Conversation cards from Laura Henry
Laura Henry from the Laura Henry Consultancy kindly sent us some question prompt cards for use with our childminded children recently… thank you Laura!
The little box contains 48 cards which have been written to promote ‘Confident Talkers – Conversations for Early Years’.
The aim of the cards is to ‘create conversation for families, schools and organisations’ and ‘assist children to think critically' – linking learning to the characteristics of effective teaching and learning.
I promised Laura that I would blog about the cards once I had used them with the children. We have 4 children in our childminding provision who we think will most benefit from using the cards at the moment – they are aged between 3 and 6 years old.
The cards are colour coded in different groups – you can either work through each colour one after the other or you can mix them up depending on how you want to use them with the children. You might find it useful to spend time looking through the cards before you introduce them to the children so you get to know the type of questions they suggest and think about how you might use them depending on different children’s ages and developmental stages.
Using the cards…
The cards can be used as part of planned or spontaneous play and during one-to-one and group language games to prompt conversation. We chat to children throughout the day and plan a time every day to have a proper conversation with the children – it’s not a ‘circle time’ like they have in school but it is a similar type of session when a practitioner is totally dedicated to a group of children without having to respond to distractions. We are often sitting together at the table eating lunch or tea.
We decided to plan some of our conversation sessions based on the ‘confident talkers’ cards, choosing questions which prompted children to carefully consider their answers … of course, we ask open-ended questions every day during our play but the cards added a different dimension because the children could choose a card each from the pile and then answer the question. The younger children listened to the older ones first and were then keen to join in.
We also thought about when the cards might be useful … and have started choosing a card or two and challenging ourselves to include the open question prompt during children’s play sessions.
You can buy the cards here.
Note - 10% of sales from the cards will be donated to charity. The charity supports young people in Laura’s home country of St Lucia.
Tuesday, 21 July 2015
Friday, 2 January 2015
Childminders and children with absent parents
Childminders are in an excellent position to be able to offer a very flexible environment for all children and their families and should constantly reflect on our provisions to ensure we continue to provide a service which is appropriate for the needs of the children in our care at the time.
Families become damaged or fractured for many reasons including having a parent who, for example…
• Is in the armed forces and goes away on tour for extended periods;
• Lives in prison;
• Has died;
• Has left the family home and no longer plays an active part of the child’s life;
• Has left the family home and sees the child every other day on a rota;
• Works away during the week and is only home at weekends;
• Lives a long way away from the family home and wants to be involved but struggles because of distance.
Such living arrangements can cause a lot of challenges both for the parent who is on their own caring for the child and for the child himself. We need to understand the pressures on the child and their family so they can effectively support them through difficult periods.
How children react
When a child is struggling with frequent moves (such as the regular 2 year military deployment cycle) or missing an absent parent, practitioners might notice that they find it hard to appropriately express how they are feeling and either go quiet or act out the upset in their head through behaviour challenges. Similarly, children dealing with the loss of a parent might suddenly cling to the parent who is at home and not want them to leave in the morning or cry and need a cuddle from their key person during the day for no apparent reason.
Many practitioners find that the child is likely to be withdrawn and more overtly emotional as they remember their absent parent and worry about where they are and what they are doing.
Supporting the child
Managing misunderstandings - media reports about war, prison conditions etc can leave children uncertain about what is happening to their absent parent. Plus as we all know children are very good at ear wigging and getting the wrong end of the stick about things that are said around them. The practitioner needs to be alert to such misunderstandings to try and support the child to more fully understand what is happening around him.
Knowing where the absent parent is - it can often help if the child is able to visualise where their absent parent is geographically… working with their families, childminders might help the child to put together photo albums or maps showing where in the country or abroad they are currently living.
Communication - if absent parents are able to send postcards or letters and photographs children should be encouraged to share them with other children in the provision so the child whose parent is away feels special. Children might like to write to their absent parents and this should be encouraged. Little pictures, letters, cards, photos etc can all be sent from the child either by letter or email (with written permission from the resident parent first). If the provision has access to Skype the child might even be able to chat to their absent parent every so often to help them feel closer to home.
Managing grief - if a parent has died or left the family home without warning and is not coming back the child might respond well to grief counselling and this should always be advised. Meanwhile practitioners can support the child by finding out what the resident parent says has happened so everyone tells the same story. There are books and other resources available which might be useful and practitioner bereavement training is recommended.
Being sensitive - there are, as discussed earlier, a lot of reasons why parents might be absent from home. One of these is that they might have been sent to prison. If this happens to a child’s parent in the provision you might need to consider carefully how you tackle certain subjects. For example, if you are doing a ‘people who help us’ theme it is possible the child and their family will not have positive feelings about the police service!
Developing emotional vocabulary - the practitioner needs to spend time working with the child to develop his emotional vocabulary so he can say how he feels. This will support him to speak and role play rather than exhibit unwanted behaviours.
Being honest - most of all practitioners need to be honest within the child’s level of understanding – their absent parent loves them very much but because of circumstances / their job / their relationship etc they cannot be here at the moment. The child needs to understand that the parent is not absent because of something they have done or said.
Role play - one of the best ways of supporting children is through role play which helps them to make sense of what is happening around them. Children should be encouraged to dress up and take on various personas in their play. By doing this they will act out different roles and scenarios and work things out in their heads.
Physical and war related role play
If children are from a military background practitioners might find they want to role play their father or mother’s work and might appear with toy guns or services related small world toys. Having worked with children for many years I would also say that some of them can make guns out of just about anything if they are that way inclined, including their fingers and a couple of pieces of Lego™ joined together.
Each childminder needs to reflect on their own feelings about allowing children to role play using toys which can reflect the violence in our world. Plus, of course, you need to consider where the line will be drawn – are water guns ok? What about ‘Star Wars’ figures or characters linked to popular children’s films? How about if the children want to play pirates – are knives and cutlasses ok?
This is an interesting article from Education.com which will help you with your decision making.
