The Early Years Foundation Stage has been in an unprecedented period of challenge and change over the last three years, which has been far from easy as we have tried to maintain the philosophy and pedagogy of research informed high quality practice (see Getting it right in the EYFS: a review of the evidence, 2019). However this has all been eclipsed by the need for settings and schools to focus on creating a safe, secure and welcoming environment for the children of key workers and vulnerable children over the last 10 weeks, and now to consider carefully how all children can eventually return to early education.

In making these considerations the sector needs to completely focus on ‘getting it right’ for children and their families. Making it the best experience it can be, starting from a position of health, safety and well-being, so that the transitions young children make are ones that recognise that a ‘sense of connection and belonging is key’, where structures, routines and particularly relationships have the time to be re-established and children (and their parents) feel both psychologically and physically safe (Harmieson, Trauma Informed Schools, 2020).  Some of these children and families have been dealing with extreme loss, illness and stress which must be supported, whilst other children may be less affected, they will all have thoughts and questions that need sensitive answers from their practitioners and teachers.

As some children return (transition) to school for a limited period, they will then have another 6 weeks off school before having to return again. Many, especially the younger children (48mths old) will find this ‘yo-yo’ transition difficult even traumatic – this will all need sensitive handling so that this is a happy, positive experience to the start of their school life

As such this is definitely not a time for the Government to be making one of its key concerns the undertaking of the Baseline test within days of children, some only just 4yrs old, arriving back into school in September. What we want for these children is the best transition experience they deserve after living through the worst experience they could possibly have had since the second world war.  The transition they need deserves more thought and planning by the professionals who know and fully understand young children, it is time to start involving the sector and talking to the many experts in the field of child development and early education.

So what could a quality experience look like for children in the EYFS?

This is the transition I would want for children…..

1. Young children would not return to school until September 2020, however settings and schools would continue to be open for vulnerable children and children of key workers. There would be a stronger effort to ensure that vulnerable children attended – through positive relationships/partnership between home and school
2. Home/School/Setting support would continue over the summer holidays e.g. through social media, home news feed (Development Map), supporting families with food boxes etc (as some of the Nursery Schools have done), helping families to become more confident about leaving their homes, gradually becoming used to the reduction of social distancing measures etc. Getting back to a better new normal
3. Settings and schools focus on preparing Reception children for transitioning into Y1 and Nursery children transitioning into Reception
4. In September all children return to the year groups and adults they left in March…until October half term. To re-settle, begin from their current starting points, re-establish where they are in their learning/development and have time to catch up. Children then transition into their new year groups after the autumn half term
5. This would mean quality experiences in environments that are more suitable, less need for social distancing measures and more familiar routines etc

 Young children deserve a transition which includes a settling in period in partnership with their parents, plenty of time to build relationships with their teachers/practitioners and friendships, a multiplicity of opportunities to talk, play and build self-confidence and positive dispositions to being a learner.  These are strong foundations on which to build learning.

However, there are many barriers to this becoming a reality in general they cluster around the following 3 points.

1. A serious concern about the lack of real understanding by the Government of children’s development and what it is actually means to be a 2,3,4 and five-year-old. This is reflected in the government briefings, recent published guidance and interviews with Ministers, who find it hard to differentiate between older pupils and young children. For example, children at this age are just learning to self-regulate and will find it incredibly challenging to maintain social distancing, avoid close contact when playing and be confined to small groups and spaces
2. The whole early years sector, not just schools, are involved in children’s early education though the emphasis is very much about children returning to school and how schools will provide and prepare for safe environments, staffing, classroom spaces etc. The non-maintained sector and Nursery Schools are looking at significant funding issues for example Nursery Schools are looking at deficit budgets for 2020-21. Whilst the non-maintained sector are dealing with the challenge of deciding between the economics of re-opening and health and safety. The reality is that there will be a loss of provision for children and parents
3. Confidence that the well-being and safety of children, families and teachers/practitioners across the EYFS will come above all else. Nursery Schools and schools have been instrumental in providing families with essential food banks and access to free school meals all of which has required sourcing, organising and delivery. Whilst bigger schools and settings can share out the workload, staff in smaller ones are managing everything. Leaders are concerned about guaranteeing the health and safety of children, families and staff; having sufficient staff and space for smaller groups of children; managing staff anxiety and the additional work-load and pressure that comes with putting strategies in place.

There is much to consider, before children return to their schools and settings and then to actually put this into practice re-establishing high quality pedagogy and practice. It is likely that the next school year will be as dominated by the Corona Virus as it has this year as we all learn new ways of living and learning. My hope is that we can do this in positive, appropriate and inspiring ways which builds everyone’s resilience, especially for children and families, in dealing with trauma and change, however there are three important questions to be answered,

1. Will the Government cancel the Baseline Assessment in September?
2. Will the Government’s proposed EYFS reforms be placed on hold, for at least a year to give the sector quality time to focus on children’s development and education? The previous timetable for trialling the EYFS Reforms and the proposed changes to Development Matters have all been missed and the Report from the consultation has not been published
3. When will Ofsted Inspections re-start and will they include careful consideration of the way in which settings and schools have supported children and families through the pandemic with their focus on well-being above all else?

Di Chilvers

Advisory Consultant in Early Childhood Education, trainer, researcher and writer

June 1^st, 2020

www.watchmegrow.uk

Di Chilvers: Advisory consultant in early childhood education; Early Education Associate and writer

 Over the years Development Matters has become an integral part of the early years sectors everyday practice; the ‘go to’ for practitioners, teachers, child-minders and parents as an indicator of children’s development and progress. Having originally being brought together from the Practice Guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage (May 2008) Setting the Standards for Learning, Development and Care for children from birth to five it showed the way in bringing the EYFS principles into practice; outlining how the four key themes would come together to create our play based curriculum to meet the diverse needs of children; whilst at the same time viewing quality improvement as a continuous process.

The section on Learning and Development included Development Matters, Look, listen and note, effective practice, planning and resourcing and assessment (2008. p.3) with a clear mandate for use in practice;

The Learning and Development sections are split into four columns that represent the ongoing cycle of thinking about development and assessing children’s progress. These will support and enable practitioners to provide opportunities for children to play, learn and succeed in an atmosphere of care and feeling valued. The four columns are Development Matters; Look, listen and note; Effective practice; and Planning and resourcing. (2008 p.11)

The Development Matters column makes this crucial point which still appears on every single page of the current version in 2019 along with a reminder that ‘They should not be used as checklists’;

It is important to note that children will not necessarily progress sequentially through the stages, since these do not represent age-related goals. Some elements may appear to have been achieved very quickly, others take much longer. As children move from one element to another, they take with them what they have already achieved and continue to practise, refine and build on their previous development and learning (2008 p.11).

Development Matters was set in the wider context of implementing the EYFS with a clear purpose of providing ‘guidance on children’s development’ and how it could be best supported starting with Personal, Social and Emotional Development and crucially children’s Dispositions and Attitudes. It was a staggeringly robust, well researched guide having brought together experts on child development from health, educational and developmental psychologists, speech and language therapists, SEND specialist in their field, pediatricians, experts in mathematics, communication and language, physical development, behavior and many more. Then being rigorously shared with the whole of the early years sector, with full consultation and pilots.

Whilst this would never be a definitive guide to young children’s development, as that would be enormous, it gave the sector some help in seeing children’s developmental journey from birth to 5+.

Development Matters in 2019

Through the years we have seen many changes to Development Matters which have reduced it to the much thinner document of today.  Changes which were mainly driven by Government and Policy makers often as a result of feedback from the sector that it was too onerous, created a heavy workload and ‘time away from the children’. Unfortunately, this was driven by the growing practice of using Development Matters as a tick list of statements for assessment purposes (A Unique Child); using Positive Relationships and Enabling Environments for planning; and seeing the Early Learning Goals as the reception curriculum.

Development Matters became an assessment tool rather than the child development guidance it was originally intended to be. As it reduced in form it also reduced in its wider perspective of children’s development and by default it became a narrow view of children’s potential. This would not have mattered so much if the tick list culture had not taken over through highlighting paper versions of Development Matter statements and then using iPads to tick statements all based on a narrow view of child development and superficial statements.  In effect early years practitioners and teachers became a profession of list tickers as Nancy Stewart pointed out in her informed analysis of Development Matters;

When used as a tick list of descriptors of what children must achieve, it can sadly limit both children’s development and the professional awareness and skills of practitioners (2016).

Ofsted and the Department for Education have been at the centre of this misinterpretation of Development Matters and the EYFS through their relentless focus on assessment for accountability and measurement. In effect they have impelled the tick list assessment approach through their demand for data, especially in schools. Hopefully the new Ofsted Framework will keep its promise to ‘get beyond the data’ (281) and return to the informed process of assessment for learning and how this underpins the EYFS curriculum.

So how do we reclaim Development Matters and return to its original purpose?

Development Matters is now under scrutiny by the DfE along with the EYFS Statutory Framework, the Early Learning Goals and the Reception Baseline. The difference being that Development Matters is currently not a Statutory Document and can be used by the sector as they decide.

However, there are strong concerns across the sector about how the Development Matters statements are being used for tracking progress (See Grenier, Stewart, Moylett, Chilvers, Swailes, Merrick); more as a race to the finish rather than a professionally informed process of ensuring young children’s development is progressing as it should be.

If we take away the ‘tick-list’ issue it is a very helpful guide, bringing key messages about children’s development; the Themes and Principles of the EYFS; the Characteristics of Effective Learning; the key role of observation in supporting the unique child and making informed assessments to support and extend learning. As long as we remember that it is not the definitive guide to children’s development – it is just one part of the early years professional’s repertoire of understanding, interpreting and supporting their progress and learning.

On page 4 there is a clear explanation of ‘Using this guidance to support each child’s learning and development’, based on this familiar diagram which unpicks the EYFS statutory duty of assessment (2017, 2.1, p.14) using formative and summative observations and information about the child. This is the process of assessment for learning using professional knowledge, understanding and experience of children and their development and making a professionally informed judgement about where they are in their progress through the Early Years Foundation Stage.

However, Nancy Stewart a co-writer of the current version of Development Matters says;

The summative judgement, however, must be as true as we can make it, and basing it on whether or not a child has matched every statement in an age/stage band is not a valid approach.  There may well be statements missing, and statements demonstrated across two or three bands.

The best-fit approach answers the problem by acknowledging that although not every child will have moved along in the same way, there is a typical movement.  Identifying the band which most closely describes the child, based on what you know and have observed  whether or not it has been recorded,  will enable you to describe the child’s development in terms of whether or not it is typical for their age in the various areas of the EYFS (2016).

Development Matters is just one part of the process which we can use to support our professionally informed judgements about children’s progress; there are other crucial tools which we must engage with but none of them require you to tick reams of lists or overload on paperwork.

Seeing Development Matters in the wider context of child development and HOW children learn should look like this;

As skilled early years professionals we draw on many aspects to support children’s development and learning including;

• Development Matters which gives a quick guide if we need to touch base with an informed, well researched pathway of development. It also gives us a ‘map’ on which to plot development through the overlapping age/stage bands remembering that ‘these are not fixed age boundaries but suggest a typical range of development’ (see below)
• The Characteristics of Effective Learning; Playing and Exploring; Active Learning and Creating and Thinking Critically which explain HOW children are learning
• The Observation Tool Kit which is your key set of skills grown over the years through experience and training, including

All these tools help you to make a professionally informed decisions about children’s development through;

• Taking a broader look at children’s development not just Development Matters
• Using what you know about child development to make a decision about progress
• Making sure that you are observing children regularly in their child-initiated play and activities so that you can see what they know, understand and repeat without the direction of an adult
• Using other child development theories to help you understand progress e.g. Schematic development, Well-being, Involvement Levels and Sustained Shared Thinking
• Thinking carefully about the development of speech, language and communication (ECAT – Every Child a Talker etc)
• Recognising and understanding the importance of the Characteristics of Effective Learning and the impact they have on children’s learning
• Listening to children’s ideas and interests and understanding how this underpins their wider development and learning

Getting Started with the Development Map - A good practice guide p. 10

This can all be undertaken without using Development Matters as a tick list; it’s about using your professional knowledge and not being afraid to use the evidence of what you observe, talk about with your colleagues and parents (formative assessment).  However, it may take a while to build your confidence having spent years of relying on a tick list and not engaging brain. This can, and has, undermined professional well-being and belief in some individuals as skilled practitioners/teachers.

Development Matters gives us the scaffolding on which to make these decisions through using the following taxonomy;

This Taxonomy of the areas of learning and the overlapping age and stage bands gives us a framework on which to plot children’s progress from their starting points; which is also, a requirement in the new Ofsted Inspection Framework;

The progress all children make in their learning and development relative to their starting points – readiness for next stage of their education (Schools 279/Providers 139)

It’s a bit like having an x and y axis on a graph and using the evidence and information you have to plot the child’s development holistically.  In the following example we can see that Akifah’s has made good progress from her previous summary however it is the story underneath this that is important and which her key person/teacher will need to articulate and explain to her parents;

There is no need to use Development Matters as a tick list if we are engaging our professional brains with all the other rich information, we have about a child through our observations and through talking together about what we have seen. This involves looking at development in a holistic way we can quickly see where a child needs support and also where they are flying. We then avoid;

• Underestimating the developmental potential of young children – if what they do, say and think is not in the list where is it acknowledged as part of their progress?
• Becoming a profession of ‘list checkers’ always looking for something to tick off rather than focussing on what children are actually involved in, often at quite a deep level.
• Looking for the superficial rather than the complex nature of HOW children are learning and deeper levels of engagement (think Characteristics of Effective Learning here)
• Minimising our own professional knowledge of children’s early development, thinking and learning and making informed decisions about their progress and next steps (early years professionals often know far more about children’s development than what is on the tick list!)

