Jules

The phrase ‘leadership and management’ can seem daunting. I have no doubt that simply hearing those words is enough for some educators to decide against progressing up the career ladder. Whether you are considering taking on a leadership role for the first time or are already a leader or manager, it is a constant learning process. It is vital to reflect regularly on your experiences, positive or negative. Anyone who works in Early Years is aware of the power of reflections for staff, children and their families. It is a word I use a lot, reflect. It is a thread throughout this article and throughout my practice. Reflection is a skill. On a personal level this is a hugely important part of my character, to reflect and be the best version of myself in everything I do. This includes my professional role. I have been a manager for nearly 6 years and part of a management team for over 8, across age ranges from 0-11 including nursery, pre-school, and wraparound provision. I have opened new settings and closed settings too, but I am still evolving. Each role is different, the structure of the staff team, the cohort of children and the socioeconomics of the area may all differ but irrespective of this I believe there are some basic guiding principles that remain the same. First and foremost, you HAVE to spend time in the room regularly. Whether this is in ratio or not. I prefer a mixture of both - time in the room in ratio (then you can't get distracted and dragged elsewhere) and time in the room out of ratio. But regardless of whether it's in ratio or not, spending time with your colleagues and children and their families is what matters the most. Why is time in the room important? As with the majority of key decisions in Early Years over recent months, this in part links directly to the Early Years Foundation Stage 2021 reforms. I suspect most people reading this will already know that as part of the reforms it is down to individual settings to design their curriculum - what they want children to learn and when in addition to the emphasis continuing to be on the setting to decide their pedagogy - how they are going to educate children and deliver their curriculum. Whilst it is important that the development of both the curriculum and pedagogy is a whole team approach, it's also important to remember leaders and managers are part of this team too. The curriculum is an ongoing evolution. The intent, the way it is implemented and the impact will need to be constantly reviewed and adapted. The curriculum in your setting will directly influence your provision, the layout, the resources included within it. To analyse the effectiveness of your provision, how the children engage with it and whether it supports the children to build the skills you have laid out in your curriculum then you need to be on the ground, witnessing this first-hand. Leaders and managers also make decisions daily which have a direct impact on the day-to-day experiences of the staff, children and their families. It can be easy to make changes based upon the intent of your ethos and attempt to evaluate the implementation and impact of these changes from afar, but I would argue you can't get a true understanding if you haven't seen it in action. We acknowledge that children engage in the most meaningful learning when it involves first-hand experiences so why, as adults would that be any different? Without those first-hand experiences of the changes you have planned you can quickly become disengaged from the process and your team. When reflecting on anything in life it is preferable to try and see things from the view of others. This applies to Early Years too. Being an effective leader requires the ability to consider the experiences of others in comparison to your own. With this in mind, ask yourself these questions: what is it like to be a child / member of staff in the setting? How does your daily routine impact their experience? Another reason for leaders to be involved in the day-to-day practice within in the room is to help ensure the needs of all children are being met. Especially children with learning differences. Enhancing and adapting your provision, routines and practice to best support all children is a collective effort. When evaluating the impact of support provided to children with learning differences, it is usually the role of the child's key person and the settings SENCO, however I would also say to all leaders / managers that if neither of those roles are yours that you should be involved too. I ensure I am involved in all such evaluations. There are a couple of reasons for this but the main one is accountability. What do I mean by accountability? The role of a leader / manager in any industry comes with great responsibility and with that also there's accountability. You are ultimately accountable for the safety of both your colleagues and children and ensuring the children are properly supported and make developmentally appropriate progress. Therefore, it is only natural to want a first-hand understanding of this. What about supporting your colleagues’ well-being and development? Leaders / managers are not just responsible for progressing the development of the children and supporting their well-being, they also support the well-being of the whole team. This can take many forms and as with every aspect of Early Years there is no blanket approach that will fit every setting and every team. On social media there are so many wonderful and calming staff spaces and ideas to support staff well-being in addition to so many CPD opportunities beyond the usual mainstream providers. Unfortunately, some settings, like mine (privately-owned but based in a school) do not have the space available which we can use to create our own calming staff area but that doesn't mean there aren't other ways to support their well-being and professional development. In my setting I try to instil a calming and natural aesthetic. As many inspirational leaders point out, staff often spend the majority of their lives in work, so it is essential to ensure your environment is comfortable and meets the needs of your colleagues too. Despite not having a staff space we can call our own in our setting, I have created a CPD library for staff in an area of the room too high for the children to access (it is on Instagram if you want inspiration.) Even simple ideas such as having a coffee machine, a treat box or a sharing library for books that aren't related to CPD are just some ways to help staff feel valued and unwind. Furthermore, as a leader / manager you must always be ready to listen. Your team must feel you are approachable. I understand that staff are given the opportunity to speak to managers in private roughly every half term during supervisions when their well-being and training needs etc are discussed. I do, however, consider this to not be enough. If a colleague is struggling with their mental health, personally, professionally or both, would you really want them to wait weeks before sharing this with you? I certainly wouldn't. Instead, I would want my colleagues to feel they can ask for a chat any time they want. Whether they want this to be during the working day or even before or after it. We are here for them as well as the children. It is also crucial that we as leaders and managers also look after ourselves. I do admit that this is a flaw of mine, I am terrible at prioritising my own mental health and well-being. It can be hard to take time for yourself, especially when you are so focused on improving the outcomes and experiences for your colleagues, children and their families. But you are just as important, even though there might not be a leader above you in your setting who is able to look out for your well-being. How can you help to embed the ethos in your setting? The answer to this question links directly to the purpose of this article. Spend time with your staff and children. This is the most powerful way to embed your ethos. By choosing to do this you can model how you envisage it will work in practice. To help further you should observe the interactions in your setting, the interactions between staff members, between staff and the children and how the children interact with their peers. These interactions will enable you to understand how successful you are being at creating the desired experience for your colleagues and children. They will also clearly demonstrate if your ethos is building on your children's knowledge and skills and if they are making progress. The other critical impact that spending time in the room can have on how effectively you are able to embed your ethos is the opportunities for immediate analysis and discussion it provides. It is becoming more widely accepted that for children, the most powerful learning takes place 'in the moment', when engagement is highest and learning is scaffolded and built on there and then, not planned for a week’s time. I firmly believe that is exactly the same for adults. With this in mind, observing practice and being in the room means leaders / managers can reflect and have those discussions as a critical friend 'in the moment' when it is most relevant. I hope over the course of this piece I have provided some useful tips on why I believe spending time in the room on a regular basis is absolutely essential for all leaders and managers and that I have highlighted the huge scope of the role we undertake. Reflecting on our practice and the impact of it is so important - for every aspect of Early Years and we as leaders and managers are no different. But finally, I hope I haven't put any future leaders / managers off accepting the role. While the responsibility is vast, the rewards it brings are far greater.

