OlayaTapestrySupport Posted July 26, 2021 Posted July 26, 2021 Hi all! The new EYFS became statutory in September 2021 and here at Tapestry, we support the way the EYFS is changing, moving away from data-centred assessment and towards a child-centred approach. Here is a little snippet of how the EYFS 2021 has been added to Tapestry and what it looks like. N.B. Please note that the new EYFS will not automatically appear on your account and the old EYFS framework will not automatically be hidden. To start using the new EYFS you will need to manually enable it on your account. Let me go into more detail on the changes we have made and what this means for you, your setting and your provision. These are the questions we will be answering in this post, you can click on the titles to jump straight to that section: How have you adapted Tapestry to respond to the EYFS changes? How can I start using the changes you've made? What’s the difference between the EYFS 2021 flags and the ELG assessment framework and flags? I want to use the Development Matters/Birth to 5 Matters guidance. How can I do that? Why can I still see the old aspects when using the EYFS 2021 flags? Can I use the flags on the apps? How can I monitor my children with the EYFS 2021 flags? How can I baseline my children? How can I show progress to the leadership and management team? Can I still use Tapestry to write reports? What should I do with the old EYFS framework? Further supporting resources How have you adapted Tapestry to respond to the EYFS changes? Following regular conversations with the authors of Development Matters and the Birth to 5 Matters guidance, we have implemented the new Flags system which reflects the ethos of these documents. No longer needing to assess each observation, staff can flag each observation or reflection with the appropriate areas of learning or aspects. These flags will feed the new Areas of Concern screen, which collects all the flags for each child, and together with accompanying reference materials from the Development Matters and Birth to 5 Matters documents, helps educators to quickly identify children who may need support to access the provision provided. We have also developed the Thoroughness screen, which shows you how many of each child’s observations and reflections have been flagged with each of the EYFS 2021 flags. You can read more about these screens further down. How can I start using the changes you've made? A manager can enable the EYFS 2021 flags by logging in to their account through the browser version of Tapestry, then accessing Control Panel > Settings > Flags. You can enable all the available flags in bulk or click on ‘configure’ by those you wish to use. Here's a tutorial just in case! When you turn the EYFS 2021 flagset on, you will also turn the corresponding monitoring screens, the dedicated report template and all the reference materials for both observations and reflections on. More on this further down. Watch Olaya enable the flags on their account. Once you have enabled the new guidance, you may notice it looks slightly different. Instead of selecting an area, then age band and then ticking off statements within that age band, you now only have the option to select the 'flag' that relates to that area of learning. You will also notice a section for reference material. This updates depending on the areas that you have selected, and if you have already selected a child, the age of the child will also determine which reference material you see first. Here you can see Ben using the EYFS 2021 flags when adding an observation. What’s the difference between the EYFS 2021 flags and the ELG assessment framework and flags? The key thing to know is that these have been designed to be used at different points in the year. The EYFS 2021 flags should be used throughout the year to flag observations as being about a specific Development Matters area and/or Birth to 5 Matters aspect. These flags will feed the new Areas of Concern screen, which collects all the flags for each child, and together with accompanying reference materials from the Development Matters and Birth to 5 Matters documents, helps educators to quickly identify children who may need support to access the provision provided. The ELGs are an assessment point at the end of the Reception year and should only be used then. The authors of the above guidance were very clear that settings should not be using the ELGs throughout the year, so the guidance materials that appear when using the EYFS 2021 flags do not lead directly into the ELGs. You can still enable and use the ELG 2021 flags(in the same way as you enable the EYFS 2021 flagset) and you will be able to flag observations with each of the ELGs. This should really only be carried out towards the end of the reception year, in preparation for completion of the EYFSP, and not used as a monitoring tool throughout the reception year. Controlling which assessment frameworks are enabled on your account I want to use the Development Matters/Birth to 5 Matters guidance. How can I do that? The EYFS 2021 flags expand to include the additional aspects used in Birth to 5 Matters. They are nested into the original flag set to show which area they relate to. You can access and select them by clicking on the ‘plus’ button next to the original flags. If you are following the Development Matters guidance you can do so by selecting the top level flags, those coloured purple. If you are following the Birth to 5 Matters guidance, you can do so by selecting the nested flags coloured mustard. Please note that anyone who takes out a new Tapestry subscription on or after the 27.09.21 will find that the Birth to Five Matters guidance is turned off by default when they go to enable the EYFS 2021 flag set, and can choose to enable it there and then. However, those of you who purchased your Tapestry account before 27.09.21 will have both the new Development Matters and Birth to 5 Matters guidance turned on. We are aware that many of you are only using the new Development Matters curriculum guidance and would prefer not to see the Birth to 5 Matters aspect flags or reference material. It is also possible that you have changed your mind regarding the Birth to 5 Matters guidance, and would like to enable it or disable it. This tutorial explains how to do this. When creating a post, you can select as many EYFS 2021 flags as you like, you’re not limited to only the nested ones or only the top level ones. The reference material will update depending on which flags you have selected. For example, if you select a nested flag (Birth to 5 Matters), the reference materials will update to show you the Birth to 5 Matters guidance at the top. Why can