• Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring, Durham University (CEM)
• Early Excellence
• GL Assessment
• Hodder Education
• National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER)
• Speech Link

You should choose the reception baseline that best fits your school’s needs and approach to assessment. Sign up by the end of April 2015 to start using the reception baseline from 1 September 2015. You can sign up after this, but your preferred provider might not available.

In 2022 the DfE will use whichever measure shows the most progress: your reception baseline to key stage 2 results or your key stage 1 results to key stage 2 results. The DfE will cover the basic cost of approved reception baselines for local-authority maintained schools, academies and free schools. Independent schools must pay the full cost of the baseline.

For the 2015 to 2016 academic year, local-authority maintained schools, academies and free schools should pay for the reception baseline. The DfE will then reimburse you directly for the basic cost. From September 2016, the DfE will make sure that your school budget includes funds for the reception baseline.

From September 2016 you’ll only be able to use your reception baseline to key stage 2 results to measure progress. If you choose not to use the reception baseline, from 2023 the DfE will only hold you to account by your pupils’ attainment at the end of key stage 2.

Independent schools may use the reception baseline, but the DfE will not collect their data.

• learn new vocabulary and begin to use it in a meaningful way
• recognise and sing nursery rhymes and familiar songs
• enjoy listening to stories and looking at picture books
• build small towers while counting play bricks
• make shapes from modelling dough and begin to make marks on paper
• climb stairs and begin to play with a ball
• start to get dressed and undressed.

He expects inspectors to observe how well children learn and how effectively adults teach children to develop skills, knowledge and understanding. He explains that it may not be possible to observe everything on his suggested list, but inspectors should gather evidence on the following:

• help children to learn
• teach children to listen to instructions and be attentive
• teach children to socialise
• motivate children to try things for themselves
• support children to manage their personal needs
• challenge children to think and find out more
• encourage children to speculate and test ideas through trial and error
• provide good models of language
• develop children’s ability to express their ideas and use their imagination
• extend children’s vocabulary and teach them to use new words
• teach children the early stages of mathematics and reading.

Finally, the Chief Inspector informs inspectors that they must evaluate and report on whether:

• staff sufficiently focus on children’s learning
• staff spend enough time engaging in purposeful dialogue with the children
• children have sufficient time to practise and reinforce what is being taught
• staff assess children’s skills, knowledge and abilities accurately and use this information to plan how to improve children’s progress
• staff have sufficient expertise to teach children basic skills in the three prime areas of learning and in literacy and mathematics
• the setting has a well organised, regular and effective professional development programme which is improving the quality of teaching.

This consultation document sets out Ofsted’s proposals to introduce separate graded judgements for the Nursery (where applicable) and Reception Years, and for the sixth form, in inspections of maintained schools and academies from September 2014. The closing date for the consultation is 6 May 2014.

Ms Truss has written, "'Early Years Outcomes' has been deliberately drawn from 'Development Matters'. This is precisely because 'Development Matters' also sets out particular pedagogical approaches practitioners may choose to adopt to support child development. We in Government, and inspectors, should not be prescribing a particular pedagogical approach. Sir Michael Wilshaw has explicitly said teachers are expected to take the lead in early years teaching".

She continues, "The additional material in 'Development Matters' is still an approach, but to reflect this status, we have moved it to http://foundationyears.org.uk, the site that 4Children manages as the Department's strategic partner. This site is helpful to professionals in giving access to a range of other non-statutory resources to support the implementation of the early years foundation stage. 'Development Matters' will continue to be available in future. Early years professionals are free to choose whether and how to use it".

Explaining the new document, Ms Truss states, " 'Early Years Outcomes' has been produced to be a non-statutory aide for practitioners and inspectors designed to help understanding of child development through the early years. It is a guide to typical development, while recognising that children develop at their own rates and in their own ways. It is not meant to be used as a ticklist. Ofsted are clear on the status of 'Early Years Outcomes' in their guidance for inspectors".

So, this clears it up for now! We have it from the Department for Education, that Development Matters can still be used in settings, and has not been replaced by 'Early Years Outcomes'.

Ofsted state,

'We want to use our existing knowledge of the sector to ensure that the regulation of childminder agencies supports improvement, is proportionate and efficient, and is centred on the needs of young children and their parents. Our proposals aim to:

• keep children safe and improve the quality of childminding through a robust inspection process
• ensure that clear judgements are made through inspection by incorporating a range of information from different stakeholders
• improve information from parents and childminders by making inspection reports user-friendly and accessible.'

