Early Years: Teacher, standard 4 - Plan, do and review

STANDARD 4

An Early Years Teacher must:

4. Plan education and care taking account of the needs of all children

When working towards Standard 4, you will need to demonstrate both your ability to assess the needs of the individual child - through all areas of development - and how, through a systematic approach to observation, assessment and planning, you put this ability into practice through practical classroom activities.

Denise Reardon, programme director of Early Years Teacher Status at Canterbury Christ Church University, gives her advice on Standard 4 throughout this feature

SUPPORTING STATEMENTS

4.1 Observe and assess children's development and learning, using this to plan next steps

This strand of the standard is concerned with the cyclic joined-up nature of child observation, assessment and planning. First, you will need to show how you observe children as they act and interact in their play, everyday activities and planned activities. Second, you will need to show how you share information and learn from parents about what the child's needs and interests are at home. Third, try to show how you assess the child's developmental stage and then use the information to identify possible areas in which to challenge and extend the child's current learning and development. Finally, try to demonstrate how you use observations and associated assessments to plan activities to support the child and strengthen and deepen their current learning and development.

To do this, you may wish to consider demonstrating each step in turn. For example, provide examples of the child observation methods that you use in your studies and in your practice.

Types of observations

• Time sampling.
• The target child.
• Sociograms (graphic display of social links) and histograms (graphic display of data).
• Narrative observation.
• Event sampling.
• Audio visuals/digital media recordings to capture content specific information.

You may also wish to consider drawing on use of the 'Mosaic Approach' by Clark and Moss (2006) as a way of listening and involving children in your observations.

• Show how you scrutinise and critically analyse your observations using your graduate-level knowledge and understanding of child development and the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) to make a judgement about the stage of development that the child is functioning at. You will also need to show how you record and take account of any personalised circumstances and interests that the parent or carer has shared with you and that may affect the child's learning and development
• Next, demonstrate how you use your observations and assessments to plan activities to support the child's level of learning and development and love of learning.
• Finally, provide clear examples to show how you monitor and observe the child's learning and development and love of learning as they engage in the activities that you have planned as a consequence of the initial child observation.

A flexible approach

4.2 Plan balanced and flexible activities and educational programmes that take into account the stage of development, circumstances and interests of children

You may wish to consider providing brief commentary and examples about the way that you have used your observations and assessments to plan balanced and flexible activities and educational programmes. Your observation techniques should show you:

• whether or not children are able to participate
• if they are deeply involved
• if the resources and the learning environment are inclusive
• if the activities are set at the right level or not; do children love it or get bored and disinterested quickly?
• if the level of challenge is right for the individual child
• if the activity is timed correctly to give children time and space to think creatively and engage in sustained shared thinking
• how children interact and communicate with their peers and other practitioners.

You may also wish to consider providing a commentary about an individual child that you have observed and assessed to plan a balanced and flexible activity to meet a specific need. This will also allow you to demonstrate the way that you are inclusive in your practice.

4.3 Promote a love of learning and stimulate children's intellectual curiosity in partnership with parents and/or carers

When looking at this area of Standard 4, use your knowledge of the many activities and events you have previously either planned or taken part in during your work in early years care. Promoting a love of learning and the stimulation of intellectual curiosity runs through much of what you do every day, and by pinpointing these areas where parents and carers have been brought into the classroom to share activities you will find yourself covering this area with ease.

Things to think about

Professor Ferre Laevers from the Centre for Experiential Education at Leuven University in Belgium, refers to children as 'fish in water' when they are involved in deep level learning. He also offers 'Leuven scales for emotional well-being and involvement' that can be used to observe and assess children's well-being and development. Consider how you promote a love of learning by:

• sharing observations and assessments with parents and carers to enlighten them about ways to support their child
• providing information and learning resources to parents and carers based on your assessment of the child's needs. For example, everyday talk, story sacks, mealtimes, everyday mathematical activities and mark making
• engaging parents and carers in their child's learning and development inside and outside the setting.

4.4 Use a variety of teaching approaches to lead group activities appropriate to the age range and ability of children

It's all too easy to plan activities at a level beyond the abilities of the children in your care, and here Denise Reardon offers many practical suggestions on ways to ensure you keep things age appropriate:

In the Montessori approach, older and younger children are encouraged to work together in small groups and learn from each other under the direction of the teacher. In the 'plan-do-review' HighScope approach, the teacher directs group activities as part of the reviewing process. Children in the Reggio Emilio approach are encouraged to work together in groups to develop their level of understanding within an environment that is seen as the third teacher. The Steiner Waldorf approach to group activities includes storytelling, puppet play, games, singing, cooking and nature walks.

The things these approaches have in common is that they are fun, purposeful and meaningful to the child. In your assessments, try to provide clear examples of the type of teaching approaches that you use to deliver group activities across the EYFS (2012) three prime and four specific areas of learning.

Examples may include planned and unplanned activities that take place either indoors or outdoors, for example during:

• spontaneous play
• circle time
• physical activities
• action songs and rhymes
• key person time
• mealtimes and snacktime
• cookery or dough-making activities
• story time
• clearing up time
• growing things outdoors
• making dens and hideaways
• creating imaginative stories and poems.

4.5 Reflect on the effectiveness of teaching activities and educational programmes to support the continuous improvement of provision

This strand requires you to reflect on the effectiveness of the teaching activities and educational programmes you have implemented and also how your observation and assessments of children allows you to evaluate the effectiveness of your teaching and learning.

As with Standard 4.2, you may wish to consider providing a brief commentary to illustrate a teaching activity or educational programme that required you to make changes after observing and assessing the children's level of engagement and learning outcomes.

'Test their imaginations and understanding'

Maureen Lee of Best Practice Network shares her thoughts on Standard 4: 'Planning for children in the birth-to-five age range is a process that differs greatly depending on the children's ages and stage of development. Careful planning does not mean losing the flexibility to respond to children's preoccupations and their interests of the moment, or not being able to respond to sudden and unexpected events like windy or snowy weather.

'Planning should be focused on thinking through and resourcing the types of experiences that children need to enable them to develop across all areas of learning. Planning is about coming up with a set of possibilities that can be adapted and streamlined to suit each day's opportunities as they unfold.

'Planning focuses on the concepts and skills young children need to develop, on enabling them to practise and refine those skills and develop their concepts of shape, colour or movement, for example, within many different contexts, testing out their ideas and understandings in a range of different ways - some fun and exciting, others quieter and reflective, so there is a balance to day and week.'

MORE INFORMATION

• See a longer version of this feature at www.nurseryworld.co.uk/careers
• Early Years Teachers' Standards,

www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-teachers-standards

Part 6 of this series, in Nursery World on 10 February, will examine Standard 5