Dr Sue Allingham reflects on a consultation she carried out at an EYFS setting in a small Primary School.
The Small School
This one form entry school requested a review as the Senior Leadership Team felt insecure with their knowledge of the EYFS and wanted to be able to support their Reception teacher as they felt that she needed some help and they weren’t sure how to go about it.
During a discussion with the Head and Deputy the format and specific focus of the day was agreed. After a brief meeting with the Class Teacher and the Teaching Assistants, the rest of the morning was spent observing practice and the quality of provision.
The afternoon was spent with the Class Teacher going through Learning Journals, assessment and planning. The Teacher was also anxious to talk about the outdoor area.
Having time for discussion with the Teacher was really useful as she was keen to share and discuss ideas. Between us we agreed on key actions and the way forward
The Key Issues
- Effective deployment of staff in the environment
- Creating an effective learning environment inside and out
- Observation, assessment and planning
- Whole school understanding of the Early Years and how it isn’t ‘separate and different’, but integral for all to understand and build on
Immediate actions were put into place regarding the ‘room awareness’ of the team, and how they could be used more effectively to teach and challenge appropriately. Including everyone in observations, assessment and planning was key to this
An action plan was put in place to focus on coaching and mentoring the team with effective observation, assessment and planning.
This project was three days of consultancy leaving the team in a good place to move forward with a more secure, whole school, understanding of good practice in the Early Years.
Dr Sue Allingham reflects on a consultation she carried out at an EYFS setting in a large Primary School.
The Primary School
This large Primary School is two form entry. The SLT requested an EYFS Review as they wanted to completely overhaul their provision – with regard to both the environments and the teaching and learning. This is an ongoing project.
The first stage of this work has been a focus on the learning environment. This work is based on an audit of the provision to reflect on how it underpins the Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning. The obvious priority at this school had be the environment as it was cluttered and muddled inside and out. This was having a negative impact on teaching, learning and behaviour.
Observations made during the morning clearly showed the impact of the clutter, this was highlighted by a sample of the Learning Journals. A similar situation to the first case study, in that every journal was identical and did not reflect the uniqueness of each child. The Journals were also a clear indicator of the lack of challenge for the children resulting in low expectations and missed opportunities.
The Key Issues
These are broadly similar with the first study, which is often the case. The format of the Review process is designed to highlight which of the issues needs the greatest focus first. In this instance it is the learning environment.
- Effective deployment of staff in the environment
- Creating an effective learning environment inside and out
- Observation, assessment and planning
- Whole school understanding of the Early Years and how it isn’t ‘separate and different’, but integral for all to understand and build on