Assessment in the Early Years

Approaches to assessment and the revised EYFS framework

Assessment in the Early Years
Approaches to assessment and the revised EYFS frameworkOne of the key objectives of the early years reforms was to reduce workload so teachers and practitioners can spend more time supporting and teaching children in their care.The publication of the Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage clearly identifies:“2.2 Assessment should not entail prolonged breaks from interaction with children, nor require excessive paperwork. When assessing whether an individual child is at the expected level of development, practitioners should draw on their knowledge of the child and their own expert professional judgement and should not be required to prove this through collection of physical evidence.” (p18)

Consequently, most schools and settings have reflected on the amount of time practitioners were taking to do assessments, including observations, and gathering information. They have begun to consider what is working well and what can be improved. Most have now reviewed their assessment systems to ensure the focus is only on what makes a difference to children and their outcomes thus, removing overburdensome evidence gathering to enable more opportunity for quality interaction with the children. It will be helpful for you to consider the following:

Have you reviewed all the paperwork that practitioners complete, for both assessments and planning and ensure the focus is to only do what will make a difference to children? Reflect as a team: What are we doing, why are we doing it and who are we doing it for?

Have you discussed and agreed the approach to assessment with your team? Ensure that any information recorded is significant and useful.

Review the support and training available to ensure practitioners are confident, have a good understanding of child development and how to use assessments effectively to support children’s learning in all areas. Ensure practitioners can talk about their key children and their development and that they know which children need more support, in which area and what they can do to support them.

Government updatesThe DfE has published a small suite of videos on GOV.UK, with messages from the DfE, Ofsted and early adopter schools on their experiences in delivering the EYFS reforms.

Video 1-Chapter 1: curriculum and the EYFS Profile under the new EYFS: A summary of the reforms and the new expectations for early years curriculum and assessment by Susie Owen, Director of Early Years and Childcare (DfE), and Phil Minns, Specialist Adviser, Early Years and Primary (Ofsted).

Video 2-Chapter 2: implementing the new EYFS as a school: School leaders from early adopter schools share their experiences of the EYFS reforms and how they implemented the reforms in their school.

Video 3-Chapter 3: assessment under the new EYFS: Reception teachers from early adopter schools share how the reforms have impacted their assessment practices and what has been important in their assessments during the early adopter year.

The videos can be found online here.

On 6 October, the DfE published the 2021/22 EYFS profile handbook to provide guidance for teachers on assessing children’s development at the end of reception year.As part of the EYFS reforms, the DfE has streamlined all guidance on the EYFS profile into one document. The Assessment and Reporting Arrangements (ARA) will no longer be published for the EYFS profile, with all guidance and information now in the handbook. The EYFSP handbook can be accessed here. You may also wish to refer to page 15 of the handbook with regards to further resources for teachers working with children with SEND. On behalf of the Department for Education, Nasen has produced a series of short guides on identifying and supporting children with SEND in the early years, including a guide focused on reception classes. The link in the handbook enables you to access the Nasen site where you can register for a free webinar ‘Meeting the Needs of Every Child.’It is important that all members of the wider team at your setting such as SLT, managers and subject leaders have an awareness of the most recent EYFS documents and information and the key messages from them to ensure a shared understanding.Further help and guidance If you have any questions or need some support regarding assessment, please don't hesitate to contact us.