Recording Eyfs For Each Child..... Help

[Guest]

Hi Everyone - I really need a rest and to put away all my pre-school bits for at least a couple of weeks, but I am really stuck

 

I feel I have organised new eyfs planning ok - but I want to know how I should organise each individual child's development book or scrap book - we currently add our ad hoc observations and planned observations in date order, but I was told by my local authority Surrey that their individual records should be divided into the 4 themes - is that what everyone else is going to do - trying to get my head around how I will achieve this as they are all so interlinked???????

 

Any ideas Dot

[Deb]

Personally I think they should be in date order so you can get an idea of where a child is now, accross the curriculum, seeing the child as a whole. Dividing these up under the themes seems like an unnecessary waste of time. My understanding is that these books should be accessible to children (and parents). Can you imagine, saying to Fred hang on a minute where should your lovely drawing/photo go, under which theme? Rather, oh look that's the photo of you yesterday playing with the cars, shall we put it next to that?

 

Dot have some well earned time off - you deserve it!

[Guest]

Hi there - we are putting ours in date order as it builds up a nice picture of how a child progresses over the time they are with us. Also observations link into morethan one area so how would you divide it up?

 

Stick with what you think best - as long as they show the next steps planning for an individual child - who's going to complain?

 

Enjoy your rest - you will have earned it!

[Guest]

Hi Dot

 

I think making reference to the 4 themes seems quite a difficult task.

Is this for every child? I would go back and check.

 

Make sure that you relax and enjoy your holidays!

Edited July 21, 2008 by Guest

[surfer]

I can't see how that will work. Maybe you cpuld compromise my indicating on the obs which themes they link to most - but personally I agree they are all so linked that it is almost impossible and (dare I say?)pointless?

 

If you need to show evidence of how the setting is meeting the 4 themes that could be done using photos etc but I can't see the point of identifying them for each child. You maybe need to be certain who and what the records are for? When you are clear about that then question what benefit there is in organising them under the themes?

 

I would go back to the LEA and ask why?

[Guest]

H All - thanks for those great replies as usual - you all confirmed my thoughts down to the t - especially when we need to ask "who are these records for" - they are for the littles one and their carers - so I do need to make them as easy to access as possible and not complicate things -

 

Dot

[Lou]

Dot I would do what works for you and your team. Remember we are the ones that have to explain to ofsted when they inspect.

[Guest]

Hi Dot,

 

I agree with Deb, the four themes are about the whole setting.

The themes focus on :-

The fact that you are providing that every child is treated and cared for as a unique child, that you are providing an opportunities to promote positive relationships for children, parents and staff, that you are enabling a safe secure enriched environment which supports children, parents and staff and that children are able to learn and develop within your setting by the activities, environment and opportunities that you are providing for them.

 

Net x

[Guest]

hi everyone,

This is how I am planning to record for the EYFS in September.

During the week staff will observe what children are doing, some obs will be spontaneous because the child has done something 'noteworthy'. Some obs will be planned beacuse of adult initiated activity, a project or because we want to discover something specific.

We have pre-printed sheets to document the obs on. Documentations are stored in a box.

We also take lots of photos on a digital camera, every photo or series of photos is logged. We also keep examples of children drawing, markmaking, painting etc. These are also put in the box with the docs.

On fridays we have a planning meeting all the docs, photos (that have been printed)and childrens work are reviewed and discussed this discussion results in the following weeks adult initiated activities and planned obs. Each child has a learning journey folder and during Fridays meeting docs, photos and work is slotted in to this folder. This becomes our record of the children's learning.

During the last week of each half term we devote the entire week to remembering, recording and reviewing what we have discovered. Each child has a scrap book that is theirs to record whatever they want. During the last week we look through learning journey files with the children and they have the oportunity to add to their scrap books.

We can print out extra photos and photocopy observations, we can annotate what they remember, how they felt, what they liked and what they didnt like etc.. All this becomes the childs record of their learning.

with a bit of luck i have attached the planned and spontaneous obs sheets

Emma x

[Guest]

Hi Emma - thanks for reply - from reading your post I am on the same lines as you, I also want to attach my planning, but for the life of me can't seem to do it, I have done before - if anyone else comes on here let me know what to do. Thanks Dot

[apple]

Dot- don't stress you are I am sure already doing a fab job and we shouldn't be put off by people who are not working with this daily

whatever happended to recording under the areas of learning? We do this and it is much easier to match photos up with the 6 areas- the photos themselves will illustrate the child developing through the themes

[Guest]

I used to make the scrapbooks up in date order, but organised all maths evidence on one page, KUW on the next, creative on the next etc, this showed whether a child had a lot or little evidence of any given area of learning but also kept the record book in a date progressive order.

Sometimes there would be contibuous pages of KUW for a while, ie: one childs main focus was on mini beasts and nature, and we collated lots of evidence of this, filling 3 consecutive pages of the book, however when he painted a ladybird we placed this on the next 'new' page with the heading creative. So the 6 areas weren't necessarily evidenced in the book in sequence order ie: PSE,CLL,Maths, KUW, Phys, Creative, but each 'new' page just had one area evidenced on it, and each piece of evidence was dated and in date order.

