Kerry

About Me

Hello my name is Kerry Carroll and I have been a registered childminder since 2018, I have two children Joshua aged 13 and Hollie aged 9.
I live in a semi detached house with a large garden which I have a log cabin built for my playroom the children also have use of my dinning room, The outside area is fully equipped with sand and water area, mud kitchen, climbing frame, ride one,slide and a forest school area. With have an area where we grow our own fruit and veg. I currently care for children aged 2-9 years. I hold a current Paediatric First Aid certificate and I have safeguarding training.

Delivering The EYFS.
The ethos of my setting is to allow the children to develop at their own pace and with s 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 and 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 time for the under fives and ensure all areas of development are covers by providing opportunities and resources which enhance the children 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 ret of the day is purely child led and relies on their interests, preferences and mood. A typical day would mean that 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 enable 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(CL), rhymes etc. Or during normally play (PSED). 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 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,walking to school etc. to include all the areas of the EYFS, This can include looking at tress and plants (UW), counting red cars (MATHS) ect. Discussing what we see when out and about and developing these when we return home using the internet (ICT) or books (LIT) 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 to 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 the 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.
LEARNING JOURNEYS
All children in the EYFS age group has their own learning journeys which include all observations, photos parents can access these at anytime. The learning journeys are sent home every team 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 the starting points to fill in some parents also give me their children observations from other setting if attended. These give me 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 tow or three next steps per term for each child. Parent are aware of the children's development I discuss regularly with parents and also carry out parents evening to explain in more detail.
Following the children's home routines 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.
PARTNERSHIP WORKING
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 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.
PAPERWORK
Most of my paper work is from childcare UK and I have designed.
Contracts including medical information, agreement of hours and fees, parental responsibility are signed and locked away.
Accident/incident forms involving children are recorded and signed by myself.
Police and procedures safeguarding and complaints and other shared care information starting points are all up to date.
IMPROVEMENTS
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.
Thank you for taking the time to read Kerry