Policy for profile books and assessment at Kate Greenaway

A principled approach Principles are important at Kate Greenaway. At the beginning of our time together as a new, expanded staff team we spent two days with our pedagogue, Tina Bruce, considering the Ten Principles for Early Childhood Education which she outlined in 1987. Its important that we base our work on a principled approach, because we are trying to build up a coherent, consistent and integrated way of educating and caring for young children. We are not trying to dip into new fads and take a few ideas from here and there. Instead, we try to test everything with the question: how does this fit with our principles?

Extract from Early Childhood Education (First Edition) by Tina Bruce

So every aspect of nursery education, care, and work with families is planned to fit neatly together. Parents do not get one message about childrens learning in a drop-in group and another when their child starts in the nursery. Children do not have to adapt themselves to manage one set of expectations at 8 oclock in the morning and another at 2 oclock in the afternoon. Staff do not pick and choose between different, inconsistent styles of helping children to learn. In this policy document, we consider some of the principles which informed our development of Profile Books.

Principle

Everything about Kate Greenaway is planned to work together: a hundred pebbles dropped into the pond; small splashes in themselves, but rippling outwards, persistently. We want our nursery education, childcare and services for families to develop and improve month-by-month, year-by-year. Principle

The whole child is important; everything links We have used the Four Aspects from the Birth to Three Matters framework because we see them as exemplifying the importance of the whole child, and because they link well into the Every Child Matters outcomes for children.

To take an example - with this structure, we see the young childs attempts to make meaning holistically with speech, with movement, with paints, clay and other materials, through signs and gestures. We see children as creative learners rather than planning for creativity as one of the many subjects in the curriculum.

Diagram taken from the consultation document on the Early Years Foundation Stage (2006)

Working with wider Childrens Centre services, we plan coherently for a healthy child with our emphasis on outdoor and physical play in the fresh air, children growing fresh food to eat, working towards the Healthy Schools mark, and working to support breastfeeding and healthy eating for families in the neighbourhood. Healthy children at Kate Greenaway benefit from a very carefully planned settlingin procedure which takes its cue from the parent-child relationship. The child

experiences ongoing emotional support from the key person and the wider staff team. This adds to the close relationships children have with their parents, family and friends.

Principle

Special attachments between children and staff are planned for to enhance each childs sense of belonging, security, wellbeing and confidence to explore and learn. It is through secure, close relationships, with a rich learning environment, that we help children to enjoy their growing confidence, strength, creativity and communicativeness. Rich relationships, enjoyment and a stimulating learning environment foster the development of self-discipline. Childhood is seen as valid in itself When you come into Kate Greenaway, we hope you are struck by the way that the children dont just come to learn here. They can also be; and they feel absolutely that they belong here. This is especially important because some children will spend more of their waking hours in the nursery during their early years than anywhere else. We hope you are struck by the way they are spoken to, and respected as capable learners; the way they are cared for, comforted and made to feel secure in the affection of the adults.

Principle Principle

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You will see a multi-sensory, free-flowing play environment which is a place of discovery, learning and development for each individual child, suitable for different styles of thinking, learning and being. To take one example the Rose Reviews interesting and worthwhile pre-reading activities include dancing, singing, enjoying books and poetry cards, cooking from recipe books, making marks and meanings, developing an awareness of sounds including letter sounds. Together these and the many other experiences constitute a rich tapestry described altogether as the learning environment. This background tapestry enables each individual child to develop, think, act and make meanings in a unique and creative way.

Principle

The Profile Books, richly illustrated with photos and with drawings and paintings, are part of this celebration of the child as she or he is today. They enable a dialogue with parents, which helps all of us to understand the logic of what children are doing, and to understand why. This can also help to reinterpret naughty behaviour as behaviour which shows the childs drive to learn and develop. Children climbing the walls in small

Principle

flats can be helped to find experiences in nursery which match their growing physical strength and confidence.

We plan rich experiences which match the childs interests and development today; we organise direct teaching, and provide conversation and shared, sustained thinking to help children understand more difficult ideas and concepts, or develop important skills. This cycle begins with careful observation and assessment, undertaken by staff working closely with parents. Tina Bruce (1987) summarises this as observe, support, extend - an approach which is developed in the guidance to the Early Years Foundation Stage.

Principle

Principle

At Kate Greenaway we try to plan for continuity, rather than planning for transitions. Children can always take part in planned experiences at many different levels. For example, they can experiment with mixing paints using hands, arms and feet; and they can make detailed paintings using high-quality, fine artists brushes. Our assessment system, with its circles covering the range of development from birth onwards, reflects this approach. It is enabling the two teams to work closely together and develop a common professional language which encourages discussion, debate, getting through difficulties and solving the problems which inevitably arise in the attempt to capture, describe and keep the flavour of childrens learning from babyhood and through early childhood. It helps parents to see, clearly, their childrens progress during the years they are at Kate Greenaway. This common language helps with the observations that we do as part of our day to day working, and it helps us look at the possible lines of direction to help each child to reach their full potential. It allows us as a staff to plan for development to think about the interests of the children in our care. The circles help us to celebrate the changes that each child goes through throughout their time with us ranging from one to four years. The decision to use the circles also honours the work of Urie Bronfenbrenner, the psychologist and co-founded of the American Head Start programme. Bronfenbrenners model of the ecology of human development shows the child nested at the centre of relationships and experiences. Learning and development come about as the result of interactions between the child, other people, and experiences.

