Child Observation, Assessment and Planning Narrative Essay

The Use of Observations of Children

• How observations are used to plan for individual needs

Doing an observation on a child helps to plan to meet their individual needs, so in order for the practitioner to be able to plan for the individual child’s needs it needs to be done accurately. Accurate observations means writing down exactly what the child is saying and doing and not putting their opinions or what they assume that has happened.

If they write down something that didn’t actually happen for example they wrote down that the child they were observing kicked a ball hard which shows that they are at the right milestones for their age but they actually didn’t kick the ball, will not help the practitioner plan activities to support the child’s individual needs because the child may not actually be able to kick a ball.

The practitioner then could write down in the evaluation for example from the observation according to the EYFS ‘a two year old can kick a ball’ which means that the child that got observed is at the correct milestones for their age but they actually can’t kick a ball means that the child is behind in development and this needs to be recognised so that the child can have additional support. This is why it is important that observations are done accurately in order to plan to meet children’s individual needs.

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For practitioners to be able to provide accurate information they should try different observation techniques such as child tracker, photographic, narrative, event sample and check list. As some of these observations techniques may work better than others.

Once the practitioner has observed a child they will write an overview of how the child got on during the observation. They will then compare the observation to the milestones on the EYFS to see if the child is at the right milestones for their age, above for their age or below compared to the average milestones. Then after that if the child is below average in an area of development, the practitioner will give the child additional help to try and improve the child’s development and they will plan activities which will help to support the child’s individual needs.

How observations are used for early year’s intervention: When practitioners are observing children, they may find that they have a concern about the child in the settings development for example the child may not be at the right milestones as they are struggling with areas of their development. If the child milestones are not where it should be for their age then the practitioner should discuss this with the child’s parents so that they are able to come up with ways together to support the child at home and in the setting.

This could be doing 1-2-1 tasks with the child so that the child gets the practitioners full attention and can help support them without going to help other children and they could give packs to send home with the child for the parents to be able to boost the child’s development. By both practitioners and parents working together as soon as they find out about the child’s delay they should try and support it quickly to stop the child becoming more delayed when they start school.

• How observations are used to review the environment

Observations are used to review the environment and helps practitioners to find out what issues there are in the different activity areas around the setting. For example boys may be the only people who play in the construction area, which means that the practitioner will need to come up with a way to encourage girls to play in the construction area.

This could be that the practitioners say lets make a castle out of blocks which could mean that more girls will get involved in playing with the construction toys. When practitioners observe the environment they may see that only girls use the dressing up area which means that they may need to change some of the clothing in the dressing up area which will entice boys to dress up.

When observing, the practitioners may notice that some of the children who are bilingual in the setting not making as much progress as the children who speak English as their first language. If the practitioners notices that the bilingual children are behind for their development, then the practitioners will try and find different ways to help the children who need extra support as English is not their first language.

Observations that reviews the environment, helps practitioners to know what they have to do to provide an enabling environment for both children and staff. This could be that they will have to change resources in the setting to encourage both boys and girls to play with. They should also work out from the observation what activities are being used the most and what activities are not used the most. The activities that are not used the most could be because they are hard to get to as they are too high for the children to reach or they are tucked away somewhere that is hard for the children to get to. This could suggest to the practitioners that they need to re-arrange the layout of the room to make the accessible and easy for the children to be independent.

• How observations are used when going through a transition

When a child is going through a transition for example starting pre-school or going from a cot to bed, observations are important for practitioners as it helps them to picture the child’s different needs during transitions. Practitioners need to know what needs the child has when they first meet the child so that they are able to support the child and find ways to improve the child’s needs as the time goes on in the setting. This is why practitioners choose to observe children when they are going through the transition of starting pre-school.

When a child is going through a transition, the practitioner could do a home visit to see how the child acts in an environment that they are familiar with because some children they act differently to an environment that they are familiar with to an environment that they are unfamiliar with. The observation that the practitioner does could be done at the child’s home and it is done to observe the child’s behaviour and it gives parents the chance to talk about any concern that they may have about their child going through the transition. By doing this it will make the planning easier for the separation and to help the transition go the way they wish for it to go.