Individual childminders will have a choice of registering with an agency (who will quality assure their work and provide training and support) or remaining with Ofsted (therefore still being subject to regular Ofsted inspections, and being supported by their LA).

Questions within the consultation:

1. To what extent do you agree or disagree that we should give no notice of inspection to childminder agencies?
2. To what extent do you agree or disagree that Ofsted should require inspectors to make an 'overall effectiveness' judgement on the overall quality of a childminder agency?
3. To what extent do you agree or disagree that childminder agency inspection judgements should be made against this four-point scale? (outstanding, good, requires improvement, inadequate)
4. To what extent do you agree or disagree that Ofsted's inspections should take into account the agency's ability to use self-evaluation to improve their practice?
5. To what extent do you agree or disagree that Ofsted should incorporate the views of individual childminders and parents involved with agencies into the inspection evidence to contribute to its inspection judgements?
6. To what extent do you agree or disagree that childminder agency inspection reports should be published on the Ofsted website?

To view and complete the consultation, please go to Ofsted Consultation

'Very occasionally Ofsted or an ISP (inspection service provider) will think it necessary to delay publication of a report to ensure full consideration of concerns raised by a provider or identified during our quality assurance process. Very rarely the process may suggest flaws in the inspection evidence base which will cause Ofsted to conclude that the inspection is incomplete. This will require Ofsted to take further action to complete the inspection and this could involve a further visit to the provider to gather more evidence to secure the evidence base. In such cases the inspection report will not be published until Ofsted is satisfied that the inspection is secure.'

'Examples of where an inspection may be considered to be flawed may include:

• where key judgements that might affect the overall outcome of the inspection are given orally by the lead inspector at final feedback to the provider or stated in the written report, and are not substantiated by evidence gathered and recorded by the inspection team
• where the conduct of the inspection is such that the evidence gathered and recorded cannot be relied upon to provide a fair and accurate view of the provider, in whole or in part
• where the inspector or inspection team has not gathered sufficient evidence or evidence of sufficient quality to allow it to obtain a fair and accurate view of the provider, in whole or in part.

It is puzzling that the Department felt it necessary to produce such a document- Development Matters has proved to be very popular with the early years workforce due to its 'non ticklist' approach and its emphasis on the characteristics of learning. Early Years Outcomes is poorly styled, with the aspects and age-bands often spanning more than page, which makes it very difficult to use and find the section you are looking for. The original Development Matters document is far more user friendly and the positive relationships and enabling environment columns are extremely helpful in supporting all staff working with our youngest children. We will be retaining Development Matters in our resource library for those who would prefer to continue using it.

From today, 130,000 2-year-olds from some of the poorest families are eligible for free childcare, based on whether their family qualifies for free school meals or whether they are looked after by the local authority. That is 20% of 2-year-olds. Next September, the number of 2-year-olds qualifying for free childcare will be doubled to 260,000 (40% of 2-year-olds), by opening up the offer to families that earn less than £16,190 per year and receive Working Tax Credits.

From September 2nd 2013, if you’re a parent on a low income with a 2-year-old in the family you’ll qualify for up to 15 hours a week of free early education for your child. This free support is focused on helping the families that need it most. That’s around 130,000 2-year-olds – one in every five 2-year-olds. Deputy prime Minister Nick Clegg states, 'And from this time next year, we will extend that helping hand even further, doubling the number of youngsters getting a brighter start in life. All the evidence shows that if you take two children – two 5-year-olds hanging up their coats next to each other on the first day of school – the poorer child will already be behind their better off classmate before a single lesson has been taught. Without this help, children suffer and the whole class suffers as teachers have to focus more of their efforts on children who are frustrated and left behind through no fault of their own.'

The government is investing £534 million this year to provide childcare for 130,000 2-year-olds from this week, and this will rise to £760 million in 2014 to 2015 to help the next 130,000 2-year-olds to get a better start in life.

• remove burdens and simplify processes, enabling providers and parents to more easily navigate the system;
• replace the General Childcare Register with a Child Safety Register, working together with the Early Years Register to offer greater flexibility and clarity;
• maintain and strengthen the safeguarding and welfare requirements, ensuring consistency around the essential requirements for keeping children safe;
• make it easier for schools to offer out-of-hours care and accept younger children;
• support parents to make common sense, informal arrangements with their friends and neighbours by increasing the amount of time that a child can be looked after from two to three hours without needing to register;
• introduce greater flexibility for providers operating in multiple premises while maintaining safeguards.

The consultation can be found here