The Learning and Development guidance can support understanding of development and learning and the adult’s contribution to the process, but this should be seen as a set of possibilities and not a prescription for either children or adults.
For children
Overall, children will work their individual way from the development and learning typical of babies onward to what older children know, can do, and understand. The grids illustrate samples of what children may do along that journey. While these present some examples, children will do countless things that do not appear in the grids but are equally valuable for their learning. And as each child winds their individual path through the different areas, they will not necessarily show signs of each of the descriptors, nor in the same order presented.
Learning does not move forward in a straight, predictable and linear way. It can stall or even backtrack in one area, while strides and bursts are made in another area. Development should not be expected to be even across all areas, and the balance is likely to shift from one time to another.
The guidance should not be used as a checklist to steer each unique child through a prescribed path with required ‘next steps’. Rather, it should be a support to help adults to recognise and interpret what a child is showing at the present moment, give the child time to rehearse those skills, and be ready to help enrich their experience and deepen and extend their learning. It is important to recognise that some children have divergent development pathways which will not follow this typical progression.
For adults
Examples of what adults might do or provide should be seen as suggestions or prompts for thinking, suggesting ‘next steps’ adults might take to support children’s development and learning. Adults should use their informed knowledge of children, alongside their own creative and critical thinking, to develop their own ideas, decide what to try, and evaluate its effectiveness. Whether using the grids to reflect on suggestions for moment-to-moment interactions, resourcing and organising the environment, offering opportunities or planning specific activities, educators who know children well will adapt and invent the most appropriate ways to support and extend their learning.
Many examples of how adults might support children in earlier ranges are equally applicable to later ranges, and educators are encouraged to keep incorporating these in their practice.
Teaching should not be taken to imply a “top down” or formal way of working. It is a broad term that covers the many different ways in which adults help young children learn. It includes their interactions with children during planned and child-initiated play and activities: communicating and modelling language; showing, explaining, demonstrating, exploring ideas; encouraging, questioning, recalling; providing a narrative for what they are doing; facilitating and setting challenges. It takes account of the equipment adults provide and the attention given to the physical environment, as well as the structure and routines of the day that establish expectations. Integral to teaching is how practitioners assess what children know, understand and can do, as well as taking account of their interests and dispositions to learn (characteristics of effective learning), and how practitioners use this information to plan children’s next steps in learning and monitor their progress.
Ofsted Early Years Inspection Handbook
A Unique Child
When referring to the guidance for the Areas of Learning and Development, it is important to start with what is observed and understood about the individual child.
A typical progression in development and learning has been grouped into broad Ranges in the column for A Unique Child. This is intended to support educators’ knowledge of a general pattern of child development. The Ranges illustrate examples of what children may do along their journey of development and learning. Children develop and learn at their own rates and in their own ways. While progressing well, they will do countless things that do not appear in the grids, and are not likely to show signs of each statement nor to demonstrate them in the given order.
On-going planning: Educators can
- think about what they have observed which demonstrates a child’s development and learning in a particular area
- compare their observations to the statements in the Ranges to make a decision about which Range most closely describes what the child is doing
- consider the suggestions for adults within that range (or earlier ranges) to plan to support continued progress.
Best-fit summative judgements should be based on everything that has been observed and understood about the child’s development and learning through ongoing formative assessment. This knowledge of the child will inform the decision about which Range overall best describes the child’s current development and learning.
Children’s progress over time can be seen as a continuum, both within a Range and between Ranges. Understanding progress is not a matter of turning the complexity of a child’s individual journey into a data point. Between summative assessments, a child may move from one Range to another or instead may be progressing within a Range by expanding and deepening their learning. In dialogue with other professionals and with parents, a child’s progress relative to the Ranges can be identified.
Comparing best-fit summative judgements of Ranges with typical age links can help identify whether children are roughly on track or are progressing more slowly or quickly. When compiled for groups of children, this cohort information can be useful for leaders and managers in planning for the continual improvement of practice and provision in the setting.
The guidance can help to identify when children may need additional support, by referring to the key provided here which links the Ranges to typical age links. The age links overlap Ranges because these are not fixed age boundaries but suggest a typical range of development.