In conclusion there are some important questions to ask about the current rewriting of Development Matters, which is being undertaken by a small group of people mainly from the school sector but led by Dr Julien Grenier, head teacher of Sheringham Nursery School;

1. How will a revised Development Matters ensure that it has been robustly informed in the same way that it was originally (2008) created so that children’s development is accurately represented and not ‘manipulated’ to reinforce Literacy and Numeracy etc?

1. Will the Government restore the required level of funding for high quality training across the sectors (maintained and non-maintained) to enable practitioners and teachers to build their own ‘Tool Kit’s’ starting with a firm focus on child development?

References:

• DCSF (2008) Practice Guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage
• Early Education (2012) Development Matters early-education.org.uk
• N (May 2016) Development Matters: A landscape of possibilities, not a roadmap, https://eyfs.info/articles.html/teaching-and-learning/development-matters-a-landscape-of-possibilities-not-a-roadmap-r205/
• For more information about the Development Map see https://watchmegrow.uk/development-map/
• For more information about the Observation Tool Kit contact Di via chilvers@watchmegrow.uk

Have just written 4750 words to the DfE in response to the EYFS Reforms!!!!!

They may help you to form your own responses - I hope so. We need all those involved in working with young children in the EYFS to have their say so please reply.

• You can access the Consultation here https://consult.education.gov.uk/early-years-quality-outcomes/early-years-foundation-stage-reforms/   which closes on Friday 31^st January at mid-day.

Q 7. Please give us your views on whether the proposed ELGs are clear, specific and easy to understand. Please provide your views below, being specific about which ELGs they apply to where appropriate.

1. The whole sale change of the ELGs was not necessary as they are a good, well understood, carefully crafted measure of children’s progress at the end of the Reception Year with over 10 years of historic data. The EYFSP data has become accepted, year on year, to be a reasonable measure of progress bearing in mind that any measure will not be 100% accurate as there will be a 11+month variable between the children
2. The only ELGs which needed consideration as they were out of line with child development were the Literacy, writing and number ELGs, which in the feedback from Early Education (July 18) could have been revised as follows;

Reading: Children read and understand simple text using a range of strategies including context, visual memory and phonics.  They use their phonic knowledge to decode regular words and read them aloud accurately. They also read some common irregular words. They demonstrate understanding when talking with others about what they have read.

 Writing: children write to record their own ideas in a range of circumstances.  They use their phonic knowledge to write words in ways which match their spoken sounds. They also write some irregular common words. Their writing can be read by themselves and sometimes by others. Some words are spelt correctly, and others are often phonetically plausible.

Numbers: Children use numbers in a range of circumstances. They can reliably count sets of objects to at least 10, and can say which set has more or less. They recognise and order numerals to at least 10 and can recognise small numbers of items without counting. They solve everyday problems in practical contexts using addition and subtraction by joining or separating sets.

These ELGs are realistic and achievable whilst being aspirational for others there will be more of an opportunity for children to reach the ELG. The current ELGs are developmentally skewed towards older children in Y1 and do not take into consideration children with SEND, EAL or summer born children.

4. The Governments over emphasis on the ELGs throughout the development of the reforms, the pilot and the consultation along with the lack of emphasis on the Areas of Learning and the Characteristics of Effective learning has significantly skewed the view of the early years curriculum. It is no wonder that teachers in Reception classes are continuing to view the ELGs as the curriculum (which was very evident in the EEF/NatCen Pilot Report p. 25,26) and only plan to teach with the ELGs in mind due to pressure and demands from the Govt and Ofsted
5. It is highly likely that children reaching the Good Level of Development will fall significantly and the gap will widen considerably with the current proposals. It is essential to involve specialists in child development who can review the ELGs in light of their knowledge, experience and research. The proposed ELGs are setting children up to fail with some only just being 5 yrs old and other 6yrs old. What about equal opportunities for all?
6. Using bullet pointed statements in the ELGs leaves the door open for tick lists – there are a potential 52 statements which imply, by the use of the term “Children at the expected level will….” that children have to ‘pass’ them. This does not support the strong view of the consultation of teachers being able to use their professionally informed judgements based on their observations and knowledge of the children. The way the ELGs were previously written, as a concise narrative from which to make an informed judgement gave a rounded more holistic view of the child’s progress
7. It then follows that practitioners/teachers will use their informed knowledge of the child from their observations and interactions, their embedded learning/understanding (responsible pedagogy) so that they can see the depth and breadth of development and learning in an appropriate context of child-initiated play and activities as stated in the EYFSP Handbook
8. The ELGs are a narrow measure of children’s development, learning and progress with the removal of Shapes, Space and Measures, Technology and reducing communication and language to two ELGs. The relentless focus on reading, vocabulary, phonics and number have severely limited each child’s potential for a holistic assessment at the end of the EYFS
9. The proposed changes to the ELGs have not been shared with parents/families – there needs to be an open and transparent opportunity for them to contribute to any decision which will see their children being assessed against goals which have not been verified by external child development experts
10. It is highly likely that these ELGs will lead to inappropriate teaching (classroom practice) methods for children in the EYFS. This was fed back by the schools involved in the pilot “ELGs resulted in an increase in the amount of structured delivery time required” (EEF/NatCen p.27) and “We had to incorporate additional teaching to ensure that children met the target of 10 digraphs and other elements of the descriptor” (EEF/NatCen p.26)
11. Feedback from teachers in the EEF/NatCen report also said there was a “shift from skills based to knowledge based descriptors” particularly in mathematics and knowledge and understanding of the world (p.27) and there were concerns that “Children were spending more time sat down for formal learning and therefore had fewer opportunities to develop their social skills and interact with peers through play” This is not the balanced pedagogy of the EYFS  which ensures that children learn through sustained shared thinking (Ofsted July 2015, Ref 150085)
12. It is not surprising that Schools have used the ELGs as the ‘curriculum’ as they are full of directions for what should be taught. They read as a list of knowledge and criteria to be taught in order to reach the end goal. If the aim of the EYFS Reforms is to move away from the ELGs being used as a Curriculum, and reducing the amount of paper work and time spent on them, they need to be written in a more holistic way as a short paragraph which acts as an overall indicator of either Emerging, Expected or Exceeding – as in the current ELG format. Then teachers can make professionally informed, best fit judgements
13. Where point 11 has struggled in the past, is with teachers who are not fully experienced in young children’s development and learning, and as a result have misinterpreted or been unable to make professionally informed judgement. This is why those who work in the EYFS and especially Reception class teachers should be well trained early years professionals. This was outlined in the final report of the practitioner survey commissioned by the early years sector coalition to inform the review of the EYFS, which received over 3000 responses.  The message from the survey is clear.  In the words of one practitioner:

"EYFS doesn't need to be changed. What must be enhanced are practitioner skills, training and funding available to settings to increase salaries and attract higher calibre teachers."

 See Mapping the landscape: practitioners views on the Early Years Foundation Stage

Q8. Please give us your views on whether the proposed ELGs contribute to a well-rounded assessment of a child’s development at the end of reception year. Please provide your views below, being specific about which ELGs they apply to where appropriate.

The ELGs do not contribute to a well-rounded assessment of a child’s development for the following reasons;

• See notes re the ELGS in Q. 7 and also in Q.6 relating to the areas of learning
• They are developmentally in appropriate and have not been verified by experts in child development
• Many of the ELGs are beyond the developmental reach of some children e.g. summer born children, children with SEND and those learning English as an additional language
• They are a narrow representation of children’s development and learning, with on over focus on literacy and maths
• They do not see children’s development and learning holistically

Communication and language ELGs;

Listening attention and understanding

• If the aim of the EYFS Review is to primarily improve key outcomes at age 5 by focusing on strengthening language and vocabulary development then the previous ELG for Understanding needs to be reinstated as this is central to how children develop their conversations, knowing and choosing  the right words  to explain what they mean and making sense of what people say – it is fundamental
• Both here and in the introduction to Literacy, it needs to be made clearer that CL (especially oral language) is the root of literacy – reading grows out of talk (See Talk for Reading Initiative)

Speaking

• New vocabulary is not best introduced through reading as suggested here, with first-hand activities serving only as follow-up practice. This misunderstanding reflects the lack of awareness of Understanding as preceding using vocabulary. Children best understand words when they experience them in first-hand contexts, not in the more abstract situations of being read to
• Speaking (Language development) is directly connected to thinking (cognitive development) - the ELG should reference the way children use language for thinking in narratives and connecting ideas and experiences
• Using full sentences is an arbitrary measure – how many adults always speak in full sentences all the time? The important language of serve and return conversations are often in unfinished sentences and changes – this is what happens when children and adults use language for thinking
• The goal discriminates against children whose first language is not English and may not have fully learned grammatical speech but have made incredible progress and are bilingual
• The same applies to children who have SEND

Personal, Social and Emotional Development ELGs;

Self-Regulation  

• Emotional Self-regulation as a disposition is better viewed and understood through the Characteristics of Effective Learning and not as a goal to be reached – it would be better for children’s progress to be viewed through the C of EL and not by simple statements to be ticked off. It is far more complex than this
• Linking self-regulation to ‘good’ behaviour and compliance is setting up children to fail especially those who are the youngest in the year and those with SEND
• The original ELG is much more helpful than the proposed replacement in relation to self-confidence and self-awareness as it is about what children do and how they do it. The replacement is far too abstract. Part of resilience is being able to ask for help when needed. Perseverance is part of the Characteristics of Effective Learning, as is play

Managing self

• The original ELG is much better that the proposed reforms and should be retained. It expresses how children take responsibility for themselves in a personal way – managing their bodies and learning how to look after them for their own well-being
• Keeping, healthy, safe and eating well is a critical part of growing up and becoming emotionally well rounded, self-aware and confident. All extremely important in todays culture and part of the Heads Together Charities 5 Big Questions conversation on early childhood

Building relationships

• The original ELG is much better that the proposed reforms and should be retained
• “Work” is not a word which would often be used to describe activity in the EYFS. If a broader word than “play” is wanted, perhaps “play and learn”?
• The second bullet is too vague: children from birth onwards form positive attachments, and friendships from at least age 2.
• There is no clear rationale for a name change from “Making relationships” to “Building relationships”.

 Physical Development ELGs;

Gross Motor Skills

• No reference to important aspects of physical development such as the development of proprioception and the vestibular system. Yet the ability to move with co-ordination and balance is as much about these aspects of development as it is about gross motor skills. For this reason, the previous heading of “moving and handling” is perhaps preferable, as “moving” can incorporate some of these wider aspects.
• Second bullet point is too vague, as demonstrated in the pilot: What does the expected level of strength, balance and co-ordination for a 5-year-old, compared to a 3-year-old or a 15-year-old? This needs more on balance, coordination and control.
• The EYFS should promote children having more physical activity in line with the Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines (which should be clearly referenced within the Statutory Framework).
• What level of skill or co-ordination in jumping, hopping, skipping etc should be expected for a child at the end of Reception?
• Can the ELG be appropriately worded so as not to unnecessarily exclude its achievement by children with SEND?

Fine Motor Skills

• Using tripod grip is too prescriptive and not important enough to be an ELG -- the effect is more important than the detail of grip, and a range of grips are appropriate and effective. It is also not inclusive of some children with a disability.
• It is not clear whether “in almost all cases” is intended to mean “almost all children” or children “in almost all situations”. Given the variation in application of “best fit” to this in the pilot, it is clear that this needs further reformulation.
• The reference to drawing could more appropriately be replaced with “when mark-making or using small equipment”.
• These two ELGs (Gross and Fine Motor Skills) could be combined to make it possible to keep Health and Self-Care as an ELG under PD which ensures the relationship between these areas of PD are clear to practitioners.

Literacy ELGs;

Comprehension

• This ELG is the same as Understanding and should be in Communication and Language as this is the foundation of comprehension and makes the connection between talking and reading
• This means that the Understanding ELG can be left as it is.
• It is not helpful to split reading up into these two aspects – reading has many aspects which when woven together, in a natural way, help children to understand everything in the context of enjoying a book, avoiding confusion and misunderstandings e.g. Phonics as a separate aspect of reading is often confusing as children try to apply them back into the context of reading and writing

Word Reading

• Bullet 1 of Word Reading is inappropriate: This is too challenging for many children. How does this fit in with the current expectations in Phonics teaching? For children with EAL, SEND and summer born children this could be a significant challenge.
• This will all be used as a tick list – adding to workload as well as defining children’s progress in a negative way. This is one of the areas which could lead to a significant drop in outcomes at the end of the Foundation Stage as children would have to have achieved these before being given the Goal. There is no wiggle room here. In order to show progression in language comprehension, this needs to include children understanding 'how' and 'why'.
• It is not weakness in teaching that leads to many children not achieving the current Literacy ELGs. It is developmentally inappropriate for many children. EYFS should focus on emergent reading.
• The sole reliance on phonetic decoding before engaging with meaning of words and texts, though supported by the current government, is a highly contested area. This does not reflect much current expert understanding of the development of reading.
• The approach is inappropriately restrictive and attempts to dictate pedagogy instead of leaving this to teachers’ professional judgement. There is nothing here about using pictures to support the understanding of words and comprehension.
• What about children’s enjoyment of reading?

The ELG should read as follows;

Reading: Children read and understand simple text using a range of strategies including context, visual memory and phonics. They use their phonic knowledge to decode regular words and read them aloud accurately. They also read some common irregular words. They demonstrate understanding when talking with others about what they have read.