In the last 18-month period, our lives, our work, family life and routines have all changed. We have all been shaken in some way or another. We have been united, however in our love for the outdoors. From pensioners to pupils, our green space has been invaluable. It is a place where we have found comfort, joy and safety. The science has said we are safer outside and this has been the guidance for schools too. This lends itself to taking the learning outside for the whole day and using science to engage our pupils. Whether it is to learn about habitats, animals, life cycles, plants or seasonal change, the outdoors can provide bountiful resources, that are free, and on our doorstops, quite literally. Teaching science outdoors is a great way to learn. It is also fun and memorable We could be investigating who lives in our local space, by closely observing a specific space for an amount of time. Making short notes as Darwin would have done in his notebook, we can then try to identify the minibeast, birds or other animals we see. Figure 1: Children with learning differences observing closely and being aware of a range of habitats We could also go on a nature walk and collect seeds, leaves, and twigs. These could be sorted based on a criterion. They could also be used to make a piece of artwork or collated as a journey stick. These cross curricular links are a way to add more science to your week, with as little stress as possible. Using one hour to teach two subject areas. Children often do not feel that they are working and learning when we are outside, as they are so used to the classroom environment. The freedom of taking the learning outside is something we can all relate too. Figure 2: Creating a piece of artwork as you walk through a green space The school timetable is bursting at the seams, it has been for years and now there is the added weight of ‘recovery planning’ and ‘catching up’. Cross curricular planning helps to add in some of the subjects in case they are being neglected or to teach them for a bit longer. It also allows for more time to be spent on subjects. Take for example, burying a broken plant pot or plate and then asking the children to be archaeologists and take part in a school dig. They can then explore patterns, shape, materials, touching upon history, geography science, and be working outdoors. Creating links between subjects deepens our knowledge of the learning. That is the idea of immersing yourself in a topic for a period of time. Consider any period of history, there were usually inventions and progress that was made. Sometimes the progress or regression can lead to a great discussion: for example, believing that the world was flat. This leads to a debate and then learning about the earth tilting on an axis, Why is there day and night?, and the science around this. The same can be said for discussions around Evolution, Gravity, and other forces. Sometimes cross curricular links can be as simple as growing vegetables from seed and then cooking with them. Here the nurturing, caring and responsibility for one plant, one growing space, can be beneficial to many or to a small group. Those skills around growing, nurturing, caring and feeding are very much based around our PHSE curriculum. Owning a plant, a space, allotment, windowsill, albeit shared, is a huge deal for young and old. Having a space to call yours has been vital these past two summers. It helped us with our sanity through the first National Covid lockdown in 2020. Those key skills of having a responsibility, communicating, working together, sharing, pride and teamwork are all key when growing as well as personal skills for life. Figure 3: A gardening club working together at lunch time. Once you start growing, children begin to consider other fruits and seeds, for example, what would happen if we planted the seeds from a pepper? Can I grow a tomato plant from the seeds? Lots of investigations, data, observation over time - so lots of science. Couple that with the harvested produce and then what to do with it - using the produce for food technology. Part of the design and technology curriculum teaches pupils life skills which can be shared at home and at any age. Making a simple salad or a pumpkin pie, using fresh produce you have grown - how fab! And it’s schoolwork! It is learning, and it is based in the English national curriculum. Figure 4: Harvesting produce- happy faces Science is a core subject. Not news for some people but it is worth remembering. Our children should be aware of the nature around them in the form of trees, plants, habitats, materials and animals. Taking in a science trail around the playground, the perimeter of the school grounds or along the road outside of school, is a way of focusing in on a specific area of science - be it light, materials, sounds, plants or animals. Encouraging children to use their senses, really look and listen. Make notes or try to retain as much as they can. Discussions around why a specific material is used for a bench, for flooring, for the lamppost, for the shed? All these are very valuable conversations and make the pupils aware of their surroundings. There is overlap here with geography and drawing out key features of their locality. Mapping skills and learning about directions and why certain trees and animals live where they live. The learning is very connected. Learning outdoors is not a new idea. There are numerous websites and lesson plans dedicated to this and even annual Outdoor Classroom days, the next of which is on 4th Nov 2021. Looking at the structure of trees, leaves, taking bark rubbings and creating pieces of art whilst sat outdoors - bliss. Through the art lesson, you can reinforce, revisit and sometimes extend science learning by discussing leaf patterns, trunk sizes, measure tree heights, or the width and age of a tree. Textures and colours can all help create a story or poem and also help with describing the nature around them. Pausing and reflecting on what is around us is a great activity for all ages. Listening to birdsong and seeing different birds and being able to identify them based on their distinguishing features is both great science learning and very good for our wellbeing. Figure 5: Adults listening to birdsong Climate change is very much in the news at the moment, with the COP24 summit in Glasgow. In terms of the primary curriculum, climate change does not fall neatly into one subject. It is very much a part of science, geography and PHSE as well. Measuring pollution, whether in sound, air, or water quality can be done using data loggers, water testing kits and diffusion tubes. The collecting and analysing of data also involve mathematical skills. A simple activity like placing sticky back tape in various parts of the school environment and then observing them after a period, allows us to see what pollutants have stuck to it. This is a simple way of showing young children how particles can be carried in the air, and we breathe in that air too. Links can also be made here to recent events reported in the news, like changes in weather patterns in terms of temperature, rainfall, and also variations in the lengths of seasons. Social media and often the news are now more frequently sharing videos of whales, dolphins and other sea life, losing their way and swimming into shallow waters. Where are the whales meant to be going? Where do they live? Why are we seeing more beached whales? Using research from secondary sources or by interviewing zoologists and marine biologists, pupils may want to find the answers to these questions or others of their own. Figure 6: Measuring PH levels in the river water In recent times, the world has had a huge focus on science. It has raised the subject to the forefront. It is our job now to keep it at the forefront of our teaching and ensure pupils are exposed to science regularly, making links with other subjects, everyday life, and their local area. Science is about connecting us with the world around us, and it is a very relevant subject because it is happening all the time. As you read this, your heart is pumping around your body, and you are using one of your senses to read. Many schools will tell you that they lack resources or have no resources, but the biggest science resource that we have, that is readily available, is the outdoors, and we could be using it weekly if not daily in our teaching and as human beings in our daily life. All our primary articles have been moved to Tapestry.info. You can read them and lots of other articles there.

