Are observations still important in the Early Years, following the EYFS Reforms 2021?

5 min read:

The EYFS reforms 2021 brought a welcomed and important shift away from collecting lots of evidence about every child. But what do the new EYFS and Ofsted say about observations?

We have sifted through some key statutory and guidance documents and highlighted relevant quotes followed by our own reflections on the valuable role of observation in a child-centred approach.

Why are observations important in early years education?

When exploring the new EYFS Framework 2021, it’s useful to reflect on the following:

‘Ofsted inspectors seek to understand the practitioner’s knowledge of each child.’

(Early years inspection handbook for Ofsted-registered provision, 2022, Article 71.)

Observation is about getting to know children, and as Dr Julian Grenier explained to us in our Q&A with him, “observing children as they play and learn is the best way to get to know them”.

Whatever your method and frequency of recording, observations allow you to really know each child. Through your observation of children you notice things, their personality, interests, what brings them joy, what worries them, and what they know and can do.

Do nurseries have to do observations?

Whilst the new EYFS Framework 2021 removes the requirement for nurseries to hold every bit of information about what each child can do and is interested in, it does recommend a simple form of recording children’s achievements. In this way, Observations, whether by a quick note or media snapshot, act as excellent memory jogs when you are considering a child’s progress, helping you to monitor and share the learning stories of your children.

Here’s what the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile Handbook 2023 says:

Schools should not include burdensome evidence gathering requirements against any of the areas of learning in their assessment policies so that teachers and practitioners can spend as much time as possible interacting with children and directly supporting their learning and development. However, teachers may find it helpful to record, in a simple way, particularly noteworthy achievements, such as what phonemes and numbers a child has learned, in order to determine what to teach next.

(Section 2.3. Building knowledge of the child)

Observations support partnerships with parents and carers

1. The requirement to share information with parents and carers about their child’s learning remains in the new EYFS Framework 2021:

Children learn and develop well in enabling environments with teaching and support from adults, who respond to their individual interests and needs, and help them to build their learning over time. Children benefit from a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and/or carers.

(Overarching principles, EYFS Statutory Framework)

    2. Parental engagement is a key component of Ofsted inspections – here’s what the Ofsted Inspection Handbook 2022 says:

• The provider must demonstrate how they will: work in partnership with parents, carers and others.

(Article 33, Ofsted Inspection Handbook 2022)

• Relationships among children, parents and staff reflect a positive and respectful culture. Children feel safe and secure.

(Grade descriptors for the quality of education (Good) – Article 187)

Following the EYFS reforms, Tapestry’s Co-Founder and Director Dr Helen Edwards read 100 Ofsted reports. In her findings, published in Early Years Educator, Helen says ‘it’s clear to me that parent and carer partnerships are very much under scrutiny’.

     3. Positive and trusting relationships with parents and carers improve your knowledge of each child

The Early Years Foundation Stage Profile Handbook 2023 says:

Teachers should also actively engage children, their parents and other adults who have significant interaction with the child in the assessment process. This will provide a rounded picture of the child’s development. A teacher’s relationship with parents is especially crucial when working with children from different cultural backgrounds, as parents can help practitioners understand the values that explain their child’s responses to the environment and social situations.

(Section 2.3. Building knowledge of the child)

Child-centred practice involves a two-way communication between educators and families, so that parents’ input is truly valued and educators’ knowledge of children is strengthened. Sharing observations helps you to build and maintain meaningful relationships with families, which in turn supports you in meeting the statutory and inspection requirements around keeping parents informed and parental engagement. Recognising and reducing barriers to engagement for parents and carers is vital, and choosing how and what you share with the families in your community will be part of your observation practice.

Observations provide a holistic view of a child to better identify any areas for support

The Early Years Foundation Stage Profile Handbook 2023 says:

Day-to-day informal checking of what children have learnt will inform teaching and learning on an ongoing basis throughout the final year of the EYFS. This will include identifying areas where children may be at risk of falling behind, so that practitioners can provide rapid, effective support.

(Section 2.1. Overview of the profile)

A collection of just a few observations, whether quick notes or visual, provides the context to inform your professional judgement about how to support a child’s progress. Video observations can be a valuable child-centred tool, enabling you to revisit a moment and notice non-verbal as well as verbal communication. Remember, any recording of observations shouldn’t happen at the expense of time with the children and further learning opportunities.

Observations help in peer-to-peer moderation conversations

The Early Years Foundation Stage Profile Handbook 2023 says:

Moderation of EYFS profile assessments should be a collaborative process with colleagues. This supports the quality assurance of teacher assessment judgements and provides a valuable opportunity for professional development. Within each school, teachers can informally agree assessment judgements with others, for example discussing observations about a child’s development with other EYFS teachers and practitioners or a year 1 teacher. This does not require collecting or recording unnecessary evidence, rather any internal or peer-to-peer moderation conversations should as far as possible, be based on the teacher’s own knowledge of their children.

(Section 3.6. Moderation)

All staff in early years settings and classrooms are there to support each other in developing their provision further. Your observations help to build a shared team knowledge of the children at your setting, and offer a focus for moderation conversations. These enrich transition processes between classes, year groups or rooms. Staff can have discussions about children that might not necessarily be their key children, and support key people in their decision making, planning and provision.

Observations inform professional learning

The Ofsted Inspection Handbook 2022 says:

• Inspectors will gather evidence of the effectiveness of staff supervision, performance management, training and continuing professional development, and the impact of these on children’s well-being, learning and development.

(Performance management and professional development – Article 112)

• Leaders ensure that they and practitioners receive focused and highly effective professional development. Practitioners’ subject, pedagogical content and knowledge consistently builds and develops over time, and this consistently translates into improvements in the teaching of the curriculum.

(Grade descriptors for leadership and management (Outstanding) – Article 193)

So, whilst the EYFS reforms 2021 take away the onerous burden of recording every detail relating to each child, observations can be a great example of what good educational practice looks like: what are you choosing to record? How does that benefit the child? In what ways is it encouraging parental engagement? How can staff overcome barriers to engagement for families through visual materials? For example, video observations are a valuable basis for team or individual professional development, as a reference point for discussing child development, or for exploring pedagogical approaches.

Tapestry has been carefully designed to support early years settings with reducing workload, assisting the development of each setting’s provision, and building and maintaining meaningful relationships with families.

Tapestry Observations is our most popular feature. Head to our Features page, to dig deeper into the practical implementation of Observations, alongside Reflections and the Areas of Concern screen to discover how Tapestry can support a fully holistic approach to child-centred practice.

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Further reading mentioned in the article:

Dr Julian Grenier, Q&A

Dr Helen Edwards, Ofsted reports reinforce need for parent partnerships