• This is a more appropriate and developmentally aligned ELG

Writing

The ELG should read as follows;

Writing: children write to record their own ideas in a range of circumstances. They use their phonic knowledge to write words in ways which match their spoken sounds. They also write some irregular common words. Their writing can be read by themselves and sometimes by others. Some words are spelt correctly, and others are often phonetically plausible.

• This is a more appropriate and developmentally aligned ELG

 Mathematics ELG’s;

Shape Space and Measures

• Removing Shape, Space and Measures as an early learning goal is a huge mistake. This is an aspect of learning that underpins children’s all-round mathematical development. For example, most children in the EYFS are imaginative builders and constructers deeply engaged in block play in many forms on a small scale indoors and a large scale outdoors, with innovative and inspirational ideas about design, testing out balance and form, how blocks fit together (tessellation), cause and effect and collaborative co-construction with others.
• It is vital that the maths ELGs are not just focused on numbers mathematical learning is much more than that, including key aspects of the CoE particularly creating and thinking critically.
• Research (look particularly at the Coalition EYFS Review of the Evidence, 2019, pages 35-36) shows that children’s development of spatial awareness contributes significantly to mathematical development and learning:
• ‘Much research shows that spatial skills predict not only general mathematics attainment but innovation in creativity and STEM fields.’ Spatial awareness and reasoning helps children to see how shapes may fit together (for example, using jigsaws), what happens when you combine shapes; internal visualisation of number lines and using these abstractly in the brain; being able to work out abstract number problems internally and understand concepts of number so that they can solve problems in abstract ways.
• Mathematics involves more than just number skills; a strong foundation in practical maths problem-solving and pattern recognition is essential to success in maths, and there is a need for an ELG in this area. In my work across the country with schools I have met many mathematics co-ordinators who, when they have heard about the removal of Shape, Space and Measures as an area of learning and an ELG have voiced strong concern as to the effect this will have when children enter KS1 and KS2 without the underpinning knowledge, experience and skills of these concepts. It is highly likely that in five years’ time, we will see the outcome of removing this aspect of learning and the impact it has had on narrowing children’s mathematical development and opportunities.
• Also see my points under the mathematics area of learning in Question 6
• Shape, space and measure must be included in the ELG to avoid a narrowing of the maths EYFS curriculum
• The current ELG on Shape, space and measures should remain as it gives children a wider experience of mathematics which they are actually tuned in to develop. Many schematic patterns of thinking are the basis for these aspects of learning so crucial to keep them (see Areas of Learning in Q.6).

Numerical patterns

• This ELG is not necessary as in the main these bullets are part of Numbers. They will just become another way or being able to ‘test’ children – easily measurable and show a superficial rather than deeper understanding of mathematical patterns.
• The ELG should not be about “recall” or rote learning. “Patterns of numbers” not clear – this needs to be more explicit. Inclusion of evens and odds is not appropriate for all children at this stage.

Number

• Focusing on a deep understanding of the numbers to 10 is an improvement on the previous focus on counting to 20, although it might be helpful to add “at least to 10”.
• Research on subitising generally says it is not really possible beyond 4; some adults can do 5, but generally we have to mentally add 2 +3, because we can actually perceive only up to 4.

The ELG for Number patterns and Number should be merged together as;

Numbers: Children use numbers in a range of circumstances. They can reliably count sets of objects to at least 10 and can say which set has more or less. They recognise and order numerals to at least 10 and can recognise small numbers of items without counting. They solve everyday problems in practical contexts using addition and subtraction by joining or separating sets.

Understanding the World ELGs;

• The original ELGs are better as they are not muddled and have an informed approach to supporting the development of British Values and social mobility

Past and Present and People Culture and Communities

• These ELGs are muddled and confusing with many overlapping themes – they could be brought into one ELG and Technology brought back
• Is clearly linked to the study of history in some mistaken and worrying alignment with subjects in KS2
• It should not be about “books read in class” (repeated here twice), it is about experience and conversation
• It needs to start with the familiar, and children's daily lives and the lives, similarities and differences of people around them, and meaningful personal histories.
• Recall of historical facts is inappropriately bringing in aspects of the Y1 curriculum. For young children history starts with their family and Grandparents not characters from history like Florence Nightingale!
• Evangelou et al (2009) used a version of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model of child development to structure the research report which informed the review of the EYFS. The child reaches out to, and is influenced by, first their family, and then settings and community. The setting or school sits within the family and community spheres of influence and should not be seen as separate from them.
• Learning and development takes place within this broad and flexible context and both what children learn (the areas of learning) and how they do it (the CoEL) are part of it
• It is about real, in the moment, concrete experiences connected to children’s lives

Technology

• Fast-changing nature of technology means this cannot be too specific, but it is also an area of the EYFS which helps children and families as learners and communicators and which is looking to the future.
• It is appropriate for children to learn about all sorts of technology – not just computers. There is already concern that we are losing the type of thinking, dispositions and skills that are needed for the future in terms of developing technologies, and it would therefore seem a backward step to abandon this ELG, and even more so to remove references to technology from the educational programme
• See references to Technology in Q.6
• With the increase in STEM and STEAM activities it is common sense to use this as the basis for Technology. Research by Sheffield University into STEM and STEAM has led to a fuller understanding of Technology in the 21^st Century (See Jackie Marsh – Sheffield University)

Expressive Arts and Design ELGs;

Creating with Materials

• A better, more informed understanding of creativity and being creative is required for both the ELG and the Area of Learning
• Creativity is not the sole preserve of the arts – in the EYFS it is in the CoEL and runs through all areas of the curriculum (eg maths, language, making relationships with others)
• “Draw and paint” is a very restrictive definition – what about clay, woodwork, collage, etc? A broader word is needed. The process is more important than the product, so the emphasis should be on the experimenting, not the drawing and painting
• How does this ELG give status to Expressive Arts and Design within the curriculum? It is more like an afterthought!

Being Imaginative and Expressive

• Performance should not be an ELG. Children should be engaging in singing and dancing, but this puts too much focus on an “end-product”, i.e. “performing”. The aim may have been to acknowledge “performance arts”, i.e. singing or storytelling, but this could be misinterpreted leading to inappropriate expectations that children should perform
• Reference to make music and dancing have been lost other than an overly specific reference to well-known nursery rhymes and songs. The vital creative aspect of children experimenting with and changing music and movement have been taken out
• Children can construct narratives alone, as well as with peers and teachers.
• The two existing ELGs are far better than these. They highlight becoming familiar with media and materials, and then using them to express their own ideas.
• Being imaginative is not fully explored or expressed. Children expressing their own ideas and using their imaginations is central to learning not just in this ELG. It is poorly understood and marginalised becoming a superficial outcome rather than a disposition which will be fundamental for the future

Q9. What are your views on removing the LA statutory element of EYFSP moderation? Please provide your views below.

• Having an external moderator is important in ensuring that professionally informed judgements are consistent across schools. Where moderators are highly experienced, knowledgeable and informed and they can take an objective view this is helpful
• Removing the external role would lead to schools, especially those in Academies and MAT’s moderating their own outcomes which would skew the validity of the EYFSP and the robustness of any outcomes. This was a concern of the teachers in the EEF/NatCen Pilot Report (p.42) to ensure that there is a ‘balanced picture’
• LA moderation also supports EYFS Foundation Stage Leaders in keeping the focus on good practice and not being influenced by top down pressure, or indeed pressure for good Ofsted grades from Head Teachers, Senior Leads etc

Q10. What are your views on whether removing the LA statutory element of the EYFSP moderation will help to reduce teacher workload? Please provide your views below.

• Sensible moderation processes do not require excessive paperwork or workloads. This has happened as a result of overzealous moderation and misinterpretation of the EYFSP, responsible pedagogy and guidance. Having undertaken a full evaluation for one LA with regards to moderation and the impact on outcomes, the findings showed that overzealous moderation, LA devised procedures and paperwork and inexperienced moderators led schools to feel as though they were being forensically examined
• However, where schools did not have knowledgeable, experienced well trained EYFS leaders and staff they often relied on having excessive paperwork rather than being able to talk about children’s development and progress in an informed way
• Workload was also increased significantly by Head Teachers who did not understand the EYFS or the EYFSP and observation informed assessment, insisting on the Foundation Stage using the assessment tools in KS1 and 2 as well. They were then doing twice as much paperwork and unnecessary duplication
• Worries about Ofsted also significantly contributed to the workload and paperwork

 Q11. What alternatives to LA statutory moderation do you think could help to ensure consistency of EYFSP  judgements across the ELGs? Please provide your views below.

• LA moderation or external moderation does ensure that the EYFSP outcomes are triangulated and robust, but they need to be undertaken by well experienced people who fully understand child development, HOW children learn and progress.
• Moderating once a year in such a formal way needs to be fully explored as a process – there are better ways of doing this so that everyone learns from the experience and it is collaborative and helpful
• Moderation processes should also be an integrated part of observation and assessment throughout the Foundation Stage
• Triangulation is the key factor here in making decisions as objective as possible and professionally informed by considering multiple perspectives. By bringing in other perspectives such as the Leuven Scales of well-being and Involvement or a good knowledge and understanding of language development judgements stronger and more professionally informed. Moderation becomes an integrated part of the process and not an ‘add on when there is time’!
• Moderation is an essential part of good practice as it strengthens professional knowledge and understanding of children’s development and learning; supports the quality of learning and teaching; and ensures that children are supported and engaged in appropriate and inspiring experiences based on their specific needs and interests.
• See https://watchmegrow.uk/2017/11/moderation-some-thoughts/

If you got to the end - well done have a treat..mine would be a G & T!!!

Please contact Di at:

Email: di.chilvers@watchmegrow.uk

Website: www.watchmegrow.uk

Early Years Foundation Stage Reforms – Government Consultation – 31^st January 2020

It’s time to get your voices heard by responding to the Governments proposed reform to the Early Years Foundation Stage which closes at mid-day on Friday 31^st January 2020.  PLEASE RESPOND – we need as many replies as possible to prevent the biggest change to the EYFS since it’s inception.

How can you respond?

• You can access the Consultation here  https://consult.education.gov.uk/early-years-quality-outcomes/early-years-foundation-stage-reforms/which closes on Friday 31^st January at mid-day
• The DfE especially want to hear from practitioners and settings working directly with young children and families so your voice is crucial – the number of submissions from you will be counted
• If you are the parents of a young child your voice will also be crucial – the Government have not consulted with parents at all

Why you should respond?

The proposed EYFS Reforms will impact across the Early Years Foundation stage from birth to 5+. The Government’s relentless focus on Reception classes in schools, and the massive changes to the Early Learning Goals (ELGs) and the Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP) have left most of the private and voluntary sector in the dark. The so called ‘expert groups’ who have been consulted by the Department of Education, to inform the changes, have focused on schools.

There has been no engagement by the Government with the PVI sector, no pilots and no real understanding that the EYFS is made up of many skilled providers, all working under the same Statutory Framework across the age range 0-5+.  This has left the PVI sector in the dark and possibly feeling as though the reforms will have no impact on the valuable work you do with young children; when in effect it will significantly change your work mainly through Areas of Learning and how these are woven together to inform the curriculum for young children.

What are the implications for  children in the EYFS?

-          Considerable changes to the 7 Areas of Learning - see the points below

-          Removing Shape, Space and Measures, Technology and narrowing Communication and Language

-          Whilst the Characteristics of effective Learning remain a statutory duty (1.9) they are hardly mentioned

-          No real understanding of HOW children learn between the ages of birth to 3+

-          A relentless focus on Literacy, Mathematics and School Readiness

-          A new version of Development Matters and a separate document for the Reception Year

In the consultation Question 6 focuses on the 7 Areas of Learning:
Q6. Please give us your views on whether the activities described in each of the proposed educational programme summaries support children’s learning and development throughout the EYFS.  Please provide your view below, being specific about which educational programme this applies to where appropriate.