As a “Scots lass” I was proud when our country became the first devolved nation to directly incorporate the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into domestic law. Rights are about more than being safe from harm and discrimination – they are about freedom, respect and the ability to make choices. The UNCRC demands that “children, including the very youngest children, be respected as persons in their own right. Young children should be recognised as active members of families, communities and societies, with their own concerns, interests and points of view.” (UNCRC General Comment No 7). All children are unique, and that uniqueness should be nurtured and celebrated by the adults around them. That’s why I have come to see that the work that I have been involved in around gender stereotyping is very much a matter of children’s rights. I don’t think anyone would disagree that all children should have the freedom to interact with the world, to dream dreams, and to imagine a future where they can be whatever they want to be and do whatever they want to do. Yet I believe that outdated gender stereotypes are still getting in the way. Gender Stereotypes Gender stereotypes limit our children in many ways, sending messages about what is appropriate or not appropriate for boys and for girls. They teach children that they ought to fit into one of two boxes which determine so much about what they can expect out of life. The rules around these “gender boxes” are taught from birth. Through the prism of pink and blue, the actions and reactions of those around us, and through the opportunities we are given, we learn what’s expected of us. Studies show that adults act differently around very young infants depending on their sex. Boys are seen as stronger and more capable, we tolerate and encourage their risk taking, we expect them to be sporty, and may even teach them to be tougher by taking slightly longer to respond when they cry. We speak to baby girls more, especially about emotions and we get concerned when they are too loud or boisterous. Through our words, tone of voice and facial expressions we encourage or discourage behaviour in children to fit these gendered norms – usually unconsciously. In 2019 Hopster looked at representation across mainstream children’s television in the UK and found gender stereotypes alive and well. Dominant male characters, a lack of strong females, few examples of caring boys or courageous girls – that sort of thing. They found a lack of disabled, LGBT+, working class and ethnically and racially diverse characters. Representation matters – all children have the right to see people who look like them in the world around them. The Let Toys Be Toys campaign has done stellar work in demonstrating how the toy industry produces and markets specific toys to boys and girls in ways which reinforce stereotypical gender ideals. And don’t even get me started on the clothing industry… I could list example after example showing the ways in which children are exposed to and learn from these gender stereotypes. How these stereotypes mean that little boys learn from a young age to hide their emotions, and how young girls learn that much of their value in society is placed on how they look. The shared characteristics, behaviours and interests we think we see in groups of girls and groups of boys may be more to do with this gendered socialisation than as a result of innate biological differences, which remain slight right up till puberty. The Vital Role of Early Years Settings By the time they reach you in early years settings many of these ideas about gender roles will have taken root in children’s minds. However, I am convinced that early years settings can play a vital role in challenging these ideas, not only through minimising stereotypes in our settings, but by providing a new narrative which can inspire and empower children. So, what advice would I give to anyone who wants to make changes to their practice? Find Your Why?: Change isn’t easy, particularly when it’s tied up in the way we’ve been taught to understand the world, or goes against the way “things have always been done”. If we find a motivation for making these changes, something we can remind ourselves of when we are finding it hard, then it can really help. For me, I can already see how my own children are being limited by these stereotypes. I have a passion for preventing suicide and can see how ideas about strong self-sufficient boys and men are feeding into the increased suicide rate amongst men. As a woman who has never felt comfortable in her own skin, I can see how pressures to conform to stereotypical body and beauty ideals have impacted on me and I don’t want this for my children (or any children!). The impacts of gender stereotypes are wide and affect us all. I believe that when people understand this, and find a reason that resonates with them, then they are usually on board. Use your passion to drive your action. Find your allies: As individuals we can make an impact – I’ll always believe this – but together we can do much more. I have found a network of like-minded people who just “get it”, who I can turn to for advice and support. Going it alone is never easy, so my advice would be to rally others to your cause. Perhaps you could look to organise some whole staff training which might help others in the team to find their why? Feed your knowledge: Even though I’ve been doing this stuff for quite some time, I am learning every day and I continue to participate in CPD around related topics whenever I can. As a result, my thoughts and opinions have evolved, and we have refined our approach. For example, we have moved away from a gender neutral approach to one rooted in gender equity. I believe that as long as we live in a world full of gender stereotypes we need to recognise and address the different impacts these will have on specific groups of children – for example boys and girls are subjected to quite different messages and expectations. Gender neutral approaches may not always allow us to provide the counter balance which I believe is needed to address these. So, look out for courses, webinars or events and keep learning. Get on Twitter and follow some of the brilliant organisations who are regularly sharing articles and opinion pieces on this topic. Small Changes, Big Impact: I know from experience that early years staff are already doing loads of brilliant equality focused work. We’ve always sought to recognise and celebrate this, but then provide inspiration and tools to take things even further. This is not about ripping things up and starting again – but about making small tweaks and changes which can have a big impact. It might be about buying in resources which show a variety of characters undertaking stereotype busting activities, or changing to gender neutral Christmas gifts or