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August 10, 2018

Professionalising the process of observation and understanding children’s development: The Observation Tool Kit

In 1978, as part of my NNEB training I wrote about Aiden who was at Nursery School, he would have been about 54 months old and was the focus of my observational child study. This is what I observed about him; Aiden has developed an interest in woodwork and is very good at it; […]

April 5, 2018

Professionalising the process of observation and understanding children’s development: The Observation Tool Kit

Di Chilvers explains the need for teachers and practitioners to build their Observation Toolkit and see themselves as specialist professionals in children’s development, thinking and learning.

January 4, 2018

Being Bold in 2018: New Year Resolutions for Ofsted, the DfE and policy makers

I don’t usually sit down and write out my resolutions for the New Year as I have got into the habit of having a dry January and that usually does it! But this year is different – 2017 was not a great year for many reasons and then it started to look even bleaker for […]

November 28, 2017

Moderation - Some thoughts!!!

Moderation is an important part of the Observation, Assessment and Planning cycle across the Early Years Foundation Stage and not just at the end, as part of the EYFSP. It is the Profile Moderation, usually undertaken in June as part of the Statutory Duty of Local Authorities, which most professionals are familiar with: LAs are […]

December 7, 2016

Effective Primary Teaching Practice Report 2016 is Referred!!!

Reading through the recent report from the Teaching Schools Council, Effective Primary Teaching Practice 2016, I kept having flashbacks to one of my previous roles as a Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Education. Having spent years tutoring, marking and moderating undergraduate and post graduate (Masters) final dissertations I found myself wanting to consult the marking […]

November 1, 2016

India - Bringing care and education together

Anganwadi in English means a 'courtyard space' which is exactly how these preschools were formed..in any available space both in the city and in the countryside. The Anganwadi we visited were small spaces, literally on the 'doorstep', but with big visions and aspirations for the children and families. Mansi at Doorstep Anganwadi in Mumbai had […]

October 30, 2016

India - Fine motor skills and patterns

Watching Avinash creating a beautiful Rangoli pattern for Diwali made me think about how carefully and finely he was using his hands and fingers to place the sand in such intricate shapes, spaces and patterns. He placed a scoop of sand in the middle of his palm and then made a fist which acted as […]

October 29, 2016

Thoughts from India

Its my 4th day into the Nursery World Study tour in India and I am still having to pinch myself to believe that I am here. I am trying to make sense of what I have seen and heard on the visits we have made to the pre-schools so far and what the key messages […]

July 22, 2016

How do we decide what progress a child has made?

One of the most crucial aspects of our work with young children is to make sure that the decisions we make about children’s progress, our assessments, are as accurate, honest and respectful as they can be. That they really reflect what the child has shown us through their play, as we have observed them in […]

June 12, 2016

Mapping children’s progress - Part 2

Following the Observation, Assessment and Planning process, described in Part 1, means that you will have gathered an eclectic mix of evidence about a child which ultimately tells the story of their development and learning. For example: Observations Learning Stories Photographs Paintings, drawings, writing Conversations and discussions with the child/children Conversations and discussions with parents/family […]

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