Half Term

So far half term has been work and not much else. I worked most of Saturday, half of Sunday and till lunchtime today. All in all about fifteen hours on my tracking. The management and outside people are taking an unprecedented interest in it all, with the implication (in my mind anyway) that we either haven't got sufficient evidence, or that we are making wrong judgements. We have an advisor coming in to do moderation with us in a couple of weeks who will work with each of the Foundation Stage teachers, so I want to be very well prepared and have been extra thorough with my tracking this time. The whole system is heavily flawed I feel, but it is the system I have to work within and so have to do the best I can. I have been reading this book about early years education and how it is too much too soon for young children. It has been reviewed and re-written (the curriculum not the book) but I don't find it any better. It is in fact more confused in many aspects and so the levels of the children in certain areas of learning do not make sense to anyone who isn't using the document to assess them. It is one of those reading experiences that confirms everything I suspected but puts it so much better than I ever could. On Monday three of us worked all day to continue sorting out cupboards and storage. The mice had been in one of the cupboards we were working on and had covered every shelf with droppings and urine. So we had to spend a lot of time cleaning stuff as well as sorting it out. I came across two of them, one in a lovely tissue paper nest he had made for himself, and another-a little fat one, who was sitting behind a cupboard in my room that I was moving. He just sat for a couple of seconds staring at me! We did have a nice pub lunch so it wasn't all bad!

Still thinking about tea...

 I found this in the charity shop. So sweet! Possibly to go in for small world play, or possibly not. 

 Tea cosy hat and jammy dodger earrings...

 A cut out paper person-I am not sure what I was trying to do here-I wanted a paper doll in my journal but the mechanics eluded me so this came about instead!

We watched a top of the pops disco special the other night and one of the songs was YMCA-the McBurney branch was the one they were dancing in front of. I wrote it down so I could look it up-it has nothing to do with the girl.

 Cassie has had a bonanza week for boxes with two so far.

 This is her waiting for me to start work this morning. 

 This is a picture of some of the new lunch tables delivered this Monday. I liked the view from the top of the stairs. The school is full of delivery men (bringing new furniture), removal men (taking away old furniture), workmen and Andy-our premises manager, who has too much to do!