EYFS Assessment

[tiger79]

Am I responsible for doing the EYFS Assessment for the children I mind?

Child 1 - Age 40 months - Attends playgroup 3 sessions a week, the rest of the time she is with me.

Child 2 - Age 27 months - Attends playgroup 1 session a week, the rest of the week he is with me.

Should the assessment be an ongoing thing or should it be done when the child is about to enter the next development stage?

All my parents think it is unbeliveable what we have to do as childminders, all they are interested in is that their child is safe and cared for.

[sarah707]

I am not sure what you mean by assessment...

At the very end of the Eyfs when a child leaves reception class and goes into year 1 their reception teacher does an assessment against the criteria in the Eyfs...

Up until then we all (childminders, other settings) do observations, brief assessments linking obs to the Eyfs and next steps planning.

If they are over 3 we might also involve them in group activities around things they enjoy such as minibeasts, the seasons etc.

As part of our obs / assess/ plan cycle we might write some brief summary assessments every term or every 6 months or every year and some inspectors seem to expect these...

However they are just one way of showing a child's progression and sharing it with parents and they can be very short and sweet...

For example... During the spring I have learned to... and state the child's new skills for each of the 6 areas of L & D.

A lot of childminders do not do these types of assessments at all! They are a choice thing and seem to earn brownie points with some inspectors.

However they are not a requirement.

hth :D