The Early Years Staff Meeting
Have you ever sat through a staff meeting and thought, 'but how is this relevant to Early Years?' Do you want on-the-go CPD that supports you to develop your EYFS practice in a way that holds the best interests of the children at the heart? Would you like this delivered by passionate and experienced Early Years teachers who know the realities of working in a busy setting? Then come and join us at The Early Years Staff Meeting to explore the magic and mayhem of the EYFS. Grab a cuppa, rest those feet that you've been on all day and delve into all things Early Years with us. Learn, listen and laugh with The Early Years Staff Meeting.
The Early Years Staff Meeting
A Very Merry Early Years Christmas
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Are you ready to ditch the Elf on the Shelf and shake up your in-class Christmas celebrations? In our latest episode, we share the ups and the downs of creating festive magic in schools. From nativity play mishaps to the pressures of crafting unforgettable memories for the kids, we've been there, done that, and we're sharing it all with you. As a cherry on top, we celebrate our recent download milestone and extend our gratitude to you, our esteemed listeners.
We are hanging up our elf hats this year and exploring a skills-based approach to Christmas. We'll reveal why we've decided to steer clear of using Santa and his elves to manage children's behavior and how we're focusing on fostering meaningful skill development during festive activities. We've also packed our electronic guide with alternative Christmas activities designed with skill-building in mind. And amidst all the festive cheer, we are mindful of varying celebrations and circumstances, offering ideas to bring joy into scenarios where children may not be eagerly anticipating the holiday season at home.
The holiday season can be a tough time for many, and we haven't shied away from this reality. We open up about our own pre-Christmas blues and share our tried and tested strategies to navigate this period. Whether it's utilising meditation apps or visualizing happier times, we hope our tips can offer some solace. As we look forward to 2024, we share our exciting plans including new guests, more content and expanded support for the early years industry. Through your feedback and continuous engagement, we aim to create a nurturing community that supports one another through the highs and lows of festive seasons. Here's to a happier, more nurturing Christmas and New Year!
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Hello and welcome to the earlier staff meeting podcast with Sarah Keelian Steff, the place where you can listen, learn and laugh with us about all things. Early years.
Speaker 2Hello everyone, hi we're back.
Speaker 1We're back with our Christmas edition. Christmas edition, it's not actually quite Christmas.
Speaker 2No, we're still in November technically when we're recording this, when you work in a school.
Speaker 1It is Christmas in November, isn't?
Speaker 2it. It is, yeah, you have to start preparing. We do Well. We had a Panto today. I feel like it's.
Speaker 1Christmas, isn't it now? Yeah, it's officially here.
Speaker 2So today let's tell you what we've got. Today We've got a little celebration start off with, and then a staff voice about all things Christmas, and then our main agenda is a skills Christmas.
Speaker 1this Christmas it sounds a bit like Scroogey, doesn't it? Have your skills based Christmas this year?
Speaker 2Yes, no fun whatsoever. And then we want to talk about something that we have created for you all and some things that we've been making in school, and then going on to our mindful moment, which is about visualisation, going to your happy place and then ending off with our quarter-ons Fantastic, okay, so just wants our little celebration. I know I can't quite believe it. Well, no, we've hit the big time. Have we hit the big time?
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah, we have. Who just thought this time last year?
Speaker 2We won't even do it in the podcast. No, it was an idea wasn't it, it was an idea.
Speaker 1And here we are a thousand downloads later. I know.
Speaker 2It's amazing. Just want to say a huge thank you to anyone who's listened to us. Yeah, absolutely, thank you so much. It just means the world because it's our little dream. It's very surreal. It is very surreal. And it does mean the world to us because it was our little idea that we just we had and we just we laughed about it, didn't we at the beginning, and we used to talk about it and then one day we just went for it, made it happen, we made it happen and, yeah, we look at us now. We love it, absolutely love it. It's taught us a lot.
Speaker 1Yeah, like it's taught us a lot technically as well as sort of creatively.
Speaker 2And it just goes to show that teachers can turn their hand to anything. We're very skilled individuals.
