A CHILDMINDER NOT WANTING TO DO EYFS

[buildingblocks]

I thoroughly agree. If people want to "Professionals" then inevitably there is some work to go with it. As I have previously said I spend 10 minutes per month per child. That is hardly time consuming.

I think that there are a lot of childminders out there who don't understand the EYFS and they need to go to their DO and ask for help.

Just playing catch up after holiday

That is all well and good if you have a good DO.

I had a phone call late last year saying we notice from our records you haven't had a visit recently (er never in 5 and a half years thank you) so we are coming to visit you (I am guessing there was a reason behind this) have you any problems.

SO I said yes struggling with the EYFS and especially the next steps part of it. She came to visit. Found fault with a lot of stuff and then in her report had made suggestions which were actually things I had brought up.

Never actually gave me any help re EYFS although others were given lots of paperwork to help them not me.

So I muddle through with lots of help from here and one or two people in particular but just remember some areas do not get a lot of help from DO's.

[buildingblocks]

So what about children who don't go into childcare? Are they disadvantaged because their parents aren't required to follow EYFS?
.

I have recently been thinking this point. As a childminder how many of you do the EYFS with your own children?

Three of my mindees came to me aged 5, 3, 2 having been home eded. THey are actually three of the brightest children you would wish to meet all acheived without the EYFS as have many others before it was brought in.

Makes me think how the EYFS makes a difference to a child. what about all those children as has been said will never be involved in child care other than there parents.

I for one did not dread the EYFS as such I class myself as a professional but struggle to get my thougths etc onto paper. Because of this I took paperwork on holiday with me to do (and finally finsihed my rough draft of the SEF thanks to Sarah's wonderful book - just need to type it up) as I have done for hte previous two holidays. i didn't want to and didn't enjoy it but it was necessary. Why because although I had a lot of paperwork in place I didn't have what was needed and I have never seemed to catch up.

Because of this I am rethinking my choice of profession and seriously considering leaving the job I love not becaue I am 'lazy' or because I don't believe in the EYFS but because I am not prepared to sacrifice the little personal life I have even further. I am hoping htat I can get a job in a nursery which I will hate but will at least give me the chance to carry on working in childcare which I havce done for over 27 years.

oops meant to add that in order to try and avoid the inevitable I am reducing my working week to either three or four days with a day off in the end to try and get myself sorted. One of hte reasons is I am due my inspection theis year and I do not want to fail or be downgraded. I will never be outstanding but I would like to retain my good. This means that this week I will be giving notice to one maybe two families when I can not afford to lose them or do not want to as I adore these children in the hope that perhaps I can get on top of it all and stay in a profession I love.

sometimes something has to give and I have realised over the past few months that although I do not like the word (as I do think it is over used) I am so stressed and I am not prepared to risk my health or my marriage for the sake of a job no matter how much I love it. So much so that I am considering going back to cleaning for a living which I did for a year.

[Chatterbox Childcare]

Just playing catch up after holiday

That is all well and good if you have a good DO.

I had a phone call late last year saying we notice from our records you haven't had a visit recently (er never in 5 and a half years thank you) so we are coming to visit you (I am guessing there was a reason behind this) have you any problems.

SO I said yes struggling with the EYFS and especially the next steps part of it. She came to visit. Found fault with a lot of stuff and then in her report had made suggestions which were actually things I had brought up.

Never actually gave me any help re EYFS although others were given lots of paperwork to help them not me.

So I muddle through with lots of help from here and one or two people in particular but just remember some areas do not get a lot of help from DO's.

If you were sold a loaf of bread in the shop and it was mouldy would you throw it away and buy another loaf or would you take it back and complain? me I would complain - it might only be £1.50 but it is my £1.50.

The EYFS is the same and if you are not getting the support that you feel you need complain and make someone come out to you again. The DO's are funded by the government somewhere and they are accountable.

[Daftbat]

[QUOTE=buildingblocks;431800]I have recently been thinking this point. As a childminder how many of you do the EYFS with your own children?

Three of my mindees came to me aged 5, 3, 2 having been home eded. THey are actually three of the brightest children you would wish to meet all acheived without the EYFS as have many others before it was brought in.

Makes me think how the EYFS makes a difference to a child. what about all those children as has been said will never be involved in child care other than there parents.

I for one did not dread the EYFS as such I class myself as a professional but struggle to get my thougths etc onto paper. Because of this I took paperwork on holiday with me to do (and finally finsihed my rough draft of the SEF thanks to Sarah's wonderful book - just need to type it up) as I have done for hte previous two holidays. i didn't want to and didn't enjoy it but it was necessary. Why because although I had a lot of paperwork in place I didn't have what was needed and I have never seemed to catch up.

