So far it’s been a busy millennium for those involved with early years. A year ago they had to take on board the foundation stage for three to five-year-olds, while next autumn they will be presented with the aptly-named foundation stage profile, replacing more than 90 baseline tests used around the country since 1998.

When the consultation on baseline assessment finished in March, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority picked Birmingham education authority and the National Foundation for Educational Research to devise the new assessment. They also produced a pack of optional activities to help teachers create opportunities to make appropriate observations. Pilots of the new assessment begin in 200 schools next month.

Birmingham developed the Signposts baseline assessment based on cumulative teacher observations, currently used in a dozen education authorities, and is well-placed to develop the new scheme, says David Bartlett, its co-ordinator for assessment.“There are similarities with our Signposts scheme, mainly that it’s based on teacher assessment, but it will differ in as much as it will be at the end of the foundation stage rather than at the beginning, and it will be addressing all six of the areas of the foundation stage.”

The foundation stage recognises the distinct needs of three to five-year-olds and attempts to unify their learning experience by providing goals across six key areas: communication, language and literacy; personal, social and emotional development; mathematical development; knowledge and understanding of the world; physical skills and creativity. The new foundation stage profile will be closely linked to these.

It has already been given the thumbs-up by early-years groups. Jane Cole, support headteacher for the nursery forum at the British Association of Early Childhood Education, thinks it will take the pressure off children and teachers.

“With schools taking in children at different times and from different places with different experiences and knowledge and skills, it’s much more productive to look at where they are at the end of two years,” she said.

But will it be easy for already beleaguered teachers to implement? Mr Bartlett doesn’t think it will create extra work, as teachers should approach the assessment on an on-going basis as a child progresses through the reception year, with the profile finalised at the end.

“It is a really very manageable, cumulative process, and based on an in-depth knowledge of the children. That was always one of the problems of baseline assessment, the fact that it was done in the six-week period when children started, when there were issues like how much they had settled into school.”

Teachers in Birmingham primaries who are helping to develop the profile believe it is an improvement on the existing scheme. Marian Sainsbury, senior research officer at the NFER, points out. “The whole of the curriculum guidance suggests that you keep ongoing records of children throughout the foundation stage, and this is really a case of summing up. It is intended to be something that will fit in very neatly with what people are doing already.”

But Nansi Ellis, primary education adviser at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, points out that although it will not be a requirement to assess children on arrival, teachers always have to do their own check to see where they are and that they will end up by testing children twice.

She is also less sanguine than the assessment developers about the manageability of the new arrangements. She worries that although teachers welcome the move away from the emphasis on literacy and numeracy, they may end up ticking endless boxes and being buried under mountains of paperwork.

“You can never really tell. There will be a nine-point scale for grading children. That sounds awful but we are told that most children will fall within four or five points. It’s an issue we need to be aware of.”

She is also concerned that parents receive good information on the changes. “If you’re transferring the assessment to the end of reception year without parents understanding what it’s about, it will inevitably mean that some pressure their children to do well. Parents might be tempted to coach them at home.”

There are other issues to be thrashed out. Teachers will assess children for the two years of the foundation stage, sometimes for a year in nursery followed by a year in school. How will information be transferred from nursery to primary?

“We’ve not really sorted that one out yet,” said Tim Cornford, head of assessment at the QCA. “There are practical issues about what is the most effective way of transferring information, and we hope to design accompanying paperwork to make for effective communication. Inevitably it is true that the profile will be largely based on the reception year, but that is essential information for children moving into key stage 1.”

But the thorniest questions still hang in the air - who exactly is the information for and how will it be used? Coming at the end of the foundation stage, the profile is an outcome measure that may or may not be useful, says Professor Peter Tymms from Durham University. He is also director of the Performance Indicators in Primary Schools project which was one of the contenders for the QCA contract to devise the new scheme.

“Who is this for? Is it for the Year 1 teacher? But then wouldn’t it be better for them to do their own assessment?

“Is it for the reception teacher? But then it’s at the end of the year. Is it meant as a basis for value-added for key stage one? But then should it be teacher-assessed? Who is it for exactly?” Mr Cornford is adamant that the information is there first and foremost to inform parents and teaching staff.

“Thinking it might be better for KS1 teachers to assess is an understandable view, but children at this age can actually behave quite differently in different circumstances, particularly in an unfamiliar environment.

“We want children to be assessed by someone who has got to know them well and seen them in a variety of circumstances, otherwise assessment becomes partial and stilted.”

He insists there are no plans for a value-added element. “We all agree that this profile does not easily lend itself to a value-added measurement. We do want to collect some information to satisfy ourselves that it is working, but there is no question of it being linked to threshold pay or anything like that.”

That said, he admits value-added measures cannot be ruled out. “It is not on the agenda now, but obviously I can’t say in five years time that someone may not take a different view.

“But at the moment it’s information for parents and teachers to help understand where their children are ... and what receiving teachers need to understand about them.”

‘REVEALING ADDED VALUE’

Joy Biddell, foundation stage co-ordinator at Bordesley Green primary, Birmingham, thinks the workload will not be too onerous if teachers are well-organised.

“It will be quite manageable if schools approach it sensibly and base it on information gathered over the whole year. The profile design should help them with this.”

But she would prefer that children were also assessed at the beginning of the foundation stage. “You do need to be able to show added value, that these children have made huge strides. I’m not sure how that can happen if we don’t establish a baseline.”

She is also concerned about reporting to parents. “I wouldn’t want to see a SATs-type report. I think it should be done verbally, because these children are very young and developing at different rates at different stages.

“Although not all parents put children under pressure I would, as a parent myself, be very despondent if I were told that at age four or five they were performing below average. Parents will need to be informed in a positive and supportive way about what their child has achieved.”

‘A PROFILE, NOT A SNAPSHOT’

Janet Edwards, a reception teacher at Prince Albert junior school in Aston, Birmingham, is certain the foundation stage profile is an improvement on baseline assessments.

“I think it will help teachers focus on the foundation stage and promote good practice. We need a single national scheme which focuses on early learning goals. By observing children and gathering information all the time, it makes it easier to plan appropriate activities for them.”

And if implemented properly it needn’t involve more work. “In fact it should even lessen our workload, as there’s no requirement to carry out assessment activities for every child. You might want to carry out a few activities to confirm a judgment or if there are children who haven’t done a full year in reception, but it’s a profile, not just a snapshot at the end.”