Well-Being In EYFS by Sophie Millard

2024-10-31 11:01:59 UTC

Supportive team - being able to confide in them when feeling overwhelmed and having them agree/relate.

2024-10-31 11:04:03 UTC

School could give us more time for tasks or give us the task further in advance from deadline so everything doesn't pile up at once.

2024-10-31 11:24:13 UTC

I’d like to address our current workload and deadlines, which feel increasingly unmanageable. At times, it seems we are repeating ourselves, and the demands of the ARC pathway can be overwhelming. With the recent updates to the EYFS curriculum emphasizing more time spent with children in play, many of us feel we are prioritizing administrative tasks over meaningful interactions. This imbalance is impacting our morale and overall well-being. I believe we need to find a better balance to focus on our primary goal: supporting our children's development, which we enjoy doing, especially with the CPDs we are having.

2024-10-31 11:32:20 UTC

I believe it would be beneficial for our team if we could foster a culture where we regularly check in on one another’s well-being and workload. When feeling overwhelmed, you don't want to feel as a hindrance to your leadership team if we are needing support.

2024-11-01 02:51:14 UTC

I love being part of a team where I feel supported and feel able to ask any questions that I may have. However, there is too much information from too many channels and an ever-increasing workload which means that I feel like I'm drowning in administrative tasks that never seem to get done. I also feel that with the current timetable, we hardly get any time to spend with the children in the provision we've worked so hard to set up for them. There is no time for those important conversations we should be having with the children because we're always working in groups on phonics, literacy or maths and I feel this timetable is more suited to LKS2 rather than FS where I think there should be more free flow.

2024-11-02 05:55:57 UTC

Thankful to have a team of supportive woman around who I can relate to and know exactly where I’m coming from!! When school gets tough, it’s my core team that is there for me.

What's going well for your well-being?

2024-11-03 15:02:49 UTC

Grateful that we have Anj as our head of year she’s been such a fantastic support for all of us!

2024-11-03 15:10:47 UTC

Please keep the changes minimal. Since Term 1.1, we’ve had many changes, which has been overwhelming especially for new teachers. It’s a lot to manage all at once. Currently, daily ARC Pathway observations are challenging; would it be possible to reduce this to three observations per week? This would give us more time to actively engage with the children in the provision. Thank you for considering this adjustment.

2024-11-04 03:12:53 UTC

This year has been so much better than previous years. I think we are fortunate to have such amazing leadership this year. Thank you for all your support!

The only thing I feel would help us would be the ECA duty on Thursdays where we drop the yr4,5+6 to the primary canteen. The children complain to us they know where they are going and most times when I get to the classes they have already gone. On a Thursday when we have such a nice chunk of time to get things sorted.

2024-11-04 09:48:19 UTC

One of my main challenges is the high number of meetings. Many of these could potentially be summarised in an email, allowing more time to focus on planning and setting up for daily activities. Additionally, meetings that are scheduled on short notice often disrupt planned afternoon activities, creating unnecessary stress and leaving us feeling unprepared. Reducing the number of in-person meetings to only those that are essential would be beneficial. Providing advance notice for meetings would also allow us to plan around them more effectively and feel more prepared, which would significantly improve our well-being.

2024-11-04 10:15:18 UTC

Workload (especially arc) has been quite a lot this year. Is there a way that we can make this more manageable? I don't think having an excel spreadsheet reduces workload either.

2024-11-04 10:17:49 UTC

Supportive FS1 team

work load and deadlines. Giving time to complete our work

2024-11-04 10:18:36 UTC

Crossing my fingers that we can have Arabic back again soon. We love Mrs. Eriny, and the parents have made lots of comments about how nice it has been to see their kids using Arabic words at home :)

2024-11-04 10:19:03 UTC

🌟 The leaders are amazing! Their guidance and support make a huge difference. Thank you Alisha, Lara, Lorraine and Caroline.

🌟 The class neighbor is awesome! It's great to have a positive environment nearby.

💭 Wish: The workload of ARC could be a bit lighter—it’s feeling overwhelming!

2024-11-04 10:20:04 UTC

Thankful to have supportive team

2024-11-04 10:20:25 UTC

overwhelmed with workload, need more class time, if possible, can we reduce the Arc observation to 3 a week please

2024-11-04 10:21:15 UTC

Supportive leadership team, I can always speak to leaders for advice and guidance.

Great planning documents. I love how simplified the planning has become while allowing consistency and creative freedom in classrooms.

Too close of deadlines and alot of meetings. Could be given deadlines in advance and ensure meetings are kept to specific days and times.

2024-11-04 10:21:28 UTC

Leaders are super supportive this year and I had such a lovely Term 1.1.

Planning is in good pace and not too lengthy. I am also happy that we have some afternoons to complete pending tasks.

2024-11-04 10:21:39 UTC

It will be very helpful if can reduce the number of arc observations. It is overloaded and we can provide quality observation due to time limitation.

2024-11-04 10:21:48 UTC

The management is very supportive. Always ready to listen and give their positive feedback. Appreciate all our work with a Thank you note.

2024-11-04 10:22:08 UTC

The team are amazing, and I love being part of a supportive environment. We always laugh no matter even if we are having a bad day and it really helps with my wellbeing. I would love to have more conversations around what we are doing well individually from leaders, not just waiting until its observation time. I would like more gallery walks and peer observations. It would be great if we had more time with leaders in general to discuss our next steps with the school ie. probation

2024-11-04 10:22:21 UTC

very supportive FS1 team.

