Demonstrating Progress

How an online system makes tracking so much easier…

You know Ofsted are going to visit, it’s just a question of when. But do you know what you will show them to demonstrate outstanding impact on all of your children? Will you have to trawl through paperwork to find the relevant data? Do you have the information you need for your self-evaluation form? How are you keeping parents up to date with their child’s development?

What does progress look like in ‘outstanding’ settings?
Ofsted describe a child progressing steadily along age-related expectations as making typical progress. On the other hand, a child starting below age-related expectations and finishing at the expected level could be said to be making rapid progress. The same could be said of a child starting at expectation, and finishing above expectation. ‘Outstanding’ settings have children making rapid improvement in their learning from their starting points, with gaps between children closing rapidly.

How does the EYFS Tracker make demonstrating progress easy?
The EYFS Tracker is an online tool designed for recording and tracking the progress of your children from birth. It’s an easy to use, colour-coded system that allows you to make assessments and securely upload supporting evidence such as photos from any Internet-connected device. At the touch of a button it will then produce a host of insightful reports, such as the progress report shown in figure 1. This clearly depicts which children have made expected, above expected or below expected progress.

Recording a baseline
In order to demonstrate the progress of your children you need to know their starting points. The EYFS Tracker allows you to make an assessment on entry and further termly assessments through the year. Building up this knowledge of your children as they develop allows for precise monitoring and gives you a comprehensive picture of their progress. This, in turn, can be used to secure timely interventions and focus support where it is required.

Exploring groups of children
Ofsted inspectors must also judge whether you are successful in narrowing the development gaps for specific groups of children. They want to know that all children are progressing effectively; especially thosewhose needs or circumstances require “perceptive intervention and/or additional support”. Reports in the EYFS Tracker allow you to explore the relative development of vulnerable groups, including boys, girls, summer born, special educational needs and free school meals (such as the example in figure 2).

Sharing information with parents
Inspectors need to judge how well you share summaries of child observations with parents. You’ll already be making notes on each of your children as they develop and probably taking photos recording important milestones. The EYFS Tracker allows you to capture and upload all of this in one place. If you’re making use of tablets or smartphones, you can even upload photos and notes while on the move! With a click of a button, you can then use all of this to produce a Learning Journey of your children’s achievements – a great resource to share with parents and a starting point for obtaining their contributions.

FIND OUT MORE
If you’d like to try all this out you can start a FREE, no obligation sixweek trial at www.eyfstracker.com – you’ll be tracking in just a couple of minutes. Enter promotion code TNWEB1 for a 10% discount if you decide to purchase.