Guest Blog – Written by Julian Grenier
Preparing for the revised Early Years Foundation Stage: questions and thoughts
- βHow am I going to track childrenβs progress?β
- βHow do I check children against age-related expectations?β
- βHow am I going to create baseline data for children when they start?β
These are the three most questions that practitioners are asking about the 2021 Early Years Foundation Stage. In this blog I am going to offer some thoughts in response.
Are these the right questions?
I donβt think they are.
Itβs understandable that these are peopleβs first questions. After all, for years weβve been supplying βdataβ to local authorities, Ofsted, PVI owners and management boards and senior leaders in schools.Β But we were getting things the wrong way round. It was like putting the cart before the horse.
What we should focus on in the early years β and every other phase of education, for that matter β is offering children the best possible care and opportunities to learn. Thatβs all about care, pedagogy and curriculum. Thatβs why those are the first four βkey features of effective practiceβ in the revisedΒ Development Matters.
Assessment comes after that.
So, when we are thinking about making changes to our provision, in response to the changes to the EYFS, we should focus on the areas which make the biggest difference. Those areas are high-quality care, pedagogy and curriculum.
What approach should we take when we are assessing children in the revised EYFS?
I would bear three main points in mind.
- The most important role assessment has, is to improve the childβs learning and overall experience. So most assessment is minute-by-minute. Itβs scaffolding childrenβs learning. For older children in the EYFS, itβs about giving kind but precise feedback that helps them to reflect on and develop their learning.
- Lots of βdataβ about children wonβt actually help us to ensure that any individual child makes great progress, or overcomes difficulties when they are struggling. What we need, for children who are struggling, is a close and detailed look at what their difficulty is and how we can help them overcome it. We want our assessment information to celebrate every childβs progress β whether thatβs small steps or huge strides. We also want it to pinpoint childrenβs needs, so we can help them quickly.
- If you think of the time we spend on assessment like a cake, I donβt think that we should divide it up equally between the children weβre working with. Rules of thumb like βfour observations per child per monthβ are not sensible.
Most children, given a high-quality enabling environment and curriculum, loving care and effective pedagogy, will make sound progress in our settings. They donβt need lots of assessment work. In fact, all that work on βevidenceβ and βtrackingβ can take us away from the place where we make the most difference. Thatβs with the children: listening to them, developing conversations, playing with them, and teaching them new skills and concepts.
Some children may struggle with their learning at certain times. We should focus our assessment work on those children. Try to work out what their strengths are, so we can build on them. Try to work out what their needs are, so we can help them. We might want to consider usingΒ diagnostic assessmentΒ to take a close look and to support our wider professional judgement.
What about curriculum?
The curriculum is the βtop level viewβ of all the things we want children to experience, know and be able to do as a result of coming to our setting or school. We should develop and set that out clearly and briefly with our staff teams and parents. That way, everyone can be engaged and ready to support the children to achieve the key milestones in our curriculum.
We need to take a balanced view. Much of childrenβs best learning is driven by their interests and fascinations. Childrenβs play and self-directed exploration are great ways for them to learn.Β Β The balance of child-led learning and adult-guided learning/direct teaching should change as children get older in the EYFS. Older children need more adult-guided learning and direct teaching.
We need to check that all children get the experiences and teaching they need to become secure in key concepts, like early numeracy. We canβt do that solely by responding to childrenβs play.
So how does this all link together?
Minute-by-minute assessment practices, like scaffolding and feedback, are essential elements of effective pedagogy.
The curriculum we develop for our children will have key βmilestonesβ. Those key milestones should guide our approach to assessment. When we are clear about what we want children to experience, know and be able to do, we will also be clear about what we need to assess.
Scaffolding is the way that we make sure every child can access the curriculum. Some children will need more help than others. Whatβs important is that we focus our efforts to make sure that every child can take part, and can thrive. For children with SEND, I think that we should βscaffold upβ so that they are included in the curriculum and theyβre learning alongside their friends. I donβt think we should βdifferentiate downβ β offer them different and less challenging learning.
What about age-related expectations and children being βon trackβ?
The first thing to note is that the purpose of the revisedΒ Development MattersΒ is different to the predecessor document.
Itβs there to offer guidance on the sorts of environments, resources, support and teaching we might offer children at different stages in the EYFS. Thatβs why itβs called βCurriculum Guidanceβ.
That leads it up to us to develop an appropriate curriculum for our children, drawing on the guidance.
Development MattersΒ also includes the brief Educational Programmes, which are statutory β we must follow them, as they are in the statutory framework.
Development MattersΒ isnβt meant to be a long assessment list.
Previous versions ofΒ Development MattersΒ included detailed age-bands. Lots of us β me included β used those to comment on where children were βon trackβ for their age, or above/below.
Those age bands were problematic in several ways. Childrenβs learning and development doesnβt look like that. Instead, as the newΒ Development MattersΒ says, βBabies and young children do not develop in a fixed way. Their development is like a spiderβs web with many strands, not a straight line.β
So the focus is on providing whatβs right for the children and making sure they have plenty of time to enjoy, practise, repeat and become secure. Different children will do that in different ways.
The rest of the educational system has moved away from the sort of βassessment with levelsβ that we were following with the 2012Β Development Matters.Β Itβs important that, in the early years, we keep up with important developments in practice like this. IβveΒ blogged about thisΒ before.
So my key suggestions are:
Β·Β Β Β Β Β Β Check that children are making progress as they access the curriculum we provide.
Β·Β Β Β Β Β Β Give children extra support and scaffolding where needed.
Β·Β Β Β Β Β Β Make sure that our assessment is useful and helps us to do this.