Hope that makes sense.

 

Peggy

[Guest]

Sorry to be so naive....what is the difference between this 'scrapbook/development book' and the profile??

 

Are they two differnt things?

[HappyMaz]

So here's my two penn'orth.

 

We will do what we've always done: put photos and 'work' (how I hate that word) into the child's Special Book in date order. These will have been annotated with information about what the child was doing, what learning/development was taking place (sometimes linked to a stepping stone, if relevant), and often with the child's and/or parent's perspective included somewhere. If it seems sensible to add in a reference to 'unique child' etc we'll do that too - but so long as we can demonstrate to Mrs Ofsted how we use this information to assess the child's learning and inform our planning, we're not going to get too hung up on producing reams of 'evidence' unless it is relevant to the child and says something worthwhile about his/her life in pre-school.

 

We do have observation trackers which show the dates of observations in each area of learning - so the Special Book can be left to do its job which is telling the story of how the child has grown and changed over their time with us.

 

It works for us - and that's what's important, I think.

 

Maz

Edited July 22, 2008 by HappyMaz

[Tigger]

"Sorry to be so naive....what is the difference between this 'scrapbook/development book' and the profile??

 

Are they two differnt things?"

 

Yes!

 

The profile (Early Years Foundation Stage Profile or if you have the old copy Foundation stage Profile - pink folder similiar to old curriculum guidance) is to be completed at the end of the reception year by the reception teachers.

 

The new Profile arrived in school last week and is a booklet rather than in a folder.

 

The Learning Journey, scrapbook development folders (each LEA or setting seem to have diffeent names - in suffolk we have the Learning Journey) are a record of learning throughout the entire early years foundation stage ideally carried forward from each setting the child attends.

 

Some LEA's are producing their own formats, in Suffolk they have, it is okay but I think most settings are adapting to their own needs. For us ( a pre school, Nursery and reception classes on one site) we each have slightly different versions which will all be contained in one folder and follow the child from pre school to school.

 

Hope this helps Sharon

[lmwhite]

Hi This is a question for Maz (so hope you see it!) If i have understood correctly you have a folder for each child collecting photos , obs, info etc a bit like a learning journey file? and you use 'trackers' alongside to track the ELG . Is that right?

 

this sounds perfect. I would really like to keep this special booklet separate. I want to be able to send it home with a child's parent regularly and I didn't want them to focus on the ELG (development matters!) I know they can access it whenever they want but we have parents that are really hung up on these goals and end up putting pressure on the child! The learning journey should be exactly that lots of lovely pics with comments underneath as you said.

 

Am i on the right track?

 

Lisa

[HappyMaz]

I'm glad you think our system is perfect, Lisa. Can I quote you when Mrs Ofsted comes?

 

Basically we have three things: children's special books - which start when they first join and follow their journey until they leave us. We include the photos, some 'products' and especially things which show progress: the first time they pick up a pair of scissors and cut with a purpose etc, etc. These books are kept in children's trays, with children and parents having access them at any time - often the children like to take them home (especially to show Dad/grandma, etc), or they sit down at nursery with their parents and show them the new pages as they are added.

 

Then each key worker has an observation file where we keep not only their observations, but also their completed superstar surveys, individual play plans/IEPs etc.

 

Then we have our EYFS observation trackers which the key worker updates with links to the various observations so we can show the parent/Mrs Ofsted which stepping stones the child has achieve/is working towards etc. When the child leaves their observations are bound into the back of the tracker so that all the 'evidence' is together. That said, we also use the special books as evidence too - so it all is put to good use!!

 

We've just had a big conversation at work about whether we should combine the three things in one big document but have decided against - we feel it is important that the special book has its own identity and doesn't get swallowed up by 'the curriculum' - as you say otherwise there is a danger that parents would just focus on that.

 

Does that explain?

 

Maz

[lmwhite]

Thank you so much. I am totally clear now. (well until I see something else fantastic!) I am going to start the wheels in motion. We do work a little like this but this system seems exactly what I want to achieve.

 

 

Thanks again.

 

Lisa

[HappyMaz]

Thank you so much. I am totally clear now. (well until I see something else fantastic

That's the thing isn't it Lisa? You think you've got things sorted and then someone else (usually on here) says "ah but have you thought about...?"

 

Maz

[Guest]

We are doing something very similair. We have A4 learning journey books which we put observations, photo's etc in - at the back i have a one page item with all the areas of learning. staff put in dates achieved so we can see exactly what they have achieved or need to work on... along side this i was going to have an initial tracker that keyworkers fill in over the first 2 weeks to say where the child is at.. i'm just wondering whether we need this or not...we also have observation sheets which have a parent comment box which will be going home for parents to add their comments...my biggest problem is giving parents access to the books as we are in a community building and can't leave things out..... I'm hoping we are nearly there... now need to work on the policies......