The following are my thoughts about this question which gives you detailed, informed feedback which you can use to help write your own responses;

The educational programmes:

• The title ‘Educational programmes’ needs to better reflect its overall purpose and how they form the foundations of the EYFS Curriculum. The original title ‘Areas of Learning’ in use across the sector is clearer, reflects the fact that there are several aspects which make the whole curriculum and does not sound like a school programme to be delivered in a specific, didactic way
• Have not met the aim of giving greater clarity and specificity to support daily practice in the EYFS. In many cases the original Areas of Learning are much stronger having been co-constructed as part of the Tickell Review (2011) by a strong team of experienced and knowledgeable professionals/experts through a consultation process which was open, transparent, collaborative and co-constructed. Children’s development and learning has not changed since then – child development remains consistent
• There needs to be a better connection between the ‘Educational Programmes’ and the Themes and Principles of the EYFS so that practitioners/teachers are very clear about everything that is included in the framework and avoid splitting it up into separate pieces e.g. Themes and principles; Educational programmes; ELG’s ; Characteristics of Effective learning etc are all part of the EYFS which form the whole.. Separating them out in this way, has and will continue misunderstanding in interpreting the curriculum
• The proposed changes to the areas of learning are in many cases misinformed and not aligned with current child development research and theories. See ‘Getting it right in the Early Years Foundation Stage: a review of the evidence’ for the full and recent research evidence to support this point
• Changing all 7 areas of learning will have a significant impact across the non-maintained sector, who have not been included in the review of the EYFS and have not had representation in the ‘expert’ groups. This will require cpd/training for the workforce that is already underfunded. How will the DfE ensure that there is enough funding for high quality training for all practitioners in the non-maintained sector?
• The terminology here and throughout the areas of learning is ‘school- ified’, uninspiring and not appropriate for a curriculum framework from birth to 5+. A more inspiring, appropriate term could be ‘Aspects for learning’; ‘Educational experiences’; ‘Educational Strands’ – which arise out of the Themes and Principles of the EYFS
• The Areas of Learning (Educational programmes) need to be in a separate section from the ELG’s as they are in the current statutory framework (The areas of learning and development 1.3 – 1.12 p. 7-10). This is the part of the EYFS Framework which should form the basis for the curriculum, which is then interpreted alongside practitioners/teachers understanding of child development, so that appropriate experiences are provided to support babies, toddlers and older children as they progress towards the ELGs at the end of the Reception Year
• In conclusion more work/discussion needs to be undertaken with the sector, along with fully informed professionals and experts in the field of the EYFS (birth to 5+) to ensure that we have the basis on which to build a strong, aspirational and creative curriculum as we see in other countries e.g. Scotland, Wales, New Zealand, Sweden

2. The Areas of Learning

Prime Areas of Learning - Comments

Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED):

• Should be at the at the beginning as this is fundamental to all aspects of learning and development (See PSED in Getting it right in the EYFS: A review of the evidence p.19 – 20)
• This is not developmentally informed across the spectrum of babies, toddlers and older children e.g. ‘set themselves simple goals’ is not appropriate for babies or toddlers who need to focus on feeling safe and secure and understanding their emotions before they can control them
• Helpful to acknowledge the it is crucial and also fundamental to cognitive development but there is confusion between emotional self-regulation and cognitive self-regulation which needs to be ironed out to avoid misinterpretation and confusing the workforce (there is a great deal of valuable research available here which would inform this aspect and which is already being used across the sectors)
• PSED does provide a secure, foundation but this is relevant to the child’s present and not about preparation for school. There is a danger that with this view that ‘school readiness’ becomes the goal and lead to ‘quick fixes’ or moving children on before they are ready – setting up further issues later in their lives.
• Older children may be able to manage good friendships, co-operate and resolve conflict peaceably but these are difficult and complex concepts for babies and younger children to understand
• There is nothing here about attachment and the importance of how early relationships impact on brain development. Or the development of dispositions of confidence, resilience, well-being etc all crucial for children’s early development and learning

Communication and Language (CL)

• The inclusion of serve and return conversations (which is the most often used term and links to the research) is very welcome. Also reference to the ‘quality’ of the conversations and the language rich environment. However, including the word ‘number’ will lead to a superficial view and most likely reduce the assessment of children’s progress in this area to quantitative tick list. It is not the number of conversations or words but the quality of the serve and return conversation
• Overuse of the term vocabulary is not helpful. Yes, children need to hear lots of talk and new vocabulary embedded within their conversations, in meaningful contexts, as this is how they will really learn new words. Communication and Language is one of the key aims of the reforms. However, the constant references to vocabulary will lead to an inappropriate ‘teaching’, possible use of flash cards/pictures etc and lists of words to cover. Many settings and LAs are already using materials like ELKLAN, Every Child a Talker (ECAT), the Communication Trust etc and have training programmes in place (e.g. Trafford’s Giving Voice Accreditation scheme) which are informed and developmentally appropriate
• There is no reference to early communication particularly the critical skills of attention, listening and understanding which underpin the development of language from birth.
• Or the centrality of oral language, talk as the foundation to early reading remembering that,

‘Children’s talk enables them to understand linguistic patterns, phonological sensitivity, drawing, writing and reading in the whole context of children being involved in talk, conversation, chatting, singing, play, rhyming, dancing and ritual’ (Whitehead)

• Use of the word ‘teacher’ does not reflect the workforce and reinforces the school-ified nature of the reforms. This needs to be consistent and relevant across the areas of learning and the reforms

 Physical Development (PD)

• This is a wholly inadequate description of the importance of children’s physical development. There is no mention of the connection between physical activity, brain development, vestibular and proprioceptive development (see the research evidence for this in the EYFS Review of the evidence p.21 and 22) which not only relates to physical co-ordination but also cognitive development and embodied learning where children are physically active in their play and learning e.g. what it feels like to go fast or slow, understanding the concept of special awareness etc, counting steps or jumps so they have an internal physical map of number (see also Mathematics). This relates to Thom’s (2017) research see ‘All about embodied learning’, Nursery World, 27^th November-10^th December 2017 for more information
• Spatial Reasoning is also a critical part of children’s physical development particularly related to mathematical development and learning as explained by Thom (2017),

As a starting point, we can describe spatial reasoning as how in the minds eye, we see the world around us, and how we can picture, understand and manipulate the locations and relative positions of shapes, objects or processes (p.21)

• Spatial reasoning is a skill which develops from birth starting with sensory experiences such as using the mouth, lips, tongue, eyes and smell to explore objects and moving onto embodying, owning and coordinating body parts, hands, fingers (proprioception). It then becomes more internalised and conceptual (Chilvers. D. 2020 forthcoming publication on Talk for Maths Mastery)
• It is no coincidence that young children are inherently active and that playing and exploring is a prerequisite of development. But for many children in school today, learning is most often associated with sitting down at a table with paper and pencil, completely detached from the physical movement of the body, with teachers who have little awareness of how this internal embodiment underpins cognitive understanding, particularly mathematics
• Outdoor play needs to be included as a right for young children to regular access to the outdoors, not least because some children (especially boys) learn more readily when they have the freedom of space to work on a large scale and in a natural way, without being confined to a table
• Health and self-care should be part of physical development as it has more relevance to children’s physicality including toilet training (developing appropriate muscle control), getting dressed (fine and gross motor skills) and proprioception as well as healthy eating and exercise

3. The Specific Areas of Learning:

 Literacy (L)

• The only relevant part of this proposed area of learning is the last line regarding developing a life-long love of reading. This should be the opening line and not the last
• This is a case of leaving the current wording of the area of learning as it is far more appropriate across the EYFS birth to 5+
• This is completely school focused with the emphasis on formal aspects of reading. It forgets (or ignores) that the purpose of these statements is to give a general overview of how children develop literacy from birth to 5+.  This actually describes the teaching of reading and phonics of which Ofsted have been very clear does not begin in a formal way until the Reception year. As such it runs the risk of starting formal reading too early, by-passing the essential experiences and skills that children need before launching into word reading and comprehension
• There is no connection here about how Communication and language is still part of reading which is particularly relevant for younger children, children with SEND and those learning English as a second language. Reading grows out of talk
• It needs to include how children understand, imagine and create stories in their play and use them as a starting point for early reading
• It also needs to reference how literacy connects to children’s lives, home learning and reading at home e.g. The REAL project led by the NCB has a great deal of evidence-based research on the success of early reading in partnership with parents
• There is nothing to inspire a creative and innovate approach here with professionals having the opportunity to link reading, storytelling, story scribing to children’s interests and their play – playful teaching etc.
• The description of writing is wholly inappropriate as an overall statement, it completely dismisses children’s natural mark making and writing from an early age and the links to children’s fine motor/physical development and hand/eye coordination. Handwriting as a term and skill is not appropriate for children under 5
• Handwriting, transcription, spelling and composition should be at the end of the Foundation stage with the proviso that some children will not reach this at all for various reasons e.g. summer born children particularly boys and children with SEND. This is developmentally unachievable for most children and will set children up to fail and develop a negative attitude towards wanting to write
• This all leaves the door wide open for inappropriate practices such as using phonics schemes aimed at KS1 and 2 e.g. Read, Write Inc

 Mathematics (M)

Shape Space and Measures SHOULD NOT be taken out of the Areas of Learning for the following reasons;

1. Thom’s (2017 – see above) research makes the connection to the development of children’s spatial awareness and spatial reasoning and how this underpins science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) with the additional perspective of the arts (STEAM). For young children, becoming mathematical encompasses all these aspects, but only if the adults around them are aware of the connections, for example, between shape, space and measures, number, technology, expressive arts and design and physical development (EYFS, 2017).
2. Thom’s (2017) work also points out that “children’s spatial skills prove to be a better gauge for their later mathematics performance than vocabulary and even mathematics tasks” after research “found the spatial thinking of the three-year-olds accurately predicted how well they performed in mathematics two years later at school” (p.21).
3. The profound and implicit message is that if they are not an ELG, they are not important
4. The EEF/NatCen Pilot Report (p.17 and 44) has shown that teachers/practitioners will not teach SSM if it is not an area of learning or an ELG and this has been shown to be the same for those working in the non-maintained sector as well
5. Removing SSM narrows the curriculum which contradicts Ofsted’s EIF which is looking for a broader curriculum
6. Simply mentioning SSM in the narrative is not strong enough – this has been proved in the EEF/NatCen feedback (see p.17 and p.44)

• It is not the case that children need only focus on number as evidenced in the above points – this is setting children up to have missing experiences and learning which are required in KS1 and 2. Maths coordinators have been shocked when they heard that SSM was being removed and expressed their concern regarding later teaching and learning
• There is no recognition or acknowledgement of children being mathematical from birth particularly through their schematic lines of thinking exhibited in their play. This undervalues younger children’s mathematical potential and leads to a poorer understanding of how children develop and learn mathematically through their play
• There is no mention of how the Characteristics of Effective Learning, especially creating and thinking critically underpin mathematical development in the EYFS. This includes critical dispositions for maths such as problem setting and solving, testing out hypotheses/ideas, making predictions and noticing patterns, groups, sequences, cause and effect
• There is an over direction of how to teach e.g. using manipulatives which are not appropriate for younger children and can narrow the opportunities for children to use other more familiar, natural materials in their play. Also see pages 22/23 of the EYFS Review of the Evidence ‘Getting it right in the Early Years Foundation Stage’
• The narrative, as in other educational programmes, reflects a school/teaching approach when many children will be in nurseries, pre-schools and childminders
• Using the phrase ‘mathematical mastery’ is concerning as this leaves the way open for publishing companies to produce inappropriate one-dimensional materials to be used as a systematic programme of teaching as is common in KS1 and 2. We have already seen KS1 Maths Mastery programmes being used  in Reception classes based on the notion that it can be made simpler or watered down. This is not appropriate as children’s development and learning (in all areas not just maths) starts from birth and only gathers momentum (from the ground upwards)  when supported by experienced adults who have extended their learning through playful, real life experiences and not through work books/sheets
• Mathematical Mastery in the EYFS is grounded in mastery orientation (Dweck 2000, Sylva 2004, Dowling 2013, Robson 2006, Parker Rees 1997, Gifford 2010 and Katz) which is very different to the mastery used in the Maths Programmes. Mastery orientation includes sustained shared thinking, the characteristics of effective learning, cognitive self-regulation, meta -cognition and a range of other dispositions and skills (Chilvers. D 2020 forthcoming book on Talk for Maths Mastery)
• It may be better to remove the term mathematical mastery unless there is a clearer definition of what this means in the EYFS

 Understanding the World (UW)

• This is completely knowledge based rather than children actively exploring their immediate world of home, nursery and local community.  The important people to babies, toddlers and older children are their parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters and their key person and other adults at nursery. This is their world
• There is no recognition of the things that children bring such as their own ‘funds of knowledge’ through their interests, culture, language and important home experiences – this is the starting point for understanding their worlds
• For babies this is through their sensory world of playing and exploring gradually widening their understanding through real life experiences as they grow and develop. Books are just one way of doing this, important but not limited to this. The emphasis on Literacy detracts from the many valuable experiences that children need for their holistic development and progress
• There is a danger that Understanding the world will be divided into history, geography and science for older children – this is already happening in some schools
• The removal of Technology is a significant concern in the 21^st Century and the emphasis on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) experiences and learning.  Children’s construction play, box modelling, woodwork, loose part play, experiences of materials and tools all contribute to technology. There is a huge potential for learning in terms of fundamental skills, language, imagination, creativity and much more
• Children are becoming digital ‘experts’ from an early age; with concerns about the way in which they experience technology at home e.g. over use of mobile phones it becomes even more imperative that the positive use of these technologies is modelled with children and parents in ways that support learning and development

Expressive Arts and Design (EAD)

•  There is a shift of focus from the current area of learning which sees the child as creative, exploring and finding out about media and materials through play. Following their ideas and interpreting their thinking through painting, drawing, modelling, building, movement, music and many other forms – it supports children’s expression through their 100 Languages (Malaguzzi)
• The revised area of learning focuses on other people’s creativity rather than their own
• There is no recognition of development of the way in which babies, toddlers and older children experience expressive arts and design using their imagination through playful experiences
• There is no evidence to suggest that the current area of learning EAD should be changed (See Getting it right in the Early Years Foundation Stage: a review of the evidence p.54)

A final thought…. 

Pausing to listen to an airplane in the sky, stooping to watch a ladybug on a plant, sitting on a rock to watch the waves crash over the quayside—children have their own agendas and timescales. As they find out more about their world and their place in it; they work hard not to let adults hurry them.

We need to hear their voices.

Cathy Nutbrown Contemporary British educational theorist

More to follow after I have answered  the other questions - please feel free to cut and paste 

Please contact Di at:

Email: di.chilvers@watchmegrow.uk

Website: www.watchmegrow.uk

Education inspection framework 2019: inspecting the substance of education

Di Chilvers – Response to the consultation document

5^th April 2019 

Proposal 1

We propose the introduction of a new ‘quality of education’ judgement built around our working definition of the curriculum. It will focus on a provider’s educational intent, implementation and impact. Inspectors look at teaching, assessment, attainment and progress under the current inspection framework, and they will continue to do so, but these considerations will contribute, viewed in the context of the provider’s curriculum, to a single quality of education judgement. In short, we propose to take a holistic approach to considering the quality of education rather than artificially separating the leadership of the curriculum from teaching, and separating teaching and the use of assessment from the impact this has on the outcomes that learners achieve. This will de-intensify the inspection focus on performance data and place more emphasis on the substance of education and what matters most to learners and practitioners.