Arc expectations - can this be reviewed?

2024-11-04 10:23:46 UTC

So happy with the team and getting to work with amazing people. Struggle to keep up with all of the observations and extra work being added each week. Even if we got a bit more of a warning or extra time to complete this work, I think it would be more manageable and the team would feel less overwhelmed!

2024-11-04 10:24:06 UTC

I love being a part of an amazing team (FS2D).very supportive . Thank You Ms.Anj for being super supportive and for all your Guidance.

2024-11-04 10:24:10 UTC

I love that we all help each other with how to do things ie. what to write in emails, how to do a phonics routine etc. I wish the workload was not as much especially ARC observations. They feel like a formality not a purposeful exercise.

2024-11-04 10:24:12 UTC

Very supportive team. Too many things going on. Too many observations on Arch Pathway. Too many changes and not enough time to implement them. The resources are a challenge.

2024-11-04 10:24:24 UTC

Star: I love being with my children and I think they're absolutely brilliant, I feel I have built solid relationships with my children, and this is continuing as we go through the school year.
Star: I feel very supported by my head of year (Anj) I feel comfortable enough to talk to her freely about any concerns or any advice. She is absolutely brilliant!
Wish: The general workload I feel is too much and there is not enough time to finish it. Deadlines are very short, and information is presented very last minute. I personally feel very overwhelmed, whilst I know a teachers list is never ending. I feel that I can't catch a breath sometimes with the amount of administrative work we are expected to do. I find myself working most evenings to try and keep up/get ahead of where I need to be in order to have a workless weekend.

I do not feel present with my children, and this is something that makes me feel sad.

2024-11-04 10:24:27 UTC

Happy to be a part of a very supportive team. Thank you to Ms. Ang and Ms. Sabrin for always supporting and guiding.

2024-11-04 10:24:38 UTC

I am not enjoying anymore with kids since all the time busy with photos and Arc Pathway observations and also this year its more challenging than previous years since everything we have to prove from the scratch and feels I am not valued and my work is not noticed or appreciated. Thankful to Anj for all her support. But its not same like FS2. Arc pathway is a very hard task this year.

2024-11-04 10:25:51 UTC

Great to have support from class neighbours. However workload is overwhelming and too many changes happening frequently, can be hard to keep on top of. Arc expectations are taking away time with children.

2024-11-04 10:27:13 UTC

I love the guidance we receive from the new leaders. They are clear and sensible.

Arc pathway observations has both good and bad sides. They help us to create a good relationship with the parents and to give them positive opinion about what is happening in the classrooms.

But it's overwhelming to finish 5 obs in a week. Uploading them individually takes 1 hour or more every day. And maths small group lesson is more focused on taking a picture than teaching to the child.

2024-11-04 11:03:04 UTC

We have such an amazing team who are so willing to be adaptable at a moments notice. Arc Pathway is feeling very overwhelming, and a stuggle.

2024-11-04 11:29:21 UTC

✨I am grateful for our amazing leaders in FS2. You are very supportive and always there to guide us.

✨I love working in FS2 this year because all my colleagues are approachable and helpful and always check on our well-being or if we need help.

🙏 I wish we had more free time in the afternoons to complete our ARC pathway observations and meet our workload and deadlines.

2024-11-04 16:52:26 UTC

It has been an amazing experience working with the best team in school and we understand that even though we are the best there is still room for improvement, but short deadlines with many things crammed up is losing the essence of teaching. Also we are never expected to work from home. The work would be timetabled and planned in such a way that we could finish everything in school and enough time was allotted. Now work is being carried home and family time is affected. The arc observations are very overwhelming. More than teaching we are concerned about recording the observation. Previously, parents were used to receiving pictures and updates only on Fridays. Their expectations are built by us. If we post every day, they would look forward to it every day. As FS teachers we already have a lot to handle with these little ones and now there is a lot of learning and unlearning happening. Hope this would be looked into to make things easy.

2024-11-05 03:02:25 UTC

I appreciate the team work we do in FS department and I am grateful for the very supportive leadership as well. Just a few things, i feel like there has been an increase in the work load especially Arc Pathway as others have mentioned already. The change in school timing has really impacted myself both personally and professionally. I would prefer staying until 4:30 only on Wednesdays. I am still struggling to keep up with late Tuesdays . Please consider bringing back the old school timing 6;45-3:45

2024-11-05 03:09:48 UTC

The whole team has been a wonderful support this term! My wish is that there is more time to complete tasks and to have more time with our LA's so that our classrooms and teaching are cohesive between the two of us. Last-minute meetings and Little Lions take away so much valuable time!

2024-11-05 08:49:07 UTC

Few points to reflect

Our leaders have focused on consistency. we as professionals try our best to follow this approach however the school resources are not sufficient to meet vast department like FS.
we are told clearly not to buy resources due to health and safety reasons so please think of how the purposeful resources could be delivered to class in order to engage in purposeful learning environment.
Arc posting gets too overwhelming and the workload is massive.

2024-11-05 09:13:10 UTC

The team is very supportive, but the workload is overwhelming, no time with LA is available. They arrive after the teacher arrives and most of the days not available as they have other duties, and they leave before the teacher leaves. 5 observations per child on Arc pathway per week is a big ask along with endless meetings, CPDS, admin work, limited resources. Too many changes and not enough time to implement them.