Hi Ladies,
I am expecting my first inspection on 25th Jan, I think I am upto date with paperwork and prepared but am still nervous and worrying about a few things!
I currently mind 2 boys after school aged 6 and 9, and a 4 yr old who I pick up from nursery on Mon-Wed and only have him for approx 1.5 hrs before we walk upto the school and I drop him off with mum.

My first question would be how much would I actually be expected to do with the 4 yr old considering he is in nursery all morning and we have such a short amount of time together? I do all my EYFS planning for him, a topic each month and aim to do an activity based on this each day, followed by snack and free play, with weekly trips to the park etc. I do observations and he has a learning journal but to be honest he doesn't always want to do anything as he is tired from being at nursery all morning and I am reluctant to push him.

With my after schoolies, when they get here they have some chill out time, followed by reading and homework and tea and then its time for them to go. They know they can do art and craft etc but don't often want to and I know that mum really wants them just to do as they would at home, do you think this is adequate?

My other querie is about my garden, we have just moved house last month, the garden was a complete mess which we have cleaned up, but now it is just a concrete space and I don't have the money yet to do with it as I want, due to weather etc the kids haven't expressed a wish to play outside, they all get outside time at school/nursery and we do all school runs on foot so I think they are getting adequate outdoor time but do you think Mrs Ofsted would agree? I have a plan drawn up of what we are going to do to the garden to show her.

Oh and last question! She asked to specifically see paperwork for my 4 and 6 year old. I expected the 4 year old as he is within the EYFS but only have contracts etc for the 6 year old, am I missing something important here?

Thanks for your help and for reading my super kong essay!
Stella x

Firstly - good luck!

To answer your first question - it sounds like you are doing loads with your 4 year old so don't worry. You are being child-led - if he's tired from being at nursery that's understandable. The only thing I would add is communication with his nursery - do you share his learning journey for example? With mine I've left it at the pre-school for them to look through and there's a space for them to write comments.

With regard to the garden I wouldnt worry too much. If you show that the children have outdoor time anyway and that you have a plan for the garden it should be fine. Maybe think about what you would do if they asked to play outside? I know its hard - my lot haven't asked to go out for weeks cos its so cold and wet but we have been out on walks to and from pre-school a lot so I'm not worried.

Not sure what paperwork for a 6 year old other than contracts, child information form, permission forms etc. Do you record any activities? For example with some of my older ones they have sometimes done scientific experiments like leaving ice cubes in different places round the house to see how long they take to melt - they wrote it all down and the sheet got popped in their file.

Hope that helps, sure someone wiser than me will know more!xx

Ok
First what to do with nursery child - it is ok to have chill out time (or as I would say free play) but the important thing is working in partnership with the nursery - so for example do they share his LJ with you? do you get newsletters / information about their topics? Do you know what he has been doing all day? It is all about the mindee getting a balanced day covering all aspects of EYFS and everyone working together. So if you don't know what he has done at nuresry you can not say that chilling is what he needs (likely it is - but you need some evidence to support it)

Same with schoolies really - except most will not be EYFS - certainly not a 6 year old.

Next the garden - don't worry too much - earlier in your post you mentioned going to the park and walking to school (both of which are outdoor oportunities)

As far as I am aware she will only be interested in contracts and permission forms for 6 yr old.

Hope this is of some help - sure others will have some more advice

Penny :)

Thanks for the replies, when my 4 year old started at nursery, the same time as he started with me in September I had a chat with his teacher and we both looked at an EYFS file his previous nursery had sent with him and I made a note of what he had achieved so far. The nursery have their planning folder at the entrance so I check it regularly when I pick him up to see what he has been doing and if I can incorporate anything into my planning, I also had a little catch up at the beginning of the month with his teacher to see how he was doing and look through the learning journal they have been doing with him and their obs of him. I have made notes of these things but not extensively, do you think that is enough?
Unfortunately I haven't kept any records of activities the other boys have been doing and I really wish I had kept a scrapbook with photos etc but too late now I guess,

Stella x