[sarahharry]

Hi ya

You all sound like your all sorted with your observations etc can i just ask a question . How often do you track your observations against the tracker is it something you do as and when the observations are carried out or do you have a specifc planned time to do this , just we do similar but always find that its so difficult finding the time to update the tracker, and i take it when you say a tracker you mean what used to be a record of acheievement profile where areas are highlighted? Have you made your own trackers or has your LEA devised them i have been told to continue to use what we currently use but we use two seperate one for under 3's and one for over do i need to devise a new one? Do you plan in time for observations too and use any type of systemto record this? Also do you do your plans at the end of each week in linked to observations or do you do a few weeks at a time im getting so muddled up its unreal. Im just trying to get my head round it all. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry for all the questions

 

Thank you

Sarah xx

[Guest Wolfie]

Another question Maz - which statements are you using in your trackers from September?

[HappyMaz]

Another question Maz - which statements are you using in your trackers from September?

Ours are EYFS observation trackers: we've been using them for a while now and I didn't see the sense in using the FSC and then updating. We are registered for children from two so have included the 16-26 months (is that right? - brain is shut down for the holidays!) stepping stones to take account of the likely different stages of development.

[HappyMaz]

How often do you track your observations against the tracker is it something you do as and when the observations are carried out or do you have a specifc planned time to do this , just we do similar but always find that its so difficult finding the time to update the tracker, and i take it when you say a tracker you mean what used to be a record of acheievement profile

I would prefer the staff to update as they go along - I have offered them time during the session to do this. However, in practice they might be updated once a month but no less than once a half term.

 

i take it when you say a tracker you mean what used to be a record of acheievement profile where areas are highlighted?

These are fairly new so we haven't begun highlighting when children achieve the stepping stones - however from this term we will begin to do this (as a team we will get together and moderate our trackers so that making decisions about whether children have truly achieved is realistic because we don't want to make false assumptions about children's progress). We are going to have colour coded highlighting so that it will dovetail with the Profile. So anything achieved from when the child begins with us until the first term of the profile will be highlighted in pink, then blue and then green. Hopefully this way we will be able to more easily decide which term the child has achieved which point of the profile by using our observation trackers. I say hopefully because we haven't had any children with profiles this last term.

 

Have you made your own trackers or has your LEA devised them i have been told to continue to use what we currently use but we use two seperate one for under 3's and one for over do i need to devise a new one?

It is my own - I made it in response to Mrs Ofsted's visit.... My advisory teacher has asked for a copy of it to pass to another group, so I guess it is fairly acceptable! I decided to do it all in one so that one document would carry them through from beginning to end - but whatever works for you will be good, I think.

 

Also do you do your plans at the end of each week in linked to observations or do you do a few weeks at a time im getting so muddled up its unreal. Im just trying to get my head round it all.

Well. Now you've got me on another hobby horse. We have a Superstar Planning system - we plan a week at a time, for two Superstar children each week so these children's Superstar weeks produce a lot of evidence for their trackers. Parents fill in a survey about what their child is interested in, what they like to do at home etc, and we use this information to plan activities that follow their abilities and interests.

 

Most of our observations are done on an ad-hoc basis but this can cause serious gaps in evidence for some children. A friend of mine has suggested having an A3 sheet which has everyone's name on so that observations can be written up for each child over a set period. That way gaps are obvious and the child's key person can make sure that they are filled. We'll definitely use a version of this but at this stage I'm not sure how we'll tweak it to make sense for us.

 

Hope that all makes sense - I have bored for Englang about our planning system so I'm sure if you do a search you can find all the info. It is based on a Forum member's system (thanks millhill!).

 

Maz

Edited August 5, 2008 by HappyMaz

[Guest Wolfie]

Maz - so you're using the development matters statements?

[hali]

i have seen Maz tracker sheet and its very good.

[sarahharry]

Thankyou so much for your help it sounds brilliant. MAkes it all alot clearer for me now i love your superstar children idea im definatly going to introduce this into planning in our own way. Your tracker sounds wonderful too im going to have to sit down and have a serious think on how to change mine around. Oh joy!!! DId you use the development matters Statements? Sounds like your pretty sorted for sept think i have a lot left to do my project for this summer!!!

Thankyou for your help.

[HappyMaz]

Maz - so you're using the development matters statements?

Sorry, Wolfie - yes I'm using the development matters statements. It is just taking me a long time to ditch the term 'stepping stones'!

[lmwhite]

Hi Maz

 

Only me again. I was wondering if i could see a copy of one of the trackers you are using. or point me in the right direction if you have already loaded it some where.

 

Also do you still have a long term plan and a basic short term one running alongside the planning you do once you have looked at the obs for the children's interests?

 

Thanks

 

Lisa

[HappyMaz]

[Don't think I've uploaded it before, Lisa - I'll check it to see if I need to remove anything (like my name and address etc!) and stick it on here.

 

We don't really have a long term plan as such (except for thinking about festivals, planning our observation weeks, mother's day lunch, trips and visits etc). Don't have a medium plan at all - just focus on our weekly plans in response to children's superstar surveys and observations.

 

Maz