What about assessment on entry?
Assessment on entry should also focus on what will help our work.
I think that means we need to know about (depending on the childβs age, as some aspects wonβt be relevant to babies and toddlers, or may need adapting):
- Confidence β how a child manages the move from parent to key person or childminder. How they manage to develop relationships and play or explore alongside others.
- Communication β how a child manages to express their needs and use communication to join in with others. How well they manage to follow instructions, when this is necessary.
- Physical development β how well a childβs small and large motor skills enable them to play with the equipment and enjoy the spaces we offer.
- Self-help β how well a child manages drinking, eating, toileting, their coat and dressing/undressing.
Why do we need to know these things specifically?
Given an effective settling in approach, most children (with ups and downs) will settle well, and quickly be joining in with all the play and learning we offer. They will be accessing our curriculum and thriving.
But some children will have barriers in one or more of the areas above. So they will need extra help to settle in. We will most likely need to work especially closely with their parents. If we canβt give them the help they need quickly, then theyβll miss out on lots of valuable play and learning. We want all our children to feel confident, happy and capable, as soon as possible.
In other words, those assessment points will help us to identify which children need extra help. They will be useful to our work. They help us think at the level of the individual child. Whereas a big set of data about how many children are βbelow expectedβ wonβt help any individual child manage a difficult settling-in experience.
We can also use this information to guide discussions about progress with parents and with managers/school leaders. Weβll expect to see children communicating more over time, for example, and joining in more with play and exploration.
Throughout the EYFS, the key thing is that we use assessment information to help each child to learn effectively and make sound progress. I think that we need to be especially careful about noticing if a child is at risk of missing out on the play and learning we offer.
Itβs all about acting quickly, so children are helped to keep up with their friends. Itβs not about having lots of data that we act on at a later date, in order to put in βcatch upβ help (which is harder to offer, and less likely to work).
Parental expectations
If parents are expecting a lot of βevidenceβ to be logged and shared about their childβs development, this will be a good time for dialogue to explore that. On the one hand, celebrating childrenβs learning is important. Those online journals, or Learning Journey books, are very precious to parents. They also provide a good context for parents and children to talk about learning, at home and in the setting.
But there is a balance to be struck. Parents will understand that too much time spent on all this βevidencingβ means too little time for staff to have conversations with their child, play with them, and teach them new skills and concepts.
So is there no need for tracking data at all?
Iβd suggest two points here.
First of all, bring in changes in a manageable way, over time. You might need to move gradually from your current approach, to new ways of doing things. Thatβs sensible. You could pilot new ways of working, e.g. a week where the team (if you are in a setting) spends less time recording βevidenceβ and more time interacting directly with the children. Reflect together on how that goes and move forward with what you learn.
Secondly, different settings have different needs. Iβm leading a pretty large nursery school with over 200 children on roll. We need to check how different groups of children are progressing, to ensure we are promoting equalities. So we looked for a way to do that, without taking up excessive time. We use the Early Years Toolbox app for that purpose, because those assessments can be carried out quickly, and theyβre fun for the children.
That wonβt suit everyone β itβs the choice that works for us. It gives us some data headlines, but thatβs only a part of the holistic view we take of each child, and those headlines guide us rather than driving everything we do.
Do we still need to plan ‘next steps’ for all our children
I’d suggest this isn’t needed for all children.
Where children are thriving and accessing the curriculum we offer, and learning independently through their play and exploration – they don’t all need ‘next steps’.
- Our professional understanding of child development helps us minute-by-minute to support learning and development.
- The progress model of our curriculum helps us to make sure that our enabling environment and our playful, adult-guided learning promote progress.
The problem with ‘next steps’ is how quickly they get out of hand. If I have a group of 20 children, and each child has 2 or 3 next steps, I need to bear in mind 40-60 plans all the time. I don’t think that’s realistic.
However, I’d also suggest:
- Agreeing how parents and the nursery setting/childminder will collaborate to help a child with an important next step in their development is useful. I think that should be something of key importance, like toilet training, or learning to ride a bike without stabilisers. Both parties need to collaborate to support the child.
- If your planning process with ‘next steps’ is working for you, don’t throw it out. Just reflect on whether there are opportunities to make your planning less time-consuming so can put your energy where it will make the biggest difference.Β This whole discussion about the revised EYFS is about reflecting on guidance, and then making the professional judgements that will work for you, the children and their families, your staff team and the wider local community.
Making changes
Iβd suggest the following approach to making changes in response to the revised EYFS:
- Β ExploreΒ the revised EYFS for yourself. For example, the revised Development Matters is a quicker and simpler read than the old document. Youβll need to find 90 minutes to read that. Check the changes to the Statutory Framework, too.
- DialogueΒ β talk with your team and with parents about the changes to the EYFS. In schools and settings β managers, senior leaders, and others will need to be part of the discussions
- Reflect and self-evaluateΒ – what do you do well? Make sure you preserve that. Where are there opportunities to make changes?
- Prepare: have a credible plan to make the necessary changes so that you are in line with the new requirements. Think about a plan for 2021-2022, with realistic milestones. Donβt plan to change everything for the first week of September.
- Prepare: make sure your team have time for discussions and time for the professional development they need.
For more guidance on making changes and planning professional development, you could check out the book which I have written. You can download it for free –Β Working with the revised Early Years Foundation Stage: Principles into Practice.
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Julian is the headteacher of Sheringham Nursery School and Children’s CentreΒ in Newham, East London andΒ also a National Leader of Education, one of the co-founders of theΒ East London Partnership Teaching SchoolΒ Alliance.
If you would like training on the new development matters we have a great webinair here.