Today was my last day on my placement at the nursery, 19/01/18. The day started as usual with the briefing then preparation for the day before the children arrived. I was told that there were some new children who had started but had not yet met them as I only attend the nursery on Fridays.
The focus of the day was making play-dough with children (out of real ingredients) and subsequently using it in their play, and reading stories to children who showed interest. I was designated to making the play-dough with the children which for both me and them seemed very fun as perhaps they felt a sense of accomplishment like I had felt as I was supporting their learning. One of the children who was making play-dough was a new boy who has started at nursery the week before. One of the practitioners told me that he does not speak much and likes to be reassured when he is participating in an activity. While I was supervising him, he seemed eager to play and experience new things and did not seem shy to ask me for help if his dough became too dry or too sticky.
In the afternoon, I read to some children for around an hour. I had noticed that one of the children I was reading to was continually coughing, had teary eyes and a red nose and red lips. He was clearly ill to me. In the reading area, there are cushions which children sit on while being told a story, however he decided to lay down and eventually fell asleep. He seemed to have a temperature; one of the practitioners noticed and came to analyse him. She then decided it was best to contact his mother so she could take him home despite nursery finishing in about an hour.
After nursery finished, during the briefing I was asked to write down what activities some of the children enjoyed doing today. The fact that I was writing on a document that can help the nursery with their future planning. It was nice to know that once I left, I would have at least left something behind that would help the children and practitioners.
Themes: Free-flow Play, Safeguarding
This visit was very similar to previous visits therefore I had started to form a routine while at the nursery. The morning briefing had shortly discussed the Ofsted visit on the Wednesday. I had later asked how it was out of interest, and was told that it went well however was not told much more as the deputy head said that it is confidential until the report is released.
During the morning preparation, I was told that the focus of today was role play, specifically visiting the doctors. Children who chose to pretend play as doctors and patients were encouraged to use words such as: stethoscope, syringe, vaccine, patient, nurse, doctor, doctors’s surgery and appointment.
It was very interesting to watch the children play together as if in a real life setting. Every now and then they would ask me to explain what something was named and its function such as the hammer used to test joints and reflexes.
During the day, I was asked to observe a particular child’s verbal development/speech as this was his key workers learning outcomes for him. I found this very interesting as I was with this child during play at the ‘surgery’. Later in the afternoon he had decided to go outside; since it was after lunch a lot of children play in the garden instead of the room. When I went outside, he was in the ‘cafe’ serving drinks and asking for payment with T guiding him.
When T left, he continued to play seeming comfortable with my presence. However, when one of the male key workers approached him for conversation he went silent and continued to pack away since it was nearing the end of the day. He had not responded to the male key worker, so when the key worker left, the child started to sing and participate in private speech.
Themes: Free-flow Play, Role-play,
As this was the last Friday of the term, the schedule for the day was slightly different. The briefing was held by T since the deputy head was away. Today was Christmas jumper day and there was a winter fair right after nursery finishes.
During the day, I was playing and interacting with children indoors, helping them to make paper crowns. In particular, I played with a boy who’s family I knew; I had seen him in the nursery on my previous visits, interacted with him but tried to distance myself and give all children an equal chance in regards to giving them my attention.
Today, however, I spent most of the morning with him as he had quite a distressing drop off; he only stays for half days at the nursery. He felt comfortable with me, interacting with me and seemed quite happy for me to guide him and support his play.
He mostly wanted my attention and when he was excited to show me something he would take my hand and attempt to guide me.
During group time, I usually sit with his group. During this time, he was sitting close to me as I usually sit at the back, every so often touching me which I presumed was his way of reassuring himself that I was still behind him, there to support him. During group time, the group leader/key worker suggested that I try to distance myself from him so he does not become too attached which had actually crossed my mind so when his attention drifted from the group, I diverted his attention back to the key worker and other children.
Themes: Group Time, Friendships, Relationships, Attachment Distress, Free-flow Play
This morning was stressful in terms of arriving at the nursery due to traffic and slow service however I made it to the nursery on time although the briefing had already started. As we were preparing the resources for the children before they started their day at nursery, a few of the staff members were laughing with me saying things like ‘oh I saw you and thought it was Friday, I was getting happy for a minute’… since I was at the nursery on a Thursday.
I was then asked if I wanted to spend the afternoon in the affiliate pre-school for children aged 2-3 as they are understaffed which I had actually planned on asking about, I said yes.
