AnonyMouse_40917 Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 Hi all, After reading through so many wonderful and helpful replies regarding the revised EYFS I am hoping you will now be able to give me some pointers about how you are going to carry out baseline assessments in your reception classes? Having spoken to my KS1 co-ordinator, she has told me that I need to observe all children (31) for all of the 30-50 month Development matters statements, from each area! Now to me this seems a bit extreme and also impossible to do with just myself and another TA. Would really appreciate any thoughts/ideas for how I should be doing this, or what you are planning to do. Many thanks from a (very!) stressed out Lx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 Hi. I am going to assess generally the chn according to 30-50 and 40-60 month devel matters. I am not going to labour through tick lists but feel during the settling in period I should get a feel for where the chn are. Each day I am going to target 4 chn- 2 in the morn and 2 in the pm. I will leave a settling in observation sheet on my notice board for me and my one TA to record what the child does throughout the session and during carpet time. Hopefully this will give me a general picture of each child. In addition throughout the 2 weeks settling in I will do some one on one assessments which will also give me a general feel of where each child is. I am on my iPad at the moment but as soon as I get on my laptop I will post the sheets I will be using and maybe you will find them useful. I know some schools (as did my old school) don't have integrated settling in periods and all the children start at once. If this is the case with yourself I would spend most of the first half term gathering your evidence for baseline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_3307 Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 The dev matters are NOT a tick list, they are a descriptor of the kinds of things a child at that level of development would be at if they are at that stage of development. You don't have to evidence every single thing. Evidence is anyway what you see and hear as well as what you record.Use the records from previous settings/classes - after all they knew the children well before you got them! They will be a reasonable starting point for a baseline. Then you can focus on the children you don't have records for. Don't forget however that children are not necessarily showing you their previous best because they will be experiencing a different environment, different relationships and different experiences. This doesn't mean that the previous records are wrong, which is sometimes how it is interpreted. Children can swiftly get back upto speed with the right environment and opportunities to demonstrate their skills. I'd focus on the 3 characteristics as part of my on entry too as that will show you what they are like as learners. Cx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 (edited) ok so here goes-hope they attach ok Settling in period info.doc settling in obs.doc Edited August 24, 2012 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_40917 Posted August 24, 2012 Author Share Posted August 24, 2012 Swilde1977- thanks so much for your reply and also for the documents you attached, they are very useful! Catma- I don't think my KS1 co-ordinator was intending for me to use the Dev.Mattters as a ticklist, as we are both aware this is not what they are used for, I think she was meerly implying to plan activities that could possibly show those statements, and make observations based on what they do/say in both Child initiated play and adult initiated activities. Also, how do you intend to use the characteristics of learning to inform your baseline? This is not something we had thought of, and sounds like something we should look to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_3307 Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 (edited) I think she was meerly implying to plan activities that could possibly show those statements, and make observations based on what they do/say in both Child initiated play and adult initiated activities. I see! The trouble with trying to do that is that the dev matters statements are very big developmental outcomes - you will only see them over time and in different contexts rather than in set activities. Setting test activities can tend to narrow what you observe because you end up looking for the thing you want rather than just getting a broad open ended view on the childs skills and capabililties. I'd rather on entry was made through observing the children in a rich environment, mainly in their own activities and then look at the statements and get a best fit sense, using the info from elsewhere/parents etc. That way you get a better picture and you will also get a feel for how your children learn too and what ways they demonstrate those characteristics. Edited August 24, 2012 by catma Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonyMouse_40917 Posted August 24, 2012 Author Share Posted August 24, 2012 Thanks for your reply Catma- you are very right, it would have been very difficult to get an idea of where the children are in their learning journey through one or two activities. I will show this to my co-ordinator and see what she says. Thanks once again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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