Family reactions to separation
Families react to separations (divorce, death, working away from the home etc) in different ways. For example, research has shown that if parents have warning that they are going to leave the family home, maybe for a prison sentence or if there is a divorce pending, before the parent goes away they might start to withdraw from family life as they mentally prepare for the trials ahead. This may cause young children to think they have done something wrong… why is mummy or daddy not responding to them in the same way as they did before?
Similarly practitioners might find that children are being told stories by separated and divorced parents which are causing them upset. Some children are used as puppets in such situations and practitioners might find, temporarily, that their provision is the only safe haven the child has during the week.
Supporting children’s families
As childminders we are aware that it is not only the children who need ongoing support… we are often used as sounding boards by parents as well and the childminder / parent relationship can often become blurred as emotions run high. The parent left at home might be struggling or not coping as well as normal because of financial or other worries which will make the situation even harder.
Childminders are in a very difficult position – parents come into our homes and trust us to care for their children. They also have to tell us various personal details so that we can understand how to look after their child. At the same time, many childminders find that parents lean on them quite heavily in times of family crisis, sometimes expecting them to take sides.
While we strive to be flexible, an hour of heated or upset discussion at the end of a busy day, a third late paid invoice, a trying day with a difficult and very upset child followed by a parent who doesn’t appear to want to go home … can cause them serious family issues themselves!
It is important to remain as professional as possible. The childminder needs to ask the child’s family what s/he can do to support them and understand that they miss their absent partners too… they might appreciate someone to talk to or a shoulder if they are feeling a bit tearful.
However, at the same time, a certain professional distance must be maintained and the childminder must never take sides in a family argument.
Sharing information with absent family members
Newsletters, photos of the child at play and information from daily diaries / developmental notes can be emailed. Children’s art work can be scanned (by the children if they are old enough) and sent to absent parents and children can use the internet to chat with their absent parents (as appropriate).
However, before this happens the childminder must have written permission from the child’s resident parent and must be registered with the information Commissioners Office (www.ico.gov.uk) before information is shared electronically.
If the parent returns
Some parents are not going to come back. Words like ‘gone away’ and ‘with the angels’ do not help a child whose parent has died to understand that he is not coming back. I have talked about death in a previous blog here.
Similarly, parents who have left the home for a lengthy prison stay or who have moved across the country after a divorce will be less visible in their lives and in some cases might never return.
When / if the parent does come back there will be a huge rush of emotion and excitement, perhaps tinged with the worry that they are likely to go away again. The absent parent may find that they struggle to adapt to the new family routine which can cause further upset to all concerned.
There are agencies to support parents and their families and childminders should keep the details handy. Many childminders have an ‘information file for parents’ or similar folder which contains leaflets about local support services and a list of relevant books and agencies which might be useful. More information and advice can be found –
• Benefits advice from AdviceUK.
• Benefits for forces personnel from HMForces.co.uk.
• Citizens Advice Bureau .
• For children whose fathers are deployed contact SSAFA or the Royal British Legion.
Friday, 12 December 2014
Childminders and food allergy legislation
The EU food regulations are changing from 13th December 2014 and all early years providers who provide food for children (including snacks, food used in crafts and meals) must comply - including childminders. The Food Standards Agency have provided advice about the changes for childminders here.
14 common allergens have been recognised and we must record what food we give children each day so that we can inform parents what their child has eaten if they ask us for the information.
How are you complying with the changes?
At Knutsford Childminding we are using the ‘scribble what children have eaten down each day’ method of recording what food has been provided for children. We are busy and this is one more layer of paperwork we don’t need… but the ‘scribble it down’ method has been in place for a few weeks and we have found it to be successful.
We have also provided parents with information about the new legislation in our newsletters and our chef has taken a training course (details to follow) and displayed the certificate.
We have taken the opportunity to chat to parents about the new regulations and ask them to re-confirm whether their children have any diagnosed allergies … but of course it’s not always the child with known allergies who reacts to food, so we are happy to comply with the new EU regulations.
The change in regulations has led to some childminders to decide that they do not want to provide food any more and from January they will be asking parents to send in packed lunches. Here is some advice for childminders who ask parents to bring in food for their children to eat…
Healthy eating
If the food parents put in their child’s lunch box is not considered healthy it is possible that you will be downgraded and / or actioned by Ofsted at inspection. We have information from a group member that on the day she was being inspected a child had a biscuit in their lunch box – our member’s action is that she must work more closely with parents to ensure children eat healthily.
So, if parents bring food you will need to have a conversation with them about the contents of their child's lunch box - getting the right balance between carbs, fruit and veg, protein, dairy, fat and sugar. It might be a good idea to make a healthy lunch box leaflet to share with parents with ideas for ensuring children are offered a variety of different foods through the week – you will be able to show your inspector that you have given parents healthy eating information.
If you do this you might also include information that early years children (up to the age of 4) should not be given low fat foods and need a little sugar and fat in their diets. There is a useful booklet from the Caroline Walker Trust to refer to when putting together your leaflet – and you might also share it with parents.
Some childminders have a healthy eating policy in writing to give to parents. It is not a requirement of the EYFS to have a written healthy eating policy – the requirement is to be able to explain your healthy eating policy to parents and an inspector. However, if you do have a written policy, you can add information to that about healthy lunch box contents and what you will do if the child arrives with an inappropriate balance of food in their lunch box.
Independence
Ofsted are looking for children being independent during meal times – opening their own yoghurts, setting the table, preparing their own food as part of their daily routine, finding their own plates, pouring drinks, serving their friends, helping to clear the table etc.
You might need to consider how to make sure you promote independence for children who bring packed lunches in the same way as you would for children if you were all making lunch in the kitchen together because their food is already prepared so they can’t help with that part of the routine.
Some problems you might encounter...
You need to think about what you will do if –
• Parents forget to bring lunch;
• Parents do not provide enough food or the child says s/he is still hungry after eating;
• Parents provide too much food for their child;
• The child wants what another child is eating;
• The child does not eat the food parents have provided.
Will you give children extra food – and if so, will you charge parents for the food? If you decide to charge extra you will need to publish your lunch cost somewhere and check parents are happy with the extra charge – and you will need to make sure you have appropriate food in the house for the child to eat. How much will you charge? When will you ask parents for the money? What if they refuse to pay, saying they can’t afford it or they have provided a lunch and you shouldn’t have given their child extra?