I read the focuses for the week, there was a particular emphasis on play with play-dough and mark-making play (sticking, building). One of the key workers said that we need to make the play-dough which I was surprised about as I thought it was ready made. She then explained that the play-dough was actual dough, made of flour, salt, oil, food colouring and hot water. I then headed over to the kitchen and started mixing the ingredients making a dough. Upon understanding this, I was very impressed as it is not only fun for the children but also regards the children health and safety as if they were to swallow/eat the dough it wouldn’t be too dangerous. I was told the salt was added to prevent the children from eating it but was then told that some children actually like the taste of the salt. Later on in the day, I actually saw a child putting the dough into his mouth and told him to refrain from doing so.
Later in the morning, I was by the children’s snack table which is a corner in the nursery where children have toast, water and milk. I spent time with some children who wanted to eat and drink. They could only do so before 10:30 as lunch started at 11:30. There was an issue later on though as some more children wanted toast, so I plugged the toaster in and forgot to unplug it despite it being turned off. The deputy head saw this and almost scolded me for leaving the toaster plugged in which I understood as although the plug was out of reach, it is still a safeguarding issue. This made me feel slightly embarrassed and silly as this was the first time I had made a mistake on my placement; I didn’t want to disappoint.
After this, it was lunch time for the children and I. After lunch, T showed me over to the preschool which is about a minutes walk from the nursery where I recognised the practitioners as they attend the briefings in the nursery in the morning rather than at their site. Everyone seemed very friendly, but I was warned that this setting is likely to be slower-paced compared to the nursery.
As I met some of the children, I found it slightly harder to interact with them. Although the ages between the nursery and preschool children is relatively small, the level of language that the 3-4 years old’s in the nursery had was a lot more advanced as the 2-3 year old’s in the preschool did not yet have the ability to interact at this level. In terms of communicating verbally, it was harder for me to understand what some of the children were trying to say however it was endearing to see that some children had no trouble sitting on my lap, indicating they wanted a story read to them or holding my hand to take me to something they wanted but was out of reach.
There were three parts to this particular preschool. One of these parts was the main nursery where block-play, pretend play, play-dough and story time occurred. There was a door that lead to another room where heuristic play took place; the children could freely move from room to room. The third part of the nursery was the outdoor area/garden which we later went to as we waited for the rain to ease up a little. Generally, it was really interesting to see how both settings highly emphasised and encouraged the concept of free-flow play perhaps giving the children a sense of independence and autonomy.
Themes: Transitions into Preschool, Free-flow Play, Autonomy, Relationships, Partnerships, Safe-guarding
I began the day by attending the briefing. As the briefing finished, I looked to the pin board as I usually do where I saw that I was in the Garden (outdoor play in the nursery) both in the morning and afternoon. I had met a lovely practitioner, named ‘T’ who had started work again this week as she was off sick recovering from an operation.
I immediately took a liking to her as she spoke clearly and was able to give me tasks and challenge me throughout the day whilst still maintaining friendliness and professionalism. She had asked me to observe 3 children throughout the day: I observed one child, particularly looking at his social development in terms of communicating his needs with children and adults, and his use of language. I was observing the second child for his physical developmental growth, for example the way he climbed the climbing frame, and I was observing the last child’s ability to play with modelling materials and his language.
Having been asked to write observations was very exciting for me as I could finally implement the skills I have learnt on previous and current courses into actual practice to gain an outcome that directly helps children and their parents understand their child’s development better as practitioners would use the observations for their reviews.
A boy, ‘J’ who is supposed to currently be in reception was excluded and sent back to the nursery as he had trouble adjusting; J is autistic. He attended for an hour on Friday with his father in the room close by while he played outside with T who is his key worker. When I interacted with J, he seemed very well spoken, smart and authoritative (perhaps this was the issue) as he played and interacted with his key worker and 2 other children.
Throughout the day, I was outdoors and noticed the free flow of children’s play more as children came outside so was easier to notice as opposed to being inside (the nursery room) since it’s noisier and more focused on a specific group of children.
At the end of the day, I attended the briefing which was very brief although the importance of it was emphasised. I was also told that the following Friday was a Parent Review Day so it was unnecessary to attend, therefore I offered that I attend on the Thursday instead as university would’ve officially finished for the term and I was available to which the deputy head was very happy and grateful for.
Themes: Free-flow Play, Friendships/Relationships, Re-adjusting, Theory in Practice
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.