Chapter 1. Observation
‘Listening not just with our ears but with all the senses….to the hundreds,
thousands of languages we use to express ourselves and communicate’
Rinaldi,C. (2005) p.65
Planning
Observation
Look Listen and Note
● Discussion with children
and adults
● Gathering information
Assessment
Observation is the starting point of the cycle. All children need their practitioners to know:
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What I can do
How I learn
What I enjoy
Who I am
Who my special people are
If they are to meet their learning and development needs effectively.
The Best Practice Observation Card provides a starting point for practitioners to reflect upon
the range of information they currently collect and how this is managed. Chapter 4 includes case
studies from Bolton schools and settings that share the journeys undertaken by practitioners as
they explored different ways of really looking, listening and taking notice of their children and
reflecting this in their observation, assessment and planning systems.
Observation, Assessment and Planning
Observing and Documenting Children’s
Learning
How can we gather information effectively?
The EYFS emphasises the importance of knowing and understanding each child as a unique
individual. Everyone involved with the child should strive to learn as much about the child as
possible. This knowledge will evolve from observing and communicating with the child and family
through regular interactions. The process is very much a three way communication with the
child, practitioner and family and should value contributions from all parties. For more information
about gathering evidence see ‘Progress Matters – reviewing and enhancing young children’s
development’, National Strategies, 2009.
What should be documented?
All documentation must be purposeful and provide evidence to support the overall picture of the
child’s development. Evidence which is collected should inform others and enable the child to
reflect on significant moments and learning.
The recording of these significant moments will show clear leaps and progress in the child’s
learning and development.
Evidence should also reflect the child’s learning and development across the six areas of learning
within the EYFS. It is only by building this whole picture up that we can meet the learning and
development needs of the whole child. There needs to be a balanced approach to the time
practitioners spend recording as we must keep forefront in our minds that the best resource a child
can have access to is supportive, responsive adults. There also needs to be a balance regarding
the source of evidence in that the majority should be from independent, self-initiated activities and
a small proportion from adult-led or directed tasks. Using the following reflective questions can
ensure you are recording essential moments and being as effective as you can when supporting
children’s learning.
Reflective questions to encourage purposeful documentation:
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How will this information help me to support the child/children involved?
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How does this impact on the environment?
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How can I follow this up?
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Who else needs to be informed and/or involved? (key person, parent, after school
club supervisor, speech and language therapist)
Effective recording of children’s learning and development should:
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Be clear and concise
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Be dated and initialled by the practitioner
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Be positive and describe children’s individual achievements and progress
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Reflect the whole child’s learning and development
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Highlight significant moments within each area of learning
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Involve and inform the EYFS team in the setting and parents/carers
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Show clear next steps and the results of the follow up.
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Be flexible and take a variety of forms including post its, annotated photographs,
short observations, learning stories, longer observations, group observations,
evidence from home, annotated pictures and collages and quotes.
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Be manageable and part of each adult’s role and daily routine.
Chapter 1 - Observation
How can I document children’s learning?
There are many methods of collecting evidence to reflect and support children’s learning and
development. Good practice would utilise a variety of these to show and support learning and
development across the six areas of the EYFS. All collected evidence should be taken into
account when planning provision and next steps. Parental understanding and permission is
essential when setting up an effective observation system. Parents need to be informed and
involved in the process. Policies need to have strict guidelines for practitioners around the use of
cameras and videos and the monitoring of this.
Annotated Photographs:
Photographs enable us to capture significant moments which would otherwise be missed or
too complex to capture through writing alone. They should be included alongside appropriate
annotations which may be a short observation, quotes from the child, comments from the child
and/or parents and carers when reflecting on the photograph.
“XXXXXXX spent some time exploring
the new brushes that have been collected
together in a treasure basket. XXXXXXX
regularly enjoys the feel of the brush on
his skin and today responded by brushing
the key person’s skin.
Next steps: Note in diary and provide
regular opportunities for XXXXXXX to
consolidate this new skill.”
Links: PSED, making relationships,
secure birth-11 months, elements of 8-20
months.
Short video clips and sound bites:
With advances in affordable technology it is becoming
more common place to record some aspects of
learning and development through short video clips
and sound bites. These can then be shared with other
practitioners to reflect upon learning and plan how to
move it on. It is also a useful tool to enable children to
reflect on themselves, their current learning and then
progress over time. Strict permission levels around
systems involving photographic and video evidence
need to be embedded within the setting to ensure
appropriate responsibility and use.
Post-its or sticky labels:
Post-its or sticky labels are an effective way of
recording informal observations. They can be easily
accessed throughout the environment and so can be
an immediate method of ensuring significant moments
are captured ‘on the spot’. They should be placed
into the children’s learning journal as they are without
being written up or typed.
CL
19.11.XX re wrapping
we
A group of children
hop
some parcels in the works
at
gre
area. They were taking
ing
interest in wrapping and tap
ted
es
things together. Sam sugg
paper
laying the boxes out on the
r was
to work out how much pape
paper
needed and then cutting the
said,
so it wouldn’t be wasted. He
mmy
Mu
‘We don’t want to waste it!
does it like this.’
