There are a number of key developments this year that headteachers and Foundation Stage staff will need to take into account. Please ensure that each teacher of reception children has a copy of this information sheet.

The Importance of EYFS Profile Data
Everybody needs to feel confident that the recorded judgements are fair and consistent for all children and that assessment judgements made for any one child are comparable with those made for all children.

The data for the profile is being used ever more widely within the local authority, by Ofsted inspectors, schools and by the Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF). It is more important than ever that the information is an accurate and reliable picture of attainment for each child and a true reflection of attainment for the school. To that end there are a number of new measures that we will be promoting and engaging with over this year.

New Profile Handbook

Publication and Distribution
All schools should have received from the National Assessment Agency two copies of the handbook in the summer term 2008. A number of additional copies have been sent to the Norwich Professional Development Centre for those schools which have three classes in a year group or where there are more than two part time teachers in the reception year.

If you need additional copies please email lisa.battle@norfolk.gov.uk
or lisa.poploski@norfolk.gov.uk and additional copies will be sent through the schools post. Downloadable copies are available from the NAA Website.

National Exemplification
The new handbook contains updated national exemplification for each of the 117 scale points. The same exemplification is visible only in Version 3 of the e profile. It is important that all practitioners involved in assessing children in YR use the national exemplification to guide and support them in the making of accurate assessments. It is not recommended that the new chart/poster of the scale points is used as an individual pupil record sheet as this would not enable close use of the exemplification. Version 3 of the e profile (now known as EYE Profile) can be downloaded from http://schoolsportal.suffolkcc.gov.uk/schools/FSP/index.htm. Instructions for populating the e profile with the schools, pupils' names and UPNs is available on the ICT solutions site.

New Terminology and Guidance
The new handbook makes very clear that no more than 20% of the evidence for assessment for each scale point should be drawn from adult led or adult directed activities. Thus, 80% should be based on child initiated activities or self initiated. This will lead to more accurate judgements of what children can do and understand consistently and independently and demonstrate the fullness of their intrinsic motivation to learn. It is important therefore that all staff are regularly engaged in some observation of children in child initiated or self initiated activities. Close reading and discussion of chapter 03 and the glossary of the handbook will be necessary for all Foundation Stage staff in reception classes.
Clearly a high quality learning environment is essential if children are to demonstrate attainment through self initiated activities. Moderation visits and cluster meetings will include a discussion with practitioners about how they provide a rich learning environment and make their observations.

The EYFS Profile contains three distinct bands of development. Those working at pre early learning goals (ELGs) points 0-3, those working within ELGs points 4-8 and those working beyond ELGs at point 9. As explained at the October headteacher briefings it is not possible for a child to be awarded a score within the mid band of any scale unless the points 0-3 have been secured. However, very occasionally some children, for example those on the autistic spectrum, may not conform to common patterns of development. NAA have decided that they will issue a password to local authority officers which will override the restrictions so that special circumstances may be appropriately recorded in June when the data is submitted. Any further guidance on this matter may be obtained from the EYFSP manager at the Professional Development Centre in the summer term, prior to submitting the data.

Quality Assurance
In the summer term 2009 headteachers will be asked to quality assure the data and sign off the EYFSP results before they are submitted to the local authority. The local authority recommends the following;

	internal moderation so that all Foundation Stage staff are able to check their assessments and judgements either with teaching assistants, staff from parallel classes, literacy or numeracy leaders, assessment co-ordinators, the headteacher or, in the case of very small schools, a partner or neighbouring school
	headteachers familiarise themselves with the profile and the processes of early years assessment by discussing with their staff, around the midpoint of the year, how the profiles are building up, by taking a sample of children across the range of ability and looking at the individual scale points and their progress - matching it to some key evidence
	towards the mid point of the summer term headteachers should quality assure the data before it is finally submitted to the local authority
	any wide variation between one scale and another should be explored and good reasons found
	very similar scores for almost every child in the cohort might also indicate that there are issues to be explored
	many of the scale points across the profile are linked or overlap. Practitioners should, before submitting their profile scores, look at the individual scale points for each child to see if they present a coherent and consistent picture of attainment.

The local authority will;

	quality assure the data child by child before it is sent to the DCSF and where there are queries schools will be contacted before the end of the summer term. We therefore request that all schools submit their data by the deadline given by the DCSF and the Information and Research Centre
	quality assure the process of moderation by monitoring a sample of cluster meetings and visits

Further guidance may be found on the NAA website - www.naa.org.uk/eyfsp

Look for the PDF 'Quality Assurance of the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile Data.'

Moderation
A review of last years' procedures has resulted in the following;

Moderation Team
The team of moderators has expanded and moderators will be deployed annually to the same assessment clusters. This will enable schools to build closer relationships with the moderator and enable a more flexible arrangement of support and moderation. The prime purpose of moderation is to ensure that assessment judgements are accurate and the local authority is seeking ways in which the moderation process can be more rigorous. However, visits and cluster meetings are conducted in a supportive climate where practitioners can share expertise and can openly talk about their assessment issues.

Cycle of Moderation
Visits
The previous cycle of moderation has changed.

	When a school is selected for moderation all classes will be moderated.
	All those schools with NQTs will receive a moderation visit, which is likely to take place in the spring term. Some visits will take place in the summer term. These visits are mainly to schools where there were some queries on the previous year's data or where ongoing support is required.
	The moderator will discuss data from the previous year and it would be ideal if the headteacher is available for part of the time in which the moderator is in school. Please could headteachers print out the data prior to the moderator's visit.
	This year the moderators will be selecting three children for discussion and review from a class list that the teachers will provide close to the date of the moderation visit. Teachers will need to organise their class list into three distinct sections; those children working within the pre Early Learning Goals (ELGs) 0-3 band, those working within ELG 4-8 band those working beyond ELG at point 9.