changing how you greet the children as they arrive at nursery each day. Every little helps. Look Across Your Setting: Taking a look at all aspects of your setting through a gender lens and making changes where you see room for improvement can really help. Take time to reflect on your environment, toys, books and resources, displays, policies, interactions with children and parents, the language you use, the activities you run. While small changes can have a big impact – lots of small changes can have even more! What We Permit We Promote: I believe that we need to challenge and call out gender stereotypes and sexist language whenever we come across it. This isn’t always easy, but it’s important if we are going to change the culture around this stuff. It is clear that staff in these settings have brilliant relationships with parents and children, which places you in an ideal position to gently challenge and influence in non-confrontational ways. For example, one staff member told us that when one dad showed some discomfort about his son playing with a doll and pushchair she asked him how he was planning on getting his son home that night. Simple! I believe that if we all play our part, if we start to make these changes, then we can make a big difference. We can ensure that gender stereotypes are minimised in our settings and challenge these stereotypes when we come across them. Children have the right to be free of these expectations, and as educators we have a duty (as per Article 29 of the UNCRC) to ensure that the education we provide develops every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full. Reducing gender stereotypes is one small way we can do this. Let’s make sure the potential in our children is limitless.

The need to understand more about speech, language and communication development and making this a core focus of CPD is frequently discussed within the Early Years. As we move to work in Key Stage 1, the focus on this essential area of development often lessens. Shifting our focus away from speech, language and communication skills as we begin to focus more on formal learning, literacy, maths and knowledge is a false economy. For all children, there is still a great need for us to understand more about speech, language and communication development. Although, for many children, the basic skills are in place as they leave the EYFS, they still have so much to learn. To name just a few, narrative, negotiation and the language skills surrounding problem solving need to develop way beyond the basic level of skill which will have been established by the age of 5. Non-literal understanding, allowing children to understand and then use humour, sarcasm and metaphors, also develops within this next phase of Education. Understanding more about the speech, language and communication skills children still need to develop between the ages of 5 and 7, can allow us to think specifically about the opportunities we create for our children. These opportunities could be created within the learning environment, our planning and the games we play. For example, if we are making some play-based learning available to children within our learning environment, we can make more informed decisions about what we add to the environment and how we might evolve the opportunities over time. This is because we have a greater understanding of the correlation between the purpose of the opportunities we make available and the skills we are wanting to facilitate in our children. Although understanding more about this crucial area of child development has applications for all children aged 5-7, it becomes even more important when a child presents with skill gaps. Many children leaving the EYFS will continue to present with some or all areas of speech, language and communication at an earlier stage of development than would be expected for their age. This is known as delayed development. The more we know, the easier it is to establish which area or areas of a particular child’s development are delayed and which are not. Even more essentially, understanding more about the order of speech, language and communication development, allows us to establish what a child can do, moving away from just describing what they cannot. It is from the child’s level of success that we must work from as we set next steps and facilitate progression. Developmental Language Disorder can be easily missed within the EYFS and it is often between the ages of 5 and 7 that children with disordered patterns of language development begin to stand out a bit more. As the other children’s higher-level skills develop, especially with social communication, inference, prediction and non-literal understanding, it becomes apparent that these skills are not as automatic for some children. It is essential that, if we work in this age bracket, we know more about this so that we can spot Developmental Language Disorder and not confuse a child’s issues with behaviour, lack of listening or rudeness. As our expectations with reading comprehension, problem solving and creative writing rise quite quickly and significantly, it is essential that we understand the impact that disordered patterns of development may have. Understanding pragmatic development/social communication is essential if we want to know how to support a child who is not mixing with or struggling to socially engage with the other children. Pragmatic issues are often the core root issue, with many children struggling with Personal, Social and Emotional Learning. Understanding more about speech, language and communication development links in very strongly with Ofsted’s agenda with, as they term it, ‘The lowest 20%.’ It becomes very difficult to decide and talk about what this group of children need if we do not understand more about child development and what the barriers to learning and progression are for this group of individuals. Building a Skill Profile for children who are causing us concern and who need and deserve a little more thought is often the best place to start. From this point, we can then think about what each child needs and decide how we might achieve that. At this point, our thoughts often turn to interventions alongside some Quality First Teaching Strategies. More often than not though, we will reach for isolated Intervention Programmes or follow a pattern of giving these children more of that same, but simply in smaller groups. Although there is nothing intrinsically wrong with Intervention Programmes, it is essential that we understand what the gaps are that need closing. Otherwise, we are trying to fix a problem that we haven’t understood ourselves. We also need to think about what we do outside of that Intervention Programme. How can we support closing the gap within our interactions, within the opportunities we create within our learning environment, etc? Understanding more can also help us to understand that more of the same, is not always the best way to ensure progression. For example, visual discrimination issues will impact on a child’s ability to retain graphemes, especially similar, confusable ones or to move on to di- and trigraphs. Issues with sequential auditory memory are often the root cause of children not being able to blend. Although a strong and consistent SSP is crucial, we will be much more effective if, alongside, we identify and tackle these barriers rather than ignoring them. Not only is this more likely to facilitate progression, but it is also a fairer and more empowering approach to take when children are finding things tricky, no matter how many times you repeat the same thing. Issues with auditory memory and sequential auditory memory may also be the hidden reasons