How observations are used when working in partnership: Partnership working can happen when observing to see if a child has a medical condition or they have a delay in an area of their development. If a child in the setting has a medical condition or a delay in their development the practitioners work in partnership with the parents as the parents are their family who sees them the most. When working with the parents they will probably give you suggestions on how to support their child with their development.

Reasons for maintaining accurate and coherent records must include an explanation of:

• Clarity of information to inform others
• Legal requirements
• Support for informed decisions/future planning

Clarity of information to inform others

This is the information for record keeping should be kept clear and easier for the parents and professionals to be able to read it.

The information needs to have neat hand writing and it should be easy to read to avoid spelling and grammar mistakes. The information that has been written down for record keeping should be accurate and this doesn’t include their opinion.

Legal requirements

Legal requirements are personal information which includes parental responsibility, emergency contacts, if a child has an allergy and if they have a medical condition. The staff members in the setting need to know if any of the children have an allergy in the setting, this is because they need to know if they have to give the child an alternative food so they don’t have an allergic reaction and put them on a different table so that the child is less likely to come into contact with what they are allergic to. They also need to have the children’s emergency contact information so that they can contact the child’s parent/carer if a serious injury occurs in the setting.

Support for informed decisions/future planning

Practitioners should have accurate records of the children in the setting in to order to plan for next steps. The planning includes the health care plan, the plan for individual education, the health visitor, social services, and the court and police investigations.

Factors identified for consideration when undertaking observation of children should include:

• Hunger/tiredness
• Changes to usual routines
• Unfamiliar adults within the environment
• Distractions within the environment
• Health of child/observer

Hunger/tiredness

When practitioners observe children there are lots of different factors that the practitioner needs to take in to account before they do an observation in order for it to be accurate. One of these factors to consider is whether the child is hungry or tired because this could affect whole the observation turns out. If a child is hungry or tired their behaviour may be different allowing them not to concentrate as they either want to go to sleep or they want something to eat. So before the practitioner observes the child they should make sure that the child has had plenty of sleep and has had something to eat in order to gain better results of the child during the observation.

Changes to usual routines

If children have a change in their day to day routine then children may become unsettled because they’ll have to adjust to a new routine. A change in routine can affect the behaviour of the child because they have a change in their routine which means that they may not show an accurate picture of what milestones that they are at as they may refuse to do an activity in the observation. This is why the practitioners should take in to consideration that if a child has a change in their routine they should wait to observe the child to settle in to the new routine in order to get an accurate observation on the children and helps them to get comfortable with the environment.

Unfamiliar adults within the environment

when considering about observing children practitioners should take in to account that the child may act differently if there are unfamiliar adults in the setting. Practitioners need to know that when observing children, that if unfamiliar adults when unfamiliar adults are around then the child that they will be observing may act differently.

This could be that the child does not want to participate as they are shy around adults they do not know but they could also become distracted and want the unfamiliar adult to watch what they are doing or the child could be interested in what the unfamiliar adult is doing and not do what the observer wants them to do. Practitioners could stop this from happening by waiting for the adults to go to avoid distractions from happening or take the child away from the unfamiliar adult so that the practitioner is able to observe the child without the child becoming distracted.

Distractions within the environment

Before observing a child, practitioners need to know that the child may become distracted during the observation. These distractions could be that the environment is too noisy for the child that is being observed to concentrate in. So in order to avoid the child from getting distracted the practitioner could move the children that are being noisy in to another area of the setting or move the child that is being observed into another part of the setting.

Health of child/observer

when practitioners observe children they should take in to consideration whether the child is feeling well because if the child is not feeling well they may not act and respond how they would normally. This can be the same as if the practitioner is not feeling very well they may not write down everything they see the child do and what they hear the child say. If either the practitioner or the child that was going to be observed is ill they should not go ahead and observe. They should reschedule the observation in order to get a better demonstration of the child’s capabilities.

Explanation must include current frameworks requirements in relation to:

• Ways to record observations
• Ways observations support assessment of children’s progress

Ways to record observations

Developmental theories can help to interpret observations. Theories about children learning, thinking and their behaviour can help when making the observations. When practitioners know about different theorists it can help them to understand how children learn, think and behaviour. By learning from theorists that children learn differently, helps practitioners to understand that they may have to adapt activities to suit the child’s individual needs.

