Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA)

The DfE confirmed, on the 25^th June, that the statutory Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA) has been postponed until September 2021. Read more.

There will be some schools that have opted to take part in the RBA early adopter year to familiarise themselves with assessment materials before the RBA becomes statutory. They would have informed Dfe by 24^th July.

These schools will be sent resources just before October half term and then asked to complete the baseline assessment within 6 weeks after October half term.

Whether you are doing the RBA baseline this year or not, you will still need to do your on-entry assessments across the seven areas of learning.

EYFS Reforms

As you are aware, on the 1st July, the DfE released the outcome of the consultation on the EYFS reforms that ended on the 31st January. Read more.

Below is a reminder of the key changes: 

• Revisions to the educational programmes;
• Revisions to the early learning goals;
• Removal of the statutory duty for local authorities to externally moderate EYFS profile judgements;
• Removal of the ‘exceeding’ judgement criteria from the EYFS profile;
• Change to the safeguarding and welfare requirements to promote good oral health.

If you are adopting the EYFS framework from September 2020 you will be exempt from the EYFS Profile assessments in Summer 2021. It would be great to hear from you, so please get in touch. It would be interesting to know if you would like further support.

What has been published on the 3rd September is the non-statutory ‘New Development matters guidance’ that schools can use if they are early adopters to the reforms.

If you would like to know more about the reforms to the framework I would recommend coming along to our (online) EYFS network on 4th November. Sign up here.

If you are not adopting the framework early then the updated framework will become statutory from September 2021. Therefore, it will still be statutory in June 2021 to complete the EYFS profile assessments and send them to the Local authority.

EYFS Moderation

All of the EYFS profile moderation dates (March/April) have been set and the focus for moderation in 2021 is  Personal, Social and Emotional development, and Mathematics.

Join our EYFS Profile Standardisation and Moderation Training to ensure your judgements are accurate, valued and consistent with the national standards, as set out in the EYFS framework.

Due to the challenging circumstances faced by schools in the context of the covid-19 pandemic, statutory introduction of the RBA has been postponed to Autumn 2021. Instead, schools have the opportunity to sign up to the RBA Early Adopter year.

Participation is optional, even after signing up. Data gathered from the Early Adopter year will not be used for the purpose of the progress measure.

The RBA is an activity-based assessment of pupils’ starting point in:

• language, communication, and literacy
• mathematics

The recruitment window for schools to sign up opens on 25 June and closes on 24 July 2020. Schools who choose to participate will receive assessment materials shortly before the October 2020 half term, with the optional assessment window opening for six-weeks after the October half term. Find out more here.

Services For Education Update – May 2020

Our courses are still running – digitally.

Since March, the majority of our training courses now take place digitally so you don’t miss out on your CPD and essential training during this time. You can book your place online here.

We will also be offering school improvement and consultancy services online. Get in touch via hello@servicesforeducation.co.uk to find out more.

Our courses will continue to run digitally until government guidance changes and it becomes clear that we are able to run face-to-face courses again. You can now book courses for 2020/21 via our website.

Over the last few weeks, we have spent time researching useful links, resources and information for teachers, parents and pupils, so please visit our School Resources Page for more details.

DfE Update – May 2020

The DfE are planning to proceed with the reforms to the Early Years Reforms Foundation Stage, and are considering when to publish the government response to the consultation on the reforms.

The reforms include plans for an early adopter year which will allow schools to voluntarily implement the new learning and development requirements – which include the new early learning goals and educational programmes- and assessment and moderation arrangements from this September (2020), if they wish to. Arrangements for the early adopter year are being kept under review, given the COVID-19 outbreak. National roll-out of the reforms is planned for academic year 2021/22. They will provide all schools who signed up as early adopters with further information on this in due course.

The DfE have also confirmed that the Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA) is still going ahead for September 2020. The DfE have said though, that it will be kept under review in light of the Coronavirus. Obviously there is a lot of disagreement in the sector about the Baseline going ahead in September. There are various groups that you can join to show your support if you wish to do so,

If they decide however, to continue with the Baseline for September 2020, to support schools, I am planning to hold an online webinar on 1st July 10am-11:30pm. It will be on a digital platform and I will be discussing ideas so that you can put plans in place so that children’s and staff’s emotional well being are supported during this key transition time.

• Actions for early years and childcare providers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak
• Reception baseline assessment
• An evidence report on Covid-19 and children’s play
• How we plan for the return to the classrooms, playgrounds and corridors of schools
• Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance for schools and other educational settings
• Coronavirus (COVID-19): safeguarding in schools, colleges and other providers
• Ofsted: coronavirus (COVID-19) rolling update
• COVID-19: Changes to DBS ID checking guidelines
• Coronavirus Updates
• Putting Wellbeing at the Heart of Early Years Practice
• EYFS Resources for Parents
• EYFS Resources for Schools