Speaker 1We, yeah, we play ourselves. I think we play our skills down, don't we, yeah, we do, we do. That's a good chance that we have some transferable skills so huge.
Speaker 2thank you to everybody who's listened. If you haven't followed us, then click follow on wherever you're listening to your podcast so you can get our episode when they come out, freshly delivered. Exactly, okay, are you ready? Star voice Okay, this week's Star Voice is all about Christmas. Christmas. So we just had a little think, didn't we over our careers about? Christmas is quite a stressful period in school.
Speaker 1Yeah, and there are lovely, lovely things about this time If you're working with children. Obviously we've got the magic and the joy.
Speaker 2The awe and wonder of Christmas. Yeah, the first of everything at Christmas, isn't it? Yeah, for, like nursery children, it's their first year, isn't it, of understanding what Christmas is.
Speaker 1Yeah, and all the magical things and all the magical routines and things that we can do, that are just lovely and obviously it's fun. We've got a long holiday coming up well, a longish holiday coming up, so we're all gearing towards that. Yeah, and it's a magical time of year, but but Dun, dun dun.
Speaker 2It's also a very stressful time of year because there's a lot of responsibility on adults to keep. That magic isn't there for children. We feel very responsible that if it's not magical in school then that they will be scarred for life. So keeping that awe and wonder is very stressful.
Speaker 1Not to mention all of the other stresses that come up Just being a teacher or a practitioner. It's expectations of Christmas productions and display boards and Christmas cards and crafts and all of it. Learning carols for a carol service. And yeah, it's just very stressful.
Speaker 2It never ends, it never ends and the list just gets bigger and bigger. But we just had a little talk, didn't we, about some of the things. Some of the sort of the more memorable, stressful moments that have happened in our careers. So I think the one I had the most stress about on my list here is the nativity.
Speaker 1Oh, the nativity.
Speaker 2I mean, yeah, so it ranges from children being put in the wrong costumes. Yep, did that last year. You get so many bags in with so many names and they've all got 10 of the same angel from Tesco. Have they all got their names on there? Oh sorry, no, they don't.
Speaker 1There'll be a couple of parents that have read the five emails that you sent saying please name everything, and the rest will just think, oh no, that teacher will remember my child's costume.
Speaker 2Exactly. They've all got the same angel costume from Tesco and it happens you accidentally put the wrong costume on the wrong child and it's not till afterwards when the parent comes to you very upset that they're not in the right costume. But you know it happens. Getting however many children you have in your setting in costume, it takes a long time with very little staff.
Speaker 1Yeah, under time pressure, like the time constraints.
Speaker 2Exactly, and it's very hot and the children are getting fussy and yeah so, yeah, that's, that's like a top 10. So this is one of my most memorable moments. So a parent had spent a very long time creating this king costume. It was elaborate the cloak, the fur around the cape, the elaborate king's hat and even the little box that contained myrrh. I had myrrh on it it's spelt wrong and I didn't realise.
Speaker 2but the box opened. So on stage our class stood up to sing and I looked over and saw said child tucking in to some chocolate coins from his box and there was chocolate on him, on the two angels next to him who were wearing lovely pure white clothes and they had chocolate all over them. Very stressful, in front of the you know, the whole audience that's being filmed.
Speaker 1I just laughed. Why did he have chocolate gold in his box if it was myrrh?
Speaker 2That could have been spelt easier as well. I don't know why it was, but it was. You always get the children having a fight, don't you?
Speaker 1Little fisticuffs on the stage You're in my way or you're stealing my moments my light. Sometimes a child will stand in front of the other child and they'll just stop the other child and start crying. Then you're trying your best to get them to sort of reign it in just for their moment.
Speaker 2but no, the moment's gone, no, and then onto the other spectrum is falling asleep. You know, children, is so warm in there.
Speaker 2They fall asleep when you're sort of having to wake them or whisk them away. Another thing about costumes we had we banned star costumes a few years ago purely because children were standing there with their arms out in their star costumes for a long period of time, which obviously could be torture, and also because their arms were outstretched. They were leaning over and poking children's eyes out, putting fingers up noses. Someone got their finger bitten by another child.
