quite possibly deny all liability until they open their doors and your insurance could say the child wasn't in your sight / hearing at all times therefore you are liable... which will invalidate your indemnity cover...

Also with Ofsted because theoretically children must be in our sight / hearing at all times and you aren't following that one...

[venus89]

I should have thought about this one more carefully before now then!!

So technically I could have to make him stay with me until 8.50 so I can physically see and hear him? Kid's not going to like that - I'll do some digging and let you know what I've found out.....

[Minstrel]

Also 5 is very young to just be dropping him inside the gates. Well to me it is. At my sons school we arent aloud to leave them until doors are opened and we see them inside.

[venus89]

Well, OfSTED say that's between me and the parents and they'd 'only intervene if there was danger to the child'.
I ought toadd that there is a teacher at the gate to stop children leaving when it opens at 8.40 and the school are happy for parents to leave the premises at this point, so I'm not dumping the child unsupervised and running, it's just that I feel i ought to cover myself for that 10 minutes so if he does something dumb then I'm not going to be held responsible for it.....

Slightly concerned that the man at Ofsted knew my name even though I didn't tell him it - I'll not be making any anonymous calls to them fro home then!

[Minstrel]

I didnt know this about school before i posted.

Perhaps ofsted have caller ID. Dial 141 before calling them if you dont want anyone to know who you are!

[venus89]

Also 5 is very young to just be dropping him inside the gates. Well to me it is. At my sons school we arent aloud to leave them until doors are opened and we see them inside.

Sorry, i'm not very good at wording things!
At our school then there is an outer area where parents can wait but parents aren't allowed to wait in the playground so either your kids stand and wait with you - no running allowed - or they can go and play with their friends - supervised by teachers - in the playground. 99% of kids choos the latter option, including my son who is friends with the boy in question. Obviously if L ever wanted to stand with me till it was 'Learning Time' ( the new head has also disposed of the whistle....) then I'd be happy to stand with him in the outer sanctum of the not-quite-playground, as I would with my kids if they ever wanted to wait

[Rubybubbles]

Does this sound OK?

'As agreed verbally between ****(mum) and *****(me), once **** is seen safely through ****** Primary school gates by ******(me) at between 8.45 and 8.50 am, he becomes the responsibility of the school'

Then get Mum & Dad to sign, and have a copy for me and one for them

this is how my children's new school runs, the school have said once past the gates their responsible:thumbsup:

so I like your written thingy, can I use it?

[venus89]

Of course you can! Just to let you know, I added the word 'playground' between 'school' and 'gates' and also made it from 8.40 just in case I arrive a couple of minutes earlier than normal.....

[Andrea08]

hi ,
well at my school parents/carers are responsible for children until the school doors open.
we are not allowed to leave children un-attended in the play ground until they reach year 3 ( i think.)

like what has already been said ,,,if something happened how would you fee?
and the parents would not take responsibility!
i would talk to the school (partnership working!!)

good luck