What if children bring unsuitable food and drink – a can of coke and a bag of salty crisps? Will you put it back in the lunch box or let them eat it – what will you say to parents – how will you deal with the inevitable tantrum if you don’t let children eat what they have brought? Will you offer the child healthy alternatives if they don’t have enough food in their lunch box without the food you are refusing to let them eat – what will you do if the alternatives you offer are not eaten and the food goes into the bin … and the child is hungry later?
How will you tackle it if parents are sending too much food for their child’s dietary needs and their child is overeating? We have a duty of care to ensure children are fed appropriately through the day and not over-fed – especially with the rise in infant obesity. The Infant and Toddler Forum contains useful information which you can share with parents about portion sizes.
Childminders who ask parents to send in packed lunches report there is often food jealousy between the children with one child asking for something another child has got because they feel they are missing out. Think about how you will manage this to minimise issues.
Storing packed lunches
To comply with food hygiene legislation you need to ensure lunch boxes are stored appropriately in a fridge which is temperature checked to between 0 – 5 degrees each day. Safer Food Better Business for Childminders (which every childminder should be using) does not say that childminders have to write down the fridge temperature unless there is a problem – in which case you will need to record the problem and what you did to resolve it in your Safer Food Better Business file. There is a print friendly version of Safer Food Better Business for childminders here.
Do you have enough room in your fridge for lunch boxes? What about on a Monday morning when you have your family shopping in there from the weekend? You will also need to ensure lunch boxes are kept separately from raw food and unwashed vegetables – preferably on their own shelf. Are lunch boxes sent by parents clean? What will you do if a child regularly arrives with a dirty, smelly lunch box or if it is not cleaned out properly each day? How will you tackle it with parents?
Allergen legislation
Regardless of whether parents supply food or you make it for children, you need to know what each child eats through the day to ensure you comply with the new EU food legislation.
Will you have a ‘no peanuts’ policy? What if a child in your provision is allergic to nuts – how will you manage the situation if another parent repeatedly sends nuts for their child to eat? You might find it useful to think about where children sit for lunch if they are eating a packed lunch which contains food that other children round the table are not allowed to eat.
If children drop food on the floor you will need to pick it up immediately to ensure other children to not eat it to keep children safe. If a child mistakenly eats food that contains any of the 14 allergens you will need to record it and share the information with parents.
You might find this food allergy training (with certificate at the end) useful.
Outings
If you take children on outings you need to think about how you will safely transport the lunch boxes while keeping contents cold. If you buy food for children on outings (any food) you will be required, from 13th Dec 2014, to know the contents so you can share the information with parents on request. Most childminders are using their mobile phones to take photos of labels so they can be downloaded later and put into a file in case they are asked about the food the child has eaten at a later date.
Similarly, if you visit friends houses or go to groups and eat food there, you will need to write down what the child has eaten, including allergen information, so you can share the information with parents on request. You could, of course, take your own snacks / meals with you.
You will find more links and information about the allergy legislation changes here in free downloads on the Childminding Forum.
I have updated e-book 21 ‘Healthy Eating’ from Knutsford Childminding to include information and advice about food allergies – please contact me if you have an old copy and would like me to send you a free update.
If you have any questions about the new food allergy requirements or about healthy lunch boxes, please ask.
14 common allergens have been recognised and we must record what food we give children each day so that we can inform parents what their child has eaten if they ask us for the information.
How are you complying with the changes?
At Knutsford Childminding we are using the ‘scribble what children have eaten down each day’ method of recording what food has been provided for children. We are busy and this is one more layer of paperwork we don’t need… but the ‘scribble it down’ method has been in place for a few weeks and we have found it to be successful.
We have also provided parents with information about the new legislation in our newsletters and our chef has taken a training course (details to follow) and displayed the certificate.
We have taken the opportunity to chat to parents about the new regulations and ask them to re-confirm whether their children have any diagnosed allergies … but of course it’s not always the child with known allergies who reacts to food, so we are happy to comply with the new EU regulations.
The change in regulations has led to some childminders to decide that they do not want to provide food any more and from January they will be asking parents to send in packed lunches. Here is some advice for childminders who ask parents to bring in food for their children to eat…
Healthy eating
If the food parents put in their child’s lunch box is not considered healthy it is possible that you will be downgraded and / or actioned by Ofsted at inspection. We have information from a group member that on the day she was being inspected a child had a biscuit in their lunch box – our member’s action is that she must work more closely with parents to ensure children eat healthily.
So, if parents bring food you will need to have a conversation with them about the contents of their child's lunch box - getting the right balance between carbs, fruit and veg, protein, dairy, fat and sugar. It might be a good idea to make a healthy lunch box leaflet to share with parents with ideas for ensuring children are offered a variety of different foods through the week – you will be able to show your inspector that you have given parents healthy eating information.
If you do this you might also include information that early years children (up to the age of 4) should not be given low fat foods and need a little sugar and fat in their diets. There is a useful booklet from the Caroline Walker Trust to refer to when putting together your leaflet – and you might also share it with parents.
Some childminders have a healthy eating policy in writing to give to parents. It is not a requirement of the EYFS to have a written healthy eating policy – the requirement is to be able to explain your healthy eating policy to parents and an inspector. However, if you do have a written policy, you can add information to that about healthy lunch box contents and what you will do if the child arrives with an inappropriate balance of food in their lunch box.
Independence
Ofsted are looking for children being independent during meal times – opening their own yoghurts, setting the table, preparing their own food as part of their daily routine, finding their own plates, pouring drinks, serving their friends, helping to clear the table etc.
You might need to consider how to make sure you promote independence for children who bring packed lunches in the same way as you would for children if you were all making lunch in the kitchen together because their food is already prepared so they can’t help with that part of the routine.
Some problems you might encounter...
You need to think about what you will do if –
• Parents forget to bring lunch;
• Parents do not provide enough food or the child says s/he is still hungry after eating;
• Parents provide too much food for their child;
• The child wants what another child is eating;
• The child does not eat the food parents have provided.
