EV681Pedagogy, Principles and Practice in Early

Childhood

Session 3

Positive Relationships

Assessment in the Teaching

and Learning Cycle

2

Planning:

Individual/group/class

Short/mid/long

Action

Assessment of:

Child (personal)

Interactions ( interpersonal)

Environment (community)

Learning &

TeachingObservation

Formative feedback - value for childrenWestern, D (2014) one of key factors impacting children's development

and progress

Feel valued and respected as individuals

Leaders of their own learning

Supports motivation

Learning has depth

Learning has continuity

Learning environment offers opportunities for

autonomy, choice and enjoyment

Importance and value for children

Ensure child’s needs are being met, the

environment respects and values their

‘uniqueness’

Hearing children's voice

Involving child in their own assessment –

supports self awareness of their strengths and

areas to develop

Learning journal demonstrates to children how

the setting notices and values their

achievements.

Identifies possible issues/areas of difficulties

value for practitioners – evaluative

Engage in the delights of children’s learning

and development

Staff training? E.g. Disabilities, equalities,

speech and language

Are our interventions

appropriate/relevant/sensiti

ve?

and the setting – (informative)

‘ We can use our assessments to shape

and

enrich our curriculum, our interactions

our provision as a whole.’ (Drummond

1993:p13)

Organisation of space?

Appropriate resources, are they accessible ?

Resources which reflect diversity and ensure

inclusion

Inside/outside Freeflow

Routines

Presenting an observation for University

assignments

Always include the context – where, when, whom, child(rens) age, gender(s) how long the observation is

Include a brief analysis/evaluation at the end (ways forward/next steps)

Try to put separate speech on separate lines e.g.Annie: ‘How are you going to make the cat?’

C1 picks up a toilet roll tube and the brown paper.

C1: ‘With this tube and this paper’

Annie: ‘That will make a very big cat.’

Try to write it all in the same tense (usually the present tense)

ALWAYS PRESERVE ANONYMITY OF CHILDREN, ADULTS AND SETTING!

Observations...

Should be for a reason – are purposeful

Should focus on what a child CAN do

Should record what actually happens

Should be objective and unbiased – the

observer should stand back from personal

values and beliefs (avoiding value-laden

emotional language)

Observers should try to avoid ‘influencing’ the

child

What do you see? The power of our

language...

‘He was kicking-off as

always because he

wanted his own way.’

‘His mum just threw

him in the door

because she’s a

working mum.’

‘She was whining.’

‘She’s arrived dirty in

the same clothes she

always wears.’

EYFS DfE 2012 : Development

matters p5

Characteristics of effective learning Playing and exploring – engagement

Active learning – motivation

creating and thinking critically - thinking

Summative assessment – EYFS

Profile Needs to be completed in the summer term in the

year in which the child is 5

Must be assessed against ELG’s – 17 : is the child

‘Meeting, exceeding or emerging’?

EYFSP given to year 1 teacher with short summary

of ‘characteristics of learning’

Must share with parents and LA

If child changes setting provider must supply profile

to date with summative assessment of ELGs

Baselines to measure progress

Baseline assessment will be compulsory for all

schools by September 2016, schools can begin to

use in 2015 and this will support their ‘value

added’

Baseline will likely to be a single score

TA ass at end of KS1 (SPAG test)

Tests at KS2 maths and reading

In between will be school based ‘qualitative’

assessments

EYFSP 2014 data https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/early-years-foundation-

stage-profile-results-2013-to-2014

60% The proportion of children achieving a good level of development. This is up 8 percentage points from 52% last year.

33.8 The average EYFPS point score for 2014. An increase of 1 point from 32.8 points in 2013.

58% The proportion of children achieving at least the expected level in all 17 early learning goals.

16%pts The gender gap between the percentage of girls and boys achieving a good level of development - 69% of girls achieved a good level of development compared to 52% of boys.

Theme : Whole child V’s ELGs

Harrison and Howard (2009)

Formative assessment Summative assessment

Mainly about

improvement

Mainly about

accountability

Looks forward Looks backward

Favours descriptive

feedback

Favours tests and scores

Informs on quality Samples knowledge

Can lead to improvements

in learning

If overused, can have a

negative impact.

1. Working with families

Transition into Reception or

Nursery Class

What will this involve?

Why is it important to get this right?

Home visiting

What are the benefits and logistics?

What will a home visit look like?

Why home visit?

Building relationship with family

Family and child at ease

Family as first and most enduring

educator

Emotional security

Shared understanding

Initiate communication

What is a family?

More than a half of British families feel

under-represented by media, politicians

and advertising

57% say marriage is not necessary a

factor

77% feel single parents can be ‘a proper

family’

59% agree that same sex couples make a

family

Centre for the Modern Family, December 2011

Partnerships with families

What are the

gains from

partnerships

with families?

For whom?

What can be

the barriers and

challenges?

Who are the

losers?

