Penny Tassoni’s Practical EYFS Handbook
advantages as it can help some parents feel more involved
in their child’s education. Some settings also invite parents
in to carry out observations of their children in the setting.
This requires organisation as parents may need some help
in knowing what to look out for. It also requires sensitivity
as not all parents find writing easy, so a good starting
point can be just to ask parents to use a digital camera or
to feedback about their children verbally.
Observation methods
There is a whole range of recording methods that you
can use to observe children; some are more practicable
than others. Overall, it is worth thinking about using a
range and erring towards those that are user-friendly
and will help not just you but parents and others later
on in transition learn about the child. Below are some
of the key ways in which you might choose to observe
children; note that this is not a definitive list!
Tick charts and checklists
Many settings use tick charts and checklists, although
it is not a good idea to rely totally on these because
after reading two or three children’s records, it is hard
to remember what the child can do. Think about using
them as a basis for further observations and to act
as an overall audit of how a child is working towards
the Development Matters statements and the early
learning goals. Tick charts work better if comments
are also used to bring them to life or when you link
them to other observations that you have done.
In the example learning story below, observations are
carried out fortnightly by the children’s key person to
check that different areas of development are being
looked at. Every six weeks, a summative record is
produced to check children’s progress in each of the six
areas of learning based on these observation sheets.
At planning meetings, key persons talk about what
activities, needs or interests their key children have.
These are incorporated into the weekly plans.
Name: Ayse
Observation
Date: 12/8/08
that it was time to
Ayse found her shoes when I said
worked out which
but
go outdoors. She took a moment,
to fasten the
aged
man
She
.
foot
h
shoe went on whic
pleased with
very
was
buckles without any support. She
herself.
clothes and shoes
Ayse can now put on most of her
herself.
dressed herself.
Provide time so that she can get
What next?
dressing up clothes
find
and
zip
a
Show her how to use
with zips.
will help her to
Look out for role play clothes that
les.
buck
and
zips
ons,
butt
practise
.
PSE Self-Care (30–50 months)
the
to
Links
(30–50 months).
rials
mate
and
nt
pme
equi
g
PD Usin
EYFS
making and also record speech.
Notes for next CLL Look out for mark
observation
What does it
mean?
Ayse’s learning story
Learning stories or journeys
Post-it notes
This is a lovely way of both observing children and
providing a structure for planning for individual children.
This method works well with all age ranges and is
popular with parents. The idea is that you carry out a
short written observation, take a photograph if possible
and then draw some conclusions about what you have
seen. You also include some suggestions of what the
child’s next steps might be and ways in which they might
be supported. Note that it is important if you do this to
ensure that any activities suggested are then carried out.
Some settings rely on this method heavily.
Some settings find it useful to write down notes as and
when they see children engaged in play. The notes are
named, dated and linked to the EYFS areas of Learning
and Development. Some large group settings also create
a large grid on a notice board so that as a post-it note
is written, it can be popped up alongside the child’s
name. This is useful because it helps staff to see which
children need to be observed. Post-it notes as a method of
recording only work if you take the time to collate them.
(Many examples of Learning journeys are found on the
EYFS CD-Rom. To access these, from the Home page
click on ‘Enabling Environments’, then click again on
‘3.1 Observation, Assessment and Planning’. When
the new page comes up, in the far right-hand column
scroll down until you come to ‘Resources’. Under this
heading you will find Learning journeys for each area
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of Learning and Development as well as a Learning
journey template.)
Digital methods
It is helpful to use some of the digital technology available
to make the observation and assessment system easier and
also more interesting for parents. I personally think that it is
worth setting up a digital folder for children’s observations,
which can be used alongside some of the ‘paper-based’
systems. As with paper-based systems, it is essential to
think about security; for example, have a memory stick
for each child or a password for each digital folder.
Implementing the Early Years Foundation Stage
You could consider using some of the following digital
methods, or better still all of them.
Method
Uses
Digital camera
Ideal for taking photographs
of children in ‘action’ as well as
photos of products that children
have made. Think about whether
children can take some of the
photographs, as this links to
the ICT aspect of Learning and
Development within Knowledge
and Understanding of the World.
Film clips
Many digital cameras allow the user
to take short videos, or you might
invest in a camcorder. Filming
children is useful if you find it
hard to write down what children
are doing or if you want to ‘show’
parents what their child has been
doing. Film clips are especially
popular with parents who leave
their babies and toddlers in your
care.
Sound
recordings
You can use MP3 recorders,
dictaphones or even mobile
phones to get a sound recording.
These are very useful to assess
children’s speech and to monitor
progress.
Handheld
devices
It is possible to purchase a
handheld device which will allow
you to take photos and film clips,
make sound recordings and
also write notes. Some software
assessment programmes are also
compatible with handheld devices,
enabling you to link any recordings
straight into the child’s records.
Incorporating observations with activity
planning
Some settings allow space on their activity plans to
make notes about individual children or produce a grid
system whereby the names of children who take part
in activities are recorded alongside some notes about
how they responded and any skills that have been
observed. In addition, some settings when planning
activities decide ahead of time what they might try and
observe during the activity. Working in this way can be
helpful when tracking children’s progress towards the
early learning goals.
Group observations (useful for the overthrees)
One of the anxieties that some practitioners and their
managers have is that when children are ‘free ranging’
they may not be learning or focusing enough on their
play. Being able to know what individual children are
interested in, how well your provision is working and
the levels of engagement that children are showing are
therefore useful.
Over a number of years, I have found it helpful to
use a group time sample as a way of collecting such
information. It works best with children over three
years old who are in a group care and education setting
and who are busy ‘free ranging’ while adults are either
involved with them or carrying out adult-focused
activities. I find that not only can I collect information
about individual children in this way, but I can also
collect information about how the provision is working.
Steps to producing a group observation
1 Create a simple grid with around nine columns.
2 Use the first column for timings – every five minutes
works well.
3 Use the other right-hand columns to record
children’s activity.
4 At the start of each five-minute slot, look to see
where the children are.
5 Use the rest of the minutes to note down any
activities that seem interesting and whether children
are leaving activities. (It is always interesting to work
out why.)
Things to look out for
I tend only to write down anything that I think is of
particular note and that I might forget otherwise. I try
and use codes rather than words as this is quicker, and
have developed my own style. When using a codebased method, I think that developing your own style
is essential as otherwise you might spend more time
looking at what code you should be using rather than
focusing on the action. This is quite an open method
of recording so you can decide ahead what you want
to look out for, or you can see what comes along at the
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