Nursery World - Work Matters: Management Focus - Observation tools

It is put to innovative use by one nursery concerned about making observations in the Early Years Foundation Stage, says Karen Faux.

Busy Bears Nursery in Durham has developed an innovative approach to meeting the observation requirements of the EYFS.

Its answer to managing observation in a rigorous but time-effective way has been to introduce 'observational trolleys' in each of its four rooms, containing a laptop, digital camera and other IT equipment.

Manager and owner Emma Graham says, 'Getting the observational element of the EYFS right has been the first priority for us and prompted us to think carefully about the way we have traditionally been carrying out observations.

'Staff typically wrote up their observations by hand and then matched them up with photographs and other evidence. This tended to be a rather lengthy and cumbersome process. It occurred to us that it would be much more efficient - and creative - to put observations straight on to laptops as part of everyday, focused activities and build on this to extend to their scope. It also seemed a good way to get all staff confident about using computers.'

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