EYFS for 36mth-old - advice needed!!

[gingersnaps3]

Hi all - worried mum desperately in need of some reassurance!

My daughter will turn 3 on 11.05.21 and has been attending a private day nursery since she was 11 mths old. The nursery provides an excellent level of care. During 2020, she was absent from Apr to Aug as I was shielding. However, when her progress review was conducted in Nov, she was assessed as being a mixture of ‘secure’ and ‘developing’ on the 22-36 milestones, which we were happy with as she was only 29 mths. She missed Jan and Feb 2021 as I was shielding again, but during that time we worked hard on things like numeracy, speech, arts and crafts, imaginative play, etc. and I feel she made good progress. We are big readers in our house and she is able to make simple inferences from picture books, she can identify names and properties of simple shapes and she can do basic subtraction / addition if we’ve got, say, buttons in a jar. She can independently complete jigsaw puzzles intended for children aged 3 and up. This time last year, she could only say two words (she had mild speech delay thanks to ear blockage) but twelve months on can hold a conversation about a variety of topics. At 2.5yrs, she drew a recognisable picture of me with a baby in my tummy (I was pregnant at the time). Family members, friends and neighbours have all commented on how far she’s come since Christmas. However, since returning to nursery at the beginning of March, she is consistently being assessed as being ‘emerging’ or ‘developing’ every time an activity is uploaded to Tapestry - to the point where I am beginning to dread opening the posts! It’s as though they’re assessing her as going backwards! I have looked online at the 22-36 milestones and would say that she is secure in about 95% of them - I am by no means experienced with EYFS but I am an experienced English lead in a primary school (KS1/2/3) so I like to think I can assess her with some degree of accuracy. I have also conducted the ASQ questionnaire for 36 months and 42 months, and she able to complete most things on the lists, so I am a little baffled and quite worried. Nobody has taken us to one side to express any concerns. The girl who carries out the assessments is an apprentice and very young, and I am wondering how confident she is at assessing the children. Does anyone please have any advice/reassurance for me before I contact the room leader to query it? I have a very positive relationship with them, and I don’t want to be ‘that teacher mum’ who thinks their ‘average’ child is a genius, so I’d be really grateful of others’ views before I approach them! Thanks in advance ☺️

My almost 3 YO is being assessed on 30-50 month targets. Maybe they've switched to those instead?

Hmmm, maybe. Thank you. The emerging/developing labels would certainly make more sense if they were referring to milestones the next stage up. I wonder if the apprentice is adding the wrong milestones on Tapestry? (Although I am usually emailed a notification very late on a Saturday evening to say the post has been reviewed by admin - but then, are they properly reviewing?)

I’m usually a massive worrier about my children and by no means think the sun shines out of them, but on this occasion something just seems amiss. I’ve spent all evening on Google and every ‘What my 3yo should be doing’ article suggests she’s perfectly able. Nursery seem to be suggesting she’s barely at the level of a 2yo!

Well, given that she's a few days off being 3, it'd be odd if they're still assessing her on targets that only go up to age 3. Query it, but I imagine they've just moved her up to the next set of targets in line with her age. Admin wouldn't query it, because it's the correct set of assessment criteria for her age. Mine has been on 30-50 month targets for a while now. We've got a different app though, so it tells you which criteria they're assessing against, which is how I know.

She sounds fine for her age, I wouldn't worry.

In my opinion, private day nurseries provide day care, not education. The staff that work there aren’t teachers, they are trained in childcare. In fact you point out that the woman completing the assessments is a young apprentice, so she may only be 16 with little or no experience, being paid a pittance and completing much of the online evidence on Tapestry in her own time. The fact that someone is posting on Tapestry on a Saturday evening would worry me as it shows the nursery is not giving staff enough time in their working day to do their job.
I think you’re reading far too much into this and have unrealistic expectations. You’re a teacher, so you should know that your dd is absolutely ok in terms of progress. Nursery is a place where children learn to socialise, explore the world, be creative, and play! There will be plenty of time for formal learning when she starts primary school. Forget trying to second guess what ‘milestone’ they have used for her, just enjoy the posts on Tapestry without getting bogged down by numbers.

Also they can only assess based on what they see, so it's possible that during the time at nursery she is not showing the same level of confidence as she does at home.

Ultimately these assessment results are limited in their usefulness, you see your daughter every day, you know what she's capable of, the results of the assessments will not follow her for life, or affect her in any way they're just a snap shot of what the nursery staff see in the few hours they have her and more specifically in the few minutes of the day that are dedicated to her assessment time.

In my opinion, private day nurseries provide day care, not education

Yeah... I'd massively disagree with this. There is an EYFS curriculum, all forms of childcare are meant to follow it. Learning is vital at this age even though it doesn't take the form of sit down lessons.

My DD goes to day nursery twice a week just for the social aspect of her early education. Kids learn all the time- ignore the role of childcare in this at your peril, particularly if your DC spend a lot of time there.

