Foundation stage profile
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Last updated: 30 March 2005
The Foundation Stage Profile is a way of summing up a child's progress and learning across the six areas of learning at the end of the foundation stage. The profile is made up of 13 scales based on the early learning goals and stepping stones set out in Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage. The Foundation Stage Profile Handbook provides guidance for practitioners on how to make assessments on the basis of their observations and knowledge of the whole child.
Full details of what practitioners need to do can be found in the Foundation Stage Profile section of the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1: Assessment and Reporting Arrangements 2005.
A child's attainment on the 13 scales can be recorded in a Foundation Stage Profile booklet or the eProfile. These are optional; schools and settings may want to use their own systems. Whichever is used, there is no need for extensive collections of evidence for individual children and no need to complete more than one record.
Using the stepping stones and early learning goals
The stepping stones and early learning goals are used throughout the
foundation stage for planning and assessing learning. The stepping stones
(non-statutory) show the kind of knowledge, skills, understanding and attitudes
that children are expected to need if they are to achieve the early learning
goals. The early learning goals, which are statutory, establish the
expectations for most children by the end of the foundation stage.
Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage provides examples of 'what children do' that will help practitioners identify how children in their setting are progressing. What does the practitioner need to do? shows how the practitioner can use this information to support and consolidate the child's learning and help them to make progress.
Fit with Key Stage 1
The foundation stage areas of learning can be mapped onto the
subject-based KS1 curriculum. The links are clearly shown in: What does the
practitioner need to do? for each of the early learning goals. How schools
organise the curriculum in KS1 is for them to decide and there is sufficient
flexibility for schools to adapt the content and pedagogy to their
children's needs. The National Assessment Agency (NAA) is developing
guidance for teachers on using the foundation stage profile data to plan for
children's progression in Year 1.
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