Early Years

Testing four-year-olds to begin in September – but parents kept in dark...

DfE - Early years foundation stage profile (EYFSP) results for the 2017 to 2018 academic year, at national and local authority level....

Changes to assessments in primary schools...

STA - An assessment for pupils in reception to measure their progress in primary schools from 2020. STA - Information about the development of an assessment for pupils in reception to measure their progress in primary schools from 2020....

DfE - Research into the impact of early education at ages 2 to 4 on child outcomes at age 4, and the importance of the early years home environment....

British Educational Research Association (BERA) - This report sets out the case against the government’s proposal to use a baseline assessment test of pupils in reception to hold schools in England to account for the progress that pupils have made at...

Materials and links for the EYFS Profile Pilot 2018-2019 DfE/Foundation Years - EYFS pilot framework. DfE/Foundation Years - EYFS Profile pilot handbook. Education Endowment Fund - Early Years Foundation Stage Profile pilot. Foundation Years - The EYFS Profile Pilot. Nursery World - New Early Learning Goals released, as...

STA - Information leaflet for schools about the new reception baseline assessment....

TES - Last week, the NEU vowed to disrupt the baseline assessments of four-year-olds. This week, the government announced that NFER had won the contract to begin testing in September 2020. Battle lines have been drawn....

STA - Information about the development of an assessment for pupils in reception to measure their progress in primary schools from 2020. DfE - New measure for fairer recording of primary school performance....

TES - Early years minister Nadhim Zahawi explains why teacher observations have been ruled out for the new Reception baseline assessment....

The Guardian - Robert Winston among signatories of letter warning against moves to increase formal maths and literacy teaching. The Guardian - Ofsted’s Bold Beginnings report on reception class curriculum is flawed. TES - Ofsted's Bold Beginnings report is 'flawed' and should be scrapped, says...

Ofsted - This report looks at the Reception curriculum in successful schools and how well it prepared 4 and 5 year olds for the rest of their education and beyond. TES - 'My response to Ofsted's new report on Reception teaching? Best retire now'. TES...

TES - Department for Education says it wants to see an assessment of pupils' 'self-regulation', alongside communication, literacy and maths.  The new baseline assessments for primary school pupils will cost up to £10 million to develop, the government has revealed....

DfE - Statistics on early years foundation stage profile assessments including breakdowns by pupil characteristics....

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Learning and Development Requirements: Guidance on Exemptions for Early Years Providers...

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Learning and Development Requirements: Guidance on exemptions for individual children...

GOV.UK - Quality assurance review report produced by Tribal Education.  The review looked at the effectiveness of different methods of checking the quality of data from the baseline assessment. This was to ensure that assessment data was valid and reliable....

The Telegraph - British school children could be guinea pigs for controversial new tests for five-year-olds, despite other nations rejecting the trials.  The move is disclosed in a contract document published quietly earlier this month by the Department for Education (DfE)....

GOV.UK - This handbook supports practitioners in making accurate judgements about each child's attainment....

BBC News Education - Boys are nearly twice as likely as girls to have fallen behind by the time they start school, a report says.  Save the Children says a quarter of boys in England - 80,000 - started reception class...

TES News - New research suggests that at least 194,000 pupils could be ill-prepared for the classroom in September.  Large proportions of children starting school are not ready for the classroom, according to primary school leaders....

GOV.UK - Reception baseline assessment will not be used as a starting point to measure pupil progress following a comparability study. GOV.UK - Reception baseline comparability study. BBC News Education - Baseline tests dropped as progress measure. TES News - Baseline assessments dropped as accountability measures in...

BBC News Education - Children with poor language skills at age five are significantly more likely to struggle with maths at age 11, a study for Save the Children suggests....

Learning Wales - Curriculum development and delivery is key to providing opportunities for learners to develop their skills, understanding and make progress within learning areas, subjects and across the curriculum....