On entry data query

[Guest]

This week I've been inputting my on entry data for reception class. I really find UTW tricky to assess because we obviously haven't covered many of the strands! I'm using some if the nursery assessments to help but not all children have been to a nursery.

Any advice please?

Thanks

[Rufus]

Our utw is quite low. We do a number of things to assess this...making all about me boxes to talk about our family, woodland walks, watching fruit as it goes mouldy, as well as observations. However most of our children are 30-50 d/s. Nursery records confirm some of this. For those we don't have records for we just go with our gut feeling, only putting them in the 40-60 band if they stand out as being able to talk about changes, family etc.

[Madmum]

This is a very interesting thread for me!! I am in our school nursery and despite having the nursery records, our reception class have baselined and only used what they've seen themselves, which as you say is limited in such a short time. I feel they should take our records and judgements as accurate and as Rufus says go with gut instinct where there are no records.

A big 'bone of contention' is the 40 -60 month statement about healthy eating. In nursery we do food tasting, cooking and food sorting as well as talking about exercise etc. Reception say that you cannot say children eat healthily as it's a parental choice and not something they see. I think they're over analysing it, and also I have a suspicion they're using DM as a tick chart rather than a best fit, which was my understanding of it!

[Guest]

Thank you Rufus and Madmum for your replies and advice.

On entry baseline is tricky we don't want to do a disservice to the children or nursery and in those first few weeks, in a strange environment, the children don't always demonstrate what they can really do.

Best fit is what we usually go for!

[catma]

A big 'bone of contention' is the 40 -60 month statement about healthy eating. In nursery we do food tasting, cooking and food sorting as well as talking about exercise etc. Reception say that you cannot say children eat healthily as it's a parental choice and not something they see. I think they're over analysing it, and also I have a suspicion they're using DM as a tick chart rather than a best fit, which was my understanding of it!

Well spending any time with children in the dinner hall chatting about what they are eating or do eat would give a load of insights. All about willingness to find out I suppose...I'd agree on the over analysis opinion there!!

Cx

[Guest]

Agree with Catma on this one - I find that by sitting with children at the snack table a few times a week and also by eating lunch with them a couple of times each week I can gather so much information, not just about healthy eating but also UTW, Maths, PD, CL, PSED, even EAD (those who like 'making pictures' with their food as they eat). Well worth the £2 and 40 minutes it costs me to have two school dinners a week (I'm lucky enough to work somewhere where the school lunches are pretty good, but also I've worked in schools where I would have been reluctant to feed them to a hungry dog).

As a moderator I've frequently found that it is easy to forget we are talking about young children here and there can be a huge tendency to over analyse what it is we are looking for.

[catma]

 

even EAD (those who like 'making pictures' with their food as they eat).

I'd love to get that as evidence when I'm moderating!!!!

[Melcatfish]

This is a very interesting thread for me!! I am in our school nursery and despite having the nursery records, our reception class have baselined and only used what they've seen themselves, which as you say is limited in such a short time. I feel they should take our records and judgements as accurate and as Rufus says go with gut instinct where there are no records.

A big 'bone of contention' is the 40 -60 month statement about healthy eating. In nursery we do food tasting, cooking and food sorting as well as talking about exercise etc. Reception say that you cannot say children eat healthily as it's a parental choice and not something they see. I think they're over analysing it, and also I have a suspicion they're using DM as a tick chart rather than a best fit, which was my understanding of it!

I understand that when Reception teachers are receiving records from a wide range of settings there can be a lot of variation in people's interpretation however I am quite surprised that within the school itself there is not an acceptance that your assessments and records are useful and valuable.

Could you arrange some sort on internal moderation alongside your Yr R teachers? Time spent talking through the evidence you have and how you have come to your judgements might be time well spent if you end up feeling a bit more valued and they feel like they can trust your records and assessments.

 

Mel

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