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The news is
. . . the new Trackers are now available.
Details can be found on the
Early Years page
on the website, or if you are a childminder go to the
Childminders page.
1st August 2007
Just a quick update to let you know what is happening with the
new Trackers 0-5. The
good news is that we're well ahead of schedule and the book is
being printed as I write this. We're expecting to receive copies
from the printers towards the end of July.
There are so many of you out there that have given me feedback,
suggestions and advice in compiling the new Trackers I am really
grateful. The result, I think, is a really good, user-friendly
book. So, a big thanks for all the help I've received.
So what’s in the new Trackers 0–5?
• Now in a larger A4 format (with 64 pages) – you will only need
one book per child (unlike the previous Trackers where you
needed 2 books).
• There is now additional space to enable you to include
evidence of your observations and planning.
• There are also comments boxes at the bottom of each page.
• There are general observation and planning forms at the end of
each Area of Learning to enable you to keep a much more
comprehensive record.
As soon as I have confirmation of a delivery date, I will post
the information on the website.
11 July 2007
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Someone (Julia) has very kindly informed me that the DfES say
there is a slight delay in supplying the toolkit box because
there is a problem with the CD that comes with it. They are now
saying it'll be available in May.
As a matter of interest, we have completed our first draft of
the new Trackers 0-5. We have sent it out to a number of
nurseries and childminders to get some advice and feedback
before taking it any further. We'll keep you updated.
18 April 2007
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It’s here … the Early Years Foundation Stage has been
launched … but will come into force in September 2008.
Last week I attended a speech by Ruth Pimental, the National
Director for the Foundation Stage. These are some of the key
points I picked up:
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The EYFS strengthens the links between
Birth to three matters and the Curriculum Guidance … it’s
all about ensuring a consistent approach to care, learning
and development.
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Don’t stop what you’re already doing.
The EYFS simply builds on your current practice.
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There is nothing in the EYFS that you
haven’t come across.
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The new framework will help you to
consider how to improve your practice.
I kept hearing phrases like ‘diversity of individuals’ …
‘providing individual support’ … ‘unique qualities of individual
children’ and so on. So there is a lot of emphasis on guidance
on inclusive practice:
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Diversity of individuals must be valued
and respected
-
Identify the need for individual
support so that children can get the help they need at the
right times in the way that is right for them
-
The need to plan jointly with all those
in contact with the child for children with severe and
complex additional needs.
The key messages seemed to be about
-
The unique qualities of children
-
Ensuring equality of opportunity (the
need to actively promote equal opportunities and
anti-discrimination practice)
-
The importance of maintaining records
suitable for sharing with colleagues
She suggested that LEAs were preparing to run awareness raising
events in due course - so you'll need to watch out for those.
Detailed information is on the DfES website at
http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/eyfs/
I phoned the DfES to
order a pack but I have to say they were surprisingly vague. I
looked on the website for a reference number and can’t see one
(not very helpful because that’s the first thing they ask you
when you phone them), but from what I can gather from my
enquiries, the Ref number is 00012 (but I wouldn’t bet my
mortgage on it). The DfES ordering number is 0845 60 222 60.
However, you can download the document from the website if you
just can’t wait!
14 March 2007
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Don’t you just hate it when you’ve
just got your head around something and then the Government
comes along and changes things again?
Well, as you probably know,
they’re about to do it again … out will go the Birth to three
framework and Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage and
in comes the shiny new Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).
So what’s it all about and, more
importantly, is it worth having a good moan about?
It comes into force in September
2008 so there’s plenty of lead in time. There’ll also be a lot
of training available, so no need to worry on that score either.
Here’s a brief summary covering
what’s involved
The EYFS is a single development
and learning framework for children aged from birth to five
years. It draws from Birth to Three Matters, the Curriculum
Guidance for the Foundation Stage and the National Standards for
under 8’s Day Care and Childminding into the one framework (so
you’ll be familiar with the terminology).
Principles
The principles behind the guidance
are the same – such as the importance of parents as educators,
key person for every child, relationships between adults and
children, planning for the individual child, role of indoor and
outdoor play etc etc.
What will be in it?
The framework will have two parts
to it – the EYFS document itself (in other words what you must
do to deliver early years provision) and a CD-Rom (this will
have the EYFS Profile and training clips).
So what does the EYFS look like?
Well, quite honestly, it doesn’t
look all that different. There are still a range of Early
Learning Goals as you’d expect. The Areas of Learning are now
called Areas of Learning and Development. There are six and the
headings are slightly different:
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Personal, Social and Emotional
Development
-
Communication, Language and
Literacy
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Problem Solving, Reasoning and
Numeracy
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Knowledge and Understanding of
the World
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Physical Development
-
Creative Development
As before, none of the six Areas
of Development and Learning can be isolated and delivered on its
own. There is an emphasis on assessing children’s progress
(Look, Listen and Note), thinking about planning for their
development (Planning and Recording) so that you can put this in
place (Effective Practice).
Look, Listen and Note
Those of you who use
Trackers to observe and
record children’s progress will be familiar with assessment
based on observations. When the DfES produce the final EYFS
documentation a new version of Trackers will be produced
that will reflect the changes. The observations that you record
in Trackers will help you with your planning – so
important in making the children’s learning exciting, varied
and, of course, progressive.
Inclusion
There is, as you would expect, a
good deal of emphasis in the framework on your teaching (and
your early years setting as a whole) being inclusive. This means
that you need to have a good working policy covering issues like
special needs, anti-discrimination, behaviour, bullying,
disability and equal opportunities. By the way, we've already
done that for you in
Developing an Inclusion Policy for your Early Years Setting.
If you want to be kept up to date
with what’s happening as far as the EYFS is concerned, fill in
the Feedback form on
the website and we’ll keep you up to date.
(2nd February 2007)
If you want to print this off,
click here to get a pdf of the article. |