@HalfShrunkMoreToGo

Also they can only assess based on what they see, so it's possible that during the time at nursery she is not showing the same level of confidence as she does at home.

Ultimately these assessment results are limited in their usefulness, you see your daughter every day, you know what she's capable of, the results of the assessments will not follow her for life, or affect her in any way they're just a snap shot of what the nursery staff see in the few hours they have her and more specifically in the few minutes of the day that are dedicated to her assessment time.

Exactly this.

@Soontobe60

In my opinion, private day nurseries provide day care, not education. The staff that work there aren’t teachers, they are trained in childcare. In fact you point out that the woman completing the assessments is a young apprentice, so she may only be 16 with little or no experience, being paid a pittance and completing much of the online evidence on Tapestry in her own time. The fact that someone is posting on Tapestry on a Saturday evening would worry me as it shows the nursery is not giving staff enough time in their working day to do their job. I think you’re reading far too much into this and have unrealistic expectations. You’re a teacher, so you should know that your dd is absolutely ok in terms of progress. Nursery is a place where children learn to socialise, explore the world, be creative, and play! There will be plenty of time for formal learning when she starts primary school. Forget trying to second guess what ‘milestone’ they have used for her, just enjoy the posts on Tapestry without getting bogged down by numbers.

This with bells on!! I work in foundation and am often shocked/appalled at some of the assessments/notes that we receive from day nurseries - even the highly regarded ones. I'm in no way criticising day nursery staff, they are so poorly paid and often have limited training or time when it comes to assessing each child.

@HalfShrunkMoreToGo

Also they can only assess based on what they see, so it's possible that during the time at nursery she is not showing the same level of confidence as she does at home.

Ultimately these assessment results are limited in their usefulness, you see your daughter every day, you know what she's capable of, the results of the assessments will not follow her for life, or affect her in any way they're just a snap shot of what the nursery staff see in the few hours they have her and more specifically in the few minutes of the day that are dedicated to her assessment time.

OP knows this. She's a teacher. She's concerned that all of a sudden the feedback has taken a massive downwards turn. That's not unreasonable, and if they were using the same milestones (which I don't think they are) it'd be a massive cause for concern- kids don't go backwards unless something is seriously amiss.

Hi OP, it sounds like you're focusing purely on the assessment part of the Tapestry observations which is a real shame. We also use Tapestry (Reception teacher) but really it's part of our evidence base for the sort of things a child can do independently, a reflection of their interests and to share with parents the sort of experiences their child is having during the school day. Our parents don't see an assessment on their observations for this very reason. I'd hate to think they've skimmed over a lovely snapshot of a child initiated activity and just made their own judgement on what stage their child should be assessed at.

I don't know if you're aware that the EYFS framework is changing in September and the age bands will no longer be there. Instead, it shows what 3-4 year olds will be learning to do. It makes much more sense and hopefully will move away from settings using Development matters as a 'tick list' - it should never be used like that. Why not take a look at it? There are observation checkpoints so when children come to us at the start of Rec we will look at those for any 'gaps' that may need securing.

It sounds like you have a great nursery there and as you say yourself they provide an excellent level of care. If they haven't reported any concerns then my guess is they don't have any. It sounds like your daughter is doing just fine and progressing well I know it's tempting to focus on levels, ages and assessments but honestly she'll have years of that ahead so just try and enjoy the Early Years while you can!

I am a childminder, I use tapestry. I would imagine that the nursery worker is clicking boxes to finish the observation and not overly thinking about it. I would ask them to confirm if they have any concerns and that it would be nice to see her being pushed for the next developmental age bracket.

Also, you can download the eyfs and print it and then use it as a checklist for what you know she can do. I did it with mine, before I was a childminder. It's good for reference and ideas of how to work on skills

@Soontobe60

In my opinion, private day nurseries provide day care, not education. The staff that work there aren’t teachers, they are trained in childcare. In fact you point out that the woman completing the assessments is a young apprentice, so she may only be 16 with little or no experience, being paid a pittance and completing much of the online evidence on Tapestry in her own time. The fact that someone is posting on Tapestry on a Saturday evening would worry me as it shows the nursery is not giving staff enough time in their working day to do their job. I think you’re reading far too much into this and have unrealistic expectations. You’re a teacher, so you should know that your dd is absolutely ok in terms of progress. Nursery is a place where children learn to socialise, explore the world, be creative, and play! There will be plenty of time for formal learning when she starts primary school. Forget trying to second guess what ‘milestone’ they have used for her, just enjoy the posts on Tapestry without getting bogged down by numbers.

This, with bells on.

I wouldn't worry the development matters is not a check list to tick off. It is a guide in practitioners want to use it. It may be that she is not as confident in the nursery setting as she is at home. If the nursery has no concerns and you have no concerns then I wouldn't worry.