why a child can’t hold a sentence, remember what to do when they get to the table, struggle with problem solving and reading comprehension. Issues with semantic development/vocabulary skills may also be the hidden reason why certain children struggle with inference, prediction, generating ideas of things to write about and why they still tend to take everything that is said or read literally. Understanding more about the links between these core skills and the things we are trying to teach and ensure progression with can make things a lot less frustrating when a child can’t do something. Most importantly, it allows us to understand why this might be the case and what we need to do about it. Knowing more about the specific nature of different children’s skill gaps and the incremental skills that need to be facilitated to close the gaps, will allow us to think about the exact Quality First Teaching Strategies we need to put in place for different children. It also allows us to begin to embed interventions into our interactions, our planning, the learning environment and the speaking & listening games we choose to play. This means that ‘interventions’ become more frequent, are less labour intensive, more sustainable and are woven into what the child is learning and communicating about already. Often, we turn to isolated Intervention Programmes as they seem easier, particularly when we don’t have the knowledge or confidence to embed our own. Understanding more about speech, language and communication development can also really support us when we need to work with Outside Agencies. Deciding which children need referring elsewhere is greatly supported the more we know. The extent of the mismatch between a child’s stage of development and their age, along with disordered patterns of development would be the main factors that would indicate that a referral might be needed. Understanding more about this area of development also allows us to avoid over referring as we begin to feel more confident about these decisions and being able to set next steps for children ourselves. Multidisciplinary working also becomes more two-way, the more we understand about speech, language and communication development. It allows our referrals and reports to contain more specific detail and offers clarity to our thoughts about what a child can do well and what they find more difficult. A greater level of knowledge also allows us to interpret reports from Speech and Language Therapists, Educational Psychologists, etc. Most fundamentally, it allows us to understand what their assessment findings mean to a child’s learning and what we need to put in place for that child. To find out more about Launchpad for Literacy, visit the website. All our primary articles have been moved to Tapestry.info. You can read them and lots of other articles there.

Is there a ‘right’ number? It is incredibly easy to become obsessive about the number of observations you are recording about a child. Whether you are an educator, leader or manager, it is an easy path to go down. It is almost subconscious to feel that it is essential to have documented evidence for every statement from an assessment framework or to justify the intent and impact of every decision you make. As discussed at the end of Part 2, despite the shift in the narrative of the day being that data collection and documenting supporting evidence really isn’t essential, it can still feel that way on the ground. So that means the question of ‘how many’ is as relevant today as ever. Firstly, let me clarify, this article will not give you a definitive answer at the end. There will be no you should be completing ‘x’ number of observations per term per child. Instead, I hope you will reflect on your current approach based upon the variety of factors considered throughout Part 3 and adapt your observation and assessment process as a result. The first consideration is your answer to the question: who are your observations for? Once you’ve answered this then you can begin to explore ‘what is the right number for you and your children?’ The reality is that everyone’s ‘right’ number will be different. It will differ from setting to setting, from educator to educator. But if you are like me, it is a constant debate you have both internally and amongst your team. The way you plan and the paperwork you use when planning (that’s a whole other topic!) will influence how reliant you are on documented observations to support your planning. If you use observations to document your planning journey for example, to justify your intention and subsequently evaluate its impact then clearly you are going to be documenting more than if you don’t. Some leaders and managers prefer to be able to follow the observation, planning and assessment cycle in a documented manner too. Both as evidence that the educator is supporting a child’s learning and development to improve their outcomes and also to help assess the performance and effectiveness of their provision and curriculum they have implemented. Another factor which will contribute to the number of observations you document will be the child themselves. For example, the observation of a child with learning differences is crucially important, and we should do this very carefully and thoroughly. However, it is worth noting that as with all children, we will only be documenting moments of learning for that child, regardless of whether those moments happen more or less often. If you have children who are vulnerable, 2 year funded or who receive Early Years Pupil Premium, you will most likely be documenting observations to evidence the extra support they receive or show where the additional funding has been used to improve the provision you offer them which will, in turn, improve their outcomes. As the changes to the EYFS come into effect in September 2021, local authorities may change their expectations regarding evidence they require to align with the shift away from a data-centric approach. It is worth considering this and consulting with your local authority when you are reflecting on the number of observations you document. With this in mind, the next question that often gets asked probably answers itself. Does each child need to have the same number of observations? At the beginning, I explained how the number of observations documented will differ from setting to setting and educator to educator. However I would go further and say it alters from child to child. For all of the factors discussed above. Whilst I don’t believe there should be a limit on the number of observations documented, I do think we have to be cautious they don’t become an obsession. We have all witnessed educators walking around with a notepad or tablet glued to their hands photographing every movement a child makes or noting down everything they say. As an adult I find nothing more intimidating than being shadowed by an adult with a clipboard, feeling like I’m being watched, and my every move judged. Now, think about how it must feel to be a child in that situation, not understanding what is happening or why. In addition, consider the discussion in Part 1 concerning whether observing children in such detail in the moment has an impact on the quality of the interaction and the teaching and learning experience of the child. Is there a minimum number of observations that should be documented on a child? Your answer to this question will be linked to your reflections on who do you document observations for and why. For example, it depends on whether you are focussing on how you share each child’s learning with their family, or if you are using them to inform your provision for each child by documenting their learning. Or if you are a Private, Voluntary, or Independent setting who may be thinking about how to demonstrate the quality of the service you offer and the experiences the children receive. Naturally the more reasons you have to document observations, the more you are likely to gather. Irrespective of what you believe the ‘right’ number is, it is vital for individual educators, leaders and managers that they do not become overwhelmed by the volume of observations they are expected to document. The more observations you collect, the easier it is to fall behind, and the more pressure that is added for all. And the greater the potential for staff well-being and the quality of interactions to be negatively impacted. Therefore, I would argue it’s best to not put a number on it and to instead consider what you have read in parts 1, 2 and 3 of this observation series to reflect on your own observation and assessment process. To build a strategy which works for you, for all. Children. Parents. Staff. Use your professional judgement. Trust what you decide. As long as you are able to justify it when you are asked then you have made the right decision.

