Opinion: Letters

LISTENING TO BOYS

Having chosen the subject 'Why boys are failing in the Foundation Stage' for my BA (Hons) research project, I decided I wanted to do something to interest the boys in my setting. The staff team decided to observe the children and listen to what their interests are.

As a result, we now take the curriculum to the boys rather then interrupt their play by calling them to a table. If a boy's schema is, for example, construction, then we will adapt the learning to his play. We all agree that whatever the children learn indoors they can also learn outdoors, and probably more enthusiastically too.

We encourage fun and practical things the boys will enjoy, which does not exclude the girls, should they choose to become involved. Rather than try to make everything the same for all children and trying to force boys into what is now considered a 'female style' of learning, we are concentrating on adapting the curriculum to the children's unique and individual learning styles and needs.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families has stated that boys aged between three and five have fallen behind their female peers because nursery staff have curbed their desire for boisterous play involving weapons. Boys are more likely to become interested in education and would perform better if encouraged to pursue their chosen play.

As our setting is situated close to a military base, we have questioned how we can condemn the use of weapons in play when our children may have parents who need to use weapons in their careers. Would we being telling our children that what their parents do is wrong?

As a staff group we have decided to experiment with role play and to allow the boys more freedom with weapons, under certain conditions. We will be making decisions with the children and allowing them to agree on the terms and conditions.

I would also like to encourage more males into the pre-school, and we are making progress as more fathers are joining our Preschool Parent Committee and getting involved in their children's learning.

Cathy Coles, manager, Parade Community Pre-school, Portsmouth

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THE BURDEN OF SEF

Self-evaluation is a crucial and productive part of modern business and organisational practice. I question, though, Ofsted's approach to introducing it via the SEF.

In 'Understanding the SEF' (19 February), Laura Henry and Beth Harris were blithe to a point of diffidence about the amount of work and time that goes into filling in a SEF.

They write about composing 'around 30 pages'. Assuming about 400 words per page, that is about 12,000 words - the length of a dissertation. A fast, fluent and competent writer would expect to write at most 300 words per hour. That translates into 40 hours of writingm which doesn't include any preparation, discussion, analysis or revision. My experience would suggest that these would take something like four hours of work for every hour of writing. In all, the SEF probably takes a minimum of 200 hours to complete with a reasonable degree of accuracy and honesty. That's one person full-time for more than a month.

The form itself is repetitive, contradictory, unclear, overly prescriptive and badly written. Like so many Government-derived early years initiatives, it is unnecessarily bureaucratic and burdensome. Something far simpler, clearer and more productive could have been devised. Maybe it will be.

Peter Silverton, London NW3

DISRESPECTED NNEBS

I am an NNEB. When I was working in England I always bought Nursery World to keep up with everything to do with this profession. In Canada there are thousands of British-trained nursery nurses who have to undergo equivalent testing. But the Canadian government does not regulate standards, we do not have unions, and we get poverty-line wages, around $12 to $14 an hour.

The UK debate about men in childcare is replicated in Canada. This work is seen as glorified babysitters. There is no respect for childcarers' professional abilities or hard work. Many people leave the profession because of financial burdens.

Margaret Taha, Milton, Ontario

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