The scales of involvement are rated 1-5. To start we will be asking staff to make judgements about Level 1 - low activity, Level 3 - mainly continuous activity, and Level 5 - sustained intense activity. We anticipate that children will be displaying mainly levels 3 and 5 during observed snap-shot moments of child-initiated play, and during focused observations, once each term per child.
We hope that when the children are observed displaying characteristics of level 5 (persistence, creativity and concentration), high-level learning will be happening. If level 1 is observed, we will be able to pinpoint how we can improve the continuous provision and look at what adult support some children might need. For example, is the enhanced provision building on children's interests?
DOCUMENTING WOW MOMENTS
At the start of the academic year we do expect to see many children displaying level 1 (absence of cognitive demand). This, for example, could be lots of watching what other children do, or flitting from one activity to another. This takes into account that for some children, attending nursery and accessing the continuous provision is a new and possibly overwhelming experience - so much to do, what do I do first?
Looking at children's involvement also made the team question why we observe and how it supports children's development.
We decided to only document 'wow' moments observed for the children we know best who are in our key person groups. We also decided to make formal, longer observations three times a year. This information will flow into our planning cycle of observe and then assess. We will then take this forward into enhancing the continuous provision and adult-led focused activities.
