School readiness: A conceptual framework

[Simona]

A very appropriate document by UNICEF on 'school readiness'...lengthy I know but worth reading especially at a time when 'school ready' is on the agenda

http://www.unicef.org/education/file...k_FINAL(1).pdf

[clairer]

Thanks for that.

Speaking of which I have not had to do a transferral to school or nursery yet, what documents do you send?

[Simona]

Thanks for that.

Speaking of which I have not had to do a transferral to school or nursery yet, what documents do you send?

Each LA will have its own 'documents'...mine has one called 'EYFS Transfer Summary'... a summary of achievements to which I add my LJ/child's portfolio
We also have the opportunity to meet the teachers around June to pass info over to them...this meeting is arranged by my LA as it is part of the transition to nursery or reception, something Ofsted liked very much as I kept all the paperwork in my records.

[rickysmiths]

My LA does not have any.

I have never been asked for anything from any School, or Day nursery or Pre School since EYFS started in 2008. it makes a complete nonsense of the whole thing really. Until Ofsted insist on seeing how all the other settings work with us and share information with us it means nothing. All these organisations do their own Starting Points anyway I ahve not come across one that values my input at all and this is the experience of all the cm in my area. I don't think many of them have the time to read things from cms, they don't get anything from Stay at Home Mums.

I am sorry if I sound negative on this issue but that is how we are treated here.

[Simona]

My LA does not have any.

I have never been asked for anything from any School, or Day nursery or Pre School since EYFS started in 2008. it makes a complete nonsense of the whole thing really. Until Ofsted insist on seeing how all the other settings work with us and share information with us it means nothing. All these organisations do their own Starting Points anyway I ahve not come across one that values my input at all and this is the experience of all the cm in my area. I don't think many of them have the time to read things from cms, they don't get anything from Stay at Home Mums.

I am sorry if I sound negative on this issue but that is how we are treated here.

I would suggest we take this from a different angle....yes we know that some LAs do not have anything in place for transition, we also know that some schools are not interested, even day nurseries and preschools have not a solid system for sharing with CMs.... however...since 2008 in the EYFS and previously in Early Education we were encouraged and referred to sharing information, starting points and outcomes!!

If we look at the Common Core of Skills and Knowledge and the Key Elements of Effective Practice (KEEP) that is all about info sharing as is the CAF...safeguarding is Info sharing if we want to avoid tragedies such as Baby P and Daniel Pelka

The UNICEF report mentions Fabian and Dunlop...that is Prof Dunlop who is an expert on transitions and I had the pleasure of attending one of her training about transitions years and years ago, that was an eye opener!!!
so nothing is new here, maybe somewhere in the system things have deviated from good practice and we may have the opportunity now to start flagging up how this vital part of children's lives...transition...seem to have lost its priority

My inspector was very interested in how I communicated with other settings, others maybe not so keen ...some schools are very keen others may not be so...some LAs are in this others are not (nothing new here on the disparity of service they offer) lets have a system that somewhere is joined up in thinking!!
I am sure that in future we could bring this up at the #OBC meetings with Ofsted Regional Directors

Any teachers or ex teachers in this forum who would like to comment on the importance of info sharing and transitions?

[mama2three]

And here RickySmiths. One of our foundation teachers likes to have a 'quick look' as she puts it - but then admitted its more to get ideas for activities etc than to learn about the child!
I do what I can , I offer to go in and have a transition meeting , I make sure they have access to the learning journey , I do a transition report ..all designed by me as theres no such thing here as an 'approved' or LA version.
Until there is wholscale cross sector understanding of the role of a childminder , until we are as valuable as any other Early Years Educator , then this will not change. And Ofsted wanting to 'get rid / outsource us makes things worse not better. Until then ( and Im not holding my breath) Ill just keep doing what I can!

[TooEarlyForGin?]

My LA does not have any. I have never been asked for anything from any School, or Day nursery or Pre School since EYFS started in 2008. it makes a complete nonsense of the whole thing really. Until Ofsted insist on seeing how all the other settings work with us and share information with us it means nothing. All these organisations do their own Starting Points anyway I ahve not come across one that values my input at all and this is the experience of all the cm in my area. I don't think many of them have the time to read things from cms, they don't get anything from Stay at Home Mums. I am sorry if I sound negative on this issue but that is how we are treated here.

This frustrates me greatly. In 10 years of minding I have never had one school preschool or nursery contact me for any sharing of information it has always been me. And yet we see childminders downgraded for not working in partnership and yet I have local outstanding nurseries who have never contacted me. I don't understand why the pressure is consistently on us when we are sole workers, finding it more difficult to take time to visit all of the above.

