baselines and trackers

[Kidston]

I need a bit of help with baselines and tracking.

When you have a child start how do you get the baseline and how do you record it?
Also do you use trackers?

At the moment in their learning journey I have their all about me document, then I have sticky note obs, long written obs and photo obs which next to them I write what they link to in the eyfs and next steps. I have a list in the back of all the eyfs stages which I highlight and date to match each ob in their lj.

Is this enough or an I missing something?

[moggy]

When you look at your LJs, can you see the child's progress? can you show where a child started and where they are now in the Areas of Learning? If yes, then what you are doing is fine.

[Kidston]

When you look at your LJs, can you see the child's progress? can you show where a child started and where they are now in the Areas of Learning? If yes, then what you are doing is fine.

I would probably say no and Im not sure how to show that. I mean I know but thats cause I know the child if an inspector looked at it I dont think they would be able to clearly see it.

[moggy]

I would probably say no and Im not sure how to show that. I mean I know but thats cause I know the child if an inspector looked at it I dont think they would be able to clearly see it.

Maybe this would help:

Learning Journal: August 2012
(PDF, 11 pages, 193KB); or editable Word version

West Sussex County Council: Observation, assessment and planning (http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/doing_business/running_your_business/early_years_and_childcare/practice_and_provision/observation_assessment_and_pl.aspx)

Page 10 is a tracker for Childminders to use. Print 1 per child. I just go through DM, find a 'best fit' for each Area/Aspect and mark a horizontal line in the age/stage box for each Area/aspect (I use a highlighter pen). I repeat 2-3 times a year with a different colour each time and note the date, then as time passes you see the horizontal lines move down the page = progress. I put the highlighter pen line at the top of the age/stage box if child is just starting to fit in that box and at the bottom if they are completely there, in the middle if they are in the middle.

[Kidston]

Maybe this would help:

Learning Journal: August 2012
(PDF, 11 pages, 193KB); or editable Word version

West Sussex County Council: Observation, assessment and planning (http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/doing_business/running_your_business/early_years_and_childcare/practice_and_provision/observation_assessment_and_pl.aspx)

Page 10 is a tracker for Childminders to use. Print 1 per child. I just go through DM, find a 'best fit' for each Area/Aspect and mark a horizontal line in the age/stage box for each Area/aspect (I use a highlighter pen). I repeat 2-3 times a year with a different colour each time and note the date, then as time passes you see the horizontal lines move down the page = progress. I put the highlighter pen line at the top of the age/stage box if child is just starting to fit in that box and at the bottom if they are completely there, in the middle if they are in the middle.

Thank you thats really helpful but im going to sound really stupid now but what do you mean by you find a best fit for each area?

[Kidston]

Also i have a summative assessment template which my LA have advised me to do every 3 months or so would this tracker be instead of the summative assessment or as well as?

[moggy]

Thank you thats really helpful but im going to sound really stupid now but what do you mean by you find a best fit for each area?

Best fit means you don't literally tick off each DM statement, you read the whole of an Aspect for an age-bracket and see if you feel the child 'fits' in that age-bracket or the one above or below. DM is not a tick list and only is a list of possible typical development stages.

[moggy]

Also i have a summative assessment template which my LA have advised me to do every 3 months or so would this tracker be instead of the summative assessment or as well as?

I do this tracker alongside a progress review sheet, also in the link. I write a brief 'what I can do ' and next steps per Area, with parent input, 2-3 times a year.

[Simona]

I need a bit of help with baselines and tracking.

When you have a child start how do you get the baseline and how do you record it?
Also do you use trackers?

At the moment in their learning journey I have their all about me document, then I have sticky note obs, long written obs and photo obs which next to them I write what they link to in the eyfs and next steps. I have a list in the back of all the eyfs stages which I highlight and date to match each ob in their lj.

Is this enough or an I missing something?

If you have recorded the starting points do a quick summative assessment and move on to the actual next steps...choose a few in each area according to the child's knowledge so far

what is that you want to child to achieve in his/her next steps in the areas of learning? are you covering the Prime Areas due to age of child?
what will you plan/provide for the child to achieve the steps?
observe and rack the progress in the Development Matters which is your non statutory guide with both planned activities and child initiated play

You can use any documents you like but DM is you child development guide which you can then use in conjunction with EY Outcomes

I am confused as to why cms buy 'trackers' when the DM helps you tracks progress for you and it is all in one doc?

Good luck

[mum67]

Simona on my pre reg course we were given examples of them, along with obs, next steps sheet etc so I think we have been sheperd into using them reallly.
It does seem as though you are just repeating everything all the time, I am doing what I think is right at the minute and best for me and hope it doesn't affect my inspection too much if I don't have all paperwork but am recording what is relevant.

[Simona]

Simona on my pre reg course we were given examples of them, along with obs, next steps sheet etc so I think we have been sheperd into using them reallly.
It does seem as though you are just repeating everything all the time, I am doing what I think is right at the minute and best for me and hope it doesn't affect my inspection too much if I don't have all paperwork but am recording what is relevant.

I would disagree with this and this is my personal view

You can be given an example from which you can develop your own format...that is different from using whatever the LA hands CMs...many find the LA own paperwork very confusing and adding to the burden of recording progress
This goes with anything given to cms but written by someone else...you need to understand it and tweak it to your style

LAs have handed the same paperwork to Network CMs for years...easy I suppose and betterr than having to look at each CM's paperwork as an individual...some CMs referred to it as cloning...all the same and all uniform

If the recording/assessment appears to be repetitive then look at it and reflect on why ...it should not be repetitive but it will depend on what format you use...

progress is linked across the 7 areas and ...yes...there are instances where you have already assessed something in another area...say PSED and it appears again in PD...in this case just refer to it

The best format of observations and assessment is the one a CM can argue with and challenge an inspector on because she is confident of what she is doing and knows her child best....and one where the progress can be seen as ongoing and in a very simple format with photos as evidence

In future we will see many more companies coming up and tempting CMs with their paperwork....think twice before paying out for something you can devise yourself and put your Copyright on ......My view of course

[natlou82]

This is what I do at present:-
All About Me and Individual Needs sheets filled in by parents, obs done from day 1, parent meet after a couple of weeks to discuss what I have observed so far as a start point and go through what child can do from parents perspective. Starting points assessment after 4-6 weeks and a copy to parents. At this point I will also complete baseline on the tracker. This is all quite new to me, so doing what I think works but it will no doubt change over time :-)