Guest Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 how long are you carrying out baseline assessments for nursery class? someone told me it should be done in 2 weeks, which seems very quick! we usually allow a month or so, at least... x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catma Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 we say within 4 weeks of starting date. Otherwise you start to assess your own teaching and intervention so it's not a baseline really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melcatfish Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 We aim to have baselines assessed within 4 weeks - It's a balancing act between giving them time to settle and show you what they really can do but not leaving it too late because then you will begin to see things you have been working on showing up as things they could do in their baseline. Particularly now that Performance Management is so heavily linked to progress you do not want to be causing yourself extra difficulties by assessing them as being at a higher level on their baseline because you did it so late that they had learned new skills which they hadn't had before! Mel x 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 We aim to have baselines assessed within 4 weeks - It's a balancing act between giving them time to settle and show you what they really can do but not leaving it too late because then you will begin to see things you have been working on showing up as things they could do in their baseline. Particularly now that Performance Management is so heavily linked to progress you do not want to be causing yourself extra difficulties by assessing them as being at a higher level on their baseline because you did it so late that they had learned new skills which they hadn't had before! Mel x i'll stick to 4 weeks then. i agree with not letting it take too long; and the thought of performance management/pupil progress meetings - argh!!! just felt 2 weeks is not enough with 28 brand new children in the mornings. we did try and do a bit at the home visit this year to make it easier, e.g. inset puzzle/drawing to observe pencil hold/recording speech, as almost all happy to play whilst paperwork was being filled in...... and this will be put straight onto baseline if observed here too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouseketeer Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 sorry in advance....and I can't imagine how you are expected to gather so much information on so many children in such a short time, and as a school governor I also realise that the further they appear to have progressed at the end of reception from their starting point the better for all concerned..... but I'm going to ask (as I'm sure many of the 38 people who have already viewed this are thinking) how much credence do reception teachers in general give to the transition information that comes in from their previous early years setting, that in many cases has been gathered over a minimum of 2 years or do you start again and totally rely on your own evidence ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melcatfish Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 Well my answer was actually based on what I do in the school nursery so I rarely get sent any transition info even if they have attended another setting (some send records on and some will have a chat on the phone but the majority of my new intake I will have no previous records for as they either haven't been anywhere or no formal transition records are sent.) IF I do have transition info I review it, and see how it compares with what I am seeing and it usually tallies up once they have been in a few weeks. In general info received is useful and we use it, if not I have to use my professional judgement about what the issue is whether it is that they really haven't settled or that there is a difference in opinion re judgements. I know that because we moderate across our EYFS provision our Reception teachers use the summer term data from our Nursery as the baseline for the Reception children who attended our Nursery, for the others they follow a similar approach, observe and make their own judgements and compare that with the previous settings judgements. Mel x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thumperrabbit Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 Here in pre-school playgroup, we have been told by Advisors ( ) that we MUST complete baseline within 2 weeks. slight problem when some of our children only attend 3 hours a week! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouseketeer Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 Thanks melcatfish, I was thinking more reception classes with feeder nurseries/preschools that make up most if not all the new intake. We haven't been told by anyone that we have to complete baseline in preschool ( yet ) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cait Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 Except that we do ...................... We do the 2 yr thingmy. I think that's a baseline 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouseketeer Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 Well there's no hope of getting them done in 2 weeks ! That's 6 hours for most of our starters, I'm just grateful if they've stopped crying or eating everything that isn't nailed down in that time ;-p 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 For those settings that do staggered starts for pre-school/nursery children can i ask when you do their baselines??? i am trying to set up and use prams this year so that i can analyse data more but getting in a bit of a twist as to when to put in their starting point if im going to compare progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catma Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 We haven't been told by anyone that we have to complete baseline in preschool ( yet ) For those settings that do staggered starts for pre-school/nursery children can i ask when you do their baselines??? i am trying to set up and use prams this year so that i can analyse data more but getting in a bit of a twist as to when to put in their starting point if im going to compare progress. The baseline is just the summative/formative assessment done when a child starts, to plan effectively, so everyone will do some sort of "baseline" - it just may not be called that. It is the point from which you will review progress in any setting. We say within 4 weeks of their starting point whenever that is, to enable you to observe. You will obviously then review progress at a single fixed point which means that you are measuring all the children at the same time but I don't think in reality 4 weeks in the tracking will make that much difference if the summative points are reasonably spaced out to allow for real progress to occur. I worry when schools want to see huge steps of developmental progress in half a term for example. I suggest formative reviews half termly for planning purposes but summative data points termly. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thumperrabbit Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 For those settings that do staggered starts for pre-school/nursery children can i ask when you do their baselines??? i am trying to set up and use prams this year so that i can analyse data more but getting in a bit of a twist as to when to put in their starting point if im going to compare progress. I use Prams - Everyone who is starting in the next couple of weeks I will put their start date as 1/09/2014 and we will attempt baseline within the first 2 weeks (as we've been told asked to do) the next entry they then have will be end of December 2014 as I only track termly as Catma has suggested above. I do sometimes wonder if that's enough Ofsted wise, but I know it's enough playgroup wise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 Thanks ladies...really useful info. We have children starting every day between now and october so that's why i'm getting a bit confused! we do a starting point on entry with parents but i need to get this firmed up a bit to link better with the prams system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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