Will you give children extra food – and if so, will you charge parents for the food? If you decide to charge extra you will need to publish your lunch cost somewhere and check parents are happy with the extra charge – and you will need to make sure you have appropriate food in the house for the child to eat. How much will you charge? When will you ask parents for the money? What if they refuse to pay, saying they can’t afford it or they have provided a lunch and you shouldn’t have given their child extra?
What if children bring unsuitable food and drink – a can of coke and a bag of salty crisps? Will you put it back in the lunch box or let them eat it – what will you say to parents – how will you deal with the inevitable tantrum if you don’t let children eat what they have brought? Will you offer the child healthy alternatives if they don’t have enough food in their lunch box without the food you are refusing to let them eat – what will you do if the alternatives you offer are not eaten and the food goes into the bin … and the child is hungry later?
How will you tackle it if parents are sending too much food for their child’s dietary needs and their child is overeating? We have a duty of care to ensure children are fed appropriately through the day and not over-fed – especially with the rise in infant obesity. The Infant and Toddler Forum contains useful information which you can share with parents about portion sizes.
Childminders who ask parents to send in packed lunches report there is often food jealousy between the children with one child asking for something another child has got because they feel they are missing out. Think about how you will manage this to minimise issues.
Storing packed lunches
To comply with food hygiene legislation you need to ensure lunch boxes are stored appropriately in a fridge which is temperature checked to between 0 – 5 degrees each day. Safer Food Better Business for Childminders (which every childminder should be using) does not say that childminders have to write down the fridge temperature unless there is a problem – in which case you will need to record the problem and what you did to resolve it in your Safer Food Better Business file. There is a print friendly version of Safer Food Better Business for childminders here.
Do you have enough room in your fridge for lunch boxes? What about on a Monday morning when you have your family shopping in there from the weekend? You will also need to ensure lunch boxes are kept separately from raw food and unwashed vegetables – preferably on their own shelf. Are lunch boxes sent by parents clean? What will you do if a child regularly arrives with a dirty, smelly lunch box or if it is not cleaned out properly each day? How will you tackle it with parents?
Allergen legislation
Regardless of whether parents supply food or you make it for children, you need to know what each child eats through the day to ensure you comply with the new EU food legislation.
Will you have a ‘no peanuts’ policy? What if a child in your provision is allergic to nuts – how will you manage the situation if another parent repeatedly sends nuts for their child to eat? You might find it useful to think about where children sit for lunch if they are eating a packed lunch which contains food that other children round the table are not allowed to eat.
If children drop food on the floor you will need to pick it up immediately to ensure other children to not eat it to keep children safe. If a child mistakenly eats food that contains any of the 14 allergens you will need to record it and share the information with parents.
You might find this food allergy training (with certificate at the end) useful.
Outings
If you take children on outings you need to think about how you will safely transport the lunch boxes while keeping contents cold. If you buy food for children on outings (any food) you will be required, from 13th Dec 2014, to know the contents so you can share the information with parents on request. Most childminders are using their mobile phones to take photos of labels so they can be downloaded later and put into a file in case they are asked about the food the child has eaten at a later date.
Similarly, if you visit friends houses or go to groups and eat food there, you will need to write down what the child has eaten, including allergen information, so you can share the information with parents on request. You could, of course, take your own snacks / meals with you.
You will find more links and information about the allergy legislation changes here in free downloads on the Childminding Forum.
I have updated e-book 21 ‘Healthy Eating’ from Knutsford Childminding to include information and advice about food allergies – please contact me if you have an old copy and would like me to send you a free update.
If you have any questions about the new food allergy requirements or about healthy lunch boxes, please ask.
Thursday, 27 November 2014
Wooden, plastic or natural? Which resources do you choose?
There are a lot of useful Pinterest boards singing the praises of loose parts play – they are worth exploring if you want to add some natural resources to your provision. However, while I know it is personal choice, I remain concerned about whether a total move to natural materials would work for a childminder who looks after babies and children of very different ages… there are so many bits and pieces (stones, fir cones, coins, beads, buttons etc) and they are often quite small.
I agree that plastic doesn’t always teach children a lot – it is the same temperature (unlike wood and metal) and texture (unlike stone and fir cones) and it is often made in very loud colours (unlike natural materials which are calming, relaxing colours). Yet plastic can be cleaned easily (important if you have little ones), it is readily available in charity shops and at car boot sales and it is comparatively much cheaper than buying all wooden resources.
We have a combination of wooden, plastic and natural resources here at Knutsford Childminding. We collect and use natural materials during our walks and we make some of our resources from recycled materials. We often make our own books when we have been on outings as well – the children love taking and printing photos and the rich language they use reassures us we are supporting their learning. Fabric is an excellent way of bringing natural resources into the provision – lengths of material can be used to create spaces and envelop children and much more.
So, to go back to the title of this little blog – wooden, plastic and natural? I advocate a balance and when new childminders are registering I always advise them to buy a range of resources – some plastic and some wooden toys both inside and in the garden – then they can take the children on nature walks to find natural resources. In our provision, some of our best play sessions have involved children using their imaginations to create play scenes from ‘finds’ during our regular nature walks. However, we have plenty of plastic resources as well and some of them are the children’s favourites such as Peppa Pig and Action Man role play figures and our collection of Happy Land characters.
In mini e-book 56 ‘Resources and the EYFS’ (from Knutsford Childminding - £1.99) I have looked at how you can provide children with a range of different resources to support their holistic learning and development.
Which resources do you choose in your provision… and why?
Sunday, 9 November 2014
Risk assessments after an accident…
Accidents and near miss accidents sadly happen, even in the best managed provisions. We cannot keep every child safe from harm all the time because children trip and fall, run and crash, jump and bump, climb and tumble, pull and push and run in front of swings… and do all sorts of other dangerous things without thinking or realising. We simply cannot be there to watch out for them every single time! We are even told by experts to engage children in risky play and to let them explore the world around them which increases the risk of them having an accident. Plus, studies tell us (and we know from our own personal experiences) that children have to learn about danger if they are ever going to learn to risk assess for themselves.