Allen report ‘Early Intervention’ (Jan 2011): http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/early-

intervention-next-steps.pdf

Field report ‘The Foundation Years’ (Dec 2011):

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110120090128/http:/povertyreview.

independent.gov.uk/media/20254/poverty-report.pdf

Really, really important bit….

There is only one perfect child in the

world,

and every mother has it.

Chinese Proverb

Parents are (usually) experts on their own children

Their skills complement professional skills

Parents can impart vital information and make informed observations

Parents have the right to be involved

Parents can be highly effective teachers of their own children

Parents should contribute to decision making

http://www.teachersmedia.co.uk/videos/leadership-parent-voice

EPPE Report from the Primary Phase: Pre-school

and Family Influences on Children’s Development

during KS2 (DCSF Report 061)

The HLE has a greater influence on a child’s

intellectual and social development than

parental occupation, education or income.

What parents do is more important than who

they are, and a home learning environment

that is supportive of learning can counteract

the effects of disadvantage in the early

years

Factors used to measure

the HLE:

Reading to children

Playing with letters and numbers

Teaching number rhymes and songs

Painting and drawing

Joining the library

Taking children on visits

Arranging for children to play with peers at

home

What will you

do to

encourage

these?

‘Establishing good home-school

relations is not easy. The challenges

include lack of time and the need for

clarity . . . More fundamentally, mutual

respect between home and school,

though desirable, is not always present

. . .’

(Alexander, 2010, p79)

NUT - http://www.teachers.org.uk

Prepare for the parents' evening by making sure that your notes on your pupils are in order and easy for you to refer to. Take a pen and paper to jot down any important points that parents may make.

Wear clothes that will make you feel confident about the image you project.

Make parents feel welcome, smile and shake hands.Remember that parents may be feeling nervous and intimidated.

Try and be as positive as possible about each pupil. Even when you have to say something negative, try to begin and end the discussion with a positive comment.

Make sure you know to which parent of which child you are speaking.

Be concise in your comments and avoid using jargon.

You may wish to suggest one or two targets for the pupil and encourage the parents to discuss these with the child.

Offer the opportunity for parents to make comments and to ask questions.

Be polite, but firm, in saying goodbye to any parents who talk a great deal. Standing up and shaking hands is a good technique.

2. Working with staff within

school/nursery

Reflections

Identify a particular interaction with a Teaching Assistant/Nursery Nurse

What happened?

Why was it challenging/interesting/empowering?

What did you learn from it?

Did it or will it affect what you did or do subsequently?

Desirable skills and personal attributes

identified in each other by TAs and

teachers

Teaching Assistants

Relationships

Communication skills

Ability to take initiative and be proactive

Punctuality

Open-mindedness

Conscientiousness

Good standard of writing and subject knowledge

Ability to plan, manage time and manage behaviour

Being alert and sensitive to the needs of the teacher

Teachers

Relationships

Communication skills

Effective delegation and enabling autonomy

Reward and celebrate success

Effective organisation and management

Wilson and Bedford (2008)

3. Working with staff beyond

school/nursery

“. . . it is essential that we work together

effectively, understanding the different roles and

responsibilities and how we can facilitate each

other as well as support the child. It is when the

professionals do not work together effectively that

there is a gap in provision and support that

children suffer, sometimes disastrously . . .“

(Johnston & Nahmad-Williams (2009) Early Childhood Studies,

p394)

http://www.education.gov.uk/aboutdfe/statutory/g00213160/working

-together-to-safeguard-children

Multi-agency or inter-agency?

Child

and

family

Speech

/lang

therapis

t

Education

al

psychologi

st

Social

worker

School

nurse

Teache

r

Interagency (transagency)

Child

and

family

Teache

r

School

nurse

Social

worker

Education

al

psychologi

st

Speech

/lang

therapi

st

“Primary schools need stronger support in ensuring

that the range of professionals working in schools

. . . are working in a cohesive team . . . in order to

improve outcomes for all and to narrow the

achievement gap for more vulnerable children.”

Alexander, 2010, p504

Common Assessment

Framework

Aim:

To identify at the earliest opportunity, a child’s additional needs which are not being met by the universal services they are receiving; to provide timely and co-ordinated support to meet those needs

The CAF is a standardised tool used to conduct an assessment of a child’s additional needs [in the broadest sense] and help practitioners decide how those needs should be met (CWDC, 2008)

http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/strategy/integratedworking/caf/a0068957/the-caf-

process

Three main focus areas for CAF

Development of the child

Parents and carers

Family and Environment

Working together?

Sarah Cowley Nov

2011

Supporting tasks

Read Ch3 in Edmond and Price (Aspire). This explores leadership and interagency working

You may like to look up Whalley, M. (2001/7) Involving Parents in their Children’s Learning

Field and Allen reports

SBT1: how does the school/nursery work with families and colleagues in support of children’s learning and wellbeing to promote Positive Relationships?

Watch more of the clips

www.brighton.ac.uk/education/national_priorities