Year 1 teachers are expected to plan an effective, responsive and appropriate curriculum that meets the needs of all children. Yet, when planning for their new cohort, they are handed the EYFS profile assessment - a complex data set that has no correlation to the key stage 1 curriculum. Finding a way through can be like trying to converse in French when all you can remember are a couple of stock phrases from your GCSEs.

Indeed, too often Year 1 teachers lack an understanding of how to interpret EYFS assessments, preventing them from planning next steps effectively. But there is a solution: when they liaise with Reception teachers and use EYFS learning journals to guide planning, children often make accelerated progress.

So here’s my attempt at starting that process of translation, in the hope that it will spark closer working between Reception and Year 1 teachers for the benefit of students.

To those outside EYFS, the assessments can appear complex. At the end of EYFS, for each of the 17 Early Learning Goals (ELGs), Reception teachers must assess whether the child is “emerging” towards the expected level of development (1), working at that level (2) or “exceeding” it (3). For a child to achieve a Good Level of Development (age-related expectations), they must obtain the expected levels in all prime areas of learning (including forming relationships and managing feelings), as well as literacy and mathematics.

Broad scope

Year 1 teachers do not necessarily find a page of 1s, 2s and 3s useful when planning early work in the autumn term, mainly because the expected level is so broad. Reception teachers are required to make “best fit” judgements against ELGs, based on the knowledge of what the child can do independently and in a range of situations. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the child has achieved equal mastery of all aspects of the ELG descriptor.

For example: Ruby grabs her friend Sam’s arm and gesticulates, “The aliens have crash landed outside! The spaceship has erupted into a fireball!” Sam looks puzzled and replies, “I can just see a few cones. I’m going to use them as a goal!” One child may be regarded as more imaginative, but both are typical for their age and stage. Reception teachers ensure judgements are in line with national benchmarks, using exemplification materials.

As the expected level is so broad, professional dialogue between Reception and Year 1 teachers is crucial. Discussions enable Reception teachers to talk about the attainment of individual children. For example: Alex enjoys writing, particularly stories about superheroes. He has strength in phonic application but a weakness in the spelling of sight vocabulary. Alex still achieves the expected level in writing because a “best fit” judgement is made.

In these discussions, it’s crucial that every ELG is scrutinised for every child like this. The onus here should be on the Reception and Year 1 teacher getting together. Professional discussions really help Year 1 teachers identify gaps in learning and plug them, enabling accelerated progress.

But it should not just be about assessments. Learning journals evidence attainment of what children know and understand, but also document how children learn best. These records are bespoke and remind us that children develop at their own rates, in their own ways. The learning journal includes a wealth of information about the individual. It is vital to use this to support transition to Year 1 and inform planning in the Autumn term.

Reception teachers have a statutory responsibility to report on how children learn best, using the characteristics of effective learning. By studying children’s learning journals, Year 1 teachers gain an accurate understanding of how children learn and their aptitude to master lifelong skills, such as trying something new, persisting when faced with a challenge or having new ideas. Year 1 teachers must consider different ways that children learn and reflect these in their practice. To achieve a high level of engagement in learning, it’s important that Year 1 teachers follow children’s interests. Flicking through the pages of EYFS learning journals help to identify particular interests.

Will, for example, has been fixated on dinosaurs since Reception. He has known all the dinosaur names and some impressive facts for some time. He used dinosaurs in his imaginative role-play and to gain confidence with addition and subtraction. It makes sense that Will is encouraged to think of adjectives that describe his favourite carnivore in Year 1.

Learning journals also help Year 1 teachers identify where children learn best. Millie, for example, lives in a flat in the middle of the city, lacking access to an outside space to play at home. Her learning journal includes several observations of her learning outdoors. She remembers helping her teaching assistant set up a Bug Hotel. So her teacher prompts Millie to go into the Year 1 outside area and observe the Reception children over the fence exploring the Bug Hotel. Millie is set a challenge to write a list of instructions on how to care for the hotel for the Reception children to read. Millie’s work was high quality as she could use a clipboard to write outdoors about something that interested her.

It’s the job of the Reception teacher to pass on accurate assessment data and, more importantly, to ensure this is interpreted effectively. By analysing assessment data and children’s records, as well as having dialogue with colleagues, we can ensure children access a high-quality curriculum and accelerated progress is made.

Tim Barber is an early-years specialist for a local authority and former assistant head at St Thomas More’s Catholic Primary School and Preschool