Speaker 1They needed to come with a risk assessment. They did. Yeah, that reminds me of the hooks, the shepherd's crooks, oh my goodness Shepherds crooks.
Speaker 2And some lambs being thrown across, yeah, and sort of children being sort of hooked across the stage. Yeah, costumes yeah, they always come with them. Oh, see-through costumes as well. Awkward, awkward, very awkward. And last but not least, psa providing refreshments of the alcoholic variety. Does that even?
Speaker 1happen anymore.
Speaker 2I don't think it does. This is from the beginning of my career. I'd like to say like 13 years ago. You know it was a bit more fun and free and the mold wine was being shared. Was it going down? Well, a little too well. Some parents got a little sloshed and came to pick up their, their children and they were slurring their words. It was quite embarrassing but very funny. Yeah, it's quite a long time ago. It wouldn't happen in today's culture would it.
Speaker 2No, no, but yeah, that is the tivity disaster. That's just the stress of getting children to perform when they're not developmentally ready it almost feels like there should be an alternative it does feel like that, doesn't it I?
Speaker 1wonder if anyone's thought that. Can we go on to that later? Yeah, maybe, yeah.
Speaker 2Father Christmas coming in also stressful. Lovely, but also can be stressful. Children screaming at dressed-up characters, children getting a little bit over excited and touching Father Christmas inappropriately, pulling his beard off and touching his tummy and all sorts of weird and wonderful things with Father Christmas.
Speaker 1I also had a friend of mine that was Father Christmas one year and, like his own children, didn't know that it was him. He was that good at disguise and also, like some years where you can't get a Father Christmas, yeah, so come. You have to have like a really sad alternative. Like the elves have come and it's just one of the mums dressed up as an elf and it's so obvious.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1But at my old setting we used to have the real Father Christmas. He was magical. He was the real Father Christmas, really. Yeah, the real one. How?
Speaker 2did you manage to get him?
Speaker 1He, just, he just liked, he, just liked our school and he used to come and he was completely magical.
Speaker 2Yeah, and, and they're like gems, aren't they? When you find someone like that, yeah, um, but it's very few in Father Tree.
Speaker 1I think yeah. I think this one used to grow his beard throughout Easter, starting like September. Oh yeah, it was the real Father Christmas.
Speaker 2Like in this method acting, that was.
Speaker 1Daniel Day-Lewis yeah.
Speaker 2Method acting, um. And last, my last stress, which is a more modern thing and you might be able, you're probably having, you're gonna have this stress, aren't you? Yeah, is elf on a shelf? Yeah, my goodness, it started off quite good before it became very commercialised. Yeah, um, and it was very magical, and the children did behave, because you know we used to say he's watching you so you better behave. Just for this last, the last three weeks of term, just bribery, bribery and corruption. But my goodness, it's gone to a new level now, hasn't it? Commercial central.
Speaker 1Tell me about it. I feel like we need a little disclaimer here that you know, is it over 18s that listen, Because we don't want to reveal any trade secrets?
Speaker 2No, we don't. No, I think he is over 18s, listen. But yes, um, elf on a shelf this year I am not doing out of protest, okay, because, um, it's just thinking of the the things to do. Yeah, they're supposed to be naughty, which isn't modelling good behaviour, in my opinion. Um, and then it's sort of double standards, because then they're watching to make sure that the children are behaving, but they're not.
A Skills-Based Christmas Guide
Speaker 1And that's okay. It's a whole debate, isn't it, yeah, about using sort of Santa in the elves as bribery for children to behave. Yeah, you know it is and it always happens when you do it it gets to July and I just have to start using it with my own children.
Speaker 2And it's also. You come in, you've come in late and you look up and go oh, bloody elf is still in the same place. I've got to move it, yeah. And you're quickly fumbling around and you don't want to put it at their level because you know they're going to touch it and the rule is they can't touch it and then you'll have to think of some way to make it magic again and someone will touch it.