To what extent do you agree or disagree with the proposal to introduce a ‘quality of education’ judgement?

A focus on the Quality of Education (pedagogy and practice) is very welcome - it shifts the view from measurement and data to the quality of the curriculum - what is experienced and learned by the child

Quality is about many things, one of which is the curriculum but it also includes the quality of those who are creating the curriculum.  Creating a curriculum which is fit for purpose in the EYFS needs to be undertaken by professionally trained experts in the field (0-7 yrs) who are highly experienced

We already have a Quality Curriculum in the Early Years Foundation Stage which includes the following elements;

A Unique Child + Positive Relationships + Enabling Environments = Learning and Development   (EYFS Overarching Themes and Principles, EYFS Statutory Framework (2017. p.6). This forms the INTENT of the EYFS Curriculum.

The EYFS curriculum is different for young children (0-5+) because  of the developmental trajectory they follow which means that  HOW children learn (The Characteristics of Effective Learning) are the foundation from which they begin to learn and understand the knowledge of the Areas of Learning (programmes of education).  It is not just a combination of knowledge and skills it also includes dispositions as a developing learner.

This also means that IMPLEMENTATION is through a play based approach as described in Ofsted’s Balancing Play Thematic Review and also the Ofsted Definition of Teaching.

Both inspection documents for the EYFS should reflect this

Ofsted have always said that they will not tell settings/schools how to teach or what to teach (the EYFS and the National Curriculum as statutory duties do this). E.g. “We are not prescribing what schools should do - but what the leadership intends for the curriculum and what you want to achieve. It’s about the whole breadth of the curriculum not just maths and English” (Lee Owston 10.1.18. The problem is that Ofsted are doing this very thing through the following;

• Influencing the review of the EYFS and EYFSP by being involved in the advisory/discussion groups for the EYFS by the DfE
• Pushing forward unsubstantiated views about early years pedagogy from the Bold Beginning’s Report
• Creating an unbalanced and skewed view of the development of reading by a relentless focus on vocabulary and phonics across the EYFS 0-5+. The development of literacy particularly reading is hugely complex and grows out of communication and language; especially serve and return conversations (many references available for this research - see Harvard Centre for the Developing Child; Hirsch-Pasek’s and Goswami’s research into the development of language and literacy).  The focus on phonics etc above all else has contributed to the very point you make about the overuse of commercial schemes and how they are creating generations of teachers (not just in the EYFS) who actually don’t know how to teach this without using a programme. Teachers need to have a stronger knowledge and understanding of child development and how children learn to read through a firm foundation in talk, singing, rhymes etc
• Ofsted seem to be colluding with the DfE in the un-informed, de-construction of Communication, Language and Literacy as an Area of learning. Is this the case? How can Attention and Listening be taken out of Communication and Language and put into Reading and PSED – Behaviour, when they are both the bedrock of the development of children’s talk (especially in the first 3 years of life – which is why they are in the Prime Areas of learning) and providing the firm foundations on which literacy (reading and writing) are built.
• Ofsted films on vocabulary and reading and Early Reading which are taken out of the context of the whole complex process of becoming a secure reader. They do not give a balanced and informed view. What is needed is a film which starts from the beginning and sets the learning of vocabulary and phonics in the wider context of development.

IMPACT/ACHIEVEMENT should be undertaken through observation of children's embedded learning (2.1 EYFS Statutory Duty).  The quality of the curriculum and teaching is evident when children are observed in their child-led play as they bring together dispositions, skills and knowledge in ways of their own which show they have truly understood what has been taught

The following statement does not describe how young children learn “Progress, therefore, means knowing more (including knowing how to do more) and remembering more” there is much more to learning than this. UNDERSTANDING is essential and learning in a context which is familiar, first hand and as concrete as possible supports progress. Knowledge is a part of this - in the context - but it needs to be situated in the  child's context and taught in appropriate ways  for their developmental range 0-5 +

It is heartening to see that Ofsted recognises the different approaches to the curriculum BUT how will this be interpreted into practice by Ofsted Inspectors?

HOWEVER: The Ofsted Films e.g. Vocabulary and Reading and Early Reading are already showing a perceived view of the EYFS curriculum and giving determined messages about what should be taught and how it should be taught.  Is this the remit of Ofsted?   The message from Ofsted has always been ‘we will not tell you how to teach or what to teach’. Has this changed??

It does state in the consultation document that “We recognise and support the importance of providers’ freedom to choose their own curriculum approaches within the appropriate legal parameters"  This includes the EYFS.

However – there are many mixed messages and inconsistencies in Ofsted’s role. On one hand Ofsted reiterate this ‘neutrality’ in their presentations and documentation BUT the production of  a series of films on Utube; conferences and training which have pushed phonics, vocabulary, reading  and comprehension including supporting Read, Write Inc are giving strong messages about curriculum expectations and what should be taught. This is blurring the lines of Ofsted’s remit as an inspection and regulatory body which “reports directly to Parliament and is both independent and impartial”

The role of Ofsted needs  clarifying with the introduction of the 2019 Framework so that there is a clear and transparent understanding across the sectors otherwise this will  lead to a confused and distorted interpretation of the EYFS curriculum

Proposal 2

We propose to judge ‘personal development’ separately from ‘behaviour and attitudes’ to enhance the inspection focus on each and enable clearer reporting on both. This approach recognises the very different elements in focus. We believe that the behaviour and the attitudes learners of all ages bring to learning is best evaluated and judged separately from the provision made to promote learners’ wider personal development, character and resilience.

To what extent do you agree or disagree with the proposed separation of inspection judgements about learners’ personal development and learners’ behaviour and attitudes?

This may be an appropriate separation for older children but for younger children it is complicated; the reason being that behaviour and attitudes are all connected to personal, social and emotional development. Which is why I have selected strongly disagree

Referring to the EIF for Sections 49 and 50 in the EYFS there are some very confusing mixed messages in this section;

143. The Characteristics of Effective Learning are attitudes or dispositions as lifelong learners and a critical part of the early years curriculum as such they should be included in Quality of education.

Whilst they could be described as behaviours they are NOT about behaviour in terms of rules, social norms or compliance which are very different.   This is a misunderstanding of the C of EL which will have a huge impact on how they are currently understood and embedded into high quality practice e.g. the links with sustained shared thinking, mastery and mathematics

References to motivation, collaboration and self-regulation are linked to the C of EL but again are a much broader part of children’s development than just behaviour especially when it is described as ‘behaviour and conduct’, ‘developing a sense of right and wrong’ and ‘responding promptly to requests and instructions from practitioners’ (p.35)

Personal Development (p.36) is separated from social and emotional development which for young children is all connected.

The previous version of Personal development, behaviour and welfare is  a much stronger, informed and developmentally appropriate descriptor – it also makes reference to children’s emotional development, well-being and welfare which is lacking in the revised version

Proposal 3

We want to ensure that the education inspection framework 2019 judgements (see section above and para 131 in the EY handbook]) are appropriate for the range of early years settings.

To what extent do you agree or disagree that the judgements will work well for:

Referring back to my response to Proposal 1 – I am confused by the way Ofsted have interpreted the following;

The quality of education (educational programmes)

1. The educational programmes (EYFS) provide the curriculum framework that leaders build on to decide what they intend children to learn and develop.
2. Leaders and practitioners decide how to implement the curriculum so children make progress in the seven areas of learning.
3. Leaders and practitioners evaluate the impact of the curriculum by checking what children know and can do.

• It is not the educational programmes alone that provide a curriculum framework – (see my points in Proposal 1). The INTENT of the EYFS Curriculum includes the Themes and Principles; the Characteristics of Effective Learning and the Programmes or Areas of Learning
• IMPLEMENTATION is much wider and complex than just the 7 Areas of Learning. Implementation is also about HOW children learn not only WHAT they learn (The Tickell Review 2011 made this very clear in order to redress the balance from teaching to the Areas of Learning without giving regard to the Characteristics of Effective Learning)
• IMPACT is more than checking – it is having a full understanding of children’s development and using professionally informed observation to ensure that they have fully understood what has been taught

How do Ofsted’s proposals re the 7 Areas of Learning fit in light of the DfE’s proposals to reduce the educational programmes especially shapes, space and measures and technology? This will significantly narrow the curriculum not broaden it as Ofsted have stated is one of their key aims in the EIF

This needs to be much clearer and less confusing for everyone working in the EYFS – which is why I have had to select Strongly Disagree

Looking at the EYIF – Sections 49 and 50 I have the following comments and questions;

• Quality of Education (p. 31) – Leaders & practitioners do not only use the 7 areas of learning to implement the curriculum or only judge children progress on this – the Characteristics of Effective Learning are a huge consideration for children’s development and have a significant impact on progress. They are also  a statutory duty (1.9)
• Cultural Capital is a massively subjective statement and seems to have come out of nowhere. What you seem to be talking about here is Early Intervention to support children and families – this is a much more widely understood and less contentious description of what early childhood education is all about; it  is what you are describing here. If you are going to use the term Cultural Capital there should be a wider debate, training and transparency about what you mean by using this terminology.
• 140 Again it is not just about the 7 Areas of learning – awe and wonder is more likely to be found in the Characteristics of Effective learning through Playing & Exploring, Active Learning & Creating & thinking critically. To use your term – this is also cultural capital
• 141 Good to see this included However – will all Ofsted Inspectors understand the full potential of child development and not just that which is written in Development Matters?
• 33 ‘Over the EYFS, teaching is designed to help children remember long-term what they have been taught and how to integrate new knowledge into larger concepts’. There is a danger here of misunderstanding the way young children learn – remembering does not equate to understanding. Young children are very good a remembering things but that doesn’t always mean they have understood them e.g. children can memorise how to count up to 30, 40, 50 but they do not understand what that actually means or how to connect the understanding with previous understanding. (See Proposal 1). The main way for this to happen is through PLAY which is not mentioned at all
• Vocabulary, comprehension, fluent readers (and work) are mentioned throughout the descriptors yet there is little mention of communication; talk; listening and understanding. This Inspection framework will be used in settings where there are many children under the age of three; they are not schools and invariably follow a play based curriculum using the EYFS Themes and Principles as their starting points. The revised EIF has become much more ‘school-ified’ throughout which has affected the balance the previous framework had. This is reflected in the points I make above as well as this.

It is good to see that the definition of teaching remains (p.32, 33) though why does this have to be in the footer?? It is an important interpretation of teaching and also IMPLEMENTATION

Proposal 6

The recent Teacher Workload Advisory Group report^[1] noted that ‘time associated with data collection and analysis… is most frequently cited as the most wasteful due to a lack of clarity amongst teachers as to its purpose’.

Ofsted is committed to ensuring that our inspection work does not create unnecessary work for teachers, and as such we propose that inspectors will not use schools’ internal performance data for current pupils as evidence during an inspection. This is because:

• internal data for current pupils has its limitations, and inspectors will not be able to assess whether the data is an accurate and valid representation of pupils’ learning of the curriculum
• inspectors will gather direct evidence of the quality of education in schools
• inspectors will have meaningful discussions with leaders about how they know that the curriculum is having an impact.

Inspectors will, however, ask schools to explain why they have decided to collect whatever assessment information they collect, what they are drawing from this information and how that informs their curriculum and teaching. We believe that this will help to reduce unnecessary workload for teachers; we do not believe that it will have a negative effect on our ability to judge effectively the quality of education in a school.

To what extent do you agree or disagree with our proposal not to look at non-statutory internal progress and attainment data and our reasons why?

The current Ofsted Inspection Framework for the EYFS (Section 49 & 50) is helpful in the way it focusses on professional dialogue to show children’s progress;

• The progress all children make in their learning and development relative to their starting points and their readiness for the next stage…..(146)
• Effectiveness of the monitoring of children’s progress, and interventions where needed, to ensure that gaps are narrowing for groups or individual children (150)

Quality of teaching and learning – gathering the ‘evidence’;

• Talking to practitioners about their assessment of children’s knowledge, skills and abilities and how they are extending them (52)
• Talking with the child’s key person about their progress (53)
• Looking for the quality of the practitioners assessment knowledge of each child (53)
• Any records the provision keeps that show how they have tracked the progress children make, including recording any concerns about children’s development in the prime or specific areas of learning or both (53)
• Accurate assessment, including through high quality observations, is rigorous and sharply focussed and includes all those involved in the child’s learning and development.
• Where appropriate children are involved in the process.
• Information from assessment is used to secure timely interventions and support, based on a comprehensive knowledge of the child and their family.

Mapping/Tracking progress is important as it shows the developmental journey of the child. This should be drawn from observations and other formative types of assessments e.g. paintings, drawing, writing, construction play etc. BUT not from tick lists via IPads or photocopied versions of Development Matters.

Teachers/practitioners should be able to tell the ‘child’s developmental story’ from their starting points and talk about it in an informed way; discussing their  thinking and being  clear about what child needs to support them in their next steps.

Changing the focus from assessment for accountability which has led to the current data driven, workload situation to Assessment for learning which looks at the quality of teaching and learning and how this impacts on children’s progress using professionally informed judgements.

Feedback from Head Teachers, teachers, practitioners etc about moving away from data driven paper work is positive and a relief  however there was considerable scepticism about if this would actually happen, with ‘rogue’  Ofsted Inspectors wanting to see the data – in which case Heads said they would have to do it just in case!

A question: How will this changing view of data by Ofsted sit alongside the introduction of Baseline Assessment and changes to the ELGs and the EYFSP – which, if the proposal goes ahead, will become non-statutory??? Again there is a great confusion and mixed messages across the sector.

