Childminders are a dedicated lot - but that does not mean we have to let the job take over our home and family lives!

In my post 'are you doing too much?' I talked about cutting down on written observations, getting children's Learning Journey files to a 'sustainable' level and ensuring observations are meaningful - http://www.childmindinghelp.co.uk/fo...-too-much.html.

We observe all the time - every minute of every day when we are playing with the children - there is no requirement in the Eyfs or any other Ofsted / DfE document I have ever read to constantly write things down.

During our recent inspection, our inspector browsed the children's files looking for evidence of parental input and checking that they reflected what the child can do and how we were moving them forward - but she was far more interested in how we explained their progress.

My 2nd 'are you doing too much?' blog focuses on Early Years Outcomes (EYO) and one of my bug-bears of the moment - childminders who tell me 'someone' has told them that they must link every observation to a statement in EYO... and then use it like some sort of ladder, moving children through the statements sequentially.

EYO is guidance - and yes it is Ofsted's guidance of choice to check children are making progress - but it is not and was never meant to be a tick or check or dated list. I respectfully draw your attention to the comments I have quoted from Nancy Stewart who co-wrote Development Matters with Helen Moylett...

I look forward to your feedback - Early Years Outcomes is not a tick list..! - Independent Childminders.

Thank you