Speaker 2Someone will touch it like throwing, throwing things at it like it's you know, trying to knock it down like it's, it's gittles. So yeah, I am banning elf on a shelf this year.
Speaker 1I feel, I feel the pain. I'm not surprised, that's all I'm going to say on the matter, because it causes me nothing but stress from a personal, from a personal aspect.
Speaker 2Yes, okay Right, moving on Skills at Christmas.
Speaker 1Okay. So what do we mean by a skills based Christmas? Because it just sounds so dull, Skills based Christmas Ho ho ho. Sounds like the fun police have taken all the fun out of Christmas, but on the contrary.
Speaker 2No. So we, we, this Christmas, we wanted to take a lot of that stress out as well as you know, as much as possible, because we all have stresses as well as our job. So Christmas is stressful at home as well as for our job. So we wanted to try and make it easier. So, yeah, we, we had our heads together, didn't we Steph? We did, and we have created, we've produced an electronic guide we have.
Speaker 1It's a book.
Speaker 2I feel like we're authors now, we had that to our list. It's a very short book. No, it's 26 pages. Well, yeah, I suppose, yeah, I suppose 26 pages, 26 pages. So, um yeah, quality ideas, it is. So we do talk about the nativity, don't we?
Speaker 1and ways that you can make it not so forced and pressurized that you can still have the magic of performing, but in a more child centered and friendly world, making it meaningful still still allowing you know those connections with home and things like that, but suggestions of how to make it Just a little bit more friendly and developmentally appropriate.
Speaker 2We're not forcing children to perform against their will yeah, and adults yeah, it's for the adults, it is for the adults. And we also talk about crafts yeah, because that is also another thing that's very forced, isn't it? I mean, we have talked about that in previous podcasts. We've talked about Mother's Day, didn't we?
Speaker 1And how. You know, it's that teaching the skills, giving the children skills to produce something rather than producing carbon copies of the same art activity.
Speaker 2The Father Christmas Handprint with the beard, we've all been there. Oh yeah, you know?
Speaker 1I remember previous years I've had checklists of who's made this, who's made that. But you do have to just sometimes it just takes that moment, doesn't it, to just say, right, who are we doing this for? What does it mean to the children? So we just, in our guide, we've just sort of come up with some alternative activities that you could do.
Speaker 2Yeah, so you can get this guide if you go to our Instagram page. If you click on the link, it will at the very top it will say a very merry early years Christmas guide. You can click on that and it will take you to the website called Buy Me a Coffee, which is a supporters page. So if you'd like to purchase that, you can, and it's okay. The grand total of three pounds Three pounds to save your Christmas. Yeah, it's a pack of Christmas cards okay so don't buy Christmas cards.
Speaker 2Go and have a look at our guide.
Speaker 1So within the guide you will find different ideas. We sort of cover different topics that might come up. So we do cover crafts and some alternatives that you can do with different crafts. We cover nativities again.
Speaker 2We've already talked about some alternatives and we talk about cooking, yeah, and making that very much on the skills and recipes and there is print, often actually put straight into your provision yeah, so you can make Christmas cake.
Speaker 2But it's all skills based and it's using reading for purpose as well. I'm going to have a go at that. And, on that note, it is using one of those mini bean tins that have a ring pull. Yeah, so you ring, take the ring, put top of the ring, pull off through that way and then turn it upside down and, with your tin opener, take the bottom off and then turn it back over. So where you've got the ring pull, you have that little lip, don't you? Oh, yeah, so you put the bottom in there and you've got like a removable so you can push the cake up, so you can reuse the tin. Yeah, yeah, for the next child. So I'm gonna do a post on that anyway, to just show children show children and adults like a little little hack there.
Speaker 2But yeah, that's all ready to go in the guide. So is talking about when it just being mindful that it is tricky. Christmas is a tricky time. It's an emotive time for people.
Speaker 1So being sort of aware that not everybody celebrates Christmas as well. And, yeah, you know people's there are other celebrations that happen at this time and it's you know if they're relevant to your setting to talk about different celebrations as well. But yes, sort of you know, circumstances are different for everybody and not all children will be looking forward to.