Who are observations really for? In Part 1 of this miniseries about observations in Early Years I explored when it can be best to document an observation. This next part will focus on the question ‘who are observations really for?’ With the third and final part of the series examining if there really is such a thing as a ‘right’ number of observations to collect on an individual child. Observations are one of the most important parts of being an Early Years Educator. They are a fundamental part of any Early Years Educator qualification and there is an expectation that all staff know how to complete them, but how often do we reflect on why we collect them? When working in Early Years we are ‘programmed’ to collect observations: we spot a moment that we consider to be ‘observation worthy’ and can end up robotically working through our methodical observation, recording and assessment process. Over recent years I’ve seen observations from many different settings and from a wide range of educators and they all follow a similar format: photo / videos + a description of what took place + assessment against a developmental framework + evaluation of a child’s well-being and involvement against the LEUVEN scales (links to more information on these at the end too). For the purpose of this however I want to dig deeper into the first two parts of an any observation - the use of photos / videos and the written description. In Part 1 of this miniseries we reflected on whether it’s easiest to get photos / videos ‘in the moment’ and write the narrative part and / or assessment later or not. The answer to that could be influenced by considering who the observation is actually for. There are several different possible target audiences for an observation. Are observations meant to be memories for the children? We all have those photo albums from when we were children that are brought out during family events, so if we are wanting to create a record of a child’s learning journey through Early Years, does part of this have to include memories from their childhood? This could be where videos play a key role - a video can make a memory come alive, they can convey the engagement and joy in ways a photo or written observation can struggle to. This isn’t to say the written narrative is not important, however. There are some brilliant ways you can include a written observation to bring alive the moment and to make the child feel at the heart of the journey, even when they look back in the future. Learning stories, originally developed by Margaret Carr and Wendy Lee, for example are a wonderfully rich way of writing the narrative observation (see the further reading at the end for more information), but very briefly they are written to the children directly, as a narrative of their experiences in an objective way, for example “you played with the blocks and built…” rather than “child A was playing with the blocks and building…”. Are observations for the families? Observations being gathered for the families themselves links to the previous idea of them being created as a journey of memories for the children, except rather than them being documented for the child to look back on in the future, they are provided as a way for the family to see a child’s engagement, learning and development in the present. They are also really important to enable families to ensure their children are happy in your setting, not just as evidence of their development. They can be used to demonstrate to parents / carers how you are supporting their well-being, especially when a child is new or struggling emotionally. When documenting an observation for a parent / carer, try and think about it from their point of view; would you rather see photos / videos of your child with an accompanying story of their learning as previously discussed? For observations that are aimed to provide both the child and their family with a memory for them to enjoy there is a really important question we must consider. Is assessment of these observations really necessary? These ‘wow moments’ could be included without being linked to any assessment framework. If this is the case, should we complete and share these observations immediately with parents / carers, in as close to real time as we can? It could be argued that this is particularly pertinent in the PVI sector where parents are not just our partners but also customers. Therefore we need to consider should we be providing observations as evidence of the experiences of their children in our care and to evidence the quality of the service the parents / carers are paying for? Are observations documented for assessment purposes? It is easy to feel pressured to document observations as supporting evidence for baseline / summative assessments. This pressure can be our own internal pressure to justify the impact of the teaching and learning we are providing for our own key-children or can come externally from leaders and managers, the need for external moderation or visits from external organisations such as your local Early Years team or Ofsted. Despite the current rhetoric, both now and ahead of the EYFS reforms effective from September 2021, that the collection of data and documentation is less important than previously, does it really feel that way on the ground? When reflecting on who observations are for and how many we should document it is important to consider how our observations help us. They are a prompt to remind us what a child can do, about the teaching and learning experiences they have had and they support us to understand where a child is on their developmental journey. They also help us to get to know a child and they help to build up a picture of the child for all adults. With that in mind, there is one last question to consider regarding observations. ‘Is there a right number?’. Can there be too many? What number is too few? And should each child have an equal amount? I will explore this in the 3rd and final part of this miniseries of observation in Early Years. Finally, in reflection on Part 2, it is probably the case that observations should be documented for a combination of audiences, factoring in all of the above. An observation made for the purpose of assessment could still provide a memory for a child and their families, for example. It is however vital we consider who the target audience is when we evaluate how we are documenting an observation as there are multiple different ways of collecting evidence and the why we are collecting it definitely has a BIG impact on the how.

