Pinderfields Hospital

Assessment

Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

The EYFS Framework explains how and what your child will be learning to support their healthy development. It supports children from birth to the end of the year in which they turn 5 (their Reception year).

Your child will be learning skills, acquiring new knowledge and demonstrating their understanding through 7 areas of learning and development.

Children typically should mostly develop the 3 prime areas first. These are:

• Communication and language
• Physical development
• Personal, social and emotional development

These prime areas are those most essential for your child’s healthy development and future learning. As children grow, the prime areas will help them to develop skills in 4 specific areas. These are:

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the world
• Expressive arts and design

These 7 areas are used to plan your child’s learning and activities. The professionals teaching and supporting your child will make sure that the activities are suited to your child’s unique needs. It is designed to be really flexible so that staff can follow your child's unique needs and interests. Children in the EYFS learn by playing and exploring, being active, and through creative and critical thinking which takes place both indoors and outside.

At Forest Wood, we use an assessment tool called B Squared. B Squared breaks the assessment frameworks down into smaller steps of progression. Children in Reception are all assessed on the B Squared EYFS document. Where appropriate, they are also assessed using the Engagement Steps.

At the end of EYFS (Reception) it is compulsory for us to submit the level at which every child is working.

‘Practitioners must complete the EYFS profile for each child who will be 5 years old on, or before, 31 August 2020. Practitioners should make profile judgements based on; cumulative observational evidence recorded over the course of the year. The EYFS profile must be completed for each child and submitted to the Local Authority (Wakefield) no later than Friday 26 June.’

(Early years foundation stage assessment and reporting arrangements (ARA) October 2019)

Engagement Steps

All children in Year 1 and Year 2 are currently assessed on Engagement Steps. Engagement Steps are specifically designed for children where subject specific learning is not appropriate. (For example, their main learning foci are not solely English, maths, science, geography, history etc.)

The assessment is split into four broad areas. Each area is split into smaller groups. These are:

Cognition & Learning

• Responsiveness

Assessment of responsiveness should evaluate any change in a pupil’s behaviour that demonstrates he or she is being attentive to a new stimulus or reacting in a meaningful way. This type of assessment is important for establishing what differing stimuli motivate a pupil to pay attention. This is a prerequisite for learning. It is particularly relevant for assessing pupils with multiple sensory impairments who have reduced and/or atypical sensory awareness and perception.

• Curiosity

Assessment of curiosity demonstrates how a pupil is building on an initial reaction to a new stimulus, perhaps by reaching out or seeking the source of a new stimulus.

• Investigation

Assessment of investigation measures the extent to which a pupil is actively trying to find out more about an object or activity via prolonged, independent experimentation. This demonstrates a more advanced degree of autonomy than the other aspects of engagement and is important for ongoing learning.

• Discovery

Assessment of discovery provides information about the changing ways in which a pupil interacts with, or responds to, a new stimulus, sometimes accompanied by expressions such as enjoyment and excitement. Curiosity and discovery are closely linked. At a more advanced point of development they both help to demonstrate a pupil’s degree of interest in, and exploration of, activities and concepts. These both help to drive the acquisition of new knowledge and skills.

• Anticipation

Assessment of anticipation should demonstrate whether a pupil is able to predict, expect or associate a particular stimulus with an event. This is important for measuring a pupil’s concept of cause and effect.

• Persistence

Assessment of persistence measures the extent to which a pupil is sustaining attention towards a particular item or action and is therefore beginning to develop conceptual understanding. The ability to sustain attention is important for maintaining an activity long enough to develop the learning associated with it and for consolidating that learning.

• Initiation

Assessment of initiation demonstrates the different ways, and extent to which, a pupil investigates an activity or stimulus in order to bring about a desired outcome. It is an important part of developing the autonomy required for more advanced cognitive development and learning.

Communication & Interaction

• Expressive Communication

Assessment of Expressive Communication measures intentional and pre-intentional patterns of behaviour and communication which help the pupil get their needs met.

• Reception Communication

Assessment of Receptive Communication measures the extent to which a pupil comprehends simple verbal, symbolic and body language.

Social, Emotional and Mental Health

• Social Affection

Assessment of Social Affection measures the extent to which an individual uses the skills required in order to be able to get their needs met, co-operate with others and share understanding in their environment.

• Emotional Affection

Assessment of Emotional Affection measures the extent to which an individual uses the skills required in order to recognise their own feelings, control some behaviours and demonstrate their own emotions.

Sensory & Physical

 - Sensory Operation

• Visual

Assessment of Visual Sensory Operation measures the extent to which a pupil reacts to the sensation and perception of light.

• Auditory

Assessment of Auditory Sensory Operation measures the extent to which a pupil reacts to the sensation and perception of sound.

• Tactile

Assessment of Tactile Sensory Operation measures the extent to which a pupil reacts to the sensation and perception of touch.

• Olfactory/Gustatory

Assessment of Olfactory/Gustatory Sensory Operation measures the extent to which a pupil reacts to the sensation and perception of taste.

• Vestibular

Assessment of Vestibular Sensory Operation measures the extent to which a pupil reacts to the sensation and perception of balance and motion.

• Proprioceptive

Assessment of Proprioceptive Sensory Operation measures the extent to which a pupil reacts to the sensation and perception of one’s own body.

 - Physical Operation

• Fine Motor

Assessment of Fine Motor Physical Operation measures the extent to which a pupil controls the precise movements that use the small muscles of the fingers, toes, wrists, lips and tongue.