Ways observations support assessment of children’s progress

Practitioners can support the assessment of children’s progress by doing an evaluation of how the observation went. In the evaluation the practitioner writes down a summary of the whole observation giving short details of what the child had done. Then the practitioner will compare the child to the E.Y.F.S framework to see if the child is below average, average or above average for their development depending on their age. They then will write down what they have learnt from doing that observation and how it has helped them to understand children’s development more. The practitioner will then write on their evaluation ways to improve the activity next time and what they can do to support the child’s development if it is below average for their age.

Description must relate to the relevant professional skills required when observing children in order to:

• observe and assess effectively
• use the planning cycle to inform child-centred practice

Observe and assess effectively

For practitioners to have an effective observation on a child, they need to be able to listen clearly to what the child says and be able to see what they are doing in order to have an accurate observation. An on going assessment is done on a daily basis this is done s that the practitioners are able to know what a child has learnt to do and what the child already new how to do.

Practitioners are able to observe and assess children effectively if the child is acting in the same way that they normally act in the setting. This means making sure that the child has eaten and had a drink before the observation starts, they have had a rest or a nap, they are feeling well and they have either been to the toilet or if the child is still in nappies then the practitioner should check to make sure that their nappy is alright before the observation starts.

Practitioners should make sure that the observation on the child is effective by allowing the child to choose freely what they play with and the practitioner just follows the child to where they go to. Knowing what the child is interested and what they are not interested in helps the practitioner to know what to plan for the child’s next steps. For example if the child is interested in cars, but doesn’t like paint the practitioner could decide to bring the cars to the paint so that the child can put the cars in paint and paint with the car.

When practitioners are assessing children, the practitioner can see where the child’s milestones are at. The milestones could be where they should be for the child’s age, below or above what they are suppose to be. If the child has a delay in an area of development then the practitioner can see if the child needs additional support and if they find out that a child has a delay from a young age then practitioners can help support them as soon as possible to help support further delays when the child starts school.

Use the planning cycle to inform child-centred practice

The planning cycle is a cycle that helps to support children’s learning. Observation is the first part of the cycle where the practitioner has to look to see what the child is doing and who they are interacting with if they are interacting with anyone, they should be listening to exactly what the child is saying not what they think the child is saying and they should be writing down exactly what they see and hear the child say and do. According to the EYFS (2012) pg 3 they state that people should ‘Observe children as they act and interact in their play, everyday activities and planned activities, and learn from parents about what the child does at home (observation)’. This means that practitioners should observe children when ever they can as children do so much and you may miss seeing areas of their development improve and they should also work with parents to find out what the child is like at home and how they can use an observation that has been done at home to help support the child in the setting.

After the practitioner has observed the child they will then assess them to see where the child is for their milestones and it tells us what the child is interested in and not so interested in. when practitioners are assessing the child they look at the child as an individual and see how much progress they have made since the last time they got observed.

The last part of the planning cycle is the planning where they plan to support the child to extend further development, they see if the child has a delay in development the practitioner will plan to support the child with additional support and if they found that the child prefers to do other activities that hasn’t been put out for them the practitioner can come up with ways to make it more child-led.

Discussion of the need for confidentiality must include:

• Valid reasons for maintaining confidentiality
• Appropriate sharing of information gained from observations
• Safe storage of observations/information

Valid reasons for maintaining confidentiality

When practitioners observe children they need to keep the information on the child confidential. They should keep the information on the child confidential in order to protect the child because there could be people visiting the setting and they could pick up the information and find out a lot about the child and their development because the observation has been left for members of the public to see.

This will not keep the child safe because the person who picked up the information now knows about the child and they could spread the child’s data and put the child in a dangerous situation. This means that when practitioners are observing they should refer to a child as child A or child B and use have a side note as to what their actual name is in order to keep the child safe.

When observing a child, practitioners should write down exactly what the child says and does and not what they think they have heard or seen and they should not have the child’s actual name written down.

According to Meggitt.C (2015) CACHE Level 3 Child Care and Education EARLY YEARS EDUCATOR. Bookpoint Ltd. Abingdon Oxon page 326 states ‘Practitioners should not discuss or share information, for example, when chatting in the staff room or with friends at the weekend.’ This is because if the member of staff or their friend tells someone else confidential information about the child and it gets back to the setting then the practitioner that told someone about the child will get in to trouble because they have spread the child’s confidential information.

