Are you doing too much..?

[sarah707]

I was quite shocked to read a recent thread on the Independent Childminders Facebook page discussing how many observations members write for each of the ‘typical behaviour’ statements in Early Years Outcomes.

Some colleagues were saying that they had been told by LA advisors to write 2 or even 3 separate observations for each of the Early Years Outcomes statements!

This question – and the answers I read - is wrong on so many levels…
• Early Years Outcomes is not and was never meant to be used as a tick list;
• We do not need to record an observation for every Early Years Outcomes statement to prove that a child is making progress;
• Children do hundreds of things that are not listed in Early Years Outcomes – are some colleagues so focused on the ‘typical behaviour’ statements that these are being forgotten?
• We are professionals and can use our judgement about what children can and cannot do – we do not need everything written down;
• How much time are childminders wasting looking for 3 observations for a set of random statements that were never meant to be a child development list?
• How much time and energy are childminders wasting writing unnecessary information in files that serves no useful purpose and will never be read?

Let me give you some of the history behind this … when teachers are writing a child’s profile document at the end of reception year, they are expected to note 3 observations to show that the child has attained the Early Learning Goals (ELGs). At no point was this an expectation for childminders using Early Years Outcomes…

Let’s just remember for a moment that teachers are paid significantly more per hour than childminders… they get PPA time to complete paperwork (time away from children)... they have long holidays during which they can complete children’s files… they have classroom assistants to help them note observations… they have significantly more training than most childminders - no offence intended to childminders who used to be teachers but you know what I mean!

Observations must be meaningful – they should reflect the child’s learning story – they should tell you and parents and passing Ofsted inspectors what the child is doing and saying and how well the child is progressing. In some cases, observations are used to flag up concerns about a child’s learning and development that might need addressing either by planning activities to support future learning or through a referral to other agencies or professionals. At NO point did anyone in Ofsted or DfE say that observations should be repetitive, over complicated, focused solely on Early Years Outcomes or a paperwork burden!

The whole point of DfE giving us Early Years Outcomes in Nov 2013 was to cut down on paperwork … yet some childminders are clearly still doing more documentation than is necessary which is taking their time away from the children and their own families. Is this a contributing factor to the loss of childminders at the moment? I am sure it is … and it doesn’t need to be because it is not and has never been a requirement of the EYFS or an Ofsted expectation to write 3 observations for every EYO ‘typical behaviour’ statement.

So… to try and answer the ‘how many observations do I have to do?’ question…
An observation must be meaningful – it must mean something to the child’s parents and to you, as the child’s early education provider. It should talk about the child and focus on them and should tell you about the child’s interests and learning styles – about what the child can and cannot do – about what the child is saying – about what the child might need to learn next.

How many observations = ‘enough’ is a tricky question because we all work differently. I do about 6 a month –
• 1 x short observation inside the house
• 1 x short observation outside in the garden
• 1 x short observation from the child’s family
• 1 x short observation on an outing
• 1 x longer observation to focus on an area of provision or something I am worried about or something I feel I might have missed
• 1 x longer observation linked to a planned activity.
Note - if children attend another setting I try and get an observation every month or so from there as well.

Some observations have photos attached to them and some don’t … I am not photo mad. I don’t get hung up about doing 6 observations a month either – some months it doesn’t happen because we are busy doing something else and some months I might do a few more.

When I assess observations against Early Years Outcomes I don’t try and find exact wording or spend hours looking for direct links to the wording in Early Years Outcomes. I simply look for a ‘best fit’ link – I use my professional judgement and knowledge about the child and child development to say, ‘yes the child is making good progress’ and then, if relevant, think about what we are going to work on next.

I don’t have a ‘next step’ plan for every observation either! That is not expected, needed or necessary – in fact, I would say it’s totally unnecessary. Some observations are stand alone, saying how well the child is doing with something… others are to say that the child has achieved… and for other observations a simple ‘carry on doing the same thing’ is all that is needed.

We need to knock some of these myths on their heads ... no wonder we are losing good childminders if they are doing silly amounts of paperwork!! xx



Edited to include links to the rest of this series of blogs -

Blog 2 - Are you doing too much?
Are you doing too much..?

Blog 3 - part 1 - Are you doing too much?
Are you doing too much? Blog 3 - part 1

Blog 3 - part 2 - Are you doing too much?
Are you doing too much? Blog 3 - part 2

Hth