Because of this I am rethinking my choice of profession and seriously considering leaving the job I love not becaue I am 'lazy' or because I don't believe in the EYFS but because I am not prepared to sacrifice the little personal life I have even further. I am hoping htat I can get a job in a nursery which I will hate but will at least give me the chance to carry on working in childcare which I havce done for over 27 years.

oops meant to add that in order to try and avoid the inevitable I am reducing my working week to either three or four days with a day off in the end to try and get myself sorted. One of hte reasons is I am due my inspection theis year and I do not want to fail or be downgraded. I will never be outstanding but I would like to retain my good. This means that this week I will be giving notice to one maybe two families when I can not afford to lose them or do not want to as I adore these children in the hope that perhaps I can get on top of it all and stay in a profession I love.

sometimes something has to give and I have realised over the past few months that although I do not like the word (as I do think it is over used) I am so stressed and I am not prepared to risk my health or my marriage for the sake of a job no matter how much I love it. So much so that I am considering going back to cleaning for a living which I did for a year.[/QUOTE]

Hi,
I read your post and felt really sad. You are obviously a dedicated childminder and have done your "homework" with the help of Sarah's books etc.

I was in a similar situation to you earlier this year - i had received the EYFS pack and kept getting it out and found myself more confused each time. I knew i had an inspection due and thought i had got things covered.

I then found this site. I used Srah's books and will freely admit that i spent ALL DAY one saturday - at least 10 hours sorting out my SEF and looking again at EYFS and working out a strategy for working within it in my setting.

Since then i have found that so long as i keep up to date i am not spending more than 15 mins per child per week keeping things going. I often do writing up obs etc whilst children are free playing, or asleep. I teamed up with another minder and we do monthly planning together over a coffee - about 30 mins of brainstorming whilst our mindees are happy together playing.

In February i was inspected and having got Good in the past i was amazed that i received Outstanding this time. If i can do it - anyone can. Don't delve too deep into things. Short notes and links to development is all that inspectors are looking for. Planning can be brief, but so long as it is inclusive and well thought out its fine.

I feel sure from what you have said that you would maintain your grading anyway and the children you are considering giving notice too would be best served by having a loving, friendly environment continued by you still caring for them. Going back to cleaning?????? Are you mad????? I don't mean to sound patronising but your skills will go to waste.

I freely told my inspector that i was overwhelmed with the eyfs paperwork when it came. She agreed that sometimes it can take a while for things to "click" and for people to see that lots of things they are doing are exactly what Ofsted are looking for anyway. I am no mastermind and all of us on the forum are here to help.

[youarewhatyoueat]

A few points I just want to reply to, Yes Debbie the do's are funded but my nearest is over 35 miles away and has a huge area to cover. I also feel just like building blocks and I work a 3 day week minding and do cleaning on a couple of others, I have considered upping my hours for minding but I honestly don't think I could do it, i'm swamped with doing the nvq3 and I have 4 children of my own. I came into cm to enable me to return to work while looking after my own children but it's taken me ages just to get all my paperwork in order so I can do eyfs correctly, I still haven't done my sef and frankly I've had enough, I'm going to finish my nvq and get a job working for someone else so I don't have to bring my work home and I can have my life back. It could all have been a lot easier, if the whole point of eyfs was to standardize everything then the paperwork could have been set up in advance for us, and then it wouldn't be as competitive as it now is and people wouldn't be selling their own paperwork for profit.

[mrs c]

and I have 4 children of my own. I came into cm to enable me to return to work while looking after my own children but it's taken me ages just to get all my paperwork in order so I can do eyfs correctly
Same here - only thing is even though I have spent hours upon hours doing paperwork, I'm still not sure that what I am doing is correct. My husband is also commenting on how irritable I have become.

[sarah707]

Same here - only thing is even though I have spent hours upon hours doing paperwork, I'm still not sure that what I am doing is correct. My husband is also commenting on how irritable I have become.

It shouldn't take hours once you've got it all in place...

It should take a short time updating it when the children are playing then a bit of time at the weekend sorting out next week and doing the odd update through the year.

You can diary updates so you do a main part of your paperwork every month eg risk assessments in September, menus in December, Portfolio in March etc. That way you're not trying to do everything at once and overloading yourself.

If you really are taking that long doing paperwork and getting in a frazzle then I think you need to consider what forms you are using and what you can cut down without affecting the children's experience.

For example, if you are planning every activity and then the children don't do them, stop and let the children's interests take over. Instead try planning some in advance (routines, multicultural stuff etc) and the rest when it has happened... retrospective planning shows you are following the children and it's as important as all the rest.

If you are spending lots of time writing up pages of observations on each child each week then stop and ask yourself who is going to read them. Instead keep the notes brief, just enough to show evidence of progression and next steps ...

If it is affecting your family life then you must stop and evaluate.

