EYFS Update April 2022

EQUALS have been busy with a new project to develop recording and assessment materials designed for teachers working with children with complex and/or profound learning and development needs. The materials will be suitable for either mainstream or specialist schools or nurseries and we hope to make them available at the end of the summer term 2022.

These new materials will follow the revised EYFS Framework which became statutory in September 2021, and will reflect the key principles of the revised EYFS and the messages being promoted by Ofsted and DfE as follows.

• that schools should consider moving away
  from excessive tracking and evidence collection
• to reduce teacher workload and time spent on record keeping and unnecessary assessments that involve excessive data collection
• to keep the child central to the process and reflect each child’s unique learning journey

If you are interested in hearing more about these key messages, there are a series of podcasts
from Ofsted and DfE available at
Foundation Years

What will the new materials consist of?

The format of the materials will follow the ‘learning journey’ approach that is considered good practice within the EYFS. They will contain a
‘Getting to Know Me’ section to support initial observations and information as children start school or nursery, including a scale to assess each child’s well-being and involvement and levels of independence.

There will be a series of Skills Maps to support teachers in assessing each child’s strengths in the three EYFS Prime areas of learning and development (Communication and Language, Physical Development, Personal and Social Development), along with an additional section ‘The Characteristics of Cognition and Learning’. This section will reflect the child’s unique learning and play development, their engagement and their exploration.

There will be a ‘My Transition’ section which teachers can use to support end of year summary and discussion with parents and teachers as the child continues their learning journey into KS1. This section includes links to the five Engagement areas in order to provide starting points for those children that will not be ready for subject-specific learning.

We believe that this resource will support teachers in providing a rounded and holistic picture of each child’s unique characteristics and reflect their learning journey as they make significant steps of progress, without the use of checklists and excessive data collection. The materials will also make reference to other useful assessment documents and tools that are available for use within the EYFS, and is designed to be used flexibly and alongside other school-based recording tools as necessary.

The materials have been developed in conjunction with Sunningdale Specialist School, Sunderland, who are presently using the materials. We are hoping that several other schools will be trialling the materials in the summer term, to be ready for the start of the new academic year, September 2022.

If you would like more information about the project and the materials, you can contact

Elaine Ellis   email:  elliselaine822@gmail.com

or

Paul Buskin email:   paul@equalsoffice.co.uk