Need help with observations please?

[rhea26]

Hi I am a newly registered child minder not yet minding, I am slightly confused with doing the obs, I missed the bit of the training when this was covered and am now worrying I won't do them as ofsted want, can someone please explain how to do them and what they should include?
Thanks.

[sarah707]

An observation is a snap shot of a child's learning and development.

It might be something the child says or something s/he does which you want to note.

You might make a note because the child has done something stunning or because you want to remember an interest or something which tells you how the child is learning and developing.

If you work closely with the ages and stages information in the Eyfs it will give you examples of how you can support the child.

Hth

[guest4]

Hi!
Maybe an example to help you?

Yesterday, I was reading a story with one of my mindees (aged 1 and very new to setting) she turned a page and pointed to "star" !! I didn't know she knew the name of this shape, so after sharing the story together I jotted down (on a post it note) the date, STAR and her name. I will then use this for my planning for the child, cutting out different size stars and letting her stick them on to a "firemans hat" (which is our topic for this week!).

Don't think that you need to write huge amounts for an obs, just what you have actually seen or heard. Sometimes a photo will be enough.

Ofsted are just looking to see whether you are using what you know about an individual child to plan activities and opportunities for them to develop this knowledge further.

Hope this helps??

Good luck,
Tracey x

[blue bear]

we all do them slightly different so don't worry about doing them wrong, just make sure they are relevant and you use them to plan from.

I write down what I have seen then look it up in the eyfs book and link to development matters, then write plan on what to do next from eyfs book then I'll write at a later date what I actually did do. This is all linked with my daily palnning sheet, childs daily diary and learning journey.

After a while you remember big chunks from the book and don't need to keep looking things up and you get quicker at it.

I generally write down anything new 'milestones' and also aim to observe once a term (6 weeks) so will plan an obs in that time if nothing new has been noted.

try and keep it simple, don't make an opinion just write what you saw.

Hope this helps