Di Chilvers

WatchMeGrow – 5^th April 2019

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; he can hammer nails in very well without any assistance. Aiden tries to do things before he will ask anyone to help him and he found that he didn’t really need any help doing woodwork.

I was also fascinated by the way he wrote his name,

“I asked him to write his name for me recently and he did it without any assistance which he couldn’t do before, but for some reason he wrote it backwards which is quite unusual. He is left handed and he started from the left hand side of the paper and worked inwards” 

Aiden was showing me what a competent, capable and independent thinker and learner he was; following his ideas and interests as he persisted and deepened his skills in woodwork and writing. I was involved in what we would now call ‘Responsible Pedagogy’ (EYFSP, 2017, p.11) observing Aiden in a context where he is able to “demonstrate his understanding, learning and development”.  These are the observations we need to undertake as they are “the most reliable way of building up an accurate picture of children’s development and learning” (EYFSP, 2017, p.11).

Reflecting back on these observations from 40 year ago I still get excited by observing children and seeing their development, thinking and learning unfolding in front of me. I didn’t realise at the time just how important it was to tune into children’s ideas and interests and question why and how they did certain things in their play and activities. I was learning to become an observer of children and an under-stander of child development as that was at the root of my role working with young children in schools and nurseries. I was using “observational assessment to understand children’s learning” (EYFSP, 2017, p.11).

In 2018 observation is still fundamental to those who work with young children (0-7yrs). Effective teachers/practitioners tune into children’s development, language and thinking through their observations and then use this to extend their understanding and learning.  The EYFS Statutory Framework (2017, 2.1) states observation is an ‘integral part of learning and development’ (p. 13) and the Ofsted Early years inspection handbook, Good grade descriptor for teaching, learning and assessment, describes the process as adults…

Observe carefully, question skilfully and listen perceptively to children during activities in order to re-shape activities and give children explanations that improve their learning (2015, 150068, p.39)

Observation is a statutory duty

Despite becoming a Statutory Duty in observation as a pedagogical process of recognising, valuing, understanding and assessing children’s development and progress has become increasingly marginalised over the last few years in the polarised world of assessment.  The use of skilled observation as part of the assessment process in the Early Years Foundation Stage has become politicised and misunderstood by many including teachers, head teachers and policy makers who seek to reduce a critical professional and pedagogical approach to quick, superficial binary tests which tell us little about young children’s deeper levels of thinking and learning (Whitebread 2012, Siraj-Blatchford 2002).  Not only does this undervalue the potential of children’s development it lowers adults’ aspirations for children and depresses the progress and achievement children can potentially make.

The Tickell Review of the Early Years Foundation Stage (2010) recognised the value of observation   and its fundamental role in exemplary early years practice;

Observational assessment is integral to effective early years provision. The evidence clearly shows this type of assessment lies at the heart of providing a supporting and stimulating environment for every child (p.30)

And made a recommendation that;

..guidance simply sets out that assessment should be based primarily on the observation of daily activities that illustrate children’s embedded learning (p.35)

At the same time Tickell (2010) made a strong recommendation for initial training and continuing professional development to ensure an ‘up to date knowledge of child development’ and a ‘defining standard and status for expert practitioners’ with an ‘emphasis on practical application, theoretical understanding and reflective practice’ (p.46). Since then several other reviews (Nutbrown 2012, Early Years Workforce Strategy 2017, SEED 2017) have made similar mandates.

The Study of Early Education and Development: Good Practice in Early Education (SEED, 2017) a report commissioned by the DfE, has also identified observational approaches as central to exemplary early years practice in all sectors (including schools) and as an indicator of high quality which has underpinned children’s progress.  Other indicators include;

• Trained staff with a good knowledge and understanding of child development
• Knowledge of the development of early language and communication including high quality adult/child interactions leading to sustained shared thinking
• Having the time to carry out ‘effective assessments’
• Awareness of the different ways in which children learn including the Characteristics of effective learning, self-regulation and independence; social development and well –being and cognitive development through a child-led approach
• An understanding of the Development Matters cycle of Observation (Describing); Assessment (Deciding) and Planning (What next?) (Early Education, 2012, p.4)
• Regular opportunities for reflection on practice

Observation – A professional approach

Observation, knowing when to observe and describing what we see (verbally and in documentation) and then interpreting what we have seen is a professional skill which is fundamental to teaching and learning. Just as doctors need to diagnose their patients’, teachers/practitioners need to look at the evidence and make decisions about how to support children’s development. Mary Jane Drummond articulates this in a more respectful child-centred way in the following;

When we work with young children, when we play and talk with them, when we watch them and everything they do, we are witnessing a fascinating and inspiring process: we are seeing young children learn. As we think about what we see, and try to understand it, we have embarked on the process that I call ‘assessment’. I am using the term to describe the ways in which, in our everyday practice, we observe children’s learning, strive to understand it, and then put our understanding to good use. (Drummond.MJ, 1993, p13)

It was from Drummond’s description of the observation process that the exceptional assessment practices in New Zealand were developed, using narrative Learning Stories and looking deeply into children’s development and how they learn. I saw this first hand during a study visit to New Zealand early years centres in 2014 and wrote in my BLOG ‘What strikes me is the level of knowledge and understanding of the practitioners – they know their child development and can articulate what they see children doing very well’ (See Happy Children at https://watchmegrow.uk/2014/02/happy-children/).

Grenier (2018) talks about ‘keen observation’ as practitioners get to know their children and ‘notice what is important about their development and learning’.  He also makes a crucial point here about ensuring that there is a ‘rich learning environment and a rich curriculum’ to ensure that there is much for practitioners to notice about ‘ what children know and can do, how they think and develop their ideas, and what sort of misconceptions and barriers to learning they may have’ (p.14).

The National Strategies (2004-2011) saw observation at the heart of professional practice and documented this in many of their publications including Progress Matters – Reviewing and enhancing young children’s development (2009) where they stated that,

Observation is an integral part of professional interactions with children, and is identified in the EYFS as a key to effective practice. Early years practitioners need to know their children well and record, where appropriate, their observations in quick notes or lively narratives (p.6)

Alison Peacock (Chief Executive of the Chartered College) at a recent conference (Jan 2018)  spoke about ‘Professional learning without Limits’ and the importance of teachers and practitioners having ‘pedagogical conversations’ about their children.

She described an observation of Mary who refused to engage in any mark making activities for the first six months in her reception class until one day, when she was fully settled and happy, drew this picture (Peacock.A 2016).  Mary saw her world differently through her drawings and was clearly happy and clearly a creative mark maker.

Peacock called this ‘research based pedagogy’ where teachers/practitioners make opportunities to ’really deeply’ look  at what is ‘going on’ in their settings including ‘observation of children and talking about their thinking’.  The observation process or cycle actually follows a research based approach through gathering the qualitative evidence of children’s engagement in their play and activities, interpreting or analysing the evidence and then drawing conclusions about what might happen as a result.  This is research that is grounded in practice with the whole experience of observation actually deepening teacher/practitioner knowledge and skills in a cycle of continual professional development. Observing children is one of the best ways to fine tune your knowledge of child development and how they think and learn.

A professional approach – the challenges

Observation is not without its challenges, which have been many, including a reductionist view of children’s development through simplistic and superficial proposals for baseline assessment at the start of the Reception year. These types of assessment, which do not involve observing children in the context they are most familiar with and acknowledging them as experts in their own field of play, are often quick fixes for Government accountability and are increasingly taking over professionally informed insights of what young children are actually capable of thinking about and learning.

Ofsted have also contributed to the undermining of professional observation practices in their recent report called Bold Beginnings Report  (2017) by contradicting the Standards and Testing Agency’s Early Years Foundation Stage Profile handbook  (2017) which states “Practitioners need to observe learning which children have initiated rather than only focusing on what children do when prompted”  (p.17).  Ofsted has suggested that;

The majority of teachers did not agree that observational assessment was the most reliable form of assessment as stated in the EYFSP handbook. They felt that statements such as the one above lessened the importance of assessment as part of teaching (Ofsted 2017. P26)

This statement also contradicts the EYFS Statutory Framework (2.1) and findings from major reviews and research quoted at the beginning of this paper.

Interestingly the Bold Beginnings report also states “Many teachers commented that assessment, undertaken as they were teaching, allowed them to adjust their activity in the moment” (Ofsted 2017, p.26), however, in order to do this ‘adjusting in the moment’ teachers/practitioners will be intuitively ‘observing in the moment’ and making informed decisions about how to support and extend children’s development and learning.  It’s called good teaching and is responding to child-led thinking and learning which frequently leads to episodes of sustained shared thinking (Siraj – Blatchford 2002).   This is sophisticated observation at a skilled professional level – it is hard to teach effectively without it. It develops with experience, practice and a good knowledge of child development which forms part of teachers and practitioner’s observation tool kits.

The Observation Tool Kit[1]

The Observation Tool Kit is a virtual representation of the knowledge, skills and experience needed to make accurate, objective and insightful observations of children. It is a metaphor for all the inherent professional skills that are used when we observe children, strive to understand what we see and put that understanding to good use.

As the Tool Kit develops the more skilful teachers and practitioners will become at making informed professional judgements about children’s development and progress.   It is a critical part of early years professional practice and should begin, in initial training on the complex development of young children and How they learn. It develops further through observing children and documenting what you see; supported by reflective practice, opportunities to share and discuss what has been seen and keeping an open-mind;  it strengthens (triangulates) the judgements you make about children’s progress.

The Tool Kit includes;

A good knowledge of child development - the more you know and understand about children’s development the more informed your evaluation and decisions about progress and next steps

The characteristics of effective learning – understanding HOW children learn helps you to see WHAT they are learning and HOW they are thinking. They include many dispositions and skills which underpin life-long learning. Recognising these as you observe children reveals their attitudes to learning, including personal, social and emotional development

Development of Speech, language and communication – having a good understanding of language development and its relationship to cognitive and social/emotional development

Levels of Involvement and Well-Being – the Leuven Involvement and Well-being Scales give practitioners/teachers crucial insights into children’s development, learning and progress

Sustained Shared Thinking – is mainly observed in child-initiated/led play between children and with adults. As we observe SST we can see many aspects of children’s deeper levels of thinking, communication and talking. It is made up of many crucial aspects of children’s development including cognitive self-regulation.

Children’s Schema; threads of thinking – understanding children’s schematic development from birth will support the interpretation of children’s play, thinking and development; including the links between schematic development and early concept formation

Child-led Play: knowing children’s interests and fascinations – child-led play, activities and interests are the window into children’s thinking, development and learning. The more we observe and understand the clearer the insight into the child’s world, development and progress

SEND – developing an understanding of SEND and early intervention.  Supporting the child and family through being informed, aware and documenting progress – taking small steps

English as an additional language (EAL) - Do you know the home language of your children and families? Observing and listening to children’s first language helps you to understand and become more confident in your interactions with them.

Working together with parents and other partners - Having a broader insight of the child’s world, their family, culture, home and community will help you to see the child’s development in context.

Using the Observation Tool Kit means that practitioners/teachers draw on and think about many other aspects of children’s development, not just Development Matters, which only gives the thinnest slice of children’s developmental potential.  As Nancy Stewart (2016) points out “The statements in Development Matters are common examples of how children might develop and give a general picture of progression, but they are by no means the whole story”.  She goes on to say “We need to be thinking for ourselves as we decide what is important in a situation, and in deciding what comes next. It requires both judgement and creativity, and is not as simple as following a set of instructions”.

Building a professional Tool Kit takes time but the more practitioners/teachers know about children’s development and learning the stronger their practice will become.  In developing these observation and assessment skills they will be more informed, confident and accurate in articulating the holistic developmental progress of young children.  Above all we need to make assessment for learning work for children and bring the joy back into observing them as they play, talk, think and learn.

References:

Callanan.M et al (Jan 2017) Study of Early Education and Development: Good Practice in Early Education (SEED), Research Report, DfE

Chilvers. D (2014) Happy Children, accessed via the WatchMeGrow Blog at https://watchmegrow.uk/2014/02/happy-children/

DCFS (2009) Progress Matters – Reviewing and enhancing young children’s development, https://www.foundationyears.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/progress-matters.pdf

Department for Education (March 2017) Early Years Workforce Strategy

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-workforce-strategy

Drummond. MJ (1993) Assessing Children’s Learning, David Fulton

Grenier.J, Finch.S and Vollans.C (2018) Celebrating Children’s Learning, David Fulton

Ofsted (August 2015, 150068), Early Years Inspection Handbook

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-inspection-handbook-from-september-2015

Nutbrown, C (June 2012) FOUNDATIONS FOR QUALITY The independent review of early education and childcare qualifications Final Report (Nutbrown Review), DFE

Peacock.A (2016) Assessment for Learning without Limits, Open University Press

Siraj-Blatchford,I et al (2002) Researching Effective Pedagogy in the Early Years (REPEY), DFES and the Institute of Education. Research Report 356

Standards and Testing Agency (2016) EYFSP Handbook 2017, https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/564249/2017_EYFSP_handbook_v1.1.pdf

Stewart.N (May 2016) Development Matters: A landscape of possibilities, not a roadmap, https://eyfs.info/articles.html/teaching-and-learning/development-matters-a-landscape-of-possibilities-not-a-roadmap-r205/

Whitebread. D (2012) Developmental Psychology on Early Childhood Education, Sage

[1] The Observation and Assessment Tool Kit©  self-assessment is being developed by Di Chilvers as part of the Development Map

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 young children with the arrival of Ofsted’s Report Bold Beginnings (Dec 2017), research showing that children in Nursery and Reception classes are being streamed into ‘ability groups’ (National Education Union) and that £10 million will be spent on a one size fits all Baseline Assessment when this money (which will probably reach at least £20 million when you add in all the other expenses) could be put to much better use in the EYFS along with the millions that have been spent on 30hrs Funding.

