Foundation Stage Profile data

Introduction

Through Every Child Matters, and the 10 year childcare strategy, the Government is committed to giving all children a good start in life and to reducing inequalities. Settings and practitioners can support this aspiration by strengthening the evidence base for tracking learning and development. It is the documentation of learning that enables progress to be celebrated and shared – with the child, with the parents and carers, with fellow professionals, and with inspectors and moderators. This documentation - photos, observations, narratives, samples of representation - provides the basis for next steps and identifying any barrier to learning. It is this documentation that is linked by the practitioner onto the curriculum framework to ensure the child is progressing towards and achieving the early learning goals. This approach ensures the professionals start with the child: the approach links to the first national data collection, the Foundation Stage Profile.

Foundation Stage Profile data analysis, founded on the approaches outlined above, can demonstrably improve outcomes for children at the end of the Foundation Stage, the quality of provision in settings birth to the end of the Foundation Stage that receive government funding, and support the continuing professional development of staff in those settings. Achievement is measured at the end of the Foundation Stage through the Foundation Stage Profile.

Local data analysis can support self-evaluation in all settings by helping to identify spurs and barriers to achievement. Data analysis may be focussed on

improving the attainment of the individual, the group, the class and the year group;
identifying common successes and issues throughout the Foundation Stage;
considering what needs to be taught next;
promoting continuity on entry to, and within, the Foundation Stage, and between the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1.