This month all over England there will be training for early years practitioners in reception classes on the Foundation Stage Profile (see box, opposite), the new statutory assessment for the Foundation Stage.
The FSP replaces baseline assessment, which measured children in the first few weeks in the reception class, when they were barely settled into the routines of school. Although baseline assessment was also statutory, there were more than 90 different Government-approved baseline schemes from which a school could choose, each with its own requirements on how the assessments were to be carried out.
Now, at last, the Government has decided that every child in England should be assessed in a similar way and that this should take place during the final term in the Foundation Stage.
Most early years practitioners are pleased about this change. The timing of the assessment brings the Foundation Stage into line with other statutory assessments in school (that is, at the end of the Key Stages). What is more, it is to be based on teachers' ongoing records and observations, collected throughout the child's time in the Foundation Stage.
The FSP is designed to give 'a picture of what a child has achieved, knows and can do,' states Pauline Hoare, who is principal officer, assessment, at the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and is in charge of introducing the Profile.
'At the heart of the profile are observations of young children,' she says.
'There are no tests. There are no set tasks. I want early years staff to continue what they're doing already: looking at what children do and trying to work out what they're thinking about.'
However, the new system may present quite a challenge for some. Many early years practitioners have been collecting evidence of children's learning through observations for years, but this has not been universal. It is much less likely to be established practice in reception classes than in nursery, and especially not in schools that previously used a baseline scheme involving set assessment tasks rather than evidence collected from observations.
Why observe?
Many early years practitioners argue that observation plays a key role in ensuring effective practice in nursery education. However, some feel that observation is time-consuming, that it impinges on 'teaching' time, and that it may result in different information being gathered about different children.
Observation, it is true, does not make for a neat and tidy, 'one fits all'
type of assessment system, as real children are not all the same. But it is this diversity in children which makes observation so important. There is no substitute for it if we are really to do justice to their learning.
Children in the early years can have very different interests, learning needs, learning styles and responses to the same experiences. One of the Western world's greatest child observers, Vivian Gussin Paley, noted how this was one of the best aspects of teaching young children: 'Whenever I think about children's differences, my sense of the excitement of teaching mounts. Without the uniqueness of each child, teaching would be a dull, repetitive exercise' (from The Boy Who Would Be a Helicopter, see box, p22).
It is only through observing that practitioners can know what interests and motivates children and in what type of situation they learn best.
The need for observation is referred to frequently throughout the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage. One of the 'Principles for Early Years Education' states: 'Practitioners must be able to observe and respond appropriately to children...' (p11). The Profile finally brings assessment practice into line with the principles of the Foundation Stage itself.
Record keeping
Many nursery schools, early years centres, day nurseries and nursery classes already track children's progress through collecting observations and samples of learning, such as the child's mark-making and drawings, and photographs of the child at play.
Many settings allocate responsibility for record keeping to a child's keyworker. The records are kept in individual folders or made-up books, which are often called 'profiles', 'profile books' or 'portfolios'. They include the observations and samples of learning, and are stored on open shelves, so that children and parents can access them at any time.
The Profile may demand changes in record keeping and assessment in reception classes, especially if staff are not already collecting ongoing records.
Reception year
Although the final assessments are to be made in June each year, the QCA suggests that the Profile is used throughout the year, perhaps using it once every term for each child, so that it can then show progress against the statements across the year.
However, for formative purposes, what is more important is that practitioners make an assessment based on each observation. When an observation is analysed, the assessments made will be much more specific than the very general statements in the Profile.
Usually, analysing an observation will show, for example, what motivated the child, who else was involved, where the observation happened and details of a child's skills, dispositions and understanding. All this information is vital if assessment is to be useful for planning purposes.
Without this level of information, a practitioner may be able to assess what level a child has reached, but not how to present an experience that will further their learning.
By Vicky Hutchin, senior early years consultant in the London Borough of Merton and author of books on early years assessment and planning.
