This is a collaborative post.
During the time a child is within the EYFS (early years’ foundation stage), two statutory assessment points must be carried out. They are:
- A progress review between the age of two and three years
- End of early years’ foundation stage assessments.
Practitioners are required by the EYFS to observe the kids as part of their daily relations with them. The on-going assessment serves as an important part of the children’s early years’ practice. It also helps inform the two statutory assessments mentioned above when the kids are at the prime ages of between twenty-four and thirty-six months.
A summary of the EYFS profile will also need to be shared with the kids’ parents once the EYFS assessments are complete.
Non-statutory Assessments
The formative assessment is used to demonstrate the kid’s developments and achievements over time. Online assessment systems, e.g., Tapestry and learning journals, can be used to make this assessment.
Furthermore, it is believed that observations and formative assessments tend to hold the largest amounts of data that can help practitioners make informed decisions for each kid.
The information available is used to assess the progress made by each child at particular stages in time and is referred to as summative assessment.
For instance, an interested party can easily track the progress being made by a given child by relying on the early years’ outcomes file prepared by the DfE (Department for Education).
When the practitioners are done collecting their assessments, they can use the details they have to assist the children in:
- Identifying the next steps they need to take to continue learning
- Progressing to the next stage
An efficient practitioner can use the details they have collected to develop a detailed plan featuring engaging and developmentally appropriate activities. It can also serve as a blueprint for identifying environments that are both rich and enabling.
Tracking Progress
Tracking the progress made by the children using EYFS tracking software, regardless of whether they are groups or individual children, is an efficient practice. Tracking software is particularly helpful for kids in nurseries, pre-school, or reception classes where observers get to share the evidence collected with the parents.
The only way to guarantee that each child’s needs are being met is to reflect on the progress the child has made across different areas.
By tracking the child’s progress, the practitioners can use the information they have collected to adapt, improve, and come up with early years’ practice, planning, and necessary provisions. Efficient managers and leaders compare different children’s assessments when analyzing the trends being manifested across the early year’s provision.
The knowledge gathered from this analysis can enhance the practitioners’ practice and support their staff members. Managers and leaders may want to take a more in-depth look at varied children groups to help them make meaningful comparisons and make it easier to advance the provision.
Comparisons can vary depending on the available children groups. The most common feature boys vs girls, special education needs children vs ordinary children and funded two-year-olds vs self-funding two-year-olds.