Considering I had no intention of becoming a teacher, it’s very interesting how almost all of my experience as an educator has been spent supporting children with Special Educational Needs. Despite having considerable experience working with young people through various roles, this baby faced 22 year old had no prior experience working with children who had special educational needs. What’s more, I had never worked in a typical school setting. I had supported young people through sports and youth work but never in a school setting so my first role as a one-to-one for a non-verbal autistic child was a life-changing induction. In the early days of my career, I had supported autistic children and children with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and SEMH (Social Emotional and Mental Health concerns). I loved every minute of it. I loved the relationships I developed with my students, my contribution towards their academic success and my influence on their wellbeing. It made me aware of the barriers to learning and the lack of understanding teachers had regarding these barriers. Ultimately, it opened my eyes to the lack of support both students, teachers and families received in mainstream schools when supporting children with complex needs. These revelations inspired me to pursue the SENCO qualification very early on in my teaching career but my first and most crucial decision was to first secure a teaching position in a special school for children with SEMH (Social, Emotional and Mental Health issues). A strange but well-informed decision for a Newly Qualified Teacher. Unlike mainstream schools, there isn’t a statutory requirement for specialist schools to have a Special Educational Needs Coordinator. Some may argue this makes very little sense considering a school exclusively for children with SEN requires a coordinator even more than a mainstream school. Fair point. However, when you understand the roles and responsibilities of staff in SEN schools you realise there is a shared responsibility for the provision of children with SEN. When this is the case, there is an acceptance that everyone is a teacher of children with SEN. This is how it should be. The responsibilities of middle and senior leaders more often than not include an area of responsibility that a SENCO would typically do. For example, the head of school may arrange and facilitate the annual reviews and the head of departments may liaise with external agencies like the speech and language therapists or the educational psychologist service. Despite the shared responsibility of the SENCO role amongst various staff at my school, I made the decision to apply for my National Award in Special Educational Needs Coordination (NASENCO) in my first year of teaching. As If I didn’t have enough on my plate. I devised a 5-year plan for my teaching career and highlighted the NASENCO as the professional development necessary for the roles I wanted in the future. It was an unusual decision because, as I mentioned earlier, my school did not have a SENCO and had functioned for 25 years without a formal SENCO in place. Furthermore, I knew the training would provide me with research, strategies and resources that could be applied to an environment lacking in fresh ideas. With my mind very much made up, I enrolled onto the postgraduate course and qualified as a SENCO in my second year of teaching. Whilst training to be a SENCO, I conducted a research study that focused on an area of improvement for the school. I focused my research study on the poor engagement of parents in their child’s learning and the poor communication between the school and its parents. The research process and its findings presented an opportunity to create a solution to a problem that could improve pupil outcomes. The following year, I used the findings of the research to create a parental engagement initiative that was named “Coffee mornings”. Parents came into school to share ideas and concerns whilst eating biscuits and drinking tea. It was perfect. It’s been a number of years since I took on the challenge of being a SENCO in an all through specialist school. There are 80 children altogether across Key stage 1 – 4 and each and every student has an Educational Health Care plan. In one way, you can say my role is made easier because my students arrive at my school with educational health care plans so no assessments are needed. However, there are 80 students that still require the very best service and to do this, you need everyone on board, playing their part. A huge part of my role is ensuring that the need of every child is being met and the necessary provisions are in place to meet those needs. One of the best decisions I made was to buy in to Provision Map created by Edukey. This allowed me to list what provisions we had available to our children and create the ones we needed according to our children’s needs. The obvious provisions are one-to-one support, mentoring, speech and language therapy etc. Then there are some provisions that are a lot more niche and bespoke such as Lego therapy, music therapy and bereavement counselling. The provision map tool allowed you to list these provisions on a database, assign relevant provisions to each child and review the success of these provisions. A dream. My personal expectation for senior leaders is a high level of teaching ability and a clear understanding of learning. This is no different for me as a SENCO. I’ve been fortunate to spend 5 years of my teaching profession educating children with SEN and I’m currently teaching a year 6 class. My experience and qualifications make me somewhat of an expert in my field – one who can and will get better of course. I use my skills and knowledge to support my teaching assistants and colleagues in areas of teaching and learning and behaviour for learning. This is by far my favourite part of being a leader – the empowerment of others. This can be as simple and as organic as conversations in the corridor and it can be as formal as CPD training delivered by myself or by an external agency. As a class teacher myself, I’m never too far removed from my teachers and I embrace leading by example and setting the standard I expect from others. Class teachers have the opportunity to team teach with me and I make myself available to support them in their planning and resourcing. But it’s not all about the teachers. The silent and underappreciated heroes of our great profession are the teaching assistants. Being a former teaching assistant, I can appreciate the contributions made by our TAs when it comes to supporting children with SEN. I’m also aware that unlike teachers, TAs do not get the same level of support in their professional development. Line managing TAs to teach intervention groups is one thing. It’s important and it’s very well needed but it’s the role of a manager. Recognising the strengths of your teaching assistants and putting them forward for training that will benefit the students, the school and their career is another thing entirely. That is leadership. In September, I will begin my new role of Assistant Head in a mainstream community school as Head of Inclusion. I believe my experience as a teacher and SENCO in an all through specialist school will make me well placed to support the school’s aim in being inclusive. Unfortunately, in many mainstream schools, there is far too much pressure on the SENCO to ensure high quality education for children with SEN in the school. This is what they will be judged on and rightfully so but there should be a shared responsibility of all staff in a school to create an inclusive environment for its children with SEN. I’m looking forward to supporting my SENCO, teachers and teaching assistants in making this possible. I’m looking forward to spotting talent within my staff and empowering those who are struggling and I’m looking forward to strategically planning for the provision of all children across the school, particularly those groups who are far too often excluded and marginalised. I was under no illusion that the role of a SENCO would be hard but the wisdom I’ve gained and the lives I’ve affected has made it well worth the journey. All our primary articles have been moved to Tapestry.info. You can read them and lots of other articles there.