Accidents and near misses present important learning opportunities for providers and must be carefully reflected on and managed because they can tell us a lot about our provisions and ways of working and they can help us to prevent future accidents. When a child has an accident or near miss, write it up on an accident and injury form along with any first aid administered and, when signed by parents, put it in their file… report the accident or injury if required… and keep a brief record of what happened in your personal diary so you can look back on it and think about how you might improve your provision in the future. A list of previous accidents and near misses will also help you to see if there are any trends – things that are happening over and over again which need to be resolved.
For example, looking back at your accident and injury or incident forms you might note –
• 3 children have bumped into the same garden feature –> move the feature to another area of the garden.
• A child is regularly running towards the road on outings –> give her a choice between reins or a wrist strap from now on.
• A child is constantly falling over your threshold and tripping on steps –> suggest parents take him to the optician for an eye health check-up. Meanwhile, think about how you can highlight the threshold / steps so they are more visible to the children.
• Children are slipping and falling on your grass -> cover the grass, re-seed, cordon the area off or take other steps to keep them safe.
• 3 children have slipped on your new wooden floor -> supply / ask parents to provide non-slip socks or slippers.
• A child is biting others -> start to shadow the child to note any triggers. Ask parents in for a meeting to discuss your concerns and plan a strategy to work together and support the child.
• A child is getting out of their car seat on journeys -> stop the car, re-fasten the child, explain the danger firmly – and ask parents in for a meeting to discuss a plan for the future. You might also consider buying a safety cover for the seat fastener.
• An older child has caught a younger child’s finger in a car door -> think about whether the older child is taking on too much responsibility. Revisit your procedures for getting in and out of the car and ensure you are in charge of closing doors and taking responsibility for keeping the little ones safe.
Of course, making changes to your provision goes hand-in-hand with teaching children about their own safety by, for example –
• Involving them in the risk assessment process;
• Teaching them about personal safety through books and role play;
• Reading books, telling stories and planning sessions to cover stranger danger;
• Reminding children about safe play rules at the park before they run off to play;
• Asking children to walk in the house so they do not slip;
• Explaining why it is important that they wear high visibility clothes and wrist bands on outings;
• Using wrist straps, backpacks with reins etc even on very short outings;
• Reminding children that they need to tell you if they hurt themselves or break your equipment or notice something is wrong or spot a hazard.
Working with parents
It is very important to work closely with parents to reinforce safety messages. When you teach the children about safety – personal safety, stranger danger, how to play safely at the park etc – share information and planning with parents and tell them the words you are using so they can reinforce your teaching at home. Similarly, if you have written a social story for, for example, a child who is running away from adults and it is working well, let them borrow it or take a photocopy so they can read to their child at home.
Parents need to be informed if their child is not responding to safety messages. Ask them in for a meeting to discuss your concerns and try to find out what is happening at home. For example –
• If a child is getting out of their car seat with parents and they are not strapped back in it is going to take much longer for them to learn the importance of staying safe in the car
• If grandparents indulge a child by laughing when he hits them, he is not going to learn that hitting is inappropriate in a childcare setting
• If an older child is frightened to tell parents he has broken a toy because he is always harshly punished, he will hide things in your house as well which might lead to a baby choking or hurting himself on small parts.
Communicating concerns with parents works both ways… if a child is doing something dangerous with parents or other family members at home they need to tell you quickly so you can take steps to support their child. For example…
• If a child came shooting down the slide head first at the weekend you need to know for when you next take them;
• If a child is worrying the pet dog at home you can take steps to keep him away from your animals unless fully supervised;
• If parents have noticed their child is fascinated by electrical sockets, you can put barriers in place around yours – and plan some activities to teach the child about electrical safety;
• If a baby has started climbing or rolling over the weekend you can be extra vigilant;
• If a child is opening the door at home to try and get out you might need to re-think where you keep your keys;
• If parents are worried because their child is talking to / approaching strangers on outings, you can suggest some books to read and activities for role play in the provision and at home;
• If an older child is fascinated by fire, you can advise parents who to speak to for help and ensure risk assessments are in place for flammable materials and the child is closely supervised while on your premises.
Remember - if a child has had an accident at home you need to record it so you can keep an eye on them in the provision – and so you can learn from what they have done and review your own risk assessment - it is good practice to have some printed ‘existing injury’ forms with your attendance register so you can quickly fill them in when children arrive. You will find some free forms (written by me) on the Childcare.co.uk website.
Going back to the original reason for writing this blog – we need accept that accidents happen but, instead of getting defensive and saying, ‘it wasn’t my fault’ we need to reflect on accidents and near misses and consider how we can improve our provision and ways of working to support the children. We need to do this for a number of reasons -
• For ourselves – to ensure that we are reflective practitioners who take safety seriously and are ready to respond positively to learning experiences.
• To support parents – they are sometimes ok after an accident and sometimes they need to blame someone. If they see you thinking about what happened and reflecting on how you can improve things in the future, they are more likely to respond positively to your explanations.
• For Ofsted – if a complaint is made or we have to notify them about a serious accident and injury and they come out to investigate, they will want to see that we have used the incident as a learning experience.
The following self-reflection questions after an accident or near miss might be useful…
• What happened? Did you see what happened? If you didn’t see it, why not?
• Were there any witnesses? Can they suggest how the accident might have been avoided?
• Was an accident, injury and first aid form promptly written up to be signed by parents?
• How did parents react? Did they shed any light on why it might have happened eg ‘oh yes she’s doing that at home’ or ‘yes we have noticed him biting’?
• Does the accident / injury need to be reported? If yes, who needs to know – Ofsted, RIDDOR, Local Safeguarding Children Board, Local Authority advisor? Has it been reported promptly and within the required timescales?
• What does the current risk assessment for the area of provision in which the accident happened say? Does it cover what happened? Does it need to be re-written / updated? Is it robust enough?
• Were you within ratios at the time of the accident?
• Were children being effectively supervised? Were you distracted elsewhere?
