The morning briefing was just that – brief. A few parents called the nursery informing the deputy head that their child will not be attending nursery today which was then fed back to the practitioners at the nursery. I myself felt unwell during the week. Some staff were absent as well; the deputy head told us that one practitioner in particular had been told that she needed to urgently visit the GP. When feeding this information in the briefing, the deputy head made sure to inform all practitioners that if a child asks where the worker was, to respond sensitively by saying “hopefully ‘_____’ will be in on Monday” – I found this interesting as it did not imply a definitive response which may potentially disappoint the child when Monday came round.

The rest of the day had continued as usual, again with a particular emphasis on imaginative/pretend play, play with play-dough and puzzle play (puzzles/playing cards). I find it heart-warming when children approach me, introducing themselves, asking what my name is then initiating play.

Themes: Structure of the day, Free-flow Play, Friendships

I attended the morning meeting/briefing again, the week was discussed again as some members of staff were arriving late due to delays on public transport. Again, I noticed references from a couple members of staff regarding it being Friday. One walked in and seemed very openly excited about it being Friday in front of the deputy head and other members of staff. Between the time the briefing was over, prior to children beginning, I was shown the timetable for the day regarding where all staff would be; I saw my name on the timetable stating that I would be indoors with the children today as opposed to outdoors.

One of the key workers that I had not met during my first visit was showing me around the nursery which I thought was odd since I had already attended the last week and for a formal meeting with the deputy head. I was being told information I already knew, which in some sense was helpful, however I felt the key worker was perhaps tired and was not too keen to be taking on this responsibility. Consequently, I felt not needed for the first time during my visits however remained friendly and professional. She then went on to show me what the other key workers had planned for the day in terms of what they wanted to encourage children to do during their play. I learned they aimed to encourage play with puzzles, matching games, pretend play and play-dough.

Throughout the day, I frequently played with children in the puzzle/matching game area and play-dough area. The play-dough area definitely seemed to encourage pretend play as children used their imagination to make cakes, animals and much more. As I played with them, I felt a heavy sense of nostalgia as I played with play-dough during my early years at school. Although I had attended a nursery when I was a child, the nursery was part of a primary school therefore was perhaps more academic in that the room was set up like a classroom and spent less time playing. This was interesting as I could see the differences between my learning and the progressive learning of children at my placement.

After lunch, children were asked whether they wanted to go swimming or not as the nursery has a heated swimming pool in the building; the fact that staff asked the children for the children to make their own decisions jumped out to me as I had thought upon knowing the nursery has a swimming pool that all children would go swimming at the same time and have no say. Perhaps I was thinking this way as I have been in more academic settings throughout my life where we were not given much choice as what we were to do, rather most activities were adult led.

Themes: Structure of the day, Free-flow Play – children given a choice, Fridays.

I began my placement at 08.15 10/11/17, (thankfully I arrived early) however the nursery opens at 9am. During this time staff hold a briefing which I attended whereby the deputy head ran through what the day entailed. This was all written on a whiteboard; the whiteboard showed what happened on the preceding days of the week. Under Friday, my name was written on the whiteboard: ‘Aziza starting placement’. I was briefly introduced by the deputy head then welcomed from the staff/practitioners around me. Having my name on the board gave me a real sense of inclusion that the nursery advocates as I felt recognised and already part of the nursery.

I asked one of the key workers about the structure of the day to which she told me that there is free-flow play continuously throughout the day and play is child initiated; if they choose to play indoors or outdoors, it is entirely decided by the children. The times where there is some structure to the day is group time (: where each key worker reads, sings and interacts with small groups) before lunch at 11:30 and at 3 before they are to be collected at 3:15. I learned that some children send full days at the setting, while some just do mornings or afternoons. Even lunch is flexible – lunch finishes depending on whether children are still eating or not, after which they continue to play freely.

I spent a lot of time at the lego table during the morning where children, mostly boys, participated in pretend play and construction. A few often approached me seeming intrigued by a new face. It was interesting to see more children playing indoors during the morning compared to after lunch where more would play outdoors in the sand area and on the climbing frames. While one child was climbing down the climbing frame, he fell on his side and began to cry. I quickly picked him up, reassuring him, asking if he was okay and instructed the two other boys to climb down for their safety. A key worker outside had guarded the climbing frame as I carried the boy inside where I filled in an accident form. Although this was a very unfortunate incident, it gave me a small insight of the nursery’s safe-guarding policy and what actually happens to children if they injure themselves. I filled out the form, detailing what happened, and the action taken (applied ice pack).

During the day, I had noticed there were a couple of humorous references from the staff regarding it being Friday which I found interesting as they would place blame on a minor mistake they made as it was the ‘last’ day of a long week. This made me feel they tried to make light of a situation to maintain morale.

Overall, I feel comfortable in the setting I am in, I enjoy seeing what I have learnt at university regarding children’s development in action for example, seeing how children in nursery cope with friendships, sharing, tantrums etc). Lastly, I feel proud of how I interacted with the staff in quite a pressured situation when the child was hurt as I believe it showed professionalism during a hard time.

Themes: Structure of the day, Free-flow Play, Safe-guarding, Fridays.