E100_Tma_1

Myself, my setting and my roles and responsibilities. ‘In this TMA I have followed ethical guidelines (Assessment Guide, pp. 18-19); all names have been changed to protect identity. The setting, the children and parents have given their consent to activities being used in this assignment and participants were told that they could withdraw at any time. Introduction In the main body of my assignment I am going to be discussing about my setting, the curriculum I follow and my roles and responsibilities. I’m also going to discuss how my setting has progressed through the changes in Birth to Three Matters and the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). Part 1 My settin is a nursery for children aged birth to five years, with an attached breakfast club, afterschool club and holiday club, for school children 5-11years old. The nursery offers half day sessions and full day care between the hours of 7:30am-7:00pm from Monday to Friday. The nursery serves the local community, offering affordable childcare to parents including working parents, the traveller community and new entrances. As the nursery is situated within easy access of 4 of the 5 schools, we take a lot of children to and from school. Occasionally I work by myself in the room, but a majority of the time I am working as part of a team, whether it is the team who work in the same room as me or the whole nursery team. As a nursery, the staff work very closely together and we all ensure all areas of safeguarding, curriculum, diversity, outings and complaints are covered to ensure the safety and welfare of the children which is paramount at all times. As I read in study topic 1 I also feel it is important that practitioners work together to develop practice so that it goes beyond the requirements imposed by the regulatory systems. (Book 1, study topic 1 page 21) I currently work with children aged 0-2 years old, and I have worked with this age group for the 2 years I have worked here. However on occasions I am required to cover staff sickness and holidays, so I do occasionally work with children 2-11 years old in the other rooms. We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and this is adapted to meet the needs of all children. We plan for the different early learning goals, encouraging a unique, confident child. We build their confidence by encouraging them during activities and experiences. My settings responsibility is to provide the best possible standards of care and education. This is done by all the staff in my setting, providing learning activities that are fun, educational and stimulating. We make children feel valued as individuals, through a loving and child centred approach. My current role as a senior nursery nurse (please see Appendix 1) of the 0-2years olds is to oversee the running of two rooms. I work as part of a small team, and my responsibilities are to oversee all staff in the rooms and ensuring they do their weekly planning and observations on their key children. I attend any relevant training courses and relay the information and practices learnt with the staff. I do regular one-to-one supervision’s with staff, and if there is anything they are unsure of I will do my best to help them, or arrange a meeting with someone from the local authority to provide further guidance. I hold monthly room meetings to ensure staffs are following the nurseries policies and procedures and update them of any changes to them. As the two rooms work closely together, I hold regular transition meetings to discuss about the children who are getting ready to move rooms, and discuss about their needs and requirements. When a new child starts in one of my rooms, I will arrange a settling in period, where I allocate a keyperson and introduce them to the parents and child. I feel this is important as it starts to build a partnership between parents and staff. My current role is working in the rooms alongside other staff, as part of a team. We liaise with parents and carers by providing them with a daily report of what their child has done throughout the day. This also includes a time sheet which states the times of meals, bottles etc. This is important for the parents to know when carrying on the care of the child at home. At six weekly intervals all the children in my rooms gets a progress report from their keyperson. This is given to their parents to show how they have developed since their last report. Parents are invited to input any area they would then like their child to develop in, and then we would work in partnership with them to provide activities to fulfil their wishes. The nursery follows the statutory framework which sets out the legal requirements which cover safeguarding and ensuring children’s welfare, staff, premises, environment and equipment, organisation, documentation and reporting. This is everyone’s responsibility in the setting as it is the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) requirements. The curriculum that guides what we do in my setting is called the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). This is the comprehensive statutory framework that sets the standards for the learning, development and care for the children aged birth to five. As a setting, all the staff follows the learning and development guidance notes to do observations, planning and progress reports for our key children. In the guidance it offers examples of activities and experiences that children might be involved in as they progress (2.1 EYFS book) To me intended curriculum is what I do on a daily basis by planning activities for my key children to do; it’s more of an adult led experience. I think unintended curriculum is when there is not any curriculum written down or published, but a child is still learning through their own activities. (Book 1,Study topic 2, page 48) In the baby room I provide a lot of child led activities, such as painting on a big sheet of paper, or the treasure basket. Like Maria Montessori I think this is important as it empowers children to have free thinking and develop a sense of achievement and self esteem. When I get activities out such as painting a big sheet of paper, my role is to sit nearby observe, support and offer guidance if necessary. (Book 1, Study topic 3, page56) “The adult is seen as a guide rather than a teacher. The child as the learner leads, the guide follows, thus respecting the child's inner life.” (Reader Book 1, Chapter 7, page 78) When I first started at the nursery I was a student, I have now been working here for 2 years and since I started I feel my developing role has progressed quite a lot. I completed my NVQ level 3 in Children’s Care, Learning and Development and became a senior nursery nurse. I have since attended loads of training courses such as child protection, sign language, ADHD training and autism awareness, which I think has further developed my knowledge and awareness in children’s care. I feel my role is changing on a regular basis and I’m now taking on more responsibilities within my setting. For example: taking on managerial roles i.e. opening and closing the nursery when required, dealing with parents and handling fee payments. Since starting the E100 I feel I am learning a lot more and it is encouraging me to use what I am learning from the study topics in my day to day work, such as creating intended and unintended curriculum, and the importance of working closely with staff and parents. Part 2 Website article: ‘Daily Montessori-Montessori education’ This website gave me useful advice on Maria Montessori’s theory on child led activities. In part 1 of my assignment I wrote about how I provide activities for babies in my room. I wanted to find out a bit more information and how I could expand on providing activities. This site has age group sections from 0-36 months and in each section explained about the environment, absorbent mind and Montessori toys and materials. This website is aimed at practitioners, teachers and even parents, to learn about her theory. The thing I like about this website is that it gives examples of simple activities, such as brushing hair or pouring from a jug, to do with children from birth to three years old. The website also has a biography of Maria Montessori, questions and answers and recent articles. Part 3 In this TMA, I found this very interesting as it has given me the opportunity to identify my strengths and weaknesses. What I found difficult, was completing the activities in the set time. I found reading more into Maria Montessori’s theory really interesting and realise that I am following it on a daily basis without realising I’m doing it. Appendix 1 |MANAGER |MANAGER | |Deputy |Deputy | |Senior |Senior |Senior |Senior | |Nursery nurses |Nursery nurses |Nursery nurses |Nursery nurses |Nursery nurses |Nursery nurses |Nursery nurses |Nursery nurses | |Nursery |Nursery |Nursery |Nursery |Nursery |Nursery |Nursery |Nursery Assistants | |Assistants |Assistants |Assistants |Assistants |Assistants |Assistants |Assistants | | Appendix 2 Reference List Early years practice: Practitioners and Children, Book 1 Study topic 1 (2010) Early years practice: Practitioners and Children, Book 1 Study topic 2 (2010) Early years practice: Practitioners and children, Book 1 Study topic 3 (2010) Practice guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage, (2007) Working with children in the early years: Carrie Cable, (2002) ----------------------- Work in tandem with parents Safeguarding children To do weekly observations and planning on my key children Hold transition meetings Follow policies and procedures Hold room meetings Link with professionals based outside the setting One-to-one supervisions with the staff Attend training courses Oversee that staff are doing their planning and observations Senior nursery Nurse My Responsibilities