I have been thinking a lot recently about the role of observations in Early Years. Especially with the opportunity to ‘reset’ that this September brings. This mini-series will be split into 3 parts (look out for parts 2 and 3 in August and September) where I will explore each of the following questions in more depth. 1. When to document an observation of a child? 2. Who are they really for? 3. Is there a ‘right’ number? Part 1: When to document an observation? There are so many things to consider when observing and assessing children in Early Years. One of the biggest challenges we face is what should you document and when. I use the word ‘document’ purposely. This is because we observe the children constantly. Everything they say, everything they do. All of it is observed. As you interact with children you are observing them. Effective communication and effective teaching requires observation, you need to observe in order to respond. Whether this response is immediate or planned for a time in the future, all of it requires observation. However, in Early Years sometimes it seems there is a belief that if it is not documented and assessed then it doesn’t count. As a result I often find myself contemplating how do I best focus on extending a child’s learning in my role as an educator whilst also ensuring I collect the evidence needed to observe and assess a child. Now I ask you to reflect on your practice, when you are mid-interaction and see something that makes you think ‘wow this a teachable moment’ or ‘this is a wow moment’ or ‘this would be evidence for x, y or z’ from your framework of choice, what do you do? · Do you always carry a notepad / tablet around with you so you are instantly able to make notes / take a photo to snapshot a child’s learning or when you see a ‘wow’ moment? · Do you ask another adult to take a photo / video or to provide you with some paper / tablet, potentially taking them away from what they were doing at the time? · Do you move away from the interaction to get it yourself? · Do you stay fully engaged in the interaction in the moment and only when it has reached its conclusion do you document it and therefore potentially sacrifice the photo opportunities etc and make notes from memory? It is quite the balancing act and I think all the possible answers have their own problems. I believe first and foremost we have to ensure we continue to provide the high-quality child-adult interactions that children need. Therefore, in order to provide outstanding teaching and learning, to extend a child’s learning as much as possible and respond ‘in the moment’ to the best of our abilities we need to carefully develop an observation method which strikes the right balance. Every adult will have a different method that works for them. Just like children we are all individuals and all work in different ways! If you prefer to write an observation mid-interaction then it is important to examine what takes the most time and what you could do to navigate this. If you usually write the full observation at the time, it is worth considering if it would be easier for you to take photographs in the moment and use these as prompts to verbalise what took place afterwards. Another thing to consider to help ease any possible impact on the teaching and learning in the moment is assessment. The new EYFS framework, Development Matters and Birth to 5 Matters which are all effective from September 2021 are falling more in-line with the recent Ofsted narrative of trying to move away from the need to create lots of assessment. With this in mind it is definitely worth reflecting on whether every observation needs to be assessed and ensuring any assessments carried out are useful to help support a child’s development. Reflecting on both of these will help you to be more comfortable about this new way of thinking. If you prefer to retrospectively document the observation when the interaction is over then there are some pointers that could help to ensure any observation is as accurate as possible. As mentioned above you could use a notepad / post-it notes to make even the briefest of notes or ask another adult to take some photos as prompts. Or if you are going to do it completely from memory you should definitely write it up in full or at least make the notes immediately after. You can always revisit the assessment at a later date. As we all know a typical day in Early Years is so busy and full of so many teachable moments even the shortest delay could lead to key details being forgotten. Both of these strategies are however, not without problems. If you don’t complete the full observation and assessment at the time it can be easy to get overwhelmed with half-finished observations and easily fall behind. It is also easy to feel you aren’t providing parents with the updates they want / need of their child’s development / well-being and this can be exacerbated by not including photos or the learning experience. I would however argue that these cons are outweighed by the improved learning experience, improved adult-child interactions and the opportunity to extend a child’s learning to it’s fullest that can be achieved by making even small adaptations to the observation process, whichever method you choose! Nonetheless it is important to understand there isn’t a blanket approach that works for all or a perfect solution. It is about finding what works for you as an educator, your setting and your children. You can listen to a podcast we recorded with Adam here.