[rickysmiths]

This frustrates me greatly. In 10 years of minding I have never had one school preschool or nursery contact me for any sharing of information it has always been me. And yet we see childminders downgraded for not working in partnership and yet I have local outstanding nurseries who have never contacted me. I don't understand why the pressure is consistently on us when we are sole workers, finding it more difficult to take time to visit all of the above.

hear, Hear. I think the trouble is that when Ofsted come to us it is obvious which children are also attending other settings but when they go into a school they have no idea because schools and pre schools clearly are not require to flag up children who are also using different settings and so there is no way to check how they are working with others.

My local school were extremely rude when I approached them in 2008 about sharing and I asked if they would be kind enough to give me an idea of topics to be covered in the term and they told me they couldn't talk to me it was none of my business and I should ask the parents. This Reception Class then went on to get an Outstanding! Since then I have been in and out of one Pre school, 4 Primary schools and I always introduce myself to both the Office and the teachers when I go to a new one and not once have I ever been asked for any information even when long standing mindees have started at Pre school or school Nursery and I have been their carer from 6 months old and care for them 50 hours a week!!!

What I do now is I record all I do with the child prior to going to school, I note down that I have spoken to x teacher and their response and I get the child's parent to countersign this. I then have evidence that I have tried my best to work with however and the response has been 100% negative. I leave it at that. I know I am doing a good job with my children. I am able to pick up on what is being done at school and some of them have stuff on their web sites that I can access or ask the parents to and pass it on to me.

So far Ofsted have been happy with this and until they come down hard on the other providers to work with us as I see it there is little else we can do.

[Simona]

I think we know that this has been happening for a long time...in some areas Cms are recognised as 'equal' in the care and education and in others not at all.

It is also up to LAs to promote our work and give schools and providers opportunity for info sharing...my LA does this but it has not stopped me trying to flag this problem up...lets be positive and see if we can be heard this time around.

I wrote to OFSTED recently on this very matter and received a reply but I cannot find the letter at the moment...from memory I recall I was told schools cannot be made to share if they do not want to...not really good but there we are.

I am also aware that many nurseries and pre-schools are starting to develop professional relationships with CMs...see if anyone in your area is willing to do so and get involved....once again 'joined up thinking' comes up, it seems the buzz word at the moment!

[AdeleMarie88]

I made my own Transition form when one of my first mindees left for nursery. Mom told me she handed it to the nursery, whether they did anything with it I don't know, but I felt it was important that I did something! Mom obviously also had her learning journal and a final report from me...I think it is important to provide something!

[FloraDora]

My school view:

School nurseries tend to liaise with parents first and sometimes don't know that a child has been to a childminder unless the parents gave them this information. Often the parents want to be in charge and would prefer to pass on info about a child from a childminder rather than the school talk with the childminder. We had some parents who didn't even want us to talk to a childminder on pick up - prefering us to ring them rather than for a CM to pass on a message. We did have a CM once that we liaised with really well but then heard from other parents that she was bad mouthing a child who had issues in public and saying that the school agreed with her!! Childminders are becoming a lot more professional now and the more we work towards that 'equal' status the more this working together will become the norm.

However, we put in our starting information form a space for any preschool experience other than the home and tried, with parents permission, to visit the child in their pre nursery/ school setting, talk to key workers and childminders etc..

We did appreciate the LJ - I was often shown particularly impressive examples where a lot of time had gone into producing and the teachers pinched some ideas of presentation etc.. My EY staff used the given LJ as starting points along with what the parents said and their own obs on the first few days in the setting .. It mean't some children were up and running straight away, being challenged and stimulated in their next steps, meaning that they settled quickly when activities were not too hard or easy.

We had a system of sending a photocard from the child playing in their new setting to their previous setting with some marks from children and a thankyou and acknowledgement that we had received the paperwork, which had often come through a third party.

I have to admit though that the parents were our main source of info.

Now I am becoming a childminder I can see the frustration!! I think that there needs to be a set system, but like someone mentioned, not all children attend a childminder or a pre nursery setting so it may be difficult to set up a policy/ procedure that we all follow.


Thanks Simona for signposting the document- I have just read the United Nations school readiness research. I really enjoyed reading it - although 40 pages very well written. It opened up several discussions with my OH...as I refected on the findings. .......he wondered if Mr Gove had read it??!

[Tulip]

Thanks for that, a bit of reading for later