Planning and Assessment
The Learning Journey
At Bumbles we observe and assess your child every minute of every day. The practitioners in your child's room will use their knowledge and expertise to engage your child in fun, stimulating and educational activities. We will then use their interests and their own choices to carefully plan further opportunities to learn through play.
Each child will have their own online profile which is a working document, this will be completed by your child's key person and you as the main carer. We will regularly hold parent consultation meetings to discuss your child's development and allow you to contribute to their development file.
To assess your child we will use an online assessment tool called Learning Book, this can be easily shared with parents through a secure log in system, not only allowing you to read through your child's assessment, but also enabling you to contribute to their learning journey very easily. To read more about Learning Book, please click here.
The principles that should underpin assessment of young children’s learning and development are as follows.
Reliable and accurate assessment should be based primarily on the practitioner’s knowledge of the child, gained predominantly from observation and interaction in a range of daily activities and events.
A well-thought-through pedagogy must be in place so that the provision enables each child to demonstrate their learning and development fully.
Practitioners should be looking for evidence of ‘embedded learning’ – this is identified by assessing what a child can do consistently and independently in a range of everyday situations.
An effective assessment should present a holistic view of a child’s learning and development.
Accurate assessments need to include contributions from a range of perspectives including the child (whenever possible), their parents and other relevant adults.
If you have any other ideas on how we can involve parents and guardians in their child's development file, please do not hesitate to contact us or speak to your child's key person.
The Early Years Foundation Stage
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is a government framework that sets out minimum standards of care and learning that all childcare providers are expected to deliver. Its purpose is to ensure that all children are provided with a rich learning experience tailored to their individual needs, whilst being cared for in a safe and secure environment. The EYFS contains a series of Early Learning Goals that sets out what most children are expected to achieve by the end of their reception year.
“The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets the standards that all early years providers must meet to ensure that children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe. It promotes teaching and learning to ensure children’s ‘school readiness’ and gives children the broad range of knowledge and skills that provide the right foundation for good future progress through school and life.”
EYFS Specific Requirements;
-Quality and consistency in all early years settings, so that every child makes good progress and no child gets left behind.
-A secure foundation through learning and development opportunities which are planned around the needs and interests of each individual child and are assessed and reviewed regularly.
-Equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice, ensuring that every child is included and supported.
-Keep children safe and promote their welfare.
Every child is a unique child, who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.
-Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships.
-Children learn and develop well in enabling environments, in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between practitioners and parents.
-Children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates.
-The learning and development requirements are informed by the best available evidence on how children learn and reflect the broad range of skills, knowledge and attitudes children need as foundations for good future progress. Early years providers must guide the development of children’s capabilities with a view to ensuring that children in their care complete the EYFS ready to benefit fully from the opportunities ahead of them.
-Contrary to some comments in the press, the EYFS is NOT a curriculum for young children – it is simply a guide to help childcare practitioners provide effective learning opportunities that are adapted to the needs of each child.
Bumbles Day Nursery continually observe, listen to and assess the children in our care. This enables us to record each child’s achievements in each of the seven areas of learning and development then plan activities and provide resources that will extend each individual child’s learning and development.
Your Child's Profile
Famly is an app available to parents which informs you of your child's day. You will recieve notifications for nappy changes, mealtimes and activities your child participates in.
We also use the Famly app to track your child's learning and development. You have access to this at any time and can add observations yourself. The app is accessible 24 hours per day and direct messages can be sent to your child's room or the management team.
The link to download the app is https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/famly-app/id807454588
Progress Check
When a child is aged between two and three, we will review their progress and provide parents with a short written summary of their child’s development in the prime areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage.
This progress check identifies the child’s strengths, and any areas where the child’s progress is less than expected. If there are significant emerging concerns, or an identified special educational need or disability, our Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator develops a targeted plan to support the child’s future learning and development, involving parents and health professionals as appropriate.
Beyond the prime areas, the written summary includes a description of achievements reflecting the development level and needs of the individual child. The summary highlights areas in which a child is progressing well, areas in which some additional support might be needed, and focuses particularly on any areas where there is a concern that a child may have a developmental delay (which may indicate a special educational need or disability).
The two year check describes the activities and strategies we intend to adopt to address any issues or concerns. If a child moves settings between the ages of two and three, the progress check would usually be undertaken by the setting where the child has spent most time.
We discuss with parents how the summary of development can be used to support learning at home. Parents are encouraged to share information from the progress check with other relevant professionals, including their health visitor and the staff of any new provision the child may transfer to.
We agree with parents when will be the most useful point to provide a summary. Where possible, the progress check and the Healthy Child Programme health and development review at age two (when health visitors gather information on a child’s health and development, allowing them to identify any developmental delay and any particular support from which they think the child/family might benefit) should inform each other and support integrated working. This allows health and education professionals to identify strengths as well as any developmental delay and provide support from which they think the child/family might benefit. We always seek the consent of parents to share information directly with other relevant professionals.
The Key Person System
The importance of the key person...
The key person is a named practitioner who has responsibilities for a small group of children, they are there to help the child feel safe and secure. The role is important for both child and parent and it is an approach set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage.
Each child at Bumbles Day Nursery is assigned a key person to help ensure that every child’s care is tailored to meet their individual needs, to help the child become familiar with the nursery, offer a settled relationship for the child and build a relationship with their parents.
Each child will be assigned a key person who will be introduced to the child and parents on your child's first day. The key person helps ensure that every child’s learning and care is tailored to meet their individual needs and provides a firm bridge between nursery and home life. The key person will support parents in guiding their child’s development at home and would help families engage with more specialist support if necessary.