• Was there a problem with your premises or equipment? For example, was the flooring uneven or the rug a trip hazard? Were the locks on your cupboard doors in need of replacement – but you hadn’t got round to it yet?
• Did you make a mistake? For example, did you leave the ironing board out or forget to put away a knife after making lunch? Did you forget to strap the child into the pram? Did you answer the phone while a child ate the paints? Did your enthusiasm to take the children to the park in wet weather lead to the child slipping on play equipment? None of us are perfect – and it is important to acknowledge that sometimes we need to change our own ways of working to ensure we protect children – especially as we work from a home environment. We need to remember that we are, after all, running a business and not a home during working hours.
• Were you following your own safety rules? For example - baby needed a nappy change and your procedures say ‘1 in all in’… but you left 2 children out playing because they were involved in their game... and one of them bit the other or had an accident that was avoidable if only you had followed your procedures and brought them inside with you.
• Was a child taking on more responsibility than they should for their age? For example, was an older child lifting a baby who they subsequently dropped or putting food in a toddler’s mouth causing them to choke?
And then the big question… how can the child/ren be kept safe in the future? What, if any, changes need to be made to your provision or ways of working? For example –
• Do ratios or staff deployment need to be reviewed? Perhaps you were in ratios but in the future staff could be better utilised to ensure more effective supervision. Or you were in ratios but on reflection 4 children under the age of 5 or 2 babies under 1 plus 2 pre-school children for continuity of care is too much to manage by yourself and you need to take on an assistant or give notice to a child.
• Can you plan some group or one-to-one activities to teach the children to take more responsibility for their own safety? How can you share this learning with parents so they use the strategies you are teaching children when they are at home?
• Do the older children need to run their pent up energy off at the park after school rather than climbing the walls in the house?
• Do you suspect that a child has an as yet undiagnosed medical condition that means he responds to danger in a different way from other children? How can you work with parents to get him the help he needs?
• Do you need to buy extra safety equipment / update your house or garden to keep children safer?
• Is the child over 8 and impacting negatively on outcomes for the little ones? Do you need to give notice as required by the EYFS?
• Were you expecting too much from the child for their age / stage of development? You might find it useful to go back to Early Years Outcomes and Development Matters and look at physical development / health and self-care and note typical behaviours for different ages of children.
• Think about how parents / the child’s family can be involved to support the child in the future and record this on your ‘working with parent’s documentation.
It is very easy after an accident or near miss to go into denial mode. You want to protect your business and reputation and you don’t want to accept that something you did (or didn’t do) has contributed to a child being hurt. However, parents need to see that you are taking responsibility for what happened to their child and changing your procedures as a result of the accident.
If Ofsted come out to investigate a serious accident to a child, they will want to see that you have reflected on what happened and recorded how you will prevent similar accidents from happening in the future. This can be very hard sometimes because you might feel that you did everything possible and it was simply an accident – and as we said at the beginning accidents do sadly happen. However, it is an unusual situation when some lessons cannot be learned after a child has been hurt, even if it’s to bubble wrap the child from now on…
For more information about risk assessments please see e-book 5 ‘Risk assessments’ from my Knutsford Childminding website.
I have also written some free risk assessment advice on my EYFS for Childminders website.
I hope you find this blog useful and informative. Please let me have your feedback - or contact me to ask me to write other blogs which you feel will help you to improve your provision. You can contact me via the Independent Childminders Facebook group or the Childminding Forum.
Thank you. Sarah.
Sarah Neville / Knutsford Childminding
Monday, 11 August 2014
Teaching children British values
In her first major announcement since taking office, Nicky Morgan (the new Education Secretary) has said that early years providers must teach ‘fundamental British values in an age appropriate way’ to children from the age of 2 - Guardian article.
David Cameron has backed her up, saying that we need to teach ‘freedom, tolerance, respect for the rule of law, belief in personal and social responsibility and respect for British institutions’. The announcements follow concerns about extremist views being taught to children in some Birmingham schools and the intention is to protect children from extremist radical views.
There is a consultation which most of us will probably ignore. It is open until 17th October 2014 – so nothing is going to change quickly…
Childminders are asking - what are the ‘fundamental British values’ that we need to teach children? Well, first of all they need to be meaningful … and understandable. We are talking about teaching something many adults (in my experience) struggle to fully understand to toddlers in nappies and children who might not have a very good grasp of English.
Ms Morgan says we are to teach children about –
• Right from wrong
• Taking turns and sharing
• Challenging negative attitudes and stereotypes
• Mutual respect and tolerance of different religions and beliefs
I have been thinking about some of the ways we might support children’s learning about 'fundamental British values' and my list of planning ideas includes –
• Teach children to share and take turns – in conversation, at the shops, when reading books etc
• Celebrate British special days eg St George’s Day
• Help children to understand about friendship and support them to make friends
• Focus on listening skills so children wait before shouting out and understand not to spoil a song or book by talking through the words
• Promote manners – please, thank you, sorry, age appropriate behaviour at the table etc
• Take children on outings into the local community
• Teach them about British flowers, trees, birds and animals
• Cover a variety of themes about people who live in the world around us
• Watch British television programmes
• Teach them about the British weather
• Teach empathy and understanding
• Give children age appropriate words to describe disability
• Help children to set appropriate behaviour boundaries
• When doing arts and crafts, use British artists and sculptors for inspiration
• Cook British food with the children
• Learn about British villages, towns and cities
• Use the learning characteristic ‘critical thinking’ to support children to ask questions and become independent and creative learners.
So… what we are doing already then?!?
I believe if we focus on this sort of teaching as we already do and not on marginalising or intolerance of minority then we will be ok. The problems will start if we teach children that only one way is right and that, because we are British, we are somehow morally superior to other nations and cultures - because that will teach intolerance, stereotyping, racism and extremism in itself.
While I remember, Ms Morgan has said that we cannot teach –
• ‘Creationism as scientific fact’
• ‘Climate change denial’
• ‘Views and theories which are contrary to established scientific or historical evidence and explanations.’
I can honestly say I have never tackled those subjects with my under 5s … or my over 5s for that matter … so that’s not a worry!
