Understanding children’s development and learning depends on our observations, how we make sense of what we have seen and how we use everything we know to make professionally informed decisions about their progress. The Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework (2021) states that practitioners/teachers must ‘respond to day-to-day observations about children’s progress’ as ‘an integral part of the learning and development process’ and ‘know about children’s level of achievement and interests to shape teaching & learning’ through ‘drawing on (their) their knowledge of child – using own expert professional judgement’ (p.18).
The Birth to Five Matters Guidance (2021, p.51) helps practitioners/teachers to make these important ‘professional judgements’ about children’s learning and progress by using the 6 Ranges and the overlapping age spans as a continuum of development. This developmental continuum (see diagram Developmental Continuum below) becomes a guide or map to show a child’s unique learning journey from birth.
Children’s development, outside the womb, starts from the minute they are born. All children have a natural, innate developmental momentum, primed and ready to play and explore and be active learners, to make progress in the best ways that they can. If we think of this development as a continuum, we can more easily identify their unique starting points, and see the progress they make from one position to another in all areas and aspects of their learning.
The Birth to Five Matters Guidance (2021, pages 55-117) includes, under the heading A Unique Child: what a child might be doing, a broad outline for each Area of learning which describes ‘typical progression in development and learning’ that children may follow, for example in physical development. None of this is intended to be a checklist or a tick-list to be highlighted, children’s development is far more complex than this. It is a guide, a point of reference to support practitioners/teachers’ knowledge and understanding of children’s development, learning and progress.
The 6 Ranges help practitioners/teachers to identify a range that most closely describes the child’s development and learning, and then consider the suggestions for adults within that range (or earlier ranges) to plan to support continued progress. The typical age spans help us to refine children’s progress and see if they are roughly where we would expect them to be or if they are progressing more slowly or quickly (2021, p.51).
Imagine you are about to make a summative assessment of one of your key children, in this example it is Riley who attends The Meadows Nursery in Sheffield (see case study). Georgina, his key person, has taken a step back to gather her thoughts about Riley’s development and make a progress summary. Where was he a few weeks/months ago? Where is he now?? What progress has Riley made in that time?
To help find the answers to these questions Georgina gathers everything she knows about Riley and what he has been doing. For example, her observations some of which are documented (Learning Stories and short observations) whilst others will be in her head (the Observation Tool Kit; See the April issue for more details), thinking about HOW he is learning (the Characteristics of Effective Learning) as well as WHAT he is learning (the areas of learning); conversations with Riley’s parents/family and other reports or reviews etc.
Georgina then follows these steps;
Step 1: Using the Developmental Continuum think through Riley’s progress in each of the Areas of learning starting with Personal, Social and Emotional Development – PSED. Prime Areas and then the Specific Areas
Step 2: Look at the Developmental Continuum and ask this question about each aspect of learning e.g., Which Range do I think best describes Riley’s development and learning in making relationships? This means that you are not directly thinking of the age of the child, as development may be ahead for the age or slower for their age. Remember - child development is not an exact science!
Step 3 a: Now make a professionally informed evaluation of everything you know about Riley to help make your decision. This may feel quite challenging at first, as tick lists have been an easy option, however, remember that you know your children, have built a relationship with them, observed them, talked, played and taught them; you have watched them grow. Also;
Step 4: Now reflect on Riley’s development in the other Areas and aspects of learning in the same way and build the whole picture of his progress. This way of working brings back professional trust for practitioners/teachers and importantly recognition and respect for children’s developmental potential; we see and value so much more.
Step 5: Having used the Developmental Continuum to map Riley’s progress it is important to see an overall holistic picture of his development and the relationship between the Areas and aspects of learning, then you can review his progress over time. Georgina, Riley’s key person has done exactly this with the Development Map having made three progress summaries, on entry at 27 mths old: at 29 mths after he had settled in; and a Review for parents at 30 mths.
Having, reflected on Riley’s Development Map, Georgina documents the key points to share with his parents and to consider where he needed further support to extend his learning. Here is her review for Communication and language,
Riley has made fantastic progress... His listening and attention has moved from Range 3 into 4, he responds to his name and pays attention to environmental sounds such as an ambulance or aeroplane. He enjoys simple stories and rhymes, bringing his favourite books and car magazines to discuss. His speech has become clearer since giving up his dummy, he uses some single words which are important to him, ‘Cars’, ‘Layla’, ‘Mummy’ and repeats back simple phrases, ‘All gone’ etc. His speech has made the biggest jump, Range 2 when he first started to Range 4 which is appropriate for his age. He has good understanding following simple instructions and questions. We will be using simple narratives with Riley alongside his play to extend his vocabulary.
Georgina’s reflections on using her professionally informed knowledge and experience to map Riley’s progress are empowering,
Tick lists don’t allow me to use my own knowledge of the child; moving away from them has made me a more confident practitioner. The developmental continuum has allowed me to use my own judgement about where a child is, based on what I know about that child; I have more freedom to trust myself.
The Meadows Community Nursery is partnered with the Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) Early Years Research Centre. They are involved in research projects including Supporting two-year-olds and their families (Save the Children); Children’s early language development (SHU Linguistics Team); Relationship Mapping (SHU Dr Sally Pearse) and Using the Development Map to see children’s progress (Di Chilvers).
The Development Map project connects with the EYFS Statutory Framework and Birth to Five Matters to support the gradual move away from using tick lists to,
Using the Observation Tool Kit self-evaluation to further practitioners’ knowledge of child development; observation and Learning Stories to document children’s play, interests and language; and professional dialogue to deepen thinking and build confidence. The team have engaged in regular, reflective discussions with each other, and an external mentor to talk about what they see children doing, communicating and saying in their play and what that tells them about their development. A process which helps them to make connections, deepen understanding and fine tune their knowledge of development and progress.
Leanna Clark, Manager of The Meadows Nursery has seen at first-hand how her team have grown in confidence in just 5 months practitioners,
Speak more confidently and have a breadth of knowledge about the children, seeing the whole child and capturing their voices especially those with SEND. They also feel more professionally respected by parents and others because of the decisions they are making about their children’s development, learning and progress
If others are worried about moving away from using tick lists, I would advise them to trust yourselves as professionals, be confident, be brave to question yourselves and others. Challenge and support each other as professionals because you know your children.
Birth to Five Matters: Non- Statutory guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage, 2021, Early Education https://birthto5matters.org.uk/download-or-buy-a-copy/
Birth to Five Matters Child Development – An Overview
https://www.birthto5matters.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/CD-overview-1.pdf
Ranges and overlapping ovals: young children’s development and progress as a continuum – A Video Resource from the Birth to Five Matters Website https://birthto5matters.org.uk/videos/
Chilvers. D (2019) The Observation Tool Kit – A pedagogical tool to support good practice in observation, assessment and mapping children’s progress, WatchMeGrow – https://watchmegrow.uk/
The Development Map https://watchmegrow.uk/development-map/
Find out more about The Meadows Nursery and the Sheffield Hallam University Research Centre;
https://www.shu.ac.uk/news/all-articles/latest-news/early-years-research-centre-opening
