EYFS 'scores'

[Rosebud05]

A friend of mine was talking about the 'scores' her 4 year old ds has been given by his nursery within the EYFS framework. I know there are 6 (?) key areas of development and I've seen a chart with development levels 1-9, but don't know much else.

What sort of 'scores' will a child starting school in September be getting, roughly? Does EYFS extend into reception?

Just curious because our nursery gives written info divided into the 6 sections, but not a numerical score.

Each of the 6 sections is broken up into a number of areas - think there are 13 in total. There are 9 "points" in each area. At the end of Reception you will be told which of these points your child has achieved.

Roughly a child starting school will have obtained the first 3 points within each area. "Average" for the end of Reception is 6 points within each area (they are not consecutive i.e a child could achieve point 7 without achieving point 6).

A nursery child shouldn't be given any scores on the EYFS profile as it is intended as a summative assessment for the end of reception.

There are 13 strands
4 CLLD Language and literacy
3 PSRN maths
3 PSE
1 Creative
1 physical
1 knowledge and understanding of the world
each strand has 9 points

Where in the country are you? Our area has just changed paperwork so now the level reached is shown in months e.g. 22-36 or 30-50 or 40-60 months and whether the child is entering, developing or secure at that level. Is this what she is referring to? Would be interested to know if you are in same county.

I mean they have changed the paperwork parents receive, just to clarify.

jade all areas should be assessing children against the development matters (age in months) for nursery and pre school children

This guidance is dated 2009

The EYFS profile should not be used in nursery units and classes. Instead, children?s progress should be monitored using the phases of development from the EYFS framework.

You misunderstand me, mrz. The area I work in uses 'progress from the start' and have just given out new paperwork which is to be filled in and sent to parents twice yearly. If you aren't in this county you won't be familiar with it. It is NOT the EYFS profile as such, it is the phases of development, as you say.

jade I was agreeing with you

We're in London. I got confused about what she meant tbh, but she was suggesting that nurseries 'score' children and that I should ask for this information. I must admit, my heart sunk at kids being 'scored' before they've even set foot in a school so I'm glad that it sounds like it's not the norm.

I've just had a look at the EYFS profile online - so should it just be used at the end of reception to summarise where each child is at?

I found the written information quite useful (apparently dd dresses herself completely independently at nursery!) but mainly wanted the 'reports' to look back on in later years rather than a formal record of her 'achievement' .

Oh, sorry I though we were talking at cross purposes.

I only thought this relevant as the paperwork we used to send to parents did not mention the phases of development. Since this term (or next for some settings) it does, so I thought perhaps if the OP is in my area, it may be why the topic has been mentioned by OP's friend- as she may not be used to seeing this data on her child's reports/progress summaries.

She's also in London. I don't know whether she was referring to new paperwork or whether it's just something they do at her nursery.

Ah ok, not my area then rosebud.
Don't worry, it isn't so much scoring as keeping a track of where they are. This is important as nurseries need to know where a child is in order to plan appropriate 'next steps' for that individual. So assessment considered key within the EYFS.

The primary purpose of the EYFS profile is to provide year 1 teachers and parents with reliable and accurate information about each child's level of development as they reach the end of the EYFS. This will enable the teacher to plan an effective, responsive and appropriate curriculum that will meet all children's needs, to support their continued achievement more fully.

Yes, our nursery plans next steps for each child, which must be within EYFS framework, I guess.

It's likely that I've got hold of the wrong end of the stick here, but it seems that EYFS is very child-centred ie building on each child's interests, then when they get more into the school system, it seems more about external targets ie SATS. Is this true? My children are both in nursery, so I'm not familiar with school settings but there definitely seem to be more concern with what they 'should' be doing when they get to school age.

Ah, you've sort of answered my question before even asked it, mrz. Does that mean that KS1 is also child-led hence would be done differently in different classes within the same school depending on the interests and skill mix within the class?

Mrz, I don't think that the OP's friend is talking about the EYFS profile though is she, but about ongoing assessment while the child is still at nursery? Or have I misunderstood?

Yes rosebud, it is very child centred and interest based at nursery, and this does tend to go out of the window at school. How much it still happens at KS1 depends on the school. Many don't really use the information from nurseries, they just do their own assessments when the child arrives.

I disagree with jade about the child centredness going out the window in schools. We always use information from nurseries but find the degree of reliability varies hugely. Once a three year old arrived in nursery already having completed the EYFS profile according to her day nursery (which she hadn't) but then parents question why their child has gone backwards

mrz, these are exactly the problems I could foresee when my friend was talking about scores. Aside from the fact that there's bound to be some variation between different practitioners, the 4 year olds at nursery are at the 'end' of their time there whilst just starting it at school, which must make a difference as to how attainment is assessed.