EYFS Head Teacher BriefingsSummer 2013
•New EYFS Profile
•Handbook and Exemplification
•EYFSP Pilot information
EYFS Profile GuidanceHandbook
•Guidance Handbook is a detailedreference material for all LAmoderators and EYFSPpractitioners.
•The Handbook has beendeveloped to support practitionersin making accurate judgementsabout each child’s attainment.
Purpose of the EYFS Profile
The primary purpose of EYFS Profile is to provide areliable, valid and accurate assessment of individualchildren at the end of the EYFS.
–To inform parents/carers ;
–To support a smooth transition to Key Stage 1;and
–To help Year 1 teachers plan an effective,responsive and appropriate curriculum that willmeet the needs of all children
(EYFS Profile handbook page 7 section 2.1)
Evidence and documentation
There is no requirement that:-
–evidence should be formally recorded or documented;
–it is recorded in any specific manner;
–it is recorded at specified points in time.
The majority of evidence will come from the practitioners’observations of the child's self-initiated activities andprovides the basis on which judgements are made (and willbe the focus of a moderation dialogue).
The exemplification material
Includes…
•A variety of evidence and forms of presentation todemonstrate the wide range of ways in whichinformation may be gathered to support EYFSProfile judgements.
–‘one off’ observations
–samples of children’s work
–photographs
–contributions from parents.
•Some examples are part of a collection of materialfor an individual child or a group of children.
Practitioners should be familiarwith:-
•The description of the area of learning.
•The developmental steps leading to each ELG.
•The level of development expected at the end ofthe EYFS for each ELG.
•The explanatory note.
Levels of Development
Practitioners must review their knowledge of each child fromall sources, and make a judgement for each ELG as towhether the child’s learning and development is bestdescribed by:
–the description of the level of development expected atthe end of EYFS
–not yet at the level of development expected at the endof EYFS (emerging)
–beyond the level of development expected at the endof EYFS (exceeding).
Using the material
The ELGs are numbered according to the statutorydata collection. Goals may appear in a differentorder in other supporting documentation.
•When making a decision practitioners mustconsider the entirety of each ELG.
•To create the most accurate picture of the child’soverall embedded learning an holistic view of thedescriptor should be taken.
•Sections of each descriptor must not been seenin isolation.
(EYFS Profile handbook Page 23,section 5.2)
Making a judgement
•Because children do not necessarily achieve uniformly,the practitioner should judge whether the descriptionwithin the ELG best fits the child’s learning anddevelopment, taking into account their relative strengthsand weaknesses.
•‘Best fit’ does not mean that the child has equal mastery ofall aspects of the ELG.
•Practitioners should look to the whole of each ELGdescription when making this summative judgement.
Defining a Good Level of Development
The changes that we have made to the EYFSP meanthat we cannot continue to use the old Good Level ofDevelopment (GLD) measure. From 2013, childrenwill be defined as having reached a GLD at the end ofthe EYFS if they achieve at least the expected levelin:
the early learning goals in the prime areas of learning(personal, social and emotional development; physicaldevelopment; and communication and language) and;
the early learning goals in the specific areas ofmathematics and literacy.
Defining a Good Level of Development
As Dame Clare Tickell’s review of the EYFS made clear,the prime areas of learning are essential for children’shealthy development.
The Government believes that a good foundation inmathematics and literacy is also crucial for later success,particularly in terms of children’s readiness for school.
We want to encourage schools to strengthen children’sknowledge and understanding in all these importantareas.
All areas of learning within the EYFS are important. Wewill also help to promote the attainment of childrenacross all the early learning goals through a measure ofthe average of the cohort’s total point score across allthe early learning goals.
Supporting measure for the Good levelof development
The average point score across all Early learning goals
•This would measure the total number of points achievedon the EYFSP
•The national measure would be the average of everychild’s total point score.
Data Specification
Information from the EYFSP pilot
•19 Local Authorities took part in the pilot,assessing children against both old and newProfiles. Children taking part had notexperienced the revised curriculum
•41% children attained a ‘good level ofdevelopment’ compared to 64% Nationallyusing the previous measure
•The average point score was 32 (the maximumis 51, a child attaining ‘expected’ in every ELGwould average 34 points)
Pilot data: Attainment gaps
In terms of those who attained a ‘good level ofdevelopment’ there was:
•A 13 percentage point gap between children whosefirst language is not English and children whose firstlanguage is English;
•A 14 percentage point gap between boys and girls;
•A 21 percentage point gap between those eligible forFSM and non FSM children;
•A 22 percentage point gap was between autumn andsummer born children.
Moderation
It is important for practitioners to build a sharedunderstanding of the ELGs and the national exemplificationof standards and to discuss their assessment of children’sattainment with colleagues
•two practitioners discussing an observation about a child’sdevelopment
•staff meetings and/or staff training days
•collaboration between a range of different settings to shareexperience and develop assessment skills.
•County moderation events
Data analysis
•There will be a PDF data handbook for EYFSProfile
•Should be available early in the autumn term
•Will enable comparisons between your dataand the LA ( and National when updated inOctober)
•Will allow comparison between children inreceipt of FSM and non-FSM
Tracking
•Several systems now allow schools to track childrenusing ‘Development Matters’ age bands with eachband divided in ‘entering, developing and secure’(including Eprofile, Assessment Manager, EAZmagand Classroom Monitor)
•No national data for ‘satisfactory’ or ‘good’ progress,but if children progress one full ‘age band’ in oneyear that would be at least ‘satisfactory’ and anymore may definitely be regarded as ‘good’
Good Practice in EYFS
•Getting the balance right
•Guided Groups – how often?
•Observations – what to look out for
•Characteristics of Effective Learning
Updates
Including:
•Language for Life – using the expertise of theSALT team
Website details