2018 has to look better for everyone in the Early Years Foundation Stage but particularly for young children and their families.  They deserve some Bold Beginnings which will nurture, support and stretch their development and learning in all aspects of their lives, tuning into where they are NOW and giving them aspirations for a more creative, inspiring and exceptional educational experience in school, for a future that we can only imagine.  This aim in itself requires all of us to be Bold to make sure that young children have the early childhood experiences and opportunities they need and deserve in the first 72 months of their lives. These are some of my thoughts…

Bold Resolutions for all of those who are involved in young children’s lives but especially Ofsted, the DfE, Policy Makers, Head Teachers and Curriculum Leads in Schools

Being Bold means going back to your values and principles and asking the question posed by Loris Malaguzzi in 1944, “What kind of future do we want for our children?”  Malaguzzi, a primary teacher, was determined, along with many families, to create a better future for the children in Reggio Emilia in Northern Italy after the Second World War.  In Reggio they still ask this question now as the landscape for them has changed over the years as it has in our country.

Resolution 1: Go back to the values, themes and principles of the EYFS and talk about them together. They are a Statutory Duty for the Early Years Foundation Stage which is a Key Stage in its own right from birth to 60+ months

Education, like Dr Who, needs to re-generate and transform in light of the present and future we all live in. It has to respond to the needs of the current generation and those to come and not be a constant replaying of values that belong in the early 19^th century or based on ageing politicians experiences of public school.  The view that knowledge on its own is everything and measurement of knowledge by binary testing, starting at 4 years old, will provide an education for all is inherently flawed and will not raise the creative thinkers of the future.

It’s time to be Bold and recognise that…

We cannot solve problems with the same thinking that created them   (Albert Einstein)

It is 2018 and we still have to defend the values and principles of early education despite knowing so much more about the impact high quality early education has on young children’s development, thinking and learning in the most critical period of their lives.  Wide ranging research, some commissioned by this Government (SEED) and previous Governments (EPPE, REPEY) as well as research in brain development, particularly regarding the sensitive period of birth to 7 years old (Harvard University Centre on the Developing Child) and the development  of executive functioning including self-regulation and meta-cognition.

Having to consistently defend early education, the best early intervention strategy we have for ensuring all children have the strongest start in life,  is exhausting, frustrating and above all limiting the opportunities the sector has in developing the quality of pedagogy and practice to be comparable with outstanding practice in other countries.  It is a sector which has become a political football with point scoring on all sides and no one listening to hard evidence, or professionals, or parents, or children.  If Early Years was a football club they would have sacked the managers by now!

Resolution 2: Remember that all children are competent and capable participants in their development, thinking and learning.  How you view children, including babies and toddlers will define how you educate them and the aspirations you have for them

Young children make their own Bold Beginnings long before they enter a Reception class. They have already:

• taken bold steps in acquiring language and making their voice heard
• learned to walk, move and have physical control of their bodies
• connected with others, building relationships and becoming social
• developed a sense of self, their personality, confidence and well-being
• become primed thinkers and learners;  making Bold steps to Play and Explore as Active Learners and Creative and Critical Thinkers

When children reach the Reception class in September they are between 48-60 months old and have experienced a wide range of learning opportunities, some greater than others. They come with a past on which their transition should be built in bespoke and sensitive ways especially in the first half-term to ensure that their developmental momentum is maintained.

Resolution 3: Children are all Unique. They have different starting points, different experiences          and different needs. Being Bold means knowing and understanding each child as an individual person

Beginnings are very different for children; they all have unique pathways and experiences which mean they have distinct starting points. For example, the beginning for a summer born boy (who may also be premature) is going to be up to 12 months different from his peers who were born after September 1^st.  Knowing and understanding the impact of children’s unique starting points and pathways on their developmental progress is a crucial part of teaching otherwise we are in danger of making assumptions about learning.

Education is not a one size fits all, mass-produced conveyor belt of teaching measured by narrow, often binary, outcomes. In the 21^st century we have to be more aspirational and imaginative than this; what we need now more than ever is unique, creative and deep thinking learners.

Resolution 4: Ensure that all of those who make decisions about teaching and learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage have a full and deep understanding of the way in which young children develop and learn (or find someone who does)

Bold Beginnings for Reception (F2) are about understanding that children’s development and learning has already begun and that the mission is to seamlessly pick up the ‘baton’ and maintain the momentum of each child’s learning journey.  It’s about working from the ground up and not the top down; the direction of travel begins at children's starting points and builds on these foundations.

“By tuning in to the child’s thinking, the practitioner is helped to focus on the right subject matter, to follow the connections that the child is making in their thinking, and to respond appropriately with conversational turns that maintain the child’s learning momentum.”

Julie Fisher, (2016, p. 79)

Indeed, Ofsted are interested in children’s starting points and want to know about the progress they make in their learning and development relative to where they started (Ofsted August 2015, Ref.150068 p.146).

Resolution 5: Please can we all be Bold and read all the research on how play, for young children, is an integral and essential part of their thinking, learning and development?  It is time to acknowledge this and see what is in front of us when we make informed observations of children’s play – we are seeing young children learn.

Children’s talk and child-initiated play are their Bold Beginnings into mathematics, reading and writing, as well as many other aspects of their development and learning. For example:

• babies and toddlers engaged in their innate schematic play are forging the early foundations of spatial awareness, speed, distance, time and capacity to mention a few mathematical concepts
• imaginative play supports the development of creative and critical thinking and significantly underpins the ability to move from concrete to symbolic thinking. A cognitive shift change which enables children to make sense of the abstract symbols and letters of phonics, reading, writing and maths
• child-led play in continuous provision is where we see children’s true understanding and mastery of their learning; it’s where they ‘get it’ and can start to connect and deepen their learning in collaboration with others

This all needs adults to understand the complexities of child development including cognitive and language development. Adults who work with young children and those who make decisions about the way in which they are taught (and tested!) should have an informed, professional understanding of child development and the psychology of learning.

Teaching young children is a highly skilled process, very different to the way in which teaching is undertaken in KS1 and KS2; it is about the complex relationship between child-initiated play and adult-focussed teaching which Ofsted has helpfully covered in ‘Teaching and play in the early years – a balancing act?’ (Ofsted, July 2015) and in its definition of teaching (Ofsted August 2015, Ref.150068 p. 35/36 and Ref.150066 p. 59)

“While long-held beliefs about teaching and play have proven difficult to shift, the danger of allowing them to continue is all too real. If those in the early years sector continue to see teaching and play as separate, disconnected endeavors our future generations will continue to fall at the first hurdle.” (Ofsted July 2015 p. 5)

Using simplistic assessment tools and binary tests to capture the complexity of young children’s thinking, understanding and learning is like trying to condense the works of Shakespeare into one sentence. The richness and depth of their understanding is lost along with their creativity, spontaneity and originality.

Informed observation of children engaged in autonomous child-led play will tell skilled adults all they need to know about their progress and development; a statutory assessment process that is already used in the Early Years Foundation Stage (p.13) and described by the Standards and Testing Agency as Responsible Pedagogy (EYFS Profile Handbook 2017 p.11)

 Resolution 6: Acknowledge that the Early Years Foundation Key Stage is the Bold Beginning of children’s lives beyond home, with Childminders; in Play Groups; Private Nurseries and Pre-Schools; Children’s Centres and Nursery Schools and Schools.  These are much more than places to ‘get children ready for School’.  They are places where children’s thinking   and learning happens in its own right as part of the momentum of their development without which there would be no firm foundations on which to build in KS1

 Bold Beginnings are about building the foundations of lifelong learning or what Guy Claxton calls ‘learnacy’ or ‘learning power’.  The Characteristics of Effective Learning encompass all these dispositions and attitudes and provide the scaffold for teaching knowledge (the areas of learning) and understanding which makes contextual sense to children.  They are the tools for becoming a Bold thinker and learner from a position of autonomy, independence and self-regulation. We can see this in Bailey’s reflections on his learning…

“All year I have been making things out of paper, Sellotape, string. I know you have to make things the right size. If you want to change the size you can, but you do have to compare. I know that you make my worm the longest I need to know how long Carrigan’s is. I can only know that if I compare it. But I remember you showed me how to make things level. Today I remembered myself.”

Bailey (5 yrs. old) is Boldly and confidently making complex connections in his thinking and life-long learning; he has already Begun…

Resolution 7: Read the Early Childhood Forum’s Charter for Early Childhood – Transforming policy

and practice for a clear understanding of the key priorities of Early Education (0-7 yrs.) which, when combined together, provide a cohesive approach to early intervention. Have the courage to stick to what we know will have an impact on children’s well-being, development and progress and see it through over the long term.  Remember that children and families are not political footballs!

Finally make a promise to Listen to children and what is meaningful to them in their lives, especially in their child-led play…

A CHILDREN'S CHARTER FOR THINKING AND LEARNING

• I make sense of my world in my own unique way through what interests me
• I view myself as a competent thinker and learner
• I am a different kind of thinker to an adult - what interests me is very different to what interests you
• I like to construct my learning together with the other children and adults around me
• When I follow my interests I begin to think in a much 'deeper way'. I can 'unpick' my ideas and 'explore' through the activities I am interested in
• I spend a long time at the activities that interest me. I concentrate for longer, become very involved and persist at what I am doing
• When I am interested in an activity I want to keep coming back to it day after day. I get excited about my learning, it's fun and I enjoy it - I want to do more
• I like my thinking and learning to be real and to be part of something interesting, like trains, messy play, people and music. I don't want my learning to be separated into pieces like literacy, numeracy, geography - I learn in a holistic way
• When I can follow my interests and adults support me (and are interested as well), this makes me feel good. Then I feel confident, secure and happy. I trust people and make good relationships with them
• When I follow my interests, my 'thinking language' becomes more creative. I will invent words like 'clunks' and 'bobbles' to explain what I mean and be very creative. I like to think out loud and I can do this through my talk. I can also do this through my non-verbal expressions, through my behaviour, through watching others and through my drawings, pictures and models. You just have to listen to me
• When I follow my interests I can offer my own ideas and express them. I can build them up with other children and adults. I can sustain my thinking and share it with those around me

This charter was formed from a research project in 2008[1], which looked at thinking and learning from the children's perspectives and how they take responsibility for their own learning through their ideas, interests and child-led play. It is the scaffolding for Sustained Shared Thinking and led the children into deeper levels of thinking, talking and learning.

Other research projects[2] (Talk for Reading, Talk for Maths Mastery, Balancing Child-initiated Play and Sustained Shared Thinking) in the Foundation Stages and KS1 (Y1) in schools over the last 5 years have shown a substantial impact on children’s development, learning and progress. The projects all have in common a child-led approach to learning and teaching which has been based on Ofsted’s definition of teaching and Ofsted’s Good Practice Survey ‘Teaching and play in the early years – a balancing act?’

Di Chilvers – January 2018

[1] Re Footnotes 1 and 2 - Di Chilvers has led clusters of Schools in Extended Professional Development Initiatives which use an evidence based approach to monitor the impact of the project on children’s progress and the quality of pedagogy and practice. For more information on Initiatives and Projects see Di’s Website at www.watchmegrow.uk

[2]

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 responsible for providing a robust moderation process so that practitioners’ judgements are evaluated in line with statutory requirements.

Moderation of the EYFS profile:

• secures the consistency and accuracy of judgements made by different practitioners
• reassures practitioners that their judgements are accurate, valid and consistent with national standards
• assures moderators that an acceptable level of accuracy and validity has been achieved for assessments recorded and reported by the settings for which they have responsibility

STA, EYFSP 2017 Profile Handbook, p.32 - 36

The EYFSP Profile Handbook is thorough in its description of moderation for the Early Learning Goals and gives helpful guidance. However, moderation processes should also be an integrated part of observation and assessment throughout the Foundation Stage.

Why Moderation?

Whenever we make a judgement about a child’s development, progress and learning we make decisions which could be described as subjective as they are based on our own thoughts, knowledge, opinions and influences.  For these reasons a subjective decision is not considered as robust and reliable especially when we are looking at children’s learning.  So how can we make our decisions more reliable and objective so that they are professionally informed and robust?

 Triangulation is the key factor here in making our decisions as objective as possible and professionally informed by considering multiple perspectives, especially those in your Observation and assessment tool kits. By bringing in other perspectives such as the Leuven Scales of well-being and Involvement or a good knowledge and understanding of language development we make our judgements stronger and more professionally informed.   This means that moderation becomes an integrated part of the process and not an ‘add on when we have time’!

How does moderation support the development of good practice and practitioner/teacher knowledge?

Moderation is an essential part of good practice as it strengthens our professional knowledge and understanding of children’s development and learning; supports the quality of learning and teaching; and ensures that children are supported and engaged in appropriate and inspiring experiences based on their specific needs and interests.

Moderation processes can:

• support the continual professional development of the adults as they observe, analyse and plan children’s next steps. Talking together about what you are seeing children do, say and think helps to develop a shared understanding of child development and HOW children learn
• ensure that there is a shared understanding of children’s development and progress which leads to consistency of practice; everyone knows the children well, tuning into what makes them ‘tick’ and supporting progress
• build your tool kit knowledge and skills; the more you share your observations with colleagues, especially those who are well-experienced the more you will learn

help you to become more confident to make professionally informed judgements about children’s development

• be an opportunity for reflection, which deepens your thinking and understanding, as well as helping you to confidently articulate children’s development and progress
• strengthen your knowledge and understanding of where a child is in their developmental journey
• lead to creative, informative and valuable ways of documenting children’s thinking and learning

Ways to include Moderation in everyday practice?

