Nursery World - Observation, Assessment and Planning in the EYFS: Part 7: Record-keeping

Early years practitioners need to beware of assessment and record-keeping methods that are convenient to them but detrimental to children's learning, says Helen Bromley.

It is unlikely that many people began working with children because they enjoyed paperwork. However, for many it seems to dominate their lives - wrestling with what to write down, when to write it down and just how much to write.

A vast amount of mental energy is used on getting the paperwork 'right', and in my view at least, this becomes a barrier to understanding what is useful, both for adults and children. Despite the fact that none of us are judged by the weight of our ring binders, many well-intentioned practitioners seem to take 'look, listen and note' (see Practice Guidance for the EYFS, pages 26-116) as an invitation to jot down almost everything that they see. This is inevitably counter-productive as we become blinkered by mental exhaustion to the significant achievements made by children. I once heard an exasperated practitioner describe record-keeping in her setting as 'death by Post-It notes'.

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