Sharing practice - observations
OBSERVATIONS... we have had quite a few questions about obs from newly registering childminders on the Independent Childminders Facebook page recently. If you want to find out more please read on... I hope this helps...
There are lots of different ways of doing observations and they happen all day every day - but they don't all need to be written down! There is NO requirement to write 1 a day or anything like that.... we know some cms have been pulled up for not doing enough (1 or 2 a month) so you do need to find some middle ground.
While some established cms don't write them because they are confident to 'talk the talk' with Ofsted during inspection, I recommend new cms and anyone who goes blank in front of an inspector does have obs written down for each child.
To name a few different types of obs... there are...
- time obs - you watch what the child is doing over time and see how he is moving round, interacting with toys, concentrating etc
- adult led obs - you set something up and obs what the child does / how they interact
- child led obs - the child wants to do something
- group obs - children play together and you spot new language or children learning from each other. Don't name other children in a child's obs - say 'playing with a friend'
- focus / longer obs - you want to obs something so you set up and watch and record it
- wow moment obs - you want to share something new / fab with parents
- obs linked to the learning characteristics - The Characteristics of Effective Learning
- home obs - parents tell you child has done something new at home etc.
You need to find what works best for you.
Obs can be short (a few lines) - long (to fill a page) - very short (a sentence) - a few words (a wow he put his shoes on) ...
You can do 2 a week or 4 a week with nothing next week because nothing much happened. Obs build up over time - they are not a gallop to the finish line.
When you have your obs you use Early Years Outcomes to note the progress the child is making. Try to get obs across the 7 areas of learning so you build up as complete a picture as possible of the child.
This prompt sheet might help - http://www.childmindinghelp.co.uk/fr...%20prompts.pdf.
When the child first starts you need some 'starting points' obs from you and parents - assess them against Early Years Outcomes - then you can start noting progress. The 'starting points obs' should be done pretty quickly - Ofsted want to see planning to support the child's learning from day 1.
We all work differently - if you find your method works well for you great!! If you are looking to make changes then I hope this has helped :D