Ofsted will be inspecting us on how well we teach ‘fundamental British values’, so we will need to keep an eye on the consultation which will hopefully tell us more about what Ofsted will expect to see when they visit us.
Meanwhile, this is a very interesting and informative blog .
And for another bit of fun… can you pass the UK citizenship test?
I got 10/10 but I am not allowed to boast about it… well that wouldn’t be British now would it??
Chat soon, Sarah x
David Cameron has backed her up, saying that we need to teach ‘freedom, tolerance, respect for the rule of law, belief in personal and social responsibility and respect for British institutions’. The announcements follow concerns about extremist views being taught to children in some Birmingham schools and the intention is to protect children from extremist radical views.
There is a consultation which most of us will probably ignore. It is open until 17th October 2014 – so nothing is going to change quickly…
Childminders are asking - what are the ‘fundamental British values’ that we need to teach children? Well, first of all they need to be meaningful … and understandable. We are talking about teaching something many adults (in my experience) struggle to fully understand to toddlers in nappies and children who might not have a very good grasp of English.
Ms Morgan says we are to teach children about –
• Right from wrong
• Taking turns and sharing
• Challenging negative attitudes and stereotypes
• Mutual respect and tolerance of different religions and beliefs
I have been thinking about some of the ways we might support children’s learning about 'fundamental British values' and my list of planning ideas includes –
• Teach children to share and take turns – in conversation, at the shops, when reading books etc
• Celebrate British special days eg St George’s Day
• Help children to understand about friendship and support them to make friends
• Focus on listening skills so children wait before shouting out and understand not to spoil a song or book by talking through the words
• Promote manners – please, thank you, sorry, age appropriate behaviour at the table etc
• Take children on outings into the local community
• Teach them about British flowers, trees, birds and animals
• Cover a variety of themes about people who live in the world around us
• Watch British television programmes
• Teach them about the British weather
• Teach empathy and understanding
• Give children age appropriate words to describe disability
• Help children to set appropriate behaviour boundaries
• When doing arts and crafts, use British artists and sculptors for inspiration
• Cook British food with the children
• Learn about British villages, towns and cities
• Use the learning characteristic ‘critical thinking’ to support children to ask questions and become independent and creative learners.
So… what we are doing already then?!?
I believe if we focus on this sort of teaching as we already do and not on marginalising or intolerance of minority then we will be ok. The problems will start if we teach children that only one way is right and that, because we are British, we are somehow morally superior to other nations and cultures - because that will teach intolerance, stereotyping, racism and extremism in itself.
While I remember, Ms Morgan has said that we cannot teach –
• ‘Creationism as scientific fact’
• ‘Climate change denial’
• ‘Views and theories which are contrary to established scientific or historical evidence and explanations.’
I can honestly say I have never tackled those subjects with my under 5s … or my over 5s for that matter … so that’s not a worry!
Ofsted will be inspecting us on how well we teach ‘fundamental British values’, so we will need to keep an eye on the consultation which will hopefully tell us more about what Ofsted will expect to see when they visit us.
Meanwhile, this is a very interesting and informative blog .
And for another bit of fun… can you pass the UK citizenship test?
I got 10/10 but I am not allowed to boast about it… well that wouldn’t be British now would it??
Chat soon, Sarah x
Friday, 8 August 2014
The planted practitioner - ideas for promoting children's learning
When more than one childminder / assistant work together, experiment by ‘planting’ one of the practitioners somewhere exciting for the children… at a table with some resources or in the garden doing something different to the norm or on a cushion with an activity and see what happens…
What tends to happen is the children flock around the planted practitioner to see what they are doing. Reassured that the practitioner is not going to be called away elsewhere, the activity unfolds and the children display high levels of involvement and, as a result, have an increased motivation to stay and listen and talk and learn.
The planted practitioner is able to listen to the children fully because the other practitioner is taking care of any children not involved in the activity and can step in if a child needs extra support such as to change a nappy. The planted practitioner can also better help the children to explore new ways of doing things because s/he is not being constantly distracted by other things happening in the background.
During the activity the practitioner will be able to mentally note observations which can be written up later. It is important that the practitioner does not stop the flow of children’s learning to write observations, take photos or get up to do something else … they are planted and engaged and will remain planted as long as the activity lasts or until they have to, for example, wind up the activity to get the children ready to leave for school pick up.
It is a good time to make observations during planted activities because the practitioner who is planted is able to work very closely with the children who are involved in the activity. Lots of language will be heard as the children talk through ideas and share information… and children’s learning in other areas of Early Years Outcomes will be observed.
The other practitioner might take photos from a distance or write some notes if s/he is not busy elsewhere, but most importantly one practitioner is planted with the children and the other practitioner is floating.
The planted practitioner can also use the activity as an opportunity to chat to the children, ask open ended questions, wait for answers and teach the children new things because they are already interested and involved and they want to learn. As we all know, when children want to learn they are receptive to learning new things and trying out new ideas.
Important things to note
Time – the best time to plan for this type of teaching is when children are most receptive to new learning (they are not tired, hungry or expecting something else to happen) and there is a good length of time available, for example, after breakfast or morning snack. Think about daily routines and look at timescales for activities – find stretches of free play sessions every day when a learning experience can be planned.
Space – there must be plenty of space for this type of teaching so children can move around freely without bumping into each other or feeling pushed out and can see / hear what is happening without being distracted by other things going on around them.
Undivided attention – the planted practitioner gives their undivided attention to the children who want to join in with the activity. This must be agreed with the other practitioner who is on hand to step in and deal with the other daily routines such as preparing snack with a group of children, reading books, keeping the house and garden safe and clear from trip hazards, dealing with toileting or administering first aid etc.
