Week two of school embedded learning was focused around exploring planning and I also lead the story and nursery rhyme sessions in the class.
I found that the planning was heavily focused around settling in and getting to know each child. The last few children started this week so every child is still very new to the setting. My plan was to observe one morning and focus on how the teacher organised it, and although I did do this to some extent it was difficult to stand back an observe as many children needed support from the teacher, teaching assistants and myself to settle them in as several children took a while to settle in.
I found that the planning was heavily focused around settling in and getting to know each child. The last few children started this week so every child is still very new to the setting. My plan was to observe one morning and focus on how the teacher organised it, and although I did do this to some extent it was difficult to stand back an observe as many children needed support from the teacher, teaching assistants and myself to settle them in as several children took a while to settle in.
Over lunch the teacher along with other staff discussed the different groups of children that attending the nursery school. Many children spoke English as an additional language, never been to a childcare setting before, were summer born children, and around half in each class (one morning and one afternoon) were not yet fully toilet trained. Therefore it was recognised by all that this years transition into nursery school, for some children, would be a longer process to enable them feel comfortable within their surroundings and ready to flourish.
This brings me onto what stood out for me following this week in school - ratios. Elizabeth Truss pushed towards allowing more children to adults which was heavily disagreed by the early years sector and rightly so in my opinion. I believe that having more than the minimum set required child to adults ratios is highly beneficial. The nursery school could cater for up to 26 children each session, they only had a few places left and working on a 1:13 ratio. It highlighted for me that without the two support staff the settling in process would have had to be carried out at a much slower pace, and if not the consequences could be the result of many children faced with difficulties setting in. However I do acknowledge that some settings may not be able to work with higher ratios due to funding issues which leaves me with this question - How do other nursery schools manage transitions working at the minimum ratios set? I would love to hear your thoughts on this so please feel free to leave some comments, they would be much appreciated!
Pam :)
This brings me onto what stood out for me following this week in school - ratios. Elizabeth Truss pushed towards allowing more children to adults which was heavily disagreed by the early years sector and rightly so in my opinion. I believe that having more than the minimum set required child to adults ratios is highly beneficial. The nursery school could cater for up to 26 children each session, they only had a few places left and working on a 1:13 ratio. It highlighted for me that without the two support staff the settling in process would have had to be carried out at a much slower pace, and if not the consequences could be the result of many children faced with difficulties setting in. However I do acknowledge that some settings may not be able to work with higher ratios due to funding issues which leaves me with this question - How do other nursery schools manage transitions working at the minimum ratios set? I would love to hear your thoughts on this so please feel free to leave some comments, they would be much appreciated!
Pam :)