Appropriate sharing of information gained from observations

Observations can only be done on a child if the members of staff have consent from the child’s parents and they should also be asked if they would like to have a copy of the record of the child given to them after the child has be observed. The information that the practitioners get from doing an observation on a child they should only share it with the parents and professionals if they have consent from the parents first.

If the parent/carers wish for the information from the observation is not to be shared they should take that in to consideration and not go ahead and share the information about the child. When they are observing they should also consider the well-being and safety of the child and if it is going to affect anyone else, this is because it may upset others because a parent may not want information to be shared about their child as it may cause them to be embarrassed and may upset them.

Safe storage of observations/information

Two types of observations are done in a setting one is a developmental record and another one is a personal record. The developmental record is kept by the child’s key worker where the parents and other members of staff who work with the child can access. But it is still hidden from anyone entering the setting who is not supposed to access the file. The personal file contains confidential information which includes registration forms, parental consent forms and contractual records. These files are kept in a separate place from the development records.

Discussion should be detailed to show understanding of the observation assessment and planning cycle and the relationship between observation, assessment and planning.

How observational records can support working in partnership: When practitioners do an observation on a child they should discuss the child’s progress with the parents as they the parents know the child the most and they can both work out ways to support the child’s development. For example if the practitioner notices that the child is falling behind in an area of development then they can talk to the parent to help support their development at home and in the setting. As well as the practitioner and the parent discussing whether the child is falling behind in an area of development they should also discuss the child’s progress in development to see if they are above the milestones for their age. Observational records helps the parent and practitioner to build up a trusting and warm relationship as they will be discussing the child’s development this is why it is important that the practitioner gets along with the child’s parents when they first start nursery.

How observations can inform the layout and provision within early year’s settings: The layout of the room can show the early year’s practitioner that they may need to change the layout of the room to make it more fun and interesting for the children to play in. child tracker observations is an observation where you just follow and note down where a child goes in the space of the observation and how long they stay at each activity. For example if the practitioner notices that after they do a few child tracker observations on the children and the biggest area which is the book corner has smallest amount of children in it and the smallest area which is the dressing up area has the most children in, they will swap the book corner and the dressing up corner around. The same happens if an area of the setting does not get used at all they will take the stuff in that area out and put something that is more stimulating in that area of the setting for the children.

How observations can support development, learning and progress: Observations help support development, learning and progress because the practitioner is able to see what milestones the child is at and plan to support their next steps in development. Observations helps practitioners to see what the children are interested in, shows the practitioner the child’s friendship group and allows the practitioner to see how the child is progressing over a period of time.

Why early years practitioners must have the knowledge, understanding and skills of observation: Practitioners need to have knowledge, understanding and skills to do an observation in order to be able to do it right. They could be observing to see the child’s progress, they observe to see what the child is interested in and they observe to see what areas of the environment gets used the most. If the practitioners didn’t understand why they were observing there would be no point in them doing an observation. They need to understand what to do when they are observing a child in order for it to be correct. For example they need to know that they have to write accurately what the children do and not what they think the child has done.

How observations can be used to identify and monitor recognised individual need:

When practitioners observe children they are able to look at the child’s individual needs and help plan for them. They will need to look at the child’s individual needs to see if the child is making progress from their last observation and see if they are at the right milestones for their age, above or below where they should be. They can also see what the child’s interests and what they are not so interested in so that they can help plan to support for the child’s future. For example if a child does not like getting messy but they like playing with cars you could put the cars in the paint and they could paint with the cars. This helps the child to develop their creative development.

Discussion must include ways to gather information about children’s individual needs, interests, and stage of learning and development to support planning including:

• Through observation
• Discussion with other professionals, parents/carers

Bibliography

1. Meggitt.C (2015) CACHE Level 3 Child Care and Education EARLY YEARS EDUCATOR. Bookpoint Ltd. Abingdon Oxon page 332/186
2. Syntax Error, OFhttps://www.foundationyears.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Development-Matters-FINAL-PRINT-AMENDED.pdf