Progress Matters

[lizzie]

Now very confused as to how to track children progress. got progress matters but ........ been told not to highlight anything to observe and record .....actually my head is spinning and i am now doubting myself! HELP!

was wondering if anyone out there has an LEA who has good advice with documents that support observing and tracking childrens progress to show progress or gaps?!

i have reception and year 1 but also need advice re preschool as well

thanks!

[Guest LornaW]

lizzie if you are in reception with Y1 then you do not need to be using progress matters I would really recommend the eProfile and the latest version is excellent!

 

Also look at the video exemplification on the QCDA website as it is wonderful. Then use your observations to develop a picture of each child and the eProfile will track progress and enable you to see gaps!

 

Good Luck

 

Lorna

[lizzie]

WE WERE TOLD OFTSED WANT TO KNOW AS WHAT STAGE THEY ENTER RECE[TION 30- 60 22-36 ETC BUT THEN THEY SAY OH DONT DO dM STATEMENST NOT TO BE TICKED OFF, SO WHAT IS IT WHAT DO YOU WANT! I CANT SAY CHILD X IS IN 22-36 IF I DONT SAY YES CAN DO 3 OUT OF 4 TOP END ETC IF I DONT TICK THEM OFF...

 

we do use e profile as a tracking tool have done for a while now but i am talking paper documents the ones that ofste have the chance of asking us for How do i know they are 30-50 40-60 months. Its all very well saying that the development matters statements shouldnot be ticked of but what i cant get to grips with is how do i know that this is the stage of developemnt they are at and how do i record that this is where they are.

yes i can do observations and refer to the document tro check where they lie but where do i record that in one easily manged document that is then transfered to e profile termly/ half termly.

it cant all be in learning journals, or in my head cos as we are told only significant observation should be included in journals, there is all that other stuff that happens the stuff that consoldiates the stuff that tells me they are secure... it seems that my reseacrh suggests that all leas and conusltants are saying different things and ofsted are asking for different things too. wehat one oftsed inspector says is fine another says its not enough......just what are we suppose tobe doing assessment wise

(NOT observation etc the actual physical recording of where we all are) we just need someone with the know some one with the authority to say THIS is what we want you to do

 

just for once, it would be nice if EVERY LEA EVERY CONSULTANT AND EVERY OFSTED INSPECTOR WERE SINGING FROM THE SAME HYMN SHEET!

 

CAN YOU TELL I HAVE HAD ENOUGH NOW!

JUST FOUND ISLINGTON SAY TO HIGHLIGHT DM STATEMENST BUT NOT USE AS TICKY LIST?!

http://www.islington.gov.uk/DownloadableDo...end_July_08.PDF

Following or at the settling-in review with parents, you can highlight the Development Matters’ statements that you feel the child is securely demonstrating. (If subsequent achievements are highlighted in a different colour, ”on-entry” information can be seen at a glance.) It is not appropriate to quantify the Development Matters numerically.

Edited October 10, 2009 by lizzie

[Guest]

lizzie the more you look the more you will find and the greyier it becomes!

 

What we di is look at the records of transfer from the pre schools and they tell us where they are planning for those children in DM. We then have home visits and get info from the parents and then we use our first half terms observations to put our first set of summative material into the eProfile and this is our on entry info.

 

We have written a statement to this affect in our assessment policy and when OFSTED came we could also tell them what percentage of children coming in were being planned for in their pre school (13) on the satages of DM. We also state that we believe that children will not be performing at their best as transitions affect children differently so we use the first half term to get them settled and then make our first judgement.

 

OFSTED were fine with this and I base my progress part of Performance Management on this first set of judgements.

 

I can really appreciate how hard it is for you but would suggest you decide as a school what is best for the children and make this clear in your policy.

 

Good luck!

[Guest]

What we di is look at the records of transfer from the pre schools and they tell us where they are planning for those children in DM. We then have home visits and get info from the parents and then we use our first half terms observations to put our first set of summative material into the eProfile and this is our on entry info.

