As the new inspection process has a stronger focus on observing practice it is going to be paramount that a practitioner's knowledge, skills and expertise are strong and these are transferred to their practice.
Central to this is teamwork and clarity around the practitioner's role during the inspection process.
The starting point for me is the practitioner's knowledge of child development and their awareness of how children learn and develop. A strong knowledge of child development is top of the tree in supporting children.
First, do practitioners have a strong working knowledge of Development Matters and understand the developmental norms for the children with whom they work? For example, do they know the key characteristics of a two-year-old? If not, how are they being supported to have a working knowledge of child development? When I am in a setting, I can easily see the practitioners who need extra guidance about child development in order to have an impact on children's achievements.
Ofsted is, rightly, more concerned with outcomes for children than the process of how your observation, assessment and planning (OAP) works. However, the key to this is for practitioners to understand how the OAP works and how they contribute to this to make a difference to children's learning and development. During mock inspections I ask practitioners to explain their OAP and how it affects their key children. Does it help the children to reach their full potential? Is there clarity around children's starting points? Is the planning linked to children's next steps?
If staff are unable to vocalise the OAP process, it may be too complicated. I am reminded of this quote to illustrate my point. 'If you can't explain it simply you don't understand it well enough' (Albert Einstein).
On my travels, I am finding that practitioners are over-planning. When I ask who told them to do so much planning (which takes them away from the children) they either state, 'Ofsted, the local authority, a manager' or they don't know. I then ask, 'What will happen if you don't plan as if you are a writing a book and what does it say in the EYFS and Development Matters?' They frequently respond with a shrug of their shoulders and 'I don't know'.
More important, planning needs to be child-led, with a focus on children's starting points, tracking their learning and development and how practitioners influence children's learning. There is no need for themes or topics; 'Children don't do autumn, they do kicking leaves!', to quote Jennie Lindon. Children create their own topics and themes. The focus needs to be on the practitioner's knowledge of what their key children's next steps are in their learning development.
EMPOWERED IN THE ROLE
Planning should not be completed a week or two weeks in advance (taking some practitioners two to three hours to complete). It should be done spontaneously, on the go, day-by-day with clear links from children's current interests and experience - in short, 'child-led planning'.
During an inspection practitioners need to, what I call, 'show off'. This means being able to be 'an action practitioner' while the inspector is observing them. I do note that sometimes practitioners freeze when there is an 'outsider' in the room. This is because they are nervous and/or unsure what to do. Hence the importance of an effective OAP system that does indeed support every child.
What I mean by 'showing off' is the practitioner's ability to vocalise their knowledge during an inspection about how during an observation they would assess and plan for the child's next steps. For instance, if a practitioner observes a child achieving a milestone for the first time, and/or doing something of interest, then they should vocalise this to their colleagues and, more importantly, say how they are going to plan for the child's next steps. This will demonstrate to the inspector that practitioners do indeed have a strong working knowledge in child development, EYFS and children's next steps.
'An action practitioner' also means being able to work as part of a team, knowing how to leave the room to their colleagues, being able to clarify the sick child policy to a parent and explain why their child has to be excluded. In addition, they should know how to keep themselves safe and what to do to keep children safe.
'An action practitioner' should not wait for the inspector to ask questions, they should feel empowered in their role to show the inspector significant key achievements that relate to children and their development. In addition, they should explain how a training course has impacted on, and shifted, their practice positively and supported children.
Keeping Children Safe
The other key area for me is a practitioner's knowledge in child protection and safeguarding children.
Reflective points for practitioners:
- Knowing the signs and symptoms of child abuse
- What would concern them about a child in their care?
- How they support children to be safe
- Who do they report concerns to?
- Main principles of the setting's child protection and safeguarding and whistleblowing policy and procedure
- What would concern them about a colleague's behaviour?
- What would they do if they were concerned about a colleague?
- What would they do if they were concerned about the manager/owner/company?
- The role of the colleague who is responsible for child protection and safeguarding children
- What safeguarding training is offered by the setting/manager?
These reflective pointers are important because the inspector may ask the practitioner questions on their safeguarding knowledge.
Practitioners should also be able to demonstrate how continuous professional development has had an impact on their practice - for instance, how a specific training course may have enhanced children's learning and development. In addition, they may be asked whether they feel supported by their manager and whether they feel a 'sense of belonging' within their setting, and whether they are able to contribute to the setting's development? I also ask practitioners to reflect on whether they feel part of the team and what part they play in the development of the team.
So practitioners, be confident in your practice and keep it simple!
Laura Henry is managing director of Childcare Consultancy
FURTHER READINGCASE STUDY: SARAH FILLINGHAM, nursery manager at Portico at Moss Bank/Portico Day Nurseries in St Helens, Merseyside (pictured)
'As a nursery group, we rolled out training and support to all the staff at meetings over a period of a week.
'We made sure that every member of staff had a pack with all the new documents in, and the new EYFS documents so they could see how it all fell into place. We had plenty of paper and sticky notes so they could scribble any notes during the meeting. Some came up with ideas like "that box needs to be bigger" or "can we take that out because ..."
'As it is the staff who are using the paperwork and completing the planning, it is vital that they understand it and that it is workable for them, so this was all taken into consideration.
'Staff seemed really pleased that we had used ideas from their individual settings and implemented them across the board for everyone so they were all proud that they had had an input. They could also see how I had listened to them and how the conversations I had with them had been taken on board in the changes and were being used to improve what we do.
'Although we are only one month in, all staff are happy and the systems seem to be working well across the company. The staff phone or Skype if they have any questions, and I plan to visit the settings again early in the New Year to get some feedback and review the changes.
'Fully understanding the observation and assessment process and owning it themselves will enable staff to speak confidently to an Ofsted inspector when the time comes and show how we improve outcomes for children by the way in which we support children's learning and development.'