The moderator will select a child from within each band. Where there are no such distinct bands, three children will be randomly selected by the moderator. Teachers will need to ensure that all their assessment information is brought up to date prior to the visit.

Further details on the preparation for moderation visits will be sent to each school by the end of the autumn term 2008.

Clusters
The remainder of schools, approximately 75%, will be invited to a half-day cluster meeting.

All cluster meetings will be held in the NPDC and the WNPDC to enable the showing of video national exemplification. The additional space will also allow cluster meetings to include more than one member of staff from each school. It is essential that each school send a teacher representative to the appointed cluster meeting.

As in past years, teachers will bring to the meetings samples of evidence of children working;

	at pre Early Learning Goals ELGs 0-3 band,
	within 4-8 ELG band
	beyond ELG at point 9.

Where there are clashes of dates alternative cluster meetings will be allocated. The National Assessment Agency expects that each Local Authority will retain a register of attendance for these meetings and that absences will be followed up. Further details on the preparation for moderation cluster meetings will be sent to each school by the end of the autumn term 2008. Headteachers are requested to ensure that all teachers of YR children receive an individual copy of the letter.

New NAA Website
The National Assessment Agency website (www.naa.org.uk/eyfsp) has a new section devoted to the EYFS Profile and all staff teaching reception are encouraged to see what is new at least once a term. An area for development nationally is the closer involvement of parents in the profile for which there will be some case studies on the website in the near future.

Assessment and Reporting Arrangements
The above NAA publication which is produced annually and which is available on the website has many updates for 2009 on the EYFS Profile. It is a requirement that all EYFS providers give parents a written summary of their child's progress against the early learning goals and the assessment scales and where parents request it, a copy of the EYFS profile summary scores reported to the local authority. The publication also outlines where exceptions to EYFSP assessment may be made and the ruling on late transfer of children from one school to another in the summer term.

Appeals Procedure
The local authority has developed an appeals procedure which will be published on the Norfolk Schools site in the section on Foundation Stage Profile by Christmas 2008. In brief, where, after extensive discussion, there is no agreement between the school and moderator on the EYFS Profile judgements, the school may request an appeal. The appeals panel will meet in the summer term to review any submitted requests.

Consultation Group
This group has been convened to oversee and support the annual evaluation of the local authority's implementation of the EYFS Profile and to develop the next year's plan. Both the evaluation and the plan are submitted to the National Assessment Agency at the end of each summer. The group has representation from headteachers and teachers from private/ independent schools and maintained schools, advisers, support teachers, moderators, staff from the Information and Research Centre, early years training department and the manager for the EYFS Profile.

Data
EYFS Profile data for LA maintained schools for 2008 and previous years may be found on the Norfolk Schools site under key data. Within the red band 'How high are standards?', look for the more information button which leads through to the pdfs of individual school data as well as comparisons with local and national results. Private and independent schools who cannot access the Norfolk Schools site will be sent their data from the Information and Research Centre (IRC) based at County Hall. Any queries arising from the EYFSP data should be addressed to Dom Mingaye at the IRC. His email address is dom.mingaye@norfolk.gov.uk.

The e profile provides headteachers and literacy and numeracy leaders with some excellent opportunities to examine the outcomes of individual pupil assessments and reflect on the provision. This is a fine starting point for school improvement across the foundation stage. For those leaders and managers less familiar with the foundation stage, section 4 of the video and training materials Continuing the Learning Journey will be of assistance. Continuing the learning Journey materials can be accessed through the NAA website (www.naa.org.uk/eyfsp). Hard copies of the materials will re-issued to schools in late autumn 08 by NAA. The LA has some outline plans to offer training on this material in the new financial year.

Data for Year 1
At the end summer term, Year 1 teachers need to receive each child's individual profile of attainment by scale point from the YR teacher. This is easily provided by Version 3 of the e profile. This information enables the year 1 teacher to see exactly which early learning goals each child still needs to acquire.

Training and Support
EYFS Profile is the most detailed and comprehensive of all the statutory assessments in a child's primary school life. It is therefore fitting that practitioners engaged in teaching reception children should have a thorough understanding of early years assessment practice and the particular requirements of the EYFS Profile. They should also understand and use the national exemplification because this will lead to accurate assessment data. The National Assessment Agency requires the Local Authority to maintain a register of all teachers in the reception year and to ensure that they access the necessary training. The 2008/9 register indicates that there are many practitioners who are new to EYFS Profile have not been able to access the training offered in September. It is therefore important that all those that missed the chance earlier in the school year take up the opportunities available in January 2009.

Training on how to use the EYFS Profile and the e profile is currently supplied by the early years and childcare team based at County Hall and is subsidised so there is no course cost to the school. Click on the links provided above to access the information on the courses and the application form. I am reliably informed that schools do not have to complete all the sections of the application form but name, address, telephone number, date of birth, job title place of work and the course number are essential.

Additional moderator support may be possible for those schools which experience late change of YR teachers during the year. Headteachers should contact the EYFS Profile manager based at Norwich Professional Development Centre - telephone 01603 433276.

Please click on the below links to view training available in January 2009:
How to use the EYFS Profile
How to use the eProfile
and Booking Form.