Assessment within St Patrick’s Foundation Stage
Overview
| 2 Year Progress Check | |
| Pre-entry parent form | |
|
Nursery – FS1 |
On-Entry to Nursery Assessment |
| Formative Assessment | |
| End of Nursery Report to parents | |
|
Reception – FS2 |
On-Entry to Reception Assessment |
| Formative Assessment | |
| End of Foundation Stage data submitted and end of Reception report to parents |
2 Year Progress Check
This will be completed by Health Visitors or possibly other agencies when the child is 2 years old. It is thought that this information will be passed on to the Nursery and will be used in conjunction with the pre-entry parent form to gain a better understanding of the child.
Pre-Entry Parent Form
Parents and carers are given this form at the Welcome meeting. It not only gives staff an insight to the child’s likes, needs etc., but also establishes two-way communication between the staff and families, thus recognising parents as practitioners.
On-Entry Assessment
In both Nursery and Reception staff will use the on-entry assessment sheets within the first 2 weeks of the child’s entry. The on-entry assessment sheets have been derived from the LEA’s STEPs form, which use statements from the Government’s Development Matters booklet. This assessment, along with the pre-entry form, will give the staff the information to produce a baseline for each child.
Formative Assessment
This is on-going assessment, which staff collect on a daily basis, whilst observing children and working / playing with them. Observations should be comprised of concise and relevant comments, which indicate such things as progress (wow moments), interests or a need for intervention etc. Once an observation has been made it will be put into the child’s e-portfolio, to enable staff to track progress.
A comment may also be placed on the weekly ‘Personalised Learning Opportunities’ column (on planning sheets); therefore ensuring provision is made for that child in following sessions.
Each child will also have a ‘Learning Journey’, which can be given to parents at the end of their time in Foundation Stage. This will include any special topic days the child has enjoyed and any WOW sheets from home. The WOW sheets may also be photographed for e-portfolio evidence.
Aspects of Learning
The revised Development Matters highlights the following: ‘The prime areas begin to develop quickly in response to relationships and experiences, and run through and support learning in all other areas. The prime areas continue to be fundamental throughout the EYFS. The specific areas include essential skills and knowledge. They grow out of the prime areas, and provide important contexts for learning.’
| Area of Learning and Development | Aspect |
| Prime Areas | |
| Personal, Social and
Emotional Development |
Making relationships |
| Self-confidence and self-awareness | |
| Managing feelings and behaviour | |
| Physical Development | Moving and handling |
| Health and self-care | |
| Communication and Language | Listening and attention |
| Understanding | |
| Speaking | |
| Specific areas | |
| Literacy | Reading |
| Writing | |
| Mathematics | Numbers |
| Shape, space and measure | |
| Understanding the World | People and communities |
| The world | |
| Technology | |
| Expressive Arts and Design | Exploring and using media and materials |
| Being imaginative | |
The characteristics of each of these aspects can be also found in Development Matters and will help staff to observe, interact with children and plan for future learning
Partnership with Parents
St Patrick’s recognise that parents are children’s first and most enduring educators, thus we value the partnership that we have with them, working toward the common goal of nurturing their child’s emotional, psychological, creative, physical and academic development.
We aim to develop caring, respectful and professional relationships with families and, as such, communication between staff and families is fundamental. With this in mind, communication with each family begins before their child begins Nursery: We ask parents or carers to fill in a pre-entry form, which gives staff an insight to the child’s preferences, needs and abilities. Furthermore, families have the opportunity to attend Parents’ Evening to talk to staff about the progress their children are making. Families receive formal reports from the class teacher at the end of each year.
Throughout the year, parents and carers can view evidence of the children’s progress via Stockton’s ‘It’s Learning’ site, as each child is given a unique log in number.
Naturally, the communication is a two way progress and as the children do a lot of their learning outside of school, we send home WOW sheets that parents and carers can complete at home and send into school to become part of the child’s portfolio. WOW sheets capture special moments such as a first time achievement for a child, or an experience that the child has enjoyed such as a family outing.
A summary of the EYFS for parents, co-produced by the sector, is also available on the Foundation Years website. This has been developed to help ensure parents know what the EYFS is and what they can expect from the professionals working with their child. St Patrick’s ensures that all parents are told about the website and give a hardcopy of the document to any parent who requests it.