Hope this helps

[ORKSIE]

This is my personal opinion..i love EYFS. I really enjoy doing ROA's, My Mindees love talikng them home to show mum and Dad.
I hated Birth to 3, didnt know where to put anything.
I totally respect others point of view. but this is mine

[Pipsqueak]

This is my personal opinion..i love EYFS. I really enjoy doing ROA's, My Mindees love talikng them home to show mum and Dad.
I hated Birth to 3, didnt know where to put anything.
I totally respect others point of view. but this is mine

Don't sit on the fence here SLC - say what you mean

[ORKSIE]

Don't sit on the fence here SLC - say what you mean

LMAO I wont

[estrelas]

:

Don't sit on the fence here SLC - say what you mean

I agree tho, i find EYFS fairly easy, i only do about ten mins a day

[Tups]

Sorry, everyone, I should have said that my wife's name is Pat.

Here are a couple of links to some videos that go some way to illustrating the points I was making.

The first is a 10 minute clip from the OpenEYE group called 'Too Much, Too Soon'. It is introduced by Dr Penelope Leach who was, up until a few months ago, the president of the NCMA and who is a supporter of the OpenEYE group.

The second is a 30 minute programme from Teacher's TV called How Do They Do It In Sweden? This one is really worth watching so, if we get a wet Bank Holiday weekend, reserve yourself half an hour with a cup or a glass of whatever you like to drink and sit back and watch in envy.

Hi Arthur it,s me Ann glad i gave you this site that was really interesting discussion ann x

[sarah707]

Have you seen the hits on this thread!

It's been a great debate.

I know it's been mentioned on a few other forums as well so maybe it's got people thinking ...

[Chatterbox Childcare]

Have you seen the hits on this thread!

It's been a great debate.

I know it's been mentioned on a few other forums as well so maybe it's got people thinking ...

I couldn't believe the number when I saw it and just came in to see other people's point of views.

I feel that it is a shame that depending on where you live decides on what support you get.

[Pipsqueak]

I couldn't believe the number when I saw it and just came in to see other people's point of views.

I feel that it is a shame that depending on where you live decides on what support you get.

It is a shame that there isn't the support systems out there for people - in the form of EY's peoples or CDO's etc BUT (and now I am really going to put the cat amongst the pigeons) - there are other sources of support that people can access - even in the form of books, internet, magazines, other childminders, nursery staff, playgroups, even the EYFS cd has quite a bit of information on it etc etc etc.

I am the sort of person who gets where the wind doesn't and I am quite forward in asking for help or having a nosey at other settings and picking their brains.

Its good that this thread has got people talking and tbh I enjoy the EYFS overall - I love delving into the research side of it (negative and positive) and making my own mind up about it all and seeing how it fits (or not) what I do.

[Allie]

The EYFS isn't perfect but neither was the lack of respect childminders used to enjoy.

When I started earning a good income from childminding 16/17 years ago every week someone would ask me when I was going to go back to work or refered to my earnings as pin money.

Now I enjoy the respect of local pre schools, schools, parents, family and friends who recognise the extra training and experience I have, no one mentions getting a proper job (and haven't done for some years)

Being a professional means something to me and complying with EYFS commitments is part of that professional image


Allie

[The Juggler]

Now I enjoy the respect of local pre schools, schools, parents, family and friends who recognise the extra training and experience I have, no one mentions getting a proper job (and haven't done for some years)

Being a professional means something to me and complying with EYFS commitments is part of that professional image


Allie[/QUOTE]



I agree. Though there are a lot of childminders who don't appear to want that respect or be seen as childcare professionals, they are happy with the old image.

[Mouse]

Though there are a lot of childminders who don't appear to want that respect or be seen as childcare professionals, they are happy with the old image.

This is what I was saying many posts ago!

For those of us who want to present a more professional image, EYFS is putting us on a more even footing with other settings (though many of the still don't realise quite what we do )

But there are childminders out there who really don't worry about their image and are happy to be seen as someone earning a bit of 'pin money'. It doesn't make them bad childminders.

[Mouse]

Have you seen the hits on this thread!

It's been a great debate.

I know it's been mentioned on a few other forums as well so maybe it's got people thinking ...

It's been a very enjoyable debate. I think everyone's views are respected, even though we don't all agree.

[Rach30]

.I do think the EYFS is better than what we had before (national standards) as it means that all childcare professionals are working to the same standards and levells of care. I think this gives childminders a more professional status. However as each childcare professional / setting is different (ie daycare nurserys are different to sessional care which is different to foundation classes in schools which is again different to childminders ) then EYFS is open to alot of interpretation , and quite rightly so IMO. I don't do much more than i did before eyfs was intorduced . A few extra policies , a couple more risk assessments but once they're done they're done . I used to do observations and work out what activities to do next but they were never written down . Now i do VERY simple obs / asssment / planning and like Debbs only spend about 10mins per month per child. there really is no need to over complicate things. I think the reason parents choose childminding over other types of childcare (apart from us being cheaper !lol) is because we are as near as damn it to the child being in there own home . And i think in these times when a lot of families need childcare because they have to work (through choice or nesescity) then childminding is really a very important service to provide. I have read somewhere of some reasearch done that proves that children who spend a large amount of time in a day nursery from a young age generally dont do as well as children who spent time at home with a parent. We are home from home . And it don't get much better than that !