Question –
Q – “How do settings manage the amount of paper work that is required from ofsted. 80 % of my staffs time is spent completing paper work and 20% of time is spent interacting with the children”
Answers –
A – “On my days off!”
A- “80%is a bit high…but yes too much paper work for all staff….regular staff do get paid time to complete their LJ but quite often this is not enough. However when reading a LJ there is nothing g like a full complete story to make you feel accomplished in what you do”
A – “Yes there’s lots of paperwork to complete but you need to get a happy balance , yes Ofsted and parents like to see fabulous learning journals but they would much prefer more time spent interacting with the children and learning journals which are a useful but maybes not so spotless. We decided to put a lot of hand written observations in our journals yes they don’t look as nice but what a lot if non contact time it saves which can be spent with the children”
A – “I’m a childminder! Paperwork is done in my time. There’s no way I could sit at a computer when I’m minding – the children need my time & attention.”
A – “20% that’s not right. We are in the floor all the time, paperwork gets completed in quiet time, ie sleeptimes, when children go home. Observations done all the time.”
A – “Im a childminder and also i think the amount of paper work requested prevent us to spend time with children and know them properly to make correct assessments….”
A- “We use tapestry an online learning journal.This has cut down paperwork so much.we have weekly monthly planning sheets to do & children’s termly reports that’s all the paperwork we have now.”
A – “As I am in a nursery classroom school setting we have a relaxed “school timetable” which means our two key workers get free time every day to complete paperwork. We have staff come in to cover so children’s play is never disrupted.”
A – “In one of my nurseries I just felt that I wasn’t able to spend enough time with them as I had 11 key children and had to do 1 observation each week so as there are only 5 days you can imagine. We then had to spend time away from the children to load observations on to the computer.”
A – “i say exactly this, im a room leader in pre-school and 90% of my time is on paperwork so iv started doing it on my dinner and before i start work so coming in a little bit earlier so then my day can be more productive with the children and getting more detailed observations on them”
A – “I used to work in Australia, where every room in the nursery was given 2 hours a week to update and complete paperwork like documentation and planning… but depending on the room most children napped during the day, so you would have that time as well.. however the Preschool room (as they still call it) children did not need to sleep, so we implemented a quiet activity hour, where the director/manager of the centre came into the room for the hour relieving the Preschool teacher/practitioner to let them complete paperwork every day 
A – “This is the reality in any level of education nowadays. There is not enough time left to actually do the job of working with the children due to the huge amounts of paperwork. Why are papers becoming more important than our children.”
A – “I am a room leader, I schedule time slots a week in advance for me and my team to do tapestry, planning and our scrap books. I used to do so much in my own time but I couldn’t do it all, I wanted fun with my own children on the weekend. It works so much better having allocated time slots each.”
A – “I live in Scotland, so no Ofsted. But our paperwork is just done when it can be. Depending on the age or development of the children I can sometimes do things with them. For instance once upon a time I had some rather easy 3-year-olds who were interested in what I was doing, I just talked to them about the paperwork (and other random stuff) in words they understand. Right now I work with babies and get most of it done while they are napping. Also most days we are packed but right now Fridays are real quiet for some reason. That being said I am just a Nursery Practitioner the seniors and the managers do most of the paperwork, quite often they do the work when staff ratios allow, normally towards the end of the night when enough children have gone home or early in the morning before most of them have arrived. That being said sometimes (probably more often than I’m aware) they do the paperwork outside of hours.”
A – “How can you even have paperwork to complete if you are only with the children for 20% of your time? Your job is to develop children. Ofsted do not ask you to evidence it you just have know your children. Read the 2 paragraphs on assessment in the statutory framework then reconsider how your staff spend their time. Children will progress and develop so much better of you just play with them.”