Speaker 2Christmas at home.
Speaker 1Not all children will be getting present, so it's just being mindful of that. And we have a section on how, ways that you can kind of bring joy, bring those pockets of joy into the setting at this time, just to make it, you know, a magical moment for everybody, without the forced joy. Yeah, genuine, you know, genuine, yeah genuine moment.
Speaker 2Well, yeah, well moments, yeah. So the other thing we're going to be doing this year is making advent better as well, because that tends to be geared to the sweets. You know children getting upset because they haven't got one, and that's another sort of stressful aspect of the Christmas period. So on social, so on our social, so Instagram, will be posting daily an advent activity you could do that is sort of linked to core provision or linked to huga, to say it like that huga or like a more skills based as well, so you can follow along with us as we do it every day.
Speaker 1So yeah, or you could buy the guide and you'll get the full. You can print it out and it's ready to go, isn't it? You can print it, laminate it, pop it in your advent calendar, if you have one, or alternatively, you can make one.
Speaker 2Yeah, we little elves and I have been busy okay, the children have been busy creating our own advent calendar, Yep, so you can check that out on Instagram. So I'll be posting all about that as well.
Speaker 1It's lovely, it's very rustic. I'm going to put that out there, but it's beautiful. I think it's absolutely gorgeous. I didn't attempt it in nursery. Why you're saying, why didn't you attempt to hand sew? We're a bit behind on our sewing provision. I think in nursery we need to find the skills.
Speaker 2I think and actually and we talk about advent in the guide as well, so you know there's lots of tips in there to help you. But, yeah, follow along on Instagram to follow along with us if you happen this year.
Finding Joy in Pre-Christmas Blues
Speaker 1So yeah, that's really exciting. So we can't count down the days with us. Yeah, we'll be counting down, because it's a long old after.
Speaker 2It is a long old after we're going to get plenty of advent, because we're here till nearly Christmas. I know who I know Shocking, anyway, longer at the other end. Yeah, okay, are we ready? Go to our happy place, let's go.
Speaker 1So I was feeling a little bit. I was feeling a bit blue this week and I'm feeling a bit sad. I don't know why. I just think it's the weather. Yeah, the pressures have got cold hasn't it? Yeah, and I just think it's that we sort of midway through a very, very long half term. So I did a little bit of my balance app that I've talked about before. You know I have talked about it in the podcast. I downloaded this app called Balance.
Speaker 2We'll put a link in again. We did last time he mentioned it.
Speaker 1It's free for a year so I'm still on my first year but it's sort of a meditation app and when I'm feeling a bit sad I know that I have to like do something about it. So I'm like, right, okay, let's go to the meditation, let's do the meditation in the morning. So I did one the other day and it was all about you can actually put your mood. So I put my mood was feeling sad and it was. Then it sort of makes a meditation. That's sort of tailor made to your mood that day.
Speaker 2Oh, that's it Is it an NHS one?
Speaker 1I don't know. It's not an NHS one, I don't think, but I don't know where. I've found it somewhere. It may have been recommended on an NHS website or something, so I'm not sure if it is, but it is really really good. So do check it out. But you do just have to sign up for it. But you just have to make sure that if you don't want to sort of then pay for it for another year, another year, you have to cancel it.
Speaker 1But it is so good, so it kind of like it kind of hooked me in because maybe I will pay for it afterwards. But yeah, this technique for being sad was all about visualization and it was just like remembering a time, the last time you were happy, and it could be the smallest thing, like you could have just laughed at a joke that someone told you, or you could have, like, noticed the frost on the windscreen this morning, how beautiful it looked, before you scripted it off or anything at all. Could it have been something at school. There's always joy to be found with the children.
Speaker 1You know, someone really made you proud today, someone made progress with something. So it's just like the last time you felt happy and you just it's just about visualizing that. So it's just about sort of just meditating for a moment, remembering what happened, remembering how that moment made you feel, just to bring a little bit of joy, and I think it's just remembering that it's normal to feel up and down and you know it does, it does pass, but there's always. There's always something positive there's always something to be grateful for.
