iConnect has updated and Development Matters!

1st March 2021 All Posts Early Years Foundation Stage Nursery Management Software

iConnect has updated and Development Matters!

The Development Matters Framework offers non-statutory curriculum guidance for the EYFS reforms. This framework is now available in iConnect upon request and is here to support the delivery of the new EYFS statutory framework. It offers you a view of how children develop and learn, and guides, but does not replace your professional judgement.

Utilising iConnect following the EYFS Reforms

Broader age bands

birth to three
threes and fours
fours and fives (Reception year)

Observe & assess using your professional judgement

iConnect provides you with suggestions for your observations and space to record your own notes for assessments.

Involve parents in the child learning journey

Strengthen communication with parents and provide ideas as to how they can further develop their child’s skill set.

Keep all of your data in one place

You can get a great overview of the children and flag areas where development is not happening as you would expect.

Always improving

We recently ran some workshops to discuss the new Development Matters Framework and how iConnect can be adapted further to facilitate this. Some main takeaways were:

We want to move away from generating lots of Next Steps.
Development Matters shows the observation checkpoints and we were considering using these in replace of the current assessment.
We could look at what observations we have covered – 7 checkpoints in total – and flagging up any child that isn’t making progress to put in those interventions.
We want to move staff members away from the mentality of ticking the statements off and knowing they have to complete those statements.
A baseline assessment is no longer needed, we’re considering a ‘getting to know you assessment’ instead.
Most of you said you will be using either Birth to Five Matters, or Development Matters as a framework guide.

We will be using the feedback from these workshops to continue improvements to iConnect. We’d love to hear your thoughts once you’ve had a chance to use the new framework.

If you’d like to use this framework in iConnect, request access and our support team will switch it on for you to trial in preparation for September.

More Than Just Observations

iConnect is the award winning online learning journal software for practitioners. It's the childcare app that enables staff to save hours each week and reduces the need to spend time away from their key children.

Find out more