E-Profiles.

It has been much warmer for the last few days but still the snow lingers on by the side of the track.

As soon as the roads were clear the farmers were out , up to their favourite pastime - muck spreading. The air has been redolent with the smell of slurry, thank goodness it's cow slurry and not pig slurry which smells really BAD.

This despite appearances is not a dirt track but a proper road under all that mud. It's the result of tractors driving over wet fields. I shan't bother to wash my car until the weekend but that's what you get when you live in the country.

Dartmoor is not always visible ,( being 76 miles away) so I do enjoy seeing such a clear view.

These are some snowdrops growing in the hedge at Burridge. Although a native wildflower these were probably planted by the people living nearby.

I was able to get out and do some gardening later this afternoon, weeding and leaf clearing, but most of the day was spent doing e-profiles on my lap top. These are the detailed records covering 8 points for each of 13 aspects of learning for each child in my class. Which works out to be 3,224 bits of information !!! I probably had to look at about half that number of points as some have already been completed and some are not yet relevant but that is an awful lot of thinking about each child and box ticking. It is good to have such comprehensive records but often I feel I'm spending more time recording evidence of things the children know rather than working with them to expand their knowledge. No doubt in a few years time it will all change again. I am impressed with the latest phonics program in which the children learn 4 sounds a week. Most of my children know all the single sounds and are starting to use them in reading and writing.