29 replies to this topic

[emmajess]

I've been completing my profile on paper this year rather than directly into the eye profile. I always intended to use the eye profile, but time has swept away and somehow my records have stayed on paper. Anyway, now I'm transferring my records to the eye profile and I wondered how to record the assessments I made of children's scores on entry to reception in September. In my paper records I've got some assessments as on entry (ie September), then some as Autumn A (ie after one new term in reception). There is obviously a difference between a child achieving a point on entry and after a number of weeks in reception.

I don't know, therefore, whether to shift my assessments that I've called Autumn A (ie at the end of first new term) to being called Autumn B so that Autumn B means at the start of Autumn B rather than at end of Autumn B. If I do this then my entry assessments can be put onto eye profile as Autumn A. BUT if I do this then there is no label for assessments made at very end of reception year as Summer B would now mean the beginning of Summer B. So that doesn seem quite right.

Other wise, I could call my entry assessments Summer B 08, so that the rest falls into place. But that doesn't seem quite right either as I made these assessments later than that.

The other option is to not make any distinction between entry to reception and the end of Autumn A.

I know this sounds completely rambling and nonsensical, but I really hope you can understand the nature of my problem as I could do with some advice on this! What do you all do / suggest?

[kittycat1279]

I don't know what to suggest really. We don't finalise our assessments until the end of Autumn A/beginning of Autumn B anyway. That is our entry data. We use the first few weeks to bond with the children and although we are making observations nothing is formally recorded until a few weeks later.

[emmajess]

SP61HJ, on May 26 2009, 20:40, said:

I don't know what to suggest really. We don't finalise our assessments until the end of Autumn A/beginning of Autumn B anyway. That is our entry data. We use the first few weeks to bond with the children and although we are making observations nothing is formally recorded until a few weeks later.

Brilliant - I'll go for combining entry and Autumn a together - that makes sense.
You know when you're tired out and your brain is going round in cirles and you cannot think about anything oroperly? (Or is that just me?) Now you've said that, and I reflect in a less insane manner (!) my kind of 'baseline' thing takes the first few weeks, and children achieving points at the end of Autumn a rather than in second week of term or whatever, are settling in to the setting and maybe not demonstrating their knowledge and understanding immediately while they settle in.

Duh! Silly me (as my 2 year old would say...)

[lri]

emmajess, on May 26 2009, 20:50, said:

Brilliant - I'll go for combining entry and Autumn a together - that makes sense.
You know when you're tired out and your brain is going round in cirles and you cannot think about anything oroperly? (Or is that just me?) Now you've said that, and I reflect in a less insane manner (!) my kind of 'baseline' thing takes the first few weeks, and children achieving points at the end of Autumn a rather than in second week of term or whatever, are settling in to the setting and maybe not demonstrating their knowledge and understanding immediately while they settle in.

Duh! Silly me (as my 2 year old would say...)

[lri]

oops totally confused there.....
I empathise - we assess during first few weeks, then again in December - and it all looks like a baseline assessment and they have learnt so much in that term, as Autumn is grouped as one colour - I have my paper copy so I know what progress has been made. Especially letters and sounds as they don't teach them at nursery (- consolidate phase 2 and do an excellent job).

[catma]

could you not use the pre entry marker for your on entry - after all you are just identifying what the children already know, not what you have taught them. Then do autumn a at the half term and autumn b at the end of dec?

Just as a point of interest - Is 6/7 weeks enough time to really demonstrate real competency? I think I would rather update 3 times a year. It's summative data after all and I would still have my ongoing learning journeys to identify day to day progress
Cx

[emmajess]

catma, on May 27 2009, 08:36, said:

Just as a point of interest - Is 6/7 weeks enough time to really demonstrate real competency? I think I would rather update 3 times a year. It's summative data after all and I would still have my ongoing learning journeys to identify day to day progress
Cx

Not everyone's profile would be updated after 6/7 weeks, but updating it this regularly helps me be more accurate, I think, about those children who maybe aren't quite competent in something after the 12/14 weeks, but almost there. I can then acknowledge their achievement at the end of the next 6/7 weeks rather than waiting till next 12 weeks have gone by. I would want to see skills really embedded in children before I updated the profile for them, so I agree absolutely, the profile of the cohort won't entirely change every 6/7 weeks, but some children will have made notable progress in January, say, and I would want to put this in rather than wait till April. Does that sound reasonable? At the moment it's working for me and the reason I did it this way in the first place was simply that the e-profile, and now the eye profile had those dates available. If its a terrible idea to update this frequently, please let me know! But I am ensuring the children are really secure on those points before I give them.

[catma]

That makes perfect sense...I was just asking because we are trying eyeProfile out in some schools at the moment and I'm just curious what others think works best!!!
Thanks,
Cx

Edited by catma, 27 May 2009 - 12:17 PM.

[purplemagic]

I was surprised to see that the eyeProfile had 'got rid' (for want of a better phrase!) of 'on entry' as it used to be, and would have put 'pre-entry', but my authority wanted their on-entry classified as Autumn A - I guess it makes sense if we all do the same, as there are always queriesabout national/local comparisons (on-entry) and until this year we haven't had the data to compare (should we wish to!)

Anyway, for anyone who is interested, I did an eyeProfile data entry october-ih for their Autumn A stuff, and will do another in June for their Summer B 09 or end of FSP (as it used to be). In between times, I have updated paper copies (usually termly, sometimes half termly) as it's easier for me to do it that way.

[kittycat1279]

One question linked to all of this that comes to mind frequently. If the EYFSP is meant to show what the children can do at the end of year R why does the data have to be collated by the middle of June when we've got at least 4 more months with the children? I felt the same when I was in year 2 with KS1 assessments. If they are end of that phase assessments then that is what they should do. Surely the data can be processed in the Autumn Term - schools have their own data which is more important. I'd be interested to hear what others think.

[catma]

you do mean 4 weeks not months!!! The data is callled for by QCA, they set the national deadline and it's in line with all other data collections. KS1 have the same deadline. (All in the ARA booklets) so it goes to dcsf collectively from LAs.
LAs might set localised earlier collection deadlines depending on their QA systems. Schools then get their data packs in our LA by the end of july for a prompt start in sept in yr1.
Cx

[kittycat1279]

catma, on May 28 2009, 09:31, said:

you do mean 4 weeks not months!!! The data is callled for by QCA, they set the national deadline and it's in line with all other data collections. KS1 have the same deadline. (All in the ARA booklets) so it goes to dcsf collectively from LAs.
LAs might set localised earlier collection deadlines depending on their QA systems. Schools then get their data packs in our LA by the end of july for a prompt start in sept in yr1.
Cx

I do of course mean weeks - sorry was obviously having one of those moments!

I totally understand all you've said but what annoys me I suppose is that it feels like the children are a lower priority than data and statistics but I know that's just the way things are and nothing is going to change.

[Gertie]

SP61HJ, on May 28 2009, 09:50, said:

I do of course mean weeks - sorry was obviously having one of those moments!

I totally understand all you've said but what annoys me I suppose is that it feels like the children are a lower priority than data and statistics but I know that's just the way things are and nothing is going to change.

excuse me for my ignorance but i was told by my authority not to do the eprofile with nursery aged children as you are giving them a score which is not what the EYFS is about, tracking sheets and the 'best fit' attitude seems to be the way forward, not to give the children a score based on the end of profile scores as some children may not score on the e profile and it is not a true indication of the progress a child has made?? anyone else use tracking sheets instead of eprofile in nursery??

[catma]

I think we're all talking about reception here....I am for sure!!
Cx

[kittycat1279]

I was certainly talking about reception