Tuning in to children’s thinking and learning

Objectives Assessing children Observing children Quality interactions Quality questioning

To sit beside and get to know Assessment Comes from Latin: To sit beside and get to know

Why do we assess children? To identify and plan for children’s progress Highlight strengths and interests Identify additional/specific needs Inform families of achievements Inform transitions Monitor and evaluate provision

EYFS Statutory Guidance Assessment should not entail prolonged breaks from interaction with children, nor require excessive paperwork. Paperwork should be limited to that which is absolutely necessary to promote children’s successful learning and development

Make assessments from your observations Starting with the child Start by collecting evidence of learning through observing in different ways Make assessments from your observations Start your planning from evaluating what happened – your observations, your analysis of these (assessments) and children’s interests

Eight principles for early childhood observational assessment 1. Assessment must have a purpose 2. Ongoing observation of children participating in everyday activities is the most reliable way of building up an accurate picture of what children know, understand, feel, are interested in and can do. 3. Practitioners should both plan observations and be ready to capture the spontaneous but important moments. 4. Judgements of children’s development and learning must be based on skills, knowledge, understanding and behaviour that are demonstrated consistently and independently.

Eight principles for early childhood observational assessment 5. Effective assessment takes equal account of all aspects of the child’s development and learning. 6. Accurate assessments are reliant upon taking account of contributions from a range of perspectives. 7. Assessments must actively engage parents in developing an accurate picture of the child’s development. 8. Children must be fully involved in their own assessment.

Observation Gather evidence over time and in different contexts to provide a picture of: Skills Understanding Involvement Choices Enjoyment Relationships Progress Behaviour

So what next? Can you identify the learning and make suggestions for future opportunities and possibilities for next steps?

A Trap For Baddies

The travel agents

Quality interactions Tuning in Showing genuine interest Respecting children’s own decisions and choices Recapping Offering your own experiences Clarifying ideas Using encouragement to further thinking Offering an alternative viewpoint Speculating Modelling thinking Tuning in – listening carefully to what is being said, observing body language and what the child is doing Showing genuine interest – giving your full attention to the child, maintaining eye contact, smiling, nodding etc. Respecting children’s own decisions and choices to elaborate – I really want to know more about this Re-capping – so you think that… Offering your own experiences – I love to… Clarifying ideas – so you think that… Using encouragement to further thinking – you have really thought hard about… what will you do next? Offering an alternative viewpoint – maybe… Speculating – do you think…? Modelling thinking – I have to do… and this… and this… what

Making observation manageable: a mix of methods Adult fully involved in activity Adult fully involved in play Incidental – ‘catch as you can’ Conversations Recordings and samples Planned focused observations

Enabling Environments Does the learning environment suit each child? Do they feel a sense of belonging? Children learn from everything even things not planned for. Plan to observe as part of the daily routine. Analyse your observations to help you plan ‘what next?’ Develop records of learning and development. Ensure that parents have regular opportunities to add to records.

Challenges and dilemmas: Ensuring flexibility in planning for the group while keeping a focus on individual’s present learning needs, interests and achievements. Planning time for regular observations of children who attend on an irregular basis. Involving parents in the observation, assessment and planning cycle. Creating records that are clear and accessible to everybody who needs to refer to them.

Judgements of children’s learning and development must be based on skills, knowledge, understanding and behaviour that are demonstrated consistently and independently. Practitioners make judgements about children’s learning and plan for their next steps after considering a range of evidence across different contexts and areas of learning. Children are observed in adult-directed and child-initiated activities.

Effective assessment takes equal account of all aspects of the child’s development and learning. Practitioners tune into the different skills children are developing - linguistic, interpersonal, physical, creative etc. Assessment opportunities are exploited where these skills overlap eg. Physical, linguistic, interpersonal, creative in role-play. Practitioners do not set up assessments that dissect individual skills but instead reflect on all the dimensions revealed by the normal activities in the setting.

Accurate assessments are reliant upon taking account of contributions from a range of perspectives. Demonstrated when adults adopt these strategies: Understand that all interactions influence development and learning.Respect the range of perspectives that adults in different roles will gain about children. Allocate time to discuss what they know about individual children and consider the implications for the child’s development and learning.

Assessments must actively engage parents. Demonstrated when these strategies are adopted: Acknowledge parents as prime and first educators Engage in a two-way flow of information in order to meet children’s needs and agree next steps Support parents in describing their children’s attainment Involve parents in reviews of children’s achievements, including those demonstrated at home.

Children must be fully involved in their own assessment. Demonstrated when these criteria are observed: Practitioners and children conversing about learning whilst engaged in an activity, as well as reviewing outcomes together. Adults model ways of working and discuss what they are trying to do Children ask their own questions, talk about their thoughts and how they want to tackle a problem. Practitioners ask questions that encourage children to consider quality and processes of work and what to do next.

Question Time! Closed questions Specific focus Usually only one correct answer Establish what children understand Encourage less confident children to respond Often questioner already knows the answer or unrelated to the learning

Encourage children to describe their thinking Open questions Encourage children to describe their thinking How can you tell…? What do you think…? How did you…? What do you think would happen if…?

I wonder… I wonder what would happen if… Maybe next time you might… Have you thought about… Let me show you… I wonder… ponder… speculate… allows children opportunities to solve their own problems or extend own learning