Profiles

[sunflower]

Hi,

 

I have just found out that we are going to be moderated on the Foundation Stage Profile. The previous class teacher was moderated two years ago, but the profile had only just come in then and only a handful of profiles were being completed. What will they expect to see?

 

All of the adults keep observation diaries and I complete observation sheets for some guided activities. I have also started to complete longer observations by tracking individual children. What other methods are people using to collect obs for the profile?

 

Thank you

[Guest]

I was moderstated last year and they looked at selection of profiles - high, middle, lower ability and SEN. i had no formal observations but lots of post its and lots of annotated photos. also encluded examples of work and evidence from assessment weeks...our assesment co-ordinator at the time had no idea about reception chn and they all had to do a written numeracy assesment and unaided writing and formal reading assessment every half term,!!! (shes left now!) It was a really productive and developmental meeting and despite me spending hours worrying and getting stressed about it the LEA moderator wasn't scary at all and didn't mind that i had no formal obs. My Profiles are very annotated with lots of exmaples written in (ONly had 11 Receptino chn so that helped.) She was very keen on the photos particulary for the PSED, PD and CD elements

[Steve]

Hi Sarah -

I know Helen moderated some reception classes on the Foundation Stage Profile last year. She's not around at the moment but I'll get her to look in on your post when she's next in.

[Helen]

Hi Sunflower,

When I did some moderating work we had to request the profiles of three children of differing abilities, and ask to see all the teacher's records on those three children; that meant anything and everything, from post-it notes stuck on huge posters depicting all the stepping stones and ELGs to more formal/structured/planned assessments of the type you describe. I then had to match up the obs with the profiles. If I was unsure of anything, I'd go and chat to the child to see if I could get my information then.

I hope it wasn't an intimidating experience for the teachers I visited! Everyone without exception was working hard to devise a manageable, accurate system of assessing their children and recording appropriately. Try ( ) and treat it as a two-way discussion.

[Guest]

Hi everyone,

 

I am also being moderated in the next few week and i'm a bit nervous about it. As an NQT i have been moving along with assessments and filling in the profile as i beleive it is supposed to be. (Basically how my course taught me)

 

I've been unable to really ask anyone in school or outside as i'm the only reception teacher in school, and people who have been in have just said 'that sounds fine.'

 

What i am worried about is evidence to mark off the ELG, i have a very good class and i am finding they are moving through the ELG quickly but i am concerened that i dont have enough evidence to show this progression. MD and CLL i am happy with as we keep good written records (books) and use stickers for comments etc but for the rest im not too sure.

 

I carry stickers with me always so use them for comments or general observations, i also use photos (as much as i can) and class observation sheets. I don't follow individual children, is this something i should be doing? I know what my children can do but i'm worried i don't have enough stuff to prove it!

[Susan]

Hi Buttonmoon, its really hard when you are the only reception teacher and of course the profile is so new that possibly no one else in your school has direct experience of it but this is the third year of profiles, so is the previous reception teacher in school in another role?

 

There should have been some training within your LEA and I am surprised if there is not something available this year although I suppose it may already have taken place?

 

However, you do sound as if things are under control. Moderation is not designed to judge you but to support you and from the sample chosen, usually a HA, MA,LA the moderators will check that they agree with your decisions based on your evidence. Do not forget that as Teachers we have a lot of evidence in our heads and that this is permissable. The moderators should sit with and talk to you so that you can use that info too. Although there has been a lot of talk about records of achievement etc, it also says quite clearly at the back of the handbook that

 

"there is no need for extensive collections of evidence for individual children"(page 122).

 

You do need individual records of some form though for each child and it may be that depending on their nature you will need to match them to ELGs and hence to profiles. The school records that I had to fill in were not very ELG friendly for example.

 

In the unlikely event that the moderators decisions are not the same as yours, then this is not your fault and you should be given the support you need to correct this. Do remember that for all of us this is a relatively new and daunting prospect.

 

But Buttonmoon, sounds to me as if you are doing fine! Good luck!

[Guest]

hi i was moderated about 2 weeks ago.The lea moderator stayed all morning. The first hour she spent in class talking to the children about what they were doing (child initiated activities ),then we spent about 90 mins talking through work books and observations, These were in the form of a folder. Each child has a page for each of the 6 areas, maths, psed ,cll ,creative ,kuw and physical. Then if myself or the lsa see significant steps being made we add dated postits to the appropiate page. The moderator liked this idea. The focus was cll and creative development for this moderation and we were told of this in advance.

[Guest]

If you look in the back of the FSP file you will see that CLL and CD are the two areas being moderated nationally this academic year.