Type of activity – all kinds of activities might be planned for planted learning times. Some popular ones include –
• Making and using playdough – add smells or other sensory stimuli
• Small parts play such as making Hama beads with older children
• Water play with cups and spoons to measure, weigh and learn about capacity, weight, floating and sinking etc
• Making a farmyard scene with Lego or building a train track
• Setting up something new such as a wormery, vegetable patch or herb garden
• Using tubing and guttering to watch how water travels
• Making a new jigsaw
• Updating Learning Journey files
Asking questions – there is a big difference between asking interested questions which gain a positive response from a child and asking questions to find out what a child knows or can do. It is important to ask open, interested questions which challenge children to think about new ways of doing things – and to wait until they reply rather than rushing in to fill a silence.
Closed questions only allow for one answer such as –
• What colour is it?
• What shape is it?
• How many can you count?
• Is it big or small? Etc…
Good questions to challenge thinking and support learning might be…
• What should we do next?
• How does that work?
• What do you think will happen if..?
• Can you think of a way to..?
• Why do you think that happened..?
• Show me…
• Can you explain that to me?
Types of play - the EYFS talks about 3 types of play – adult led, adult guided and child initiated.
• Adult led – the practitioner chooses the activity to support the child/ren to learn something new or to follow a particular interest. The children join in, sometimes guided towards the activity and sometimes through natural curiosity.
• Adult guided – children play their games and the practitioner joins them, playing alongside them and taking on roles to support their play. Sometimes, the practitioner brings them different resources to enhance their play and learning.
• Child initiated – children play their own games. Adults might later guide their play by adding resource ideas, but the play is led by the child.
Most ‘planted’ activities will be adult led or adult guided.
I think it is tricky, but not impossible, for childminders who work on their own to plan ‘planted’ sessions. The problem starts when one child wanders away from the activity or someone needs attention which takes you away from the other children. Perhaps childminders who do not have a co-childminder or assistant might join up with a colleague to plan this type of teaching and learning opportunity for the children.
Don’t forget, if you try something new write it up in your SEF with an evaluation of how it went and what you might want to do differently next time! Ofsted like to see practitioners learning and growing in their practice.
What tends to happen is the children flock around the planted practitioner to see what they are doing. Reassured that the practitioner is not going to be called away elsewhere, the activity unfolds and the children display high levels of involvement and, as a result, have an increased motivation to stay and listen and talk and learn.
The planted practitioner is able to listen to the children fully because the other practitioner is taking care of any children not involved in the activity and can step in if a child needs extra support such as to change a nappy. The planted practitioner can also better help the children to explore new ways of doing things because s/he is not being constantly distracted by other things happening in the background.
During the activity the practitioner will be able to mentally note observations which can be written up later. It is important that the practitioner does not stop the flow of children’s learning to write observations, take photos or get up to do something else … they are planted and engaged and will remain planted as long as the activity lasts or until they have to, for example, wind up the activity to get the children ready to leave for school pick up.
It is a good time to make observations during planted activities because the practitioner who is planted is able to work very closely with the children who are involved in the activity. Lots of language will be heard as the children talk through ideas and share information… and children’s learning in other areas of Early Years Outcomes will be observed.
The other practitioner might take photos from a distance or write some notes if s/he is not busy elsewhere, but most importantly one practitioner is planted with the children and the other practitioner is floating.
The planted practitioner can also use the activity as an opportunity to chat to the children, ask open ended questions, wait for answers and teach the children new things because they are already interested and involved and they want to learn. As we all know, when children want to learn they are receptive to learning new things and trying out new ideas.
Important things to note
Time – the best time to plan for this type of teaching is when children are most receptive to new learning (they are not tired, hungry or expecting something else to happen) and there is a good length of time available, for example, after breakfast or morning snack. Think about daily routines and look at timescales for activities – find stretches of free play sessions every day when a learning experience can be planned.
Space – there must be plenty of space for this type of teaching so children can move around freely without bumping into each other or feeling pushed out and can see / hear what is happening without being distracted by other things going on around them.
Undivided attention – the planted practitioner gives their undivided attention to the children who want to join in with the activity. This must be agreed with the other practitioner who is on hand to step in and deal with the other daily routines such as preparing snack with a group of children, reading books, keeping the house and garden safe and clear from trip hazards, dealing with toileting or administering first aid etc.
Type of activity – all kinds of activities might be planned for planted learning times. Some popular ones include –
• Making and using playdough – add smells or other sensory stimuli
• Small parts play such as making Hama beads with older children
• Water play with cups and spoons to measure, weigh and learn about capacity, weight, floating and sinking etc
• Making a farmyard scene with Lego or building a train track
• Setting up something new such as a wormery, vegetable patch or herb garden
• Using tubing and guttering to watch how water travels
• Making a new jigsaw
• Updating Learning Journey files
Asking questions – there is a big difference between asking interested questions which gain a positive response from a child and asking questions to find out what a child knows or can do. It is important to ask open, interested questions which challenge children to think about new ways of doing things – and to wait until they reply rather than rushing in to fill a silence.
Closed questions only allow for one answer such as –
• What colour is it?
• What shape is it?
• How many can you count?
• Is it big or small? Etc…
Good questions to challenge thinking and support learning might be…
• What should we do next?
• How does that work?
• What do you think will happen if..?
• Can you think of a way to..?
• Why do you think that happened..?
• Show me…
• Can you explain that to me?
Types of play - the EYFS talks about 3 types of play – adult led, adult guided and child initiated.
• Adult led – the practitioner chooses the activity to support the child/ren to learn something new or to follow a particular interest. The children join in, sometimes guided towards the activity and sometimes through natural curiosity.
• Adult guided – children play their games and the practitioner joins them, playing alongside them and taking on roles to support their play. Sometimes, the practitioner brings them different resources to enhance their play and learning.
• Child initiated – children play their own games. Adults might later guide their play by adding resource ideas, but the play is led by the child.
Most ‘planted’ activities will be adult led or adult guided.
I think it is tricky, but not impossible, for childminders who work on their own to plan ‘planted’ sessions. The problem starts when one child wanders away from the activity or someone needs attention which takes you away from the other children. Perhaps childminders who do not have a co-childminder or assistant might join up with a colleague to plan this type of teaching and learning opportunity for the children.
Don’t forget, if you try something new write it up in your SEF with an evaluation of how it went and what you might want to do differently next time! Ofsted like to see practitioners learning and growing in their practice.
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