1. What’s new in Early Years? Autumn 2013
Elizabeth Simpkin
Strategic Lead - Early Years

2. Early Years Outcomes www. gov
Early Years Outcomes
Published in September 2013
Non-statutory but issued by DfE and recognised by Ofsted
Reproduces the unique child statements from ‘Development Matters’
Areas of Learning re-ordered to match EYFS Profile
Same age bands to support best-fit judgements about whether a child is showing typical development for their age, may be at risk of delay or is ahead for their age

3. Revised Subsidiary Guidance Sept 2013 v3
No prescribed method of assessing children when they start school
But...
School leaders should be able to discuss how they measure children’s starting points and the proportions of children that demonstrate ‘development that is typical for their age’.
No requirement for schools to be ‘generating hundreds of assessments for every child’.
They must develop an approach that meets the needs of their children, informs teaching and demonstrates children's progress from their starting points

4. Progress from EYFSP ELGs do not translate precisely to NC levels
Children who reach a good level of development at the end of Reception ought to be reaching at least Level 2b by the end of KS1
Children exceeding the ELGs ought to be reaching Level 2a as a minimum but more likely Level 3.
The progress made in the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 must be taken into account when making the judgement about achievement in the whole of a primary school. It is not enough to look at indicators of progress from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 2 alone.

5. Ofsted inspection in EYFS
Lead inspector to decide how much time to spend in the Early Years Foundation Stage having scoped the size, age range and needs in the pre inspection phone call.
Observations of children’s learning and the quality of teaching should include a balance of adult-led/adult-structured and child-initiated (selected) activities.
Inspectors will plan to evaluate assessment processes during lesson observations
Discussions with the school should include evaluation of the Early Years Foundation Stage leadership.

6. Inspectors have been advised to scrutinise learning journals in order to:
Evaluate the progress of more able, average, less able children
checking that:
attainment in all areas of learning is evaluated
observations of children are dated
references to EY Outcomes explain whether children are working securely at expected levels eg beside a relevant observation
next step targets are recorded effectively and there is evidence to show that each child has met their target
parents contribute evidence or comments about their child and staff respond to them