Clare Bears Community Pre-School Ltd
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Monitoring your Child’s Development
Staff at Clare Bears assess how the children are learning and developing through ongoing observations. Our setting uses a 'key worker' approach. This means that each member of staff has a group of children for whom they are particularly responsible. Your child's key worker will ensure that the care and education we provide is right for your child's particular needs and interests. When your child first starts, she will help your child to settle. Throughout your child's time at Clare Bears, she will help your child to benefit from the wide range of activities.
Records of achievement (Learning Journeys) are kept for each child and are published electronically through 'Tapestry' (see guide below). Your child's key person will keep this record with your input. To do this you and she/he will collect information about your child's needs, activities, interests and achievements. This information will enable the key person to identify your child's stage of progress. You and the key worker will then decide on how to help your child to move on to the next stage.
Parents meetings are usually held twice a year and provide an opportunity for you to discuss your child’s learning journey with their key person and share any information with staff that can enhance it further.
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The term learning journeys refers to a collection of evidence (e.g. photos/ videos/ observations/ art-work/ records of conversations) collected by early years practitioners that provide a picture of a child’s development under the areas of learning identified in the EYFS. Practitioners match any observations to the EYFS curriculum guidance. The aim is to build a unique picture of what each child knows, feels and can do as well as his / her particular interests and learning style. This picture can then be used to pinpoint learning priorities and plan relevant and motivating learning experiences.
A Parents’ Guide to using Tapestry
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All children attending Clare Bears Community Pre-school now have a personal online Learning Journey which records photos, observations and comments in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum. This enables us to build up a record to help assess your child’s progress and each child’s learning and achievements during their time with us.
The Tapestry system is hosted on a secure, dedicated server based in the U.K. Information and images of your child will not be shared with outside agencies or other parents. The only people able to access their online Learning Journal are members of the Pre-school staff and yourself.
You will have password protected access to your child’s online Learning Journey and we encourage you to contribute information and evidence of your child too by uploading photos, videos and comments of their learning development and experiences. We want Tapestry to be exactly that – a woven blend of information and evidence from Pre-school and home about your child, their abilities and progress made. It also has the added benefit which IT offers to give instant access in a paperless instance. You are also able to comment on observations made by the staff in the Pre-school too.
When viewing your child’s Learning Journal you will see a list of observations for you to click on. (See image)
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Once you have clicked on one you will be able to read a short paragraph about the activity your child completed which enabled us to make a judgement against the EYFS curriculum about
them. If it is an observation of your child as an individual there might be a supporting picture or video clip for you to view too. If your child took part in a group activity for privacy reasons you may not be able to view all the supporting pictures or video clips.
Please note:
The online Learning Journey is to be used to record your child’s learning and achievements. It is not to be used as a general communication tool between Pre-school and home. Staff will check weekly for parent replies and comments. They will then respond or pass onto the relevant Key worker. If you require an immediate response to an issue please speak directly to your Key worker as usual at drop off or pick up time.
We ask that you use the Tapestry in a professional manner, with respect for staff at all times and ensure that you use professional language when uploading evidence and writing comments.
We ask you not to share any images uploaded by staff onto your child’s Learning Journey on any social medias and trust you adhere to our policy
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Learning journeys: in practice
Where possible observations are focused on children taking part in everyday activities. Evidence for achieving the EYFS statements will ideally be of things the children do always and naturally without prompting. Observations are analysed against the EYFS statements for all areas of learning and next steps identified. We provide a good balance between child-initiated and adult-led activities as well as between spontaneous and planned activities. Talking to children about what they are learning and what they need to learn next also helps to involve them in their own assessment.
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Formal Assessments
There are formal assessments when a child is aged between 2 and 3 years and at the end of the academic year when they turn 5. These are not tests for the child - the assessments are based on EYFS practitioners’ observations. There is no formal assessment when a child moves from Clare Bears to Reception/Foundation Stage at primary school. They will continue to follow the EYFS. However your child’s learning journey will be passed to their new school for them to continue and use to plan for your child’s next steps.
The Progress Check at Age 2
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) requires that parents and carers must be supplied with a short written summary of their child’s development in the three prime learning and development areas of the EYFS: Personal, Social and Emotional Development; Physical Development; and Communication and Language; when the child is aged between 24-36 months
Early years foundation stage profile
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At the end of the academic year when a child turns 5 the completed learning journey assessment is known as the ‘early years foundation stage profile’.
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