What children can do is the starting point in their education

Capturing development, thinking about learning The Profile Books enable us to capture the incredible journey each child will make in the crucial phase of early childhood. Children start with learning through the basic senses, through movement, communication, play, feelings, mark-making and communication. We observe and assess the childs whole development across all these aspects so that we can then plan to support, enhance and deepen it. Particularly towards the end of a childs time in nursery, different aspects of development, cultural experience, and learning interact together. Our planning policy outlines how we plan to support more complex emerging symbolic behaviour extended pretend, imaginative and creative free-flow play. We plan to support the increased physical co-ordination of the body and planning of movements. We plan to support the childs growing awareness of emotions, and ability to think in more abstract and complex ways, and to express more difficult ideas and communicate at greater length (through speech, making marks, and using sign). The use of extended narrative observations, sometimes with photos, is particularly suited to the attempt to capture this developing complexity. In addition, the Effective Early Learning observation tools enable us to track childrens increasing capacity to become deeply involved in their learning. The Profile Books enable us to judge how effectively we are building learning over time, and to reflect on our planned curriculum.

FAQs: Profile Books at Kate Greenaway Nursery School and Childrens Centres How often are the books updated? What are they updated with? We meet with every family every term (for the Review Meeting) and use the Profile Book as the focus for a discussion about the childs wellbeing, development and learning. To inform this meeting, the childs key person will have added at least 2 new narrative observations, or a combination of shorter observations and other documentation (such as photos). Narrative and shorter observations are intended as raw information: giving a direct account of what happened, when, and where. They also describe the childs body language, emotional response, and quote what the child said or signed in BSL or Makaton (if anything). The key person will analyse the observations, using the circles. Statements on the circles are highlighted and dated. Parents are invited to update the Profile Books whenever they want to, to include significant information about the child. Profile Books are always accessible to parents. There is a termly workshop about the Profile Books to encourage parent involvement. The nursery has paper, glue, scissors and digital cameras available for parents to use. Do staff keep additional professional records about childrens progress? No. One of the key aims of the Profile Book system is that all the information is shared directly with the parent. The books are not scrapbooks: they are assessment documents completed to a high professional standard. Minutes of meetings with parents (e.g. multi-agency reviews) are kept separate from the Profile Books as they include confidential information in them. Will there be evidence every time a childs achievement is highlighted on the circles? Most of the items highlighted and dated will link to an observation, photo or sample. But sometimes staff will use their professional judgement to conclude that a child understands a particular concept or has gained a particular skill, for example. Is everything in the Profile Book typed up and edited? The Profile Book is a working document, which we have chosen to make public. Observations are taken on the hoof by the staff, and photos are taken to seize the moment of a childs learning. So there may be crossings-out, mis-spellings and out-offocus pictures in a Profile Book. When children leave Kate Greenaway, a summative report is written. This includes a summary of the childs achievements at Kate Greenaway, with key notes about the childs social and emotional development, and learning style. Parents and children

also contribute their views to this document. This document is carefully edited, spellchecked, and presented to a high standard. Can children look at the books? How are their views included in this system? Children can look at the Profile Books in the special area outside the nursery class (the books are not in the main nursery, in case of damage). Older children are asked for their views, which are included in the books. Younger childrens views are interpreted through the use of photos and observations (for example, to indicate enjoyment, or uncertainty, or unhappiness). What happens to the Profile Book when the child leaves? The book is given to the childs family. A copy of the circles, an illustrated narrative observation and a summative report are sent to the receiving school. How do the assessments in the Profile Books link to planning? The majority of the curriculum is planned at Kate Greenaway through the Core Experiences document. The curriculum is then further differentiated in response to assessments of individual childrens learning and interests. To ensure that the curriculum is inclusive, the nurserys Provision Map is updated every term following consultation with the Educational Psychologist, Speech and Language Therapist, Occupational Therapist, Art Therapist, and other professionals working with us. At the end of every review meeting, the key person and the parent agree individual planning for the child. This is then discussed again at the start of the next meeting. Planning at Kate Greenaway is an ongoing process we do not work from pre-set, detailed plans. We aim to consider every child and develop his or her learning over time rather than simply cover every detail of a plan. How is the Profile Book system managed? The head and assistant head meet termly to review every Profile Book, to ensure consistency. The assistant head reviews all Profile Books three times a year. On each occasion, an analytic memo is shared with staff and with governors, to summarise what the Books show about childrens achievement overall in the nursery; the achievement of boys, and girls; and the achievement of specific cohorts and groups of children. The findings of this memo will then influence subsequent planning and organisation.