Creating an effective assessment system

Ways to help create an effective assessment system

It is highly important to have an effective assessment system in place to not only show children’s progress but to highlight the necessary changes that are to be made to the environment to meet the needs of the children.

New terminology used within the New Common Inspection Framework regarding assessment emphasises on ensuring children make ‘typical’ progress. This means that children in the early years must make better than ‘typical’ progress and for children who are falling behind must ‘catch up quickly’

To help make this more clearer a child who is consistently meeting age related expectations is making typical progress. For children who are not meeting age related expectations due to having additional needs, must show progress made from when they started. This is where children who have additional needs require the necessary level of support and inventions are important.

Knowing all this information means that practitioners must ensure children are meeting age related expectations as all children should make significant progress including those with SEND.

What effective assessments do you have in place in your setting? Are these working and do they give you the relevant information to ensure children are receiving the necessary support to help them meet the age related expectations.

Here are some ways to help create an effective assessment system

First stage

• When a child starts nursery, collect information from parents regarding child’s interests at home.
• Observe the child over the next few weeks and use the development matters that are in the EYFS to help you track the children’s progress towards the early year’s outcomes.

Second stage

• Use information from initial observations to make a best fit judgement to use as on an entry assessment. Indicate on your proforma whether the child is emerging, developing or secure within a certain age band for each area of learning. Assessments carried out when a child starts are called a formative assessment.
• Have set times to carry out further formative assessment eg at the end of each term, again record this on your proforma this will give you an overview as to the child’s progress.
• At the same time as carrying out your formative assessment at the end of each term, write a progress summary for each child covering the areas of the EYFS, some nurseries just concentrate on the prime areas for the under 2’s and the specific for the older children. This progress summary can be used as the 2 year review check.

Third Stage

• Some nurseries have a system where the information is put on a spreadsheet this gives them an overview of the child’s progress and provides practitioners and managers with data.

By having an effective assessment system in place it will highlight if any children are falling behind and what necessary steps need to be put into place in order for the child to make significant progress.