Assessment for learning

Observation, Assessment and Planning - Early Years Matters The EYFS Profile summarises and describes children’s attainment at the end of the EYFS. It is based on on-going observation and assessment in the three prime and four specific areas of learning, and the three learning characteristics, set out below: The prime areas of learning: • communication and language To Help Children Learn, Build on What They Already Know - RAISE READY KIDS In his brilliant children’s book Fish Is Fish, Leo Lionni tells the story of a fish and tadpole who become best friends. Eventually, of course, the tadpole grows up, becomes a frog, and ventures out onto dry land. One day, the frog jumps back into the pond to see his old friend the fish. “I have seen extraordinary things!” the frog exclaims. “Like what?”

5 ways to win over parents to the importance of play in international EYFS "I’m not sending my child to school for them play all day. They should be learning properly!" Have you ever overheard comments like this? Or read something similar on social media? Perhaps your teaching methods are questioned during parent-teacher conferences? Let’s lose the ADHD label and find the child When I trained as a primary school teacher 15 years ago, these were some of the words used to describe children with ADHD: ‘Difficult.’ ‘Challenging.’ ‘Disruptive.’ There were others, whispered by harassed-looking teachers in the staffroom or concerned parents at the school gates, but none seemed to be positive. When I got my first ‘real’ class to teach, and saw that some of the children came with the dreaded ‘ADHD’ label attached, I approached the new term with butterflies the size of dragons in my stomach. But here’s what it took me a few more years to learn…

Five essential tips for teaching very young children English Are you daunted by the prospect of teaching English to very young children? Sheona Gilmour, lead educator on our new online course for teachers and parents, offers a few tips. Teaching English to very young children can be challenging, especially if you haven't done any training for the early years classroom. The first time I walked into a kindergarten, I didn’t want to go back the next day. I came from a background of teaching older children, who sat at desks and whose attention I could hold more easily. So the new environment, full of young children with much shorter attention spans, felt overwhelming. 50+ Quick & Easy Kids Crafts that ANYONE Can Make! These 50+ quick and easy kids crafts can be made in under 30 minutes using items that you probably already have around the house! No special tools or skills are required, so ANYONE can make these cute crafts for kids! Great fun for the entire family! 50+ Quick & Easy Kids Crafts

50 Tongue Twisters to improve pronunciation in English Tongue twisters are a great way to practice and improve pronunciation and fluency. They can also help to improve accents by using alliteration, which is the repetition of one sound. They’re not just for kids, but are also used by actors, politicians, and public speakers who want to sound clear when speaking. Below, you will find some of the most popular English tongue twisters. Primary Plus – English for kids aged 6-12 During the Covid-19 pandemic many of our teaching centres are closed. Classes will continue online and our teachers look forward to bringing their passion and expertise into your home. Primary Plus, developed by our team of English experts, will spark your child’s imagination, so they can express themselves with confidence that goes beyond their English language skills. Our new approach means your child will have a more rewarding learning experience, getting the most out of learning English at home with a combination of: live online classes with a specialist teacherinteractive independent study, set by your child's teacher to prepare them for the live lesson – all in a safe, easy-to-use learning environment. You will have access to your child’s personal dashboard.

This ‘Kindness Curriculum’ Is Free And Should Be Used In Every Classroom Imagine living in a world that valued kindness enough to teach it along with academics. Educators would teach kids to manage their emotions in addition to standard curriculum such as math and science. Sounds pretty amazing, doesn’t it? Well, the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has created a free “kindness curriculum” for kids, designed to do just that. It’s a mindfulness-based curriculum for preschoolers that will bring kindness into the classroom. “Faced with mental and physical health challenges at a global scale, we conduct rigorous scientific research to bring new insights and tools aimed at improving the wellbeing of people of all backgrounds and ages,” states the Center’s mission statement.

How to teach children English using illustrated storybooks What makes illustrated storybooks such a good resource for teaching young learners of English? The British Council’s Gail Ellis, co-author of a storytelling handbook for primary English language teachers, explains. Listen to an interview with Gail in our podcast and register for her webinar taking place on Thursday, 2 October. Illustrated storybooks provide an ideal resource for helping children learn English. This is because children love listening to stories. Storybooks present language in familiar and memorable contexts, and high quality illustrations help children understand as they match what they hear to what they see.

21 of the Best Early Years Books for International Friendship Day We know that skills like empathy aren’t fully developed until later in a child’s life, which is why there are so many stories on friendship and how to treat people aimed at Early Years. International Friendship Day, then, is a great opportunity to share some of these amazing books with your children. It does, however, fall on Sunday 30 July. So celebrating on the day itself is going to be difficult, doubly so for Reception classes who are on summer holidays. How Are Happiness and Learning Connected? As teachers, we also know that when students' affective filters or defenses are sky high, fight or flight responses will be modus operandi. A room full of defensive behaviors (withdrawn, angry) is a sad, unproductive place to teach and learn. Now let's flip it and take a look at how much more we are able to learn when we are in harmony with the people and things in any given educational environment. Being in harmony means feeling safe, feeling valued and a necessary part a group, and in this case, a learning community.

The Key to Effective Classroom Management It’s a daunting but all-too-common sight for many teachers: A classroom full of rowdy students who are unable to focus on the lesson. Classroom management techniques may get things back on track, but valuable time has already been lost. Many experienced teachers know that making meaningful connections with students is one of the most effective ways to prevent disruptions in the first place, and a new study set out to assess this approach. In classrooms where teachers used a series of techniques centered around establishing, maintaining, and restoring relationships, academic engagement increased by 33 percent and disruptive behavior decreased by 75 percent—making the time students spent in the classroom more worthwhile and productive. “Strong teacher-student relationships have long been considered a foundational aspect of a positive school experience,” explains Clayton Cook, the lead author of the study and a professor at the University of Minnesota.

Ten ways to support your child’s English-learning at home As the British Council opens a new Learning Time with Shaun & Timmy centre in Mexico for two- to six-year-olds, senior teacher Sarah Reid offers some useful tips for supporting your child’s learning at home. More and more parents want their children to learn English from a young age. I often meet parents of children as young as two or three who say that proficiency in speaking English will help their child 'get ahead in a globalised world'. In other words, the sooner their children get started, the better. The single most important factor in a child’s success with English is their parents' interest and encouragement, no matter what their child’s age. So what can parents do at home to support their learning?