• Gross Motor

Assessment of Gross Motor Physical Operation measures the extent to which a pupil controls the bigger movements that use the large muscles in the arms, legs, torso and feet.

Each area has six stages of assessment, Engagement (E.) Step 1-6. 

Children who are engaging in subject specific learning will also be assessed for the areas they are accessing using the Pre-key stage 1 standards as set out by the government.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pre-key-stage-1-standards

Statutory Assessments and Key Stage One SATS

In the summer term of year one, pupils are expected to take the Year One Phonics Screening Check if they are able. The check is designed to see if pupils' reading skills are in line with national expectations. Almost all of our pupils have communication and language difficulties, and are often not learning at age related expectations. However, if pupils are able to access the materials we will support them to complete the test. There is also the opportunity to take the test in year 2 for pupils who might be able to access this. 

Pupils who have accessed academic material which is age-appropriate may access the end of year two assessments. Unlike those at year 6, the year 2 SATs are marked by staff in school and the results are not reported nationally. These tests are used to support the teacher's judgement about the attainment of a pupil. If your child is to take any of these tests, this information would be shared with you and we would discuss how we would support your child during the testing.

Other Assessments

The above areas are not the only ones in which a child will develop and make progression. Alongside the above, as appropriate to each individual child, we assess:

• The Stages of Play
• Intensive Interaction
• The Stages of Communication
• Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)
• Stages of Development for Objects of Reference
• Attention Autism
• Significant Achievements

This list is not exhaustive and we will continue to develop it as required.

Evisense

Information for Parents (taken directly from their Website)

Your child’s school has purchased Evisense and will be using it to store photos, videos, audio recordings of your child as well as documents. This document is to give you an introduction to Evisense and to give you information regarding who has access to your child’s information, where the information is stored and other safe guarding precautions we have taken.

Evisense from B Squared ltd is a tool for schools that will store and showcase events from a child’s time in education. Evisense will be used to record a pupil’s achievements and progress through photos, videos, audio and documents. Evisense is designed to be used from Early Years through to adolescence and beyond. Evisense can be used on mobile phones and tablets, each school controls what devices teachers can use Evisense on.

B Squared have been working in the Education industry for over 20 years, our market leading assessment software has been used by schools since 2000. In 2012 we provided hosting for our customers data and now look after over 150,000 students’ data.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Who can see my child's photos and videos?

Photos can be accessed by the teachers within the school. Your school controls who can access your child's photos. B Squared employees cannot see your photos or videos.

Who is looking after my child's photos and where are they?

B Squared employ a team of people dedicated to managing the servers that run Evisense, Managing the servers ourselves gives improved security. We comply with all data protection laws for each country we operate in. The table below shows where the servers are for each country we operate in. All data for UK schools stays within the UK.

Do teachers have phones full of photos of my child?

Evisense has been designed so that any photo or video taken in the app cannot be accessed outside of the app. The photos cannot be accessed by any other app on the device or accessed by plugging the device into a computer.

Evidence is encrypted and uploaded as soon as it can be. If there is an available internet connection, the evidence is uploaded immediately. If not, it will uploaded when connected to a wireless network. All traffic between the device and our servers is encrypted. The evidence is removed from the device as soon as it has been uploaded.

Some schools and local authorities have strict guidelines on what devices can be used within the school. Evisense allows schools to restrict the devices that can be used by teachers. A school may decide to only allow evidence to be gathered on school-owned devices, giving schools greater control over their safeguarding.

All of this means that teachers do not have mobile devices full of photos of children.

Do B Squared own the photos/videos?

B Squared do not own any of the content uploaded to our servers with Evisense. B Squared are legally known as a "Data Processor" within the UK, this means the ownership of any data remains with the school or establishment using our service. It is the schools obligation to ensure that we are meeting their safeguarding and data protection requirements. When schools sign up to the Evisense service we present them with our terms and conditions which highlight how we meet these requirements. Additional information is available to the school on request.

Some social media sites have statements when signing up that state that by using their service they have the right to use your photos. Evisense is a very different system, our security and safeguarding principles mean that no single person at B Squared can access any photos or videos. We cannot access them, therefore we cannot use them.

Will I be able to access the photos/videos of my child?

Yes. Evisense is designed to not only record and store evidence, but to share evidence with parents.

SECURITY AND SAFEGUARDING

Security and safe guarding have been built in to the heart of Evisense. Working with schools and local authorities over the last 20 years has given us a strong understanding of these institutions safeguarding policies. We have worked hard to meet every security and safeguarding issue raised by our customers and many, many more. The intention is that Evisense gives schools and parents every confidence that their child and their data are safe. The list below highlights some of the security and safe guarding precautions we have taken:

Software

• All media files are encrypted in storage
• Media removal from mobile devices on successful upload
• Media encrypted on mobile device inside Evisense app when awaiting upload
• Prevention of access to mobile device gallery from Evisense app
• Prevention of access to Evisense device gallery from mobile device gallery
• Media view counts implemented
• Media download counts implemented
• Child protection list prevents sharing of evidence containing protected students
• Mobile device authorisation
• Reporting of inappropriate posts resulting in immediate removal
• Reviewing of reported posts with actions to take

Hardware/Infrastructure

• Encrypted connections between browser and server
• Encrypted connections between mobile apps and server
• Data stored in the UK
• All servers own by B Squared Ltd
• Server access restrictions
• Least permissions applied
• Server access auditing and active monitoring in place
• Hard disk encryption

If you have any questions about Evisense and how it is used please talk to your school.