K and
PSRN, SSM 40-60 months,
terials
U, using equipment and ma
e of
40-60 moths, PSED, sens
community 30-50 months.
Chapter 1 - Observation
Observation sheets:
There are many formats for recording short and long observations. Most practitioners and settings
adapt and create their own but they will include essential elements such as: date, name, duration,
linked areas of learning, practitioner initials, context (individual, group, area taking place, time of
day), room for comments, next steps.
Any format needs to be clear, concise, easy to use and used purposefully. Observations can be
planned or incidental. They can be used for many purposes including tracking a child over a period
of time or focusing on their use of a provision area. Adults will need time to carry out effective
longer observations which should be used to gather information purposefully, eg to get to know a
new child, when concerns over a child have been raised, to tune into a new or developing interest,
skill or concept. All practitioners should be clear about their role and how to effectively utilise these
observations in their everyday practice.
Observation of: XXX
Date: 20.3.XX
Practitioner: XX
Context:
XXXXX spends time each day using the dough tools usually choosing to play alone in this
area. She is joined by XX and XX today who are pretending to make cakes. They spend 20
minutes in this area.
Notes:
XXXXX spent time watching XX and XX making cakes whilst using the rolling pin and dough.
She rolled out a large piece of dough and began cutting out circles using the cutters. She
said, ‘I’m making chapattis.’ and XX and XX began to copy her. She then said, ‘We have to
make lots like mummy.’ And the girls then made lots of chapattis and counted from one to
nine accurately saying, ‘That’s it!’
Circle links:
CLL
PSED
KUW
PSRN
CD
PD
Links to ages and stages:
PSRN, Numbers as labels and for counting, 40-60
months PSED, Making Relationships, 30-50 months
Next Steps:
Support XXXXX to join activities with XX and XX to develop this relationship.
Build on the interest of baking and cooking by providing pans and the role play oven in the
dough area.
Observation, Assessment and Planning
Learning Stories:
A learning story tells the story of a developing concept, interest or skill over time. The practitioner
will include what they have seen and heard throughout the time they have been observing the
child engaging in the learning and may involve individual and group interactions.
The context which is enabling the learning will be included throughout as it may change and
develop. These can then be used to enhance provision and reflect on learning and development
with parents and carers.
Home - Setting diaries:
These are a useful way of including parents/carers in the OAP cycle. They can be completed daily
or weekly and include significant events throughout the day for the child concerned. They should
be easily accessed by parents and enable both practitioners and parents to gain an insight into
setting/home life and how they can work together to further support the child. Some settings use
a combined diary/reading record for the Reception-aged children. This ensures information can
be passed between home and setting in a more multi-purpose way. Other settings may only use
home-setting diaries on a more short-term basis e.g. for a child who has found it difficult to settle.
Notebooks:
Practitioners may find it useful to have access to a notebook during the session to make rapid
notes of what they are observing which can later be analysed and discussed. However this is not
essential if there are effective methods in place such as sticky labels and observation formats
which can be easily accessed throughout the session.
Samples of work:
Examples of children’s independent and supported work can be valuable evidence. However it
needs to be clear whether it was done independently, with another child or adult and annotated to
show why it is significant and if there are any appropriate next steps from this point.
They can be photocopied and should be just one of the ways evidence is collated.
Essential elements of observations and records:
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The significant moments – what the child is doing and/or saying
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The context of the learning
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Levels of engagement
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Interactions with other children or adults
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Responses in different situations and environments
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Comments from parents
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Reflections on prior knowledge or activities
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Reference to the areas of learning involved and/or the age and stage band the
evidence supports
Children’s learning journals:
These should be an ongoing collection of evidence for an individual child which will reflect their
learning and development journey. They should be accessible to children, parents/carers and
other involved agencies (health professionals, out of school colleagues). The journals should
be shared regularly with parents/carers through planned discussions and more informally on a
daily/weekly basis to enable reflection on and contribution to the Observation, Assessment and
Planning cycle.
The most effective learning journals will contain a range of evidence in different forms across the
six areas of learning and development. Some information may be stored electronically e.g. video
clips and would be referenced in the learning journal. The learning journal will be an essential tool
Chapter 1 - Observation
to support the Observation, Assessment and Planning process and referred to at each stage of the
cycle.
Each setting will find the collection system which suits them. It may be a pocket for each key
person or each child where evidence can be placed and transferred into the learning journal later
in the day. It is important that evidence is collected from different times and places and so each
practitioner should note significant moments for any child and feed this back to the relevant key
person.
The location of the learning journals in the setting is vital in enabling parents/carers to access
and contribute to them. Many settings find it useful to have them located near the entrance to the
setting or room with post-its available for parents to write their comments. Others may not have
room to do this and may specify a certain day a week when a key person will put their journals
out for parents/carers to view in a designated place. However, learning journals should always be
available if requested by the parents/carers and the child should have ongoing access.
