Kerry Carroll

The ethos of my setting is to allow the children to develop at their own pace and with as little adult intervention as possible, to this end I do very few adult led activities unless the children specifically ask me to become involved or wish to undertake an activity such as painting which requires adult supervision. I believe children need freedom from adult supervision to develop their imagination, independence and self-help skills.

I follow the EYFS at all times for the under fives and ensure all areas of development are covered by providing opportunities and resources which enhance the children's skills.
I use an “in the moment” strategy which means I do no written planning, the days routine is very loosely based around snakes, meals and school time, the rest of the day is purely child led and relies on their interests, preferences and mood. A typical day would mean children access the toys and resources which have been set out at the beginning of the day on my knowledge of individual children preferences, then as the day progresses they may add or change them as they wish. This enables the children to develop a good awareness of what they need to ask for or access in order to develop and enhance their play and learning.

I do some specific phonics and number work in a form of singing various songs and rhymes or during normally play. Each child is an individual and I am very aware of where they are in their development and what needs to be done to enhance and improve their development in all areas. We tend to use every day activities such as sorting the washing, shopping and walking to school to include all the areas of the EYFS. This can include looking at trees and plants and counting red cars. Discussing what we see when out and about and developing these when we return home using the internet (ICT) or books to learn more.

We also do craft activities such as gluing, cutting and colouring which usually follow on from a story or song we have been singing and develops fine motor skills, literacy and maths. All children who need sleep or quite time use the living room in the pram or the reading area in the cabin, nursery rhymes will be playing quietly.

My emphasis is making sure all the EYFS children are confident, independent and aware of their own identity before going to school as well as having a good working knowledge which will give them a good sound base from which they can build their existing skills when they go to school.

All children in the EYFS age group has their own learning journeys which include all observations and photos, parents can access these at anytime. The learning journeys are sent home every term for parents to read and to contribute to if they wish. I also put parent feedback forms in so parents can give me their feedback. When the child first starts with me I give them starting points to fill in, some parents also give me their children's observations from other settings if attended. These give me a baseline which I use along with my own observations of the child during the first few weeks to see where their development is and allows me to provide relevant resources to scaffold their learning and development. I use the Early Years outcomes a guide to show what the children could be able to do at a certain age/stage but I do not use them as a tick sheet nor do I link children's development to individual statements. I put in my own words what the child was doing and link to one or more of the 7 areas of development as appropriate. I do two or three next steps per term for each child. Parents are aware of the children's development as I discuss regularly with parents and also carry out parents evening to explain in more detail.

Following the children's home routines as much as possible for meal and sleep times ensures the children settle quickly and are much more relaxed, I found this method works.

I have paper work for each child which contains contracts, medication, accident sheets, permission forms and any other relevant paper work.

I have very good links with my local preschool and school I operate an open door policy with parents which means they are free to discuss issues concerning their child's welfare or development or any other issues either at drop off, pick up or other times convenient to both parties.

I share photos and other relevant information with parents by using what's app daily to keep them updated about there child's routine and development and will continue to do this under the new GDPR 2018 guidance.

Most of my paper work is from childcare UK and I have designed contracts including medical information, agreement of hours and fees, parental responsibility forms and they are signed and locked away.

Accident/incident forms involving children are recorded and signed by myself. Policies and procedures, safeguarding and complaints and other shared care information starting points are all up to date.

I am improving my setting by getting the garden redesigned, I would like to do forest school training. Childrens mental health training. I undertake regular training provided by my local authority and online to ensure I keep up to date with new ideas and guidance.

l care and I collect from Middleton Parish School and Bright Stars play group, I also provide holiday clubs.

I hold a diploma in childcare and I have worked in a school where I managed the breakfast and after school club, I worked in the schools nursery for 2 years then went on to work with children with additional needs.

I undertake regular training provided by my local LA and online to ensure I keep up to date with new ideas the guidance. I ensure all my paper work is up to date including observations, policies and procedures and accident sheets. I have updated all the requirements for the GDPR and devised a privacy notice.

In order to ensure I keep up to date with the new legislation from Ofsted and DFE updates. All polices and procedures are checked and reviewed periodically to ensure they follow and abide by current legislation.

I provide funded hours for 2, 3  and 4 year olds. I hold a current Paediatric First aid certificate and have Safeguarding training.