• Using narrative observations which ‘tell the whole story’ of children’s thinking and learning, rather than a snap- shot. Sharing these with colleagues by discussing, analysing and interpreting what you see the children doing and saying. Sharing Learning Stories with the children adds a further dimension to moderation as the children talk about what they are doing, saying and thinking
• Undertaking peer to peer observations (practitioners and teachers observing each other and their interactions with children) using cameras or film
• Opportunities to talk about the children, their play, interests, fascinations and ideas. This often happens as part of the natural rhythm of the day as you are with the children
• Talking with parents/ carers on an informal basis; sharing Learning Stories together ; gathering a home perspective of the child
• Focussing on a certain children each week/session e.g. 5 focus children who the team ‘zone’ in on during the week. Making time to meet together to share thoughts
• Professional development meetings; Key person meetings
• Mentoring/supporting students and including them in team discussions; giving them feedback on their observations
• Using White Boards or documentation boards to note down ‘in the moment’ observations about what children have said; their interests; who they are playing with; what they are playing with etc. This helps to spot patterns in children’s friendship groups; language development; well-being; involvement and behaviour. It is also a great way of keeping everyone in the loop and planning in the moment.
• Tip: Always take a photograph of the board before you wipe it!  

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 their true state of development, as they become engrossed explorers, active learners and creative and critical thinkers.

If we can say that our starting points for making these decisions are based on the following questions then we are going to be in a strong position to make objective, professionally informed decisions (judgements) about children’s progress.

Asking the right questions for accurate and informed assessment of young children include;

What did I see here?

What is happening?

What is/are the child/children telling me about what they know and understand?

Ferre Laevers (2015) would want to know if we are ‘grasping the essence of what children are doing and getting into the position of the child’.  He also says that we should be ‘Keeping an open-mind, taking a holistic view and actively thinking about what we are seeing’ as this will help us to draw considered and effective conclusions about children’s development and progress.

However, I am not sure that we are keeping an 'open-mind' or 'grasping the essence' in fact we seem to have gone down a road of assessing children using narrow, often superficial statements which do not fully acknowledge the breadth or depth of children’s development, thinking or learning. In doing so we seem to have lost sight of young children as the competent and capable thinkers and learners they are and we run the danger of underestimating their progress.

Development does Matter

One of the reasons assessment has become so narrow is the way in which Development Matters has been used as a developmental shopping list.  This isn’t really the fault of Development Matters as it was never intended to be used in this way.  Nancy Stewart, one of the original authors of the document, has written an excellent paper on this called ‘Development Matters: A landscape of possibilities, not a road map’ – it’s really worth a read and sharing with other colleagues.  She highlights one of the main drawbacks as;

When used as a tick list of descriptors of what children must achieve, it can sadly limit both children’s development and the professional awareness and skills of practitioners.

In a previous Blog   Why create the Development Map?  I listed my concerns about the way in which Development Matters is being used and the risks to our understanding of children’s development and learning if we constantly use tick lists and highlighters;

• Underestimating the developmental potential of young children – if what they do, say and think is not in the list where is it acknowledged as part of their progress?
• Becoming a profession of ‘list checkers’ always looking for something to tick off rather than focussing on what children are actually involved in, often at quite a deep level.
• Looking for the superficial rather than the complex nature of HOW children are learning and deeper levels of engagement (think Characteristics of Effective Learning here)
• Minimising our own professional knowledge of children’s early development, thinking and learning and making informed decisions about their progress and next steps…(early years professionals often know far more about children’s development than what is on the tick list!)

Development Matters does help us in many ways and is an accepted, though not statutory, part of early years philosophy and practice – it is part of the EYFS Themes and Principles.  It sets the context of children’s development within the EYFS through the following equation

The Unique Child is recognised from the outset and described as ‘Every child is a unique child who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured’ (p2). The development statements are there as an aide memoir of ‘of common examples of how children might develop and give a general picture of progression, but they are by no means the whole story’ (Stewart. N – See above).

If we think of children’s development in the form of an ice-berg what we are seeing in the  Development Matters statements is just the tip,  equivalent to  just 10% of their learning potential.  Which means that there is a vast expanse  (90%) of children’s potential that is not included in Development Matters!   The danger is that using Development Matters as a list of assessment descriptors or hurdles to be jumped and the Early Learning Goals as a final destination means that children’s full potential is not recognised or valued.   Where is the full potential of the competent and capable child recorded in our assessments if we only ever use a few statements to inform our judgements?

What can we do to make sure that we see the full potential of children’s development?

Development Matters is one tool of our assessment for learning repertoire but we could say, using the ice berg metaphor, that it is only 10%. There is much more to think about as we make our decisions about a child’s progress and many more ‘tools’ we can use to inform and strengthen or triangulate the judgements we make.

There are other tools we can add to our observation and assessment tool kit which support   us to make professionally informed judgement about children’s progress. They include;

A good knowledge of child development; having a wide knowledge of child development which covers the holistic ways in which children learn and progress.  Hopefully this has been a key part of initial and on-going training at all levels. The best way to keep your knowledge finely tuned is to observe children in their child-initiated play and activities. The more you observe, document and talk about this with others the more finely tuned your child development skills will become. Watching children is one of our best sources of learning.

The characteristics of development and learning; knowing HOW children think and learn is a crucial part of the jigsaw. It’s all about understanding the ways in which children Play and Explore (Engaged) and become Active Learners (Motivated) leading to Creative and Critical Thinking (Thinkers). These are the tools or dispositions for becoming a life-long learner, they tell us a great deal about what they know, understand and have mastered in their learning.

Children’s Schema and threads of thinking; are the inherent patterns of thinking that children instinctively show from birth. They are their earliest and most natural interests which drive child-initiated play and activities – we can see this in very young babies.  Schema are the foundations of conceptual development underpinning later  learning in maths including shape, space and measures, science and many other aspects of later development

Children’s interests and fascinations; are our window into their lives cognitively, socially and emotionally.  Observing children in child-initiated play and activities lets us really see what they know and understand; what they have truly mastered and their emotional well-being.  We can see how well they make connections with their previous learning and use this to forge new ideas and thinking.  We can also see how they collaborate and relate to others, growing their personal and social skills and using language to build relationships and thinking.

Levels of Involvement and Well-Being; in themselves the involvement and well-being scales are used in many countries as a measure of children’s progress; it is called a Process orientated child monitoring system or POMS for short.  They have been created by Ferre Laevers to not only identify how well children are progressing but also to evaluate the quality of provision and practice.  Understanding the philosophy and practice of the Involvement and Well-Being scales will significantly strengthen the professionally informed judgements you make about progress from birth to the end of the Foundation Stage

Development of Speech, language and communication; is a critical and central part of children’s development and progress. The more we know and understand about the development of young children’s communication, speech, language and literacy the more we can understand children’s development and progress particularly in the first 3 years of life.  There have been many initiatives which have focused on developing practitioner/teacher understanding including ECAT (Every Child a Talker), the Communication Trust  and ican

SEND; understanding the wide and varied nature of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities will be a significant contribution to your knowledge and understanding of children’s development and progress

Developing your Observation and Assessment tool kit hopefully began with your initial training and has continued to develop through further opportunities for your professional development, adding to your professionally informed knowledge of children’s development.  The more you can call on these tools the better and more robust your decisions will be about children’s progress. You will see so much more than just the Development Matters statements and be able to justify and triangulate the decisions you make about where you have placed  a child on the continuum of development – ages and stages bands.   Not only that, you will have as Nancy Stewart said, 'developed your professional awareness and skills'.

The Development Map  has been created as a way of capturing and mapping children’s progress using your observation and assessment tool kit to inform where you place a child on the progress board.  The intention is not to use the Development Matters statements as a tick list but to make a much more professionally informed decision about a child’s development, based on the way you and your colleagues have asked the questions at the beginning of this Blog, and looked at all the information and evidence you have to hand including that of the parents and the child. Then making a professionally informed, best -fit, summative judgement;

The summative judgement, however, must be as true as we can make it, and basing it on whether or not a child has matched every statement in an age/stage band is not a valid approach.  There may well be statements missing, and statements demonstrated across two or three bands.  The best-fit approach answers the problem by acknowledging that although not every child will have moved along in the same way, there is a typical movement.  Identifying the band which most closely describes the child, based on what you know and have observed  whether or not it has been recorded,  will enable you to describe the child’s development in terms of whether or not it is typical for their age in the various areas of the EYFS. (Stewart. N)

 Observation and Assessment Tool Kit self-evaluation

The Development Map will include an Observation and Assessment Tool Kit self-evaluation  which will enable you to reflect on and consider the ‘tools’ you already have and ones you may wish to add in the future.  It will support your professional development and identify aspects that you can work on and develop with your colleagues.  It will be free for all Development Map partners.

For more information about the Development Map please follow this link or go to the WatchMeGrow website

Forth-coming Blogs;

• An example of using the Development Map in practice
• Mapping the Early Learning Goals (ELGs) and Responsible Pedagogy

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
• What you record in your head (though it can’t just be stored here)
• Play experiences of the child/children
• Feelings, emotion, well-being and behaviours of the child/children

This is your on-going assessment or Formative Assessment, described in the EYFS Statutory Duty as being ‘an integral part of the learning and development process’ (2.4, 2014) and in Development Matters (p.4, 2012) as being ‘at the heart of effective early years practice’.

Summative Assessments are also at the heart of good practice; these are your stopping off points to think about what this eclectic gathering of information is telling you about the child’s development  and progress.   Some helpful questions to ask yourself at these stopping off points are;

• What have I noticed the child doing, saying and thinking that is different from before?
• What do the Characteristics of Effective Learning tell me about the child’s development and progress?
• Is the child curious, inquisitive and motivated to explore and experiment in their play…asking questions and talking about what they are doing?
• Are there signs of deep concentration, where they are not easily distracted? Facial expressions and body posture which show how focused they are?
• Has speech, language and communication developed? How long are the conversations the children are having? Are they involved in ‘serve and return’ conversations?

Summative Assessments should be made at regular intervals.  More frequently for babies and toddlers as they grow and develop so rapidly, for example every 4 weeks. Older children may need a summative review every 6 to 8 weeks; whilst children with additional needs may need a review more often.   There are currently two points at which you are statutorily required to make a Summative Assessment;

• Between the ages of 24 and 36 months – the Two Year Old Review
• At the end of the Foundation Stage – the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile

Ofsted also want to see the ‘progress all children make in their learning and development relative to their starting points and their readiness for the next stage of their education’ (146. p.30, Inspection Handbook, 2015, 150068) and;

• The provider must demonstrate how they will identify children’s starting points and ensure that children make progress in their learning through effective planning, observation and assessment (25. p.7)
• Track the experiences and development levels of a representative sample of children. Discuss the children’s relevant starting points; look at assessment evidence and children’s progress (53.p.14)
• How the setting has tracked the progress children make (53. p.15)
• The proportion of children who have made typical or better progress from their starting points, including disabled children, those with special educational needs and the most able (190. p.60 School Inspection Handbook, 2015, 150066)
• Ofsted are also monitoring the impact of the Early Years Pupil Premium  (EYPP) on  progress and how  additional support is narrowing the attainment gap for these children

With this in mind it is essential that everyone involved in young children’s development and learning (practitioners, teachers, leaders, co-ordinators etc);

• Are aware of the progress children have made from their starting points and how this is tracked/mapped

And

• Are able to discuss and show the developmental journey of the child, the progress they have made (or not), their transitions and the interventions and support that have been put in place

The Development Map™ has been created to support both your Formative and Summative Assessments as well as show the ‘story’ of children’s development and progress. It is a ‘tracking tool’ which can be used in everyday practice for assessing children’s learning and progress through the EYFS.  It views children’s thinking, learning and growth in a holistic way so that adults can see the ‘whole child’ and understand the complex nature of their development and progress over a period of time.

Lucy’s Development Map tells us a great deal about her learning journey and the progress she has made over a period of 9 months when something quite significant happened in her life.

Through her observations of Lucy the key-worker had gathered a range of information and knowledge about her development and used this to make informed, professional judgements using the Development Map Summative Progress Board.

We can see Lucy’s story in her Development Map and what it tells us about her progress over 9 months. There are 3 Summative Assessment points at 36, 39 and 45 months.

Lucy, at 36 months old (the green dot) , has quite a range of development across the ages and stages bands  from Developing 16- 26 for Making Relationships to Secure 22-36 in  Numbers, Writing, People and communities and Exploring and using media and materials.

We can see a significant spike[1] in her development in PSED at 36 and 39 months particularly in Making Relationships and Self-confidence and self-awareness, whilst she is making better progress in other areas of her development.    The story behind Lucy’s spike is very common for many children her age; she is getting used to the arrival of her baby sister and has needed a lot of time, support and carefully planned next steps.  The nursery team focused on Lucy’s interests in Technology, Numbers and Writing and used this to build her confidence, well-being and language development.  By 45 months she was back on track having made 6 steps of progress in 9 months in Making Relationships.

The key-worker and nursery team expressed how well they could ‘see’ Lucy as a person in the Development Map and the holistic nature of her development. This really helped them when they spoke to Lucy’s mum and find out how things were going at home and to plan appropriate, meaningful, small next steps. Being able to make timely, informed and detailed summative assessments meant that they could identify where support was needed as soon as possible.

“Being able to talk about Lucy’s developmental journey using the Development Map was so easy; it made us think about her learning holistically and in the wider context of her home and family. We could see where she needed help and used the things she was doing well at and was interested to support her next steps”

Lucy’s Key-Worker

[1] I am not overly fond of the term spike but it does describe what the Development Map is telling us and we need to look out for these remembering that spikes can go either way inwards or outwards!