Learning journals can provide vital support for children when moving to a new setting. They
should be shared by the child and family with the new setting to support the transition and settling
in process. The learning journal should provide the new setting with a clear view of the child’s
learning and development and how this has progressed over time.
Children should have ownership of their learning journal and take pride in sharing their journey
with the important people in their lives. Children will need to take their journal home if their parents/
carers are not able to attend the setting, or for extended family to be involved.
The journals can be contributed to by all important people in the child’s life, such as out-of-school
club practitioners and childminders when the child attends different settings.
Observation, Assessment and Planning
Observation - gathering information
Observation
Children are competent learners from birth and develop and learn in a wide variety of ways.
ALL practitioners should therefore look carefully at the children in their care, consider their
needs, their interests and their stages of development and all the information to help plan a
challenging and enjoyable experience across all areas of development.
(EYFS statutory framework 2008 p11)
Planning
Assessment
Developing effective Observation systems
Gather information about the unique child
Records of conversations with parents/carers/child
Transition books eg. home setting, child minder to home
Learning stories
Post it notes or sticky labels
Group observations
Annotated photographs
Video clips
Notes from focused activities
P
A
All pratitioners should be confident to use a variety of methods to ensure
significant moments in learning and development for all children are
captured and then acted upon. The gathering of this crucual information
can take many forms:
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The list can form a toolkit of strategies for practitioners to use when
appropriate to meet and support the progress, needs and interests of the
children in their care. It is essential that practitioners have time to reflect
upon and share their observations with key people in the child’s life to
ensure appropriate next steps in learning and development are followed.
taking time to reflect upon observations with the child themselves can
also give a key insight into their learning and development and support
effective planning for next steps.
Observation systems should be manageable and feed into the observation, assessment and planning cycle rather than generate surplus or duplicate information. To be manageable it is
essential that all EYFS practitioners are able to make accurate and relevant observations. This may require training and development for practitioners new to EYFS, through training courses
and in-house support and mentoring.
Effective observation systems are planned but not inflexible, so that all significant learning is captured for all children. Practitioners should observe holistically and link to the 6 areas of
learning afterwards, as only ever looking for one area of learning can create too narrow a picture.
There are a variety of ways to gather information and these should be seen as a toolkit to choose from to suit the situation.
Systems should allow for practitioners to reflect upon what they need to find out about whom rather than set out equal numbers of observations for each child e.g. each child should have 1
extended observation, 4 photographs and 5 post it notes per fortnight. Instead practitioners should be responsive and plan to observe groups/ individuals they need to find out more about.
Children’s learning journals should be discussed at planning meetings to inform this.
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Deployment of adults – implications for children if they are disrupted too often by staff
absences, key persons’ shift patterns etc.
Think about how more experienced members of the team can support others in their
roles as observer, co-player and extender.
Encouraging independence in accessing resources and equipment for non-mobile
babies,
Ensuring that routines are flexible and flow with the individual needs of babies and
young children.
Reviewing resources - avoiding commercially developed ‘toys’ for babies and young
children and using a wide range natural, everyday, open ended resources to encourage
play and exploration.
Challenges and Dilemmas
Wherever possible feeding, meal and snack times should emulate a homely family
approach and can be used as opportunities for practitioners to chat, promote a healthy
lifestyle and model good eating and social habits to children. Feeding/mealtimes can
provide a useful frame for the day helping children to understand the passage of time.
Snacks offered in between mealtimes for toddlers are best offered on a needs led basis
which enables children to choose the most appropriate time within their play to eat and
drink.
Babies and very young children should spend most of their time in child initiated
activities coming together as they are ready for short sessions across the week that may
include singing, story time and ‘messy play’ experiences.
Practitioners who know the individual babies and children well can undertake their roles
as observer, co-player and extender. This enables practitioners to listen to children and
capture evidence of children’s interests and achievements to plan for next steps in
learning and development and enhance provision appropriately.
A
Nutbrown, C. and Page, J. 2008. Working with Babies and children: From birth
to Three. London: Sage
Murray, L. and Andrews, L. 2000. The Social Baby.
Understanding Babies Communication for Birth. Richmond: CD publishing.
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Reading Links
How do you provide secure yet flexible routines to help babies and young children gain
a sense of order in their world and to anticipate events?
Evidence shows that children learn more effectively in ‘real life meaningful contexts’.
How do you provide these in your setting?
Do babies and young children have the opportunity to join in and be active in their
learning with daily outdoor experiences?
How does the organisation of your day allow for uninterrupted periods of time for babies
and children to lead their own learning with support from a sensitive adult?
How does the organisation of your day enable children to make connections in their
leaning and engage in sustained shared thinking?
Babies and very young children need uninterrupted periods of time to explore learning
indoors and out, supported by caring and interested practitioners. They need this time to
rehearse and develop their ideas and skills and follow their interests.
Practitioners should follow babies and young children’s lead as they explore their
environment, people and resources.
Reflecting on Practice
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Effective Practice
Organisation - EYFS in day to day practice for 0-36 months
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