Speaker 1Of course there is, yeah so it's just about finding that, that that sort of happy moment, and go into your happy place and, just yeah, relive in that moment when you're feeling sad. Yeah, so maybe a technique that, if any of you feel like I am the pre Christmas blues. Yeah, it's normally the January blues, isn't it?
Speaker 2It is, yeah, but it's that anticipation of something. Yeah, something big is about to happen, isn't it? And it is Christmas is big.
Speaker 1And I almost feel like it's a bit of art. I think we talked about this maybe last week, like it's like a hibernation time at the moment, where it's colder. So we feel just that need to sort of, yeah, hunker down, yeah, I think it then makes coming to work even more of a challenge. But yeah, just keep using my visualization so you may like to try that, listeners if yeah, what's my happy place?
Speaker 2Probably just thinking of my own children. And just so we saw Father Christmas this weekend and that was so magical. Yeah, my youngest son didn't have a clue, but my middle child it was.
Speaker 2That time, the or the first one, the or and wonder of Father Christmas where he didn't cry and freak out and he actually spoke to him and yeah, it was really. I actually did cry. I was like, ooh, and that is the magical part of Christmas and when it goes right like that, that is, that does give you like a tingly feeling. But, yeah, that's probably my recent really happy place, right, okay, call to arms. So there is going to be a lot happening on Instagram on our the earlier staff meeting page, so please follow us, check us out. We'd love to hear some feedback. Sometimes it just feels like we're putting things into the ether. We don't get anything back Like we'd like. You know we want it to be for you?
Speaker 1What helps you If anyone does anything that we sort of suggest or they have another idea? Or anything like that or anything that we could talk about. Please do sort of interact with us.
Speaker 2Yeah, and like, if you do make your own advent calendar, we'd love to see them. Or we'd love to hear about how you got on with any of the activities. Yeah, we just we're desperate to create our own little community, aren't we? We want to be able to give, give it in the right way. We want to be helpful to people. So, please, we'd love your feedback. All feedback positive, negative is appreciated.
Speaker 1Please, be kind to us though I mean we teach it, so we're used to negative feedback. It's fine, we like the sandwich don't we Positive, negative, positive In the sandwich we're very packed, packed in a nice little packed lunch. But you know, let's face it, as teachers we're constantly critiqued. Critiqued, yeah, on our you know, performance. So it's fine, we're used to it, we do really well.
Speaker 2But we get a lot. So, yeah, we'd love to hear from you. Obviously, check out our Buy Me a Coffee page. You can. If you really want to support us, you can give a donation, because it does cost us a lot. So, yeah, putting this out, so you know, it would be lovely. Anyone wants to support us? Yeah, if anyone wants to support us in that way, that would be amazing.
Speaker 1Or if you want to buy the guide because it's only £3. It is Very Merry Early Years Christmas. It's almost like a magazine, I would describe it. Yeah, it's like lots of things in there for you to just take up some of the stress. But I think now would be a good, good time to do it in time for Christmas. Time for Christmas.
Plans for 2024
Speaker 2And then watch this space because we have more ideas for more content to go on there, don't we? So, yeah, yeah, we're sort of we're learned.
Speaker 1And paid. Yeah, we're learned as when it comes to the whole social media thing, yeah, and so, yeah, we are just trying to do more things, but I think we're going to probably have a little new years. We are.
Speaker 2Re-envigration. Yeah, yeah, we've got some ideas, but and we've got some, we've got some guests got lined up, haven't?
Speaker 1we we have actually got some guests lined up and I think, yeah, that's our sort of 2024. That's where we're going to go More guests, yeah, more social media content to sort of help people out with ideas.
Speaker 2But we want this. We do this because we want to help our industry, our early years industry, because it is on its knees. We want to be as helpful as possible. So, yeah, yeah, yeah, give us feedback, but be kind.
Speaker 1And if we, if we don't speak to you again, have a very merry, have a very merry Christmas and otherwise Christmas. Okay, see you soon, guys, see you soon, bye.
