katiecar Posted May 18, 2011 Posted May 18, 2011 I was given the jo of producing a transition policy for our school which I did alongside a timetable of events to happen over a year to ease transition for our Reception children going into KS1. However the policy has been given back with some disappointment. The KS1 manager siad that they will not continue the profile for children not reaching he Early Learning Goals and she will definately not have play based activities in her class as she also hs year 2 and they will be top Reception going in so she needs to get level threes out of them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Se said that the otherpure Year 1 sometimes has choosing but not as much as I have recommended in the policy. Any ideas???? Other than a replacement for this teacher for someone who has some kind of idea how traumatic it is to stop this fabulous curriculum so bluntly.
Susan Posted May 18, 2011 Posted May 18, 2011 OH Katie, how distressing for you. Without seeing your transition policy it is impossible to comment except to say that you know you have the children's best interests at heart and that you have done your best. However, you might like to point out to your school that it is now considered best practise to continue to evaluate progress and achievemnt against the EYFS profile until at least Christmas. Someone else may be able to point you to the documentation of this. As a dedicated early years teacher now teaching in year1 it is extrememly difficult to do this unless you have access to the correct curriculum to enable this. IT is possible however, possible but time consuming to match profile statements onto APP and move forward appropriately. But at the end of the day, whether APP is used from September or not that transfer of skills will need to take place. In my school where we are able to continue to use the profile but are expected to update a progress tracker every half term, I was expected to show an increasing total number of points across the autumn term which was also frustrating as this is not how the profile was designed SO it is almost easier to make that transfer sooner rather than later! Can you get some advise and support from the advisory team?
Guest LornaW Posted May 18, 2011 Posted May 18, 2011 katiecar have you used the document Continuing the Learning Journey with your school? It is in a bright pink folder and came into school in 2005!!!!! I have seen many copies gathering dust in HT's offices! The manual is a bit dry but the DVD is brilliant and really stresses all of the principles Susan has mentioned. NFER also did a research paper on Transition and Ofsted have also written a paper on the importance of building on what has been developed in EYFS. Some LAs deliver training on transition and Y1 teachers are asked to attend with EY teacher perhaps your LA do this. I have lots of info on this as I have also written a course and would be happy to share some of it if it would help but it sounds to me that you are more than aware of wht needs to be done it is how to get the Y1 / Y2 teachers to see the value in this so I would stsasrt with the HT and governors. Finally and excellent book is Moving on to Key Stage One by Julie Fisher perhaps your school could buy a copy and ask the Y1 teachers to read it and review it! http://www.amazon.co.uk/Moving-Key-Stage-T...n/dp/0335238467 Good luck and don't give up - the best way to eat and elephant is one bite at a time! Lorna
catma Posted May 18, 2011 Posted May 18, 2011 However, you might like to point out to your school that it is now considered best practise to continue to evaluate progress and achievement against the EYFS profile until at least Christmas. Someone else may be able to point you to the documentation of this. I'd be a bit wary about this as a blanket approach though - if children are getting secure within the ELGs outcomes then they should be quite ready to get going with the NC.......... There may be some skills they need to refine identifiable through gap analysis but with APP or similar approaches the NC would be the right thing for them. Cx
Susan Posted May 18, 2011 Posted May 18, 2011 I'd be a bit wary about this as a blanket approach though - if children are getting secure within the ELGs outcomes then they should be quite ready to get going with the NC..........There may be some skills they need to refine identifiable through gap analysis but with APP or similar approaches the NC would be the right thing for them. Cx Absolutely! I did not mean to suggest that.
katiecar Posted May 22, 2011 Author Posted May 22, 2011 Thank you to all the replies they are really helpful. I am concerned that the classes do not have any child initiated activities or sand, cut and stick, models, role play, music etc. In fact one of the teachers said, when reading the policy and spotting that some of these things were in there "I definately do not have music in my class!!!!!!" I love that saying 'The best way to eat an elephant......' Onwards and upwards, I will continue to fight for this and will speak to the head with relevant best practice documents in hand like NFER research etc. Thanks everyone
catma Posted May 22, 2011 Posted May 22, 2011 (edited) Sometimes it's difficult when we know what we want but can't get it to be so.....you may need to find a compromise position re transitions that isn't going to rock the boat so much at first that the natural reaction of KS1 is to retrench and ignore. I would say be pragmatic and find some common ground that you can work on together... agreeing some changes to practices that can be evaluated in terms of actual impact on specific children, maybe your bottom 20%, where the key rationale is maintaining progress might make it less "all or nothing" for the year 1 team. From their perspective they probably have no reason to change, have to deliver the NC within a constrained timetable and are required to do endless 3 part lessons by the HT anyway!! Cx Edited May 22, 2011 by catma
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