Guest Posted February 28, 2014 Posted February 28, 2014 Just wondering how people are doing their baseline assessments, i'm thinking of using a highlighting sheet for the development matters but not sure where to record the evaluation of the assessment ?
Guest Posted February 28, 2014 Posted February 28, 2014 We have a sheet with areas down the side ages across the top we tick of where they are. With a colour code tick eg blue= Emerging yellow= developing red = secure
Guest Posted March 8, 2014 Posted March 8, 2014 I also have a sheet - coloured coded with emerging, developing and secure on. My staff have used this since september and have found it better. However an early years advisor came in last week and said she didn't like the words and that I didn't need them, they were more for schools. Not sure what to do now, I don't really want to go in on Monday and say we are changing them again as the staff are not going to be too happy with me. What do others think Thank you
Helen Posted March 8, 2014 Posted March 8, 2014 That's very interesting sunflower- what did she suggest instead? That you didn't use refinements within the age-bands at all?
AnonyMouse_33773 Posted March 8, 2014 Posted March 8, 2014 We use our learning and development record sheets for starting points / the baseline - the same as for all children throughout their time with us. Anything that is added is progress.
Guest Posted March 8, 2014 Posted March 8, 2014 She just told me to take them out...we still use the age bands
AnonyMouse_41094 Posted March 9, 2014 Posted March 9, 2014 hi we use a tick check list that parents fill in saying what there child can do and just start with this we have just had ofsted come and inspect and she seemed pleased with this
AnonyMouse_3307 Posted March 9, 2014 Posted March 9, 2014 I also have a sheet - coloured coded with emerging, developing and secure on. My staff have used this since september and have found it better. However an early years advisor came in last week and said she didn't like the words and that I didn't need them, they were more for schools. Not sure what to do now, I don't really want to go in on Monday and say we are changing them again as the staff are not going to be too happy with me. What do others think Thank you Just say that it is all non-statutory and you do this as it works for you. Tell them it helps you identify with greater accuracy children's starting points and therefore you can plan an appropriate curriculum for each child, ensuring you close gaps.You can precisely identify if children are at stages of development typical for their age (in months) as a 48 month old just emerging into the 30 - 50 band could really be off track given their relative staring points. You can do what you want to do. It's not the tracking system you use, it's the way you use it to get precise and accurate information about children so you can teach them what they need to develop. That applies to anyone in the 0-5 EYFS phase!! In my LA we all use emerging developing securing in schools and settings - or not if the setting doesn't want to. Then we all assess against the EYFSP using Emerging/Expected/Exceeding as a final judgement on the entirety of the EYFS. Your adviser may be confusing your use of language with the EYFSP? I get so irritated with people who make up stuff and then give all advisers a bad name. Cx 3
AnonyMouse_42463 Posted March 12, 2014 Posted March 12, 2014 Hi I was also told by our EYA that we shouldn't use emerging etc. She argued that one key person's "emerging" could be another person's "secure" as we do not have the time to moderate (true) and that anyway Ofsted are looking for a "best fit" judgement. My concern was that we wouldn't be able to show progress but I'll keep you posted... So my question is.... it would seem that Ofsted are now looking for assessment on entry. Does this mean literally on entry or can we make an assessment after a half term? There have been suggestions that we use our All About Me forms to make an assessment but as they stand they do not give enough information. I have tried writing a new one based on the DM statements for the 26- 30 age band but I am finding it difficult to keep the tone light while still asking for the information I need. Ruth Jane you mentioned a check list. How does this go down with your parents and does it give you enough information to make an assessment? Thank you
AnonyMouse_44476 Posted March 12, 2014 Posted March 12, 2014 We just do an all about me sheet which covers key things like language, getting dressed etc, the key worker fills this out after chatting to parents when they start so it doesn't seem so much like a test or chore! Then we do them a learning journey sheet with a couple of next steps based on their interests from home and what we have seen after around a week of them being here. This is then shared with parents. We do our first lot of more formal assessments as it were after around a half term! Personally I don't think you can solely rely on parental input in the sense that the child may be entirely different at nursery than they are at home and you have to give them a chance to settle and get to know people first!
AnonyMouse_22106 Posted March 12, 2014 Posted March 12, 2014 We've been told baseline should be done within the first 2 weeks - Ofsted will not take into account if that child attends only 1 session a week or if they are unsettled.
AnonyMouse_10225 Posted March 18, 2014 Posted March 18, 2014 We use an Early Assessment Review Sheet -EARS- that has the age/stage in months and the prime and specific areas written in condensed form. We highlight these as we see the child achieve things, make observations, during the first half term. This info is then put onto the child tracker sheet - emerging dev,secure and we write a settling in report for parents and plan their next steps from this information.
Guest Posted March 20, 2014 Posted March 20, 2014 i have had my head totally pickled today. My setting is one of nine within the local area, my manager came to me today and told me a manager from the head office setting has told her that we no longer need to do Baseline assessments and just to do a progress/ development report when the children start. my argument to that is that how can you write a development report on a child you know nothing about. My other argument is that we as a setting are aiming for outstanding for which Ofsted like to see you doing above and beyond the basics. This manager has apparently been told this by Ofsted in the last couple of weeks. Anybody else heard this or shed any light on the matter.
Helen Posted March 21, 2014 Posted March 21, 2014 I think a development report and a baseline assessment are one and the same :1b We all need to have a picture of where the child is at, when they start at the setting, so that we can plan suitable activities to take their learning forward. One of the criteria for 'good' for the 'meeting the needs' judgement for Ofsted states: '.....all children...are progressing well towards the early learning goals over time, given their starting points'. I would strongly argue with your manager that baseline/development reports, or whatever you call them, are still essential. How else will you be able to demonstrate progress? 2
Guest youngrisers Posted March 21, 2014 Posted March 21, 2014 we do a progress check as soon as a two year has settled in the setting noting well being and involvement, any new developments we have observed and the prime three areas. we use as a guide to inform us and the parent what the interests of the child are too.
Guest Posted March 25, 2014 Posted March 25, 2014 In my setting we started baseline assessments in the 3rd week of Autumn term (ish) and initially picked out statements from each of the 7 main areas. Eg. one from 16-26, one from 22-36 and (maybe) one for 30-50. put all these on the top of an A4 (landscape layout) and children's names on the left and just ticked them as we saw them do it. However, we were told by our EY manager that we need to do this for each area, that is 17 areas then... So at the end I think we had at least 30 boxes for each child to tick. This was tiresome and not sure it worked best... When highlighting the profiles, we sat down, looked at the baseline and what we've already learnt of the children and decided what else to highlight apart from the 'ticked' statements. Then from this came out our Emerging/Developing/Secure judgement for the month band it fell in. Since then we started using post-it notes for our learning records and I think these would have worked better for baseline as well. E.g. you could pick an area (out of 17), have all the statements in front of you and observe the children, write down what they do/say and which month band this would fall into. Eventually there would be at least 1 post-it for each area. Yet again, this is very time-consuming as well... I like the idea of asking parents on entry about what their child can do
Recommended Posts