I still see the old aspects when using the EYFS 2021 flags? You might have noticed that PD still includes “Moving and Handling” and “Health and Self Care” and it doesn’t show “Gross Motor Skills” and “Fine Motor Skills”. Please note that the EYFS 2021 flags allows you to select areas from the new Development Matters; these are the seven areas of learning we are all familiar with. The aspects within those areas are from the Birth to 5 Matters guidance document. These are not related to the new ELGs from the updated EYFS Framework. Some of the Birth to 5 Matters aspect titles just happen to be the same as the headings of the old ELGs. The authors of the above guidance were very clear that settings should not be using the ELGs throughout the year and that they are just an assessment point at the end of the Reception year. If you were looking for the ELG flags, they are there under the ELG 2021 flag set. However, if you plan on completing your EYFSP on Tapestry this year, you may benefit more from using the ELG 2021 assessment framework as it will then feed to the dedicated EYFSP screen on Tapestry. You can enabled that by going to Control Panel > Settings > Assessments > ELG 2021. Can I use the flags on the apps? The EYFS 2021 flags are available from the most recent versions of the Android (4.0.3) and iOS (4.3.0) apps. Please make sure that your apps are up to date in order to access the flags. Do note that the reference material will not appear when selecting flags from the app. Selecting the EYFS 2021 flags on Android. Selecting the EYFS 2021 flags on iOS. How can I monitor my children with the EYFS 2021 flags? There are three monitoring screens for the EYFS 2021 framework: · The Areas of Concern (Guided view) · The Areas of Concern (Group view) Watch Ben and Jack discuss the practical implementation and approach of the Areas of Concern screen, which will support your planning. · The Thoroughness screens We strongly support the idea that practitioners do not need to make lots and lots of observations and we do not expect educators to try and reach a certain number in each aspect. We do still think that having a screen like this is beneficial to educators, as it will: Help you to quickly identify any disparities in the amount of observations and reflections made in each area. Encourage you to consider whether your curriculum contains rich experiences tailored to your children. Encourage you to consider whether your staff might lack confidence in those areas and therefore highlight a need for CPD How can I baseline my children? We won't be creating a specific baseline screen for the new EYFS. This is because the new Areas of Concern screen we have released, can also fulfil this purpose, as, after getting to know your children, you will be able to make a more informed decision on if they can access your current provision and this could act as your "baseline". We would strongly recommend watching this video where we chat to the author of Development Matters - Julian Grenier - and a representative from Ofsted, about how to baseline using the new Development Matters. How can I show progress to the leadership and management team? The introduction of the revised EYFS Framework has offered practitioners a chance to move away from tracking children through age bands, and instead focus on the needs of the children so that appropriate support can be given as quickly as possible. This may not offer your SLT the tracking they are used to, but we hope that the screens will provide them with enough detail to see where support is needed and to ask about how planning has been adapted to fit those needs. For those that are looking for progress data, it is our view that progress will be shown by the group of children recorded as 'Concerns' decreasing as the support provided has an impact on their development. It will also be shown by the group of 'No concerns' growing over this time for the same reasons. Can I still use Tapestry to write reports? We have two new report templates for the new EYFS, a generic one and one for 2 year checks. Creating an EYFS 2021 Report Creating a EYFS 2021 Two Year Check Report These are very similar to the existing EYFS report template but it does not have the age band and refinement assessment information, leaving only free text boxes for notes and next steps for each area of learning. The ‘Child’, ‘Details’, ‘CoEL’, ‘Additional Information’, ‘Child Voice’, ‘Relative Contribution’, ‘Signature’, and ‘Media’ sections all remain. It will automatically appear in your list of available templates as long as you have the ‘EYFS 2021’ flags enabled. What should I do with the old EYFS framework? Just as the new EYFS will not automatically appear on your account, the old EYFS framework will not automatically be hidden either. If you wish to hide it, you will be able to do so from Control Panel > Settings > Assessments. Once here, click on 'Configure' by Early Years Foundation Stage and untick all options. Do remember to 'Submit' to save your changes. This will hide the old EYFS framework when you add observations. It will also hide any old EYFS assessments added to existing observations. If you still wish to use these as reference points, then we would recommend that you keep the old EYFS enabled, and disable it once all the children that were once assessed against the old EYFS have left. Further supporting resources On episode 89 of the Foundation Stage Forum podcast, Dr Helen Edwards, co-founder of Tapestry, speaks with HMI Phil Minns and HMI Wendy Ratcliff. With the revised EYFS becoming statutory from September 2021, we wanted to clarify some questions raised in the Early Years community around curriculum design and documentation, observations and monitoring, and what inspectors are likely to focus on. We also discussed progression skills and how we can ensure all children make good progress in their learning and development. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts. Episodes 62, 57, 56, 51 and 38 of the podcast also discuss the revised EYFS. On 19.05.21 Ben and Stephen ran a webinar on Tapestry and the new EYFS framework. On 09.09.21 Ben ran another webinar on Tapestry and EYFS 2021 focused on using Tapestry with the new EYFS 2021 flags. After the webinar, Ben compiled all the FAQs, which you can find here. We also have a dedicated YouTube playlist for all things EYFS 2021. Ben, from the Education Team, has written the article EYFS 2021 and Tapestry. New EYFS Framework: a Guide for Relatives. Our Education team have also created some slides to support our customers who will be implementing changes to their assessment systems based on the new guidance documents.
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