ABSTRACT
Unique among the three phases of school education, is the Early Years where a child's development is viewed and monitored holistically and there's an expectation that educators will focus explicitly on outcomes beyond the academic. Confidence, independence and resilience are in the foreground of the aims and expectations for the under-fives, and practitioners are keenly aware of the multi-faceted, multi-layered nature of children's learning and development. The way that Early Years practitioners assess children's learning and development is particularly instructive for our purposes. 'Practitioners watch, listen and interact as children engage in everyday activities, events and experiences, and demonstrate their specific knowledge, skills and understanding', says the Early years foundation stage profile: 2017 handbook. The other aspect of Early Years assessment that's particularly noteworthy is the simplicity and specificity of the statements that practitioners have on hand to help them assess intangible-sounding outcomes.
