Reception - EYFS writing targets (any teachers out there...?)

[FlirtyThirty]

Please can someone tell me where I can find exactly what the EYFS literacy targets for writing are?

Where I can see some examples of actual 'graded' writing?

And how/when are the children generally assessed?

Also...out of interest, what's the feeling on the expected targets? Are these too easy? Too hard? Ok?

Information on the writing element of the curriculum really appreciated!

[Iamnotminterested]

Why are you asking? Not a flippant comment, just genuinely interested?

[OfstedOrganised]

The profile is moderated against these exemplificstion materials. Scroll down to see the writing one (with loads of examples).

www.gov.uk/government/publications/eyfs-profile-exemplication-materials

[OfstedOrganised]

www.gov.uk/government/publications/eyfs-profile-exemplication-materials

[mrz]

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/259219/elg10_writing_001.pdf

[mrz]

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/259219/elg10_writing_001.pdf

[FlirtyThirty]

Thank you all!
Will look into these.

In answer why I'm asking.....My child's reception teacher commented that she did not expect more than 3-4 of the 30 children in the class to achieve the writing target.
She mentioned the need to write approx 4 sentences, complete with capitals and full stops, with perfectly formed letters.
I am genuinely surprised that she felt this would be achieved for so few...

I wonder if this is representative of this particular class, the teacher...or if indeed it's a more widely felt view held by teachers about the particular target?? I am just interested...

[Pie8er]

I'd tend to agree with your child's teacher...Personally, I find that the writing early learning goal extremely difficult to achieve. My Reception class find it very tricky and I'd expect far less than 10 to achieve it.

[FlirtyThirty]

That's very interesting, Pie8er! Thanks for the insight.
I won't hothouse my DS then (like he'd let me even if I wanted to!). ;-)

[LittleMissGreen]

I thought that on average 40% of children met the expected level in reception, since the government raised the benchmark last year, but I could be wrong.
But I guess this must vary by catchment area e.g. a school like ours where most children come in below expected benchmarks would struggle more than one where children come in at expected/above average attainment. (Disclaimer: our school is in Wales so we have different benchmarks to meet than England, so could be wrong with above statistics)

[maisie123]

The expected statement is " Children use their phonic knowledge to write words in ways which match their spoken sounds. They also write some irregular common words. They write sentences which can be read by themselves and others. Some words are spelt correctly and others are phonetically plausible."
Nowhere does it mention how many sentences have to be written nor the punctuation needed, although I know the exemplifications have examples. The examples vary from one sentence to a beautifully written set of instructions. Moderation is a nightmare. However personally I do think four correctly punctuated sentences is too high a benchmark. It is supposed to be a best fit.

[mrz]

I think that is the problem maisie some teachers will award the point for one OK sentence whereas others will have higher expectations so depending on the teacher a less able write may achieve the ELG while in another school a much better writter may not.

[columngollum]

I don't see how perfection in sentences can be part of the requirement. Teachers on TES are having enormous problems in Y1 working out what a sentence is and that's the teachers!

Methinks, if those are the EYFS writing goals, someone is living in Cloudcukooland.

[maisie123]

I know APP levels are going out but even at 2A the chn are not expected to punctuate sentences correctly 100% of time -"sentence demaraction with capital letters and full stops usually accurate" (my italics). My LEA says this means in over 50% of writing. And yes I do realise that for 2A you would get more than four sentences but the principle is the same. For what it's worth I look for about 2/3 sentences with some punctuation.

[mrz]

I would expect correct punctuation most of the time for anything above 2C. My LEA wouldn't accept 50% accuracy for 2B.

[Hellocleaveland]

We were moderated last year and only 5 of my class achieved the ELG in writing (very middle class suburban 'outstanding' state school). One child who I thought would just scrape it didn't in the end achieve it because the moderator felt she should have more key words spelt correctly. Explaining to parents that their children probably won't achieve a goal that they would have met two years ago is a nightmare. As for getting an 'exceeding' in writing, we were told that writing would have to be around a level 2c to award that. Recent training I have attended suggested that there is to be a little more flexibility this year, but I still don't anticipate more than a third of the class achieving the goal. Rather demoralising really.

[Sheneverdid]

Just want to jump in and ask a question out of curiosity.

Dd is currently a 2 (class average) on her assessments in YR, and she is predicted to be a 6 by the end of the year. What level does it go up to before it gets to the levels I'm familiar with e.g 1a, 1b etc?

[OfstedOrganised]

HelloCleaveland, how much evidence did you produce for writing? Was it all child initiated?

[MrsKCastle]

I think there's a lot of inconsistency in how the ELGs are being awarded in different schools. DD1 was assessed as being much higher than she actually was at the end of YR last year. The teacher put her as exceeding for writing, but at that stage she didn't use full stops, could only write a very few words correctly (e.g. I, the, me) and could perhaps have managed 2 sentences with an adult sat next to her, encouraging her. I would barely have assessed her as expected, let alone exceeding.

The ELGs are meaningless if they mean different things in different LAs/schools- which is a shame as they should be a helpful measure.

[MrsKCastle]

Just looking again at Hellocleaveland's post- you needed a 2c to award exceeding- my DD is not yet at 2c in Y1, yet supposedly was exceeding last year. It's ridiculous!

[columngollum]

At the risk of going off topic, soon all assessments are going to vary from school to school Then perhaps they'll all be meaningless!

[mrz]

There is no requirement for a child to be a 2C to be awarded exceeding but that is the way one LEA is interpreting it, I've heard others say 1B for exceeding and others 1C so definitely inconsistent.

[GoodnessIsThatTheTime]

I suspect there is a lot of inconsistency. My daughter has been marked to be exceeding in all areas at the end of term, including in writing. She is bright, but I'm not sure she's that bright. Just bright in a low-achieving area so stands out more perhaps?

She does use full stops and occasional capital letter. (Usually the very first sentence gets one, then who knows). Her sentences are phonetic - but its very hard going as most words aren't like the "correct" spelling.

I clicked the thread as her goal apparently is to write more stories. But this has to be unpromted... she will happily write if you ask her but not unpromted! Her stories are very very basic too.

[RiversideMum]

Moderation is supposed to mean that there is consistency. The issue that I struggled with last year was looking at the balance of teacher-led and child-initiated writing. So many schools now are doing talk for writing and other very structured writing schemes in reception, and (from what I saw in moderation) using that as the only writing evidence. The assessment is best fit, not a tick list. The children certainly don't need to be writing sentences with punctuation to get the expected level of achievement.

[mrz]

So lower expectation than the old profile?

[RiversideMum]

Did they need punctuated sentences for the old profile? Can't honestly remember!!!