obsevations yes or no

[claire85]

I childmind a little girl aged 5 , i have been doing obvs on her in the half an hour i have her for . I was told by another childminder that i didnt need to do any obvs as i wasnt her main carer. when i emailed ofsted about this instead of a plain yes or no answer they just quoted lines from there book . i just feel that it seems pointless me doing the obvs/paperwork if its not needed .

[AgentTink]

There is fab document written by a forum member Sarah in free resources in regards to this.

You can find free resources at the top of this page in the pink tab bar. You then need to click on tab called Free downloads, then look in section EYFS and Learning Journals and in there is a document called School age Children and the EYFS. :thumbsup:

Here is a quick link for now to get you to the free download section
Free Downloads (http://www.childmindinghelp.co.uk/freeresources/freedownloads.html)

[nipper]

I wouldn't bother!

[rickysmiths]

I wouldn't be doing anything for a child who is at school all day.

[halor]

It's not something I have experience in having no mindees yet but surely you can't do set observations in half an hour. Seems like a whole lot of work for such a short period of time

[karen m]

I have a child who comes before school only but her brothers are full timers i don't do obs on her but take pictures and get her to make cards and gifts for Mothers Day, Christmas etc and just put them in a book as a keepsake for her mum

[supermumy]

What can you do in half hour?
What kind of obs do you do in that short space of time
I wouldn't personally do it, if it was after school for a hour or more yes :)

[kellyskidz!]

i wouldn't bother either, you're not her main career, school is :)

[wendy222]

i have a 3 year old 15 mns in the morning before nursery and 15 mins after nursery there is no way i can do observation on her and i dont have her in the holidays

[gef918]

I've recently taken on a 5 year old for around 30-60 mins a day (1 or 2 days a week). By the time we've come home, had snack, drink, toilet,etc there's hardly time to do anything! Managed to squeeze in decorating a cake for mother's day last week, even though she arrived 10 mins early.

I don't do observations. I make mental notes about what he enjoys, how he plays and plan activities (if there is time) that will help him interact with the other children, behave well and enjoy himself.

I'm meeting his teacher next week and if she mentions any areas he needs help in or any that he excels in, then I'll use that in my planning. In effect, I'm hoping that the school will do the observation for me! And I can plan activities based on their observations.

[Rick]

I childmind a little girl aged 5 , i have been doing obvs on her in the half an hour i have her for . I was told by another childminder that i didnt need to do any obvs as i wasnt her main carer. when i emailed ofsted about this instead of a plain yes or no answer they just quoted lines from there book . i just feel that it seems pointless me doing the obvs/paperwork if its not needed .

I don't know whether half an hour is too short to count but I thought you still had to talk to her other settings to see if there was anything they could tell you about the girl and maybe do a scrap book or similar (but not the full EYFS). Is it half an hour every day? Still adds up to 2.5 hours a week.

[Rick]

I've recently taken on a 5 year old for around 30-60 mins a day (1 or 2 days a week). By the time we've come home, had snack, drink, toilet,etc there's hardly time to do anything! Managed to squeeze in decorating a cake for mother's day last week, even though she arrived 10 mins early.

I don't do observations. I make mental notes about what he enjoys, how he plays and plan activities (if there is time) that will help him interact with the other children, behave well and enjoy himself.

I'm meeting his teacher next week and if she mentions any areas he needs help in or any that he excels in, then I'll use that in my planning. In effect, I'm hoping that the school will do the observation for me! And I can plan activities based on their observations.

I agree. I asked one of my mindees' teachers if she could fill out a contact sheet for me which she did after some persuasion then basically said she wouldn't do another one as she doesn't have time (I kind of understand). She said I could look in his learning diary and look on the display walls to see what the class is doing. If that's all that's on offer then I will have to take it! I'm lucky that I take him to school one day a week which makes this task a little easier. He is with me 2 full days as well

[supermumy]

I'm gonna start to have 2kids over 5 in morning only from 8.30 as soon as they get here we will be going in school to the school for 8.55
Their is no way I will be doing obs or lj scrap books as the child won't even be in my house for 5mins! So I may have them for 2.5 hours it all that is journey to school so no way possible

[Rick]

I'm gonna start to have 2kids over 5 in morning only from 8.30 as soon as they get here we will be going in school to the school for 8.55
Their is no way I will be doing obs or lj scrap books as the child won't even be in my house for 5mins! So I may have them for 2.5 hours it all that is journey to school so no way possible

Yes I think you have to be realistic. I might think differently if I only had my LO on the Friday where I literally pick him up from his house, take to school and vice versa in the evening. I have him on 2 full days as well so this is actually beneficial as I see his teacher once a week.

Just think about your justification should Ofsted ask. Hopefully they will be realistic also! :thumbsup:

[Kirstylob]

I agree with Karen M

I have 3 children who have started school last Sept and 1 the Sept before. I have been caring for them since they were babies and have younger siblings for 3 of them. I don't do obs or planning for any of them but I do include them in as much as I can. I only have them for about 1/2 hour before and after school so there isn't much time for anything and in the warmer weather we always take longer getting home from school as we stop at a couple of play areas on the way home. I make sure they still have the opportunity to make 'special' crafts - Mother's Day, Father's Day, Christmas etc. Photo's are taken of them playing and creating things and added to their scrapbooks for the parents to enjoy.

[Dragonfly]

I dont do anything apart from taking photos, themes and games for school children.