Nursery World - On the right track

At the Thomas Coram Early Childhood Centre, observation and assessment is the key to effective planning - and a powerful tool for staff development and parent involvement, says Wendy Scott The Thomas Coram Early Childhood Centre enjoys excellent resources and premises specially designed for children, but central to its high quality provision is the thought that staff give to planning, which is refined by their continuing observation of the children's development.

The Thomas Coram Early Childhood Centre enjoys excellent resources and premises specially designed for children, but central to its high quality provision is the thought that staff give to planning, which is refined by their continuing observation of the children's development.

Opportunities for observation are built in to the daily routines, and time is also set aside for staff to talk with parents, to share thinking with colleagues, and to review their practice.

Janice Marshall, who is deputy head and special needs co-ordinator, has overall responsibility for the youngest children at the Centre. She monitors the records kept for all children aged up to three, reading the notes of the keyworkers' observations, and looking at samples and photographs of the children's activities in their big record books, where paintings and photographs of other work in progress are mounted.

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