This case study from Vicarage Primary School
focusses on communication and language and literacy.
The child that we're going to be talking about today
is a quiet and shy girl.
She's kind, co-operative, she encourages other children
how to behave and even help her with tidy up time.
I conducted an initial baseline assessment which gave me a deeper
insight into her exact areas and stages for development.
We group the early learning goals for speaking and listening,
along with those for understanding of the world,
because this allows us to assess the ‘how’ with the ‘what’.
And how has this changed following the reforms?
We've considerably increased
the number of back-and-forth talk we have with our children,
by talking to them daily about what they're doing,
the choices they're making.
Children answer every question with a partner
and we then expand and elaborate on their ideas.
We practise what good listening looks like and what it really feels like.
And were you able to see this coming through with this child?
She can now answer questions with a partner
and share her responses with the rest of the group.
Right, lovely.
And do you specifically plan the vocabulary? Yes, we do.
We think that's really important. For example,
before tidy up time we take a different area to talk about each day.
For example, the sink area includes a wide vocabulary,
such as draining board, brush, liquid, squirt.
The other day as she was at the washing up area,
she said really excitedly, “Look!
My pot is shiny.” And these are words that she's learnt.
And what more does she have to do in order
to meet the expected standard?
She needs to talk in full sentences, using some conjunctions
and using the correct tense with little support from the teachers.
So tell me how you assessed comprehension and expressive arts
and design early learning goals together?
We have sung so many songs and rhymes and poems
this year, especially ones that fit in well with our topics
that we're learning about.
For example, she can join in with ‘Here Comes the Fire Truck’
that ties in quite nicely with our topic on people who help us.
She's able to join in with some lines from ‘Hurt No Living Thing’,
which ties in well with our topic on growth.
And even with a number song, she sings along with ‘Five Little Ducks’
and ‘Ten Monkeys Jumping on a Bed’ and ‘Ten Green Bottles’.
Because daily story time is a priority,
we plan and prepare the stories we're going to read
to really capture the children's attention.
We have a collection of stories selected by children and staff.
These are the books we get through during the week.
We have a selection of story bags
with props to really bring the experience to life for the children.
They must really enjoy that. Yeah, they really do.
We read and re-read stories so that it becomes
so much a part of them so they can independently retell stories.
By the time we'd read aloud ‘the three little pigs’ for the tenth time,
she was able to join in with “Not by the hairs on my chinny chin chin”.
Tell me about her world reading skills.
We ensure that our phonics lessons are of the highest quality
to reduce the likelihood that children might need extra support.
We keep a record of the sounds that children know
and whether they can blend the sounds to read words.
This child receives extra daily phonics practice with a well-trained adult.
She knows her 26 alphabet sounds and the sh, th, ng, nk speedily.
She can read one-word books independently
by sound blending the words.
And the phonics lessons are really helping her
to articulate the sounds in words.
You mentioned about record keeping of the sounds that she knows,
what else is recorded and how is this managed?
We no longer create profile books because
not only were these time consuming, they created
a very heavy workload and they reduced the amount of time
we could spend interacting with our children.
This hasn't impacted our record keeping of sounds because keeping
a record of the sounds that children have learnt
is really important for their next steps.
And so, were you able to see this knowledge of sounds
transfer through into her writing?
Yes, we teach children correct letter formation and practise it every day.
We ensure that children are holding their pencils, using the correct
tripod grip and they’re in their perfect writing positions.
We know the sounds that children need to practise more
and we keep returning to these every day.
She can write all of the letters, most of which are correctly formed.
She can use her fingers to count the sounds in a word
and write three letter words when we dictate them to her.
She can write simple phrases with our support.
So she very nearly meets the expected standards in these goals.
In summary, this child is on the cusp
of meeting most of these early learning goals.
In particular, literacy, comprehension
and understanding of the world.
This child is emerging for all the communication and language
and literacy goals discussed.