 

We have written a statement to this affect in our assessment policy and when OFSTED came we could also tell them what percentage of children coming in were being planned for in their pre school (13) on the satages of DM. We also state that we believe that children will not be performing at their best as transitions affect children differently so we use the first half term to get them settled and then make our first judgement.

 

Good luck!

 

 

This is exactly what we do too and when OFSTED came the week before 1/2 term they were pleased with this. We also use the DM in our nursery class and each child has a set which we highlight using a different colour each time we assess- they REALLY liked this, the inspector commented that she felt this was very informative about the individual child and made it easy to identify next steps/gaps in learning etc. In our reception class we continue with the DM document until our initial entry to the Eprofile- in our school some chn are still working within points 1-2 so DM is appropraite for those chn. We kind of 'wean' the chn from DM to Eprofile as they move into the ELGs (points 4+) because they are the same in DM and profile.

[Guest]

OMG Lizzie!!

 

 

You are saying exactly what i have been thinking this last week!!!!! I am so pleased to hear that it isn't just me!!!!

 

I have taken on a role as leader within a new pre-school and by reading Progress Matters i felt i was getting ahead of the new things to implement! Which was fine at the previous pre-school and the EYFSA there had no qualms with highlighting!!!

 

However as you say the EYFS suggests not to highlight and some EYFSA's also say not to highlight and yes like you i have obs, pictures, info from home, next steps etc, but i am at a loss as to how i can be in a position and say yes "such and such is now at 30-50 months in KUW, and is at ........ "without going back through records and without trying to remember all the childrens stages in all areas!! By highlighting areas this would easily be achieved, And i would love to be in that position as i would know the children sooo well But how do i keep track, a child could be way ahead, could be lacking or regress!

 

I am having a meeting with my EYFSA soon, but to be fair, she is going to give me training on the Learning Development records - but i know how to record in these and to do a summative assessment every 1/2 term, but its the recording of the stage they are at to get that summative assessment.... Photos only tell you a fraction of that and can also cover many areas of development in one go..... She has mis-interpreted my questions about recording. Oh dear, i feel like i have now got myself in a tizzy again.........

 

 

So, like Lizzie i too would appreciate any thoughts.

 

 

Thank you

[mundia]

Hi there.

Most LAs will at some point be advising you on how to use Progress Matters and what they would like you to do with it. Some of the pilot LAs have probably already done that, perhaps if they are members here they might like to let us know how its going?

 

 

In my view, a good learning journey should tell you what you need to know. When you get to the point that you make your summaries/progress reports (whatever you call them), you would use the information in the learning journeys together with your professional knowledge (remembering that not everything you know about a child will be written down) to suggest which age band they may be working within. (and of course children will often fall across two in different areas). This would not need to be a highlighted list of every DM statement in each age band because we all know that children don't sequentially follow them, they are a guide, and not all children will achieve every statement because they are all different. My gut feeling is that if your learning journeys are not giving you that 'sense' of where the children are at, then you might think about what information you are collecting in your LJs and how you are annotating photos, analysing observations etc. For example some of your observations may be cross referenced to 'look listen and note' or DMs as you go along.

This information would also come from your planning, if you are regularly referring to the Look listen and note; effective practice etc columns when you are thinking about your children, where is it that you are looking? This should also give you that 'sense'... if when you think of a particular child you look in the 22-36 age band, and you trust your own judgment, that child is probably working within that age band at that time in that area.

 

Link to this a good solid Key Person system, which I think is worth investing time and effort in, and I think this is a nut that can be cracked.

 

I know this is quite complex especially if you are new to EYFS, and Im not under any illusion that this is a simple process that doesn't take up any time, but personally I think that time spent getting your learning journeys, observations and planning right is more productive than time spent worrying about tracking, how many statements children have 'achieved' or 'proving progress' via fancy tools and additional paperwork. This is one reason that I dislike the Progress Matters document.

 

Just a personal view, Im a big fan of keep it simple.

[Guest]

I've just found a web-based program called EYFS tracker - it does the same as eye-profile but for the age bands. you can print our charts etc to show progress and look for gaps. We've got a 6 week trial and I don't know yet how much the full version will cost but I've told the head I'll give several body parts if it turns out to be as good as it looks! (www.eyfstracker.com)