New Intake - Continuous Provision or Basic Provision?

I think this mantra might end up on my grave stone as I say it so often, but it is of paramount importance when you are planning your Continuous Provision:

 Continuous Provision continues the provision for learning in the absence of an adult.

It is NOT just the resources that are continually available.

At this time of year when you are getting lots of new faces in your setting, you are unlikely to be able to provide accurate Continuous Provision because you will not yet have completed your Point of Entry assessment. You have to have this assessment data to ensure that your provision is meeting the development needs of all of your children.

What you will have in place is what I would call 'Basic Provision' or 'Core Provision'.

What you provide for children that you don't know well is provision based on average attainment for their age (Development Matters) or provision based on your historic knowledge of the cohorts that enter your setting. So, if you know your children usually come in well above/below national expectations then you adjust your provision accordingly.

Once you have begun your assessment then you can start to enhance your basic/core provision to make it more continuous.

Don't wait until all of your assessments are complete before you adjust the provision. Make adjustments as the data comes in. That way you are providing the very best opportunities for all children.

Basic Provision is a great starting point but if left it encourages low level attainment and boredom, especially for your most vulnerable learners. Creating provision that supports how children learn must take precedence over provision that is just stocked with what you want them to learn. If the how isn't right then the what will have significantly less chance of sticking!

Good observation and assessment will tell you everything you need to know.

By October half term, at the latest, your Continuous Provision should be in place in all areas.

Of course, to make your Continuous Provision really continuous, it needs to be levelled. Each area should have around 3 broad levels. These levels will respond to the levels of attainment of your children in those areas and should be based on assessment.

If you are adding any specific skills into your areas then you would level that skill.

So, in construction I might level my construction kits by their complexity, probably based on my assessment of my children's dexterity.

If I was introducing a skill to the children like cutting, then I would level the cutting apparatus I wanted them to use based on my assessment of their cutting skills.

Children's ability to use scissors is directly related to their fine and gross motor development so there is no use giving a child who is still using large upper arm movements or a tight palm grip a pair of 'standard' scissors. They just won't be able to use them successfully.

After assessing my children's pivot and grip, I would then provide cutting resources that link directly to my assessment.

Once initial assessments have been completed, I should be able to walk your areas of Continuous Provision and ask you why you set them up in the first place, can you match the need for them to assessment and observation. You should also be able to tell me how you have levelled each area, again, based on your assessments and observations.

Your Continuous Provision MUST change as the year goes on. As the children develop in their knowledge and skill, then your provision must develop with them.

Your space should not look the same in July as it did in September it should 'morph' with the learning.

In short, for me...

• Basic Provision - resources linked to 'expected' ages and stages of development or historical knowledge of cohort.

• Continous Provision - resources linked to current assessment that have been levelled to match attainment  and learning preferences of your current cohort.

• Enhanced Provision (object or prompt) - areas of provision that have been enhanced with objects or prