P.levels

[Guest]

hi everyone,

 

please help, i have just started in reception (NQT) and i am very confused. My school still uses p.levels for reception but from everything i have heard and seen we are not to use them. how can i change my co-ordinators and heads minds they really don't seem to want to change because 'it gives year one a baseline'. plus they love looking at grids. im not sure how to approach or tell them what to do instead apart from assess from f.s.profile

 

thanx

[Susan]

Hi Princessnoonoo and welcome.

Sorry that your first post is determined by such a difficult situation.

 

Thats the answer, FSP! Eprofile will also give plenty of grids along the way too!

I think if you look at QCA you will find some answers. I'll have a look later. You could also try a search here as I know this has been asked before.

 

Enjoy Reception--its a great place to be.

[Marion]

Hi and welcome to the forum

 

Susan is right http://www.qca.org.uk/libraryAssets/media/...ook_web_ch5.pdf.

 

"Some practitioners have asked for clarification of the interrelationship between the

P Scales and the early learning goals. The P Scales and the early learning goals have

been written for different purposes and have been constructed in different ways.

■ The early learning goals specify expectations for children’s progression by

the end of the foundation stage, while the P Scales were written for use

with children of national curriculum age who are working towards level 1

or who are working within levels 1 or 2 of the national curriculum for

extended periods of time. They were written primarily for supporting

target setting in the context of the national curriculum.

■ The early learning goals themselves (and consequently items 4–8 in any

scale) are not necessarily hierarchical and do not necessarily reflect

progression."

 

 

There has been considerable uncertainty amongst practitioners working with children who are in the Foundation Stage about whether and when it is appropriate to record achievement using the P-scales. This has been compounded by conflicting information issued in recent years by QCA and the DfES. The following is Devon’s guidance on the use of the P scales in the Early Years.

During the Foundation Stage:

 

*

 

Throughout the Foundation Stage, practitioners need to assess each child’s development in relation to the stepping stones and early learning goals that form part of the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage. These assessments are made on the basis of the practitioner’s accumulating observations and knowledge of the whole child. By the end of the final year of the foundation stage, the Foundation Stage Profile will provide a way of summing up that knowledge. The Foundation Stage Profile has been developed to be inclusive, so that as many children as possible can be assessed against the scales it contains

*

 

The P levels were devised as a tool to help schools set targets for pupils who were following the National Curriculum but were not achieving Level One. They were intended to be used for summative assessment at the end of Key Stages and to help set targets for pupil progress. They are not compatible with the Foundation Stage. They were written for different purposes and have been constructed in different ways.

[Susan]

Thanks, Marion.

I've failed to find that although I did find some new amendments for GCFS and FSP which I have started a new topic about.

[Guest tinkerbell]

Hi princessnooonooo and welcome to the forum.You will get lots of advice here .Marion is spot on with her advice about using p-scales, they are for children on the national curriculum who are making little progress not foundation children.

Good luck Tinkerbellx

[Guest]

thank you guys so much. you've made me feel a lot better! i am being brave and taking it up with them again tomorrow. fingers crossed xxxx princessnoonoo

[Susan]

Good luck.

Print off the info and take that to back you up. Dont be confrontational and Im sure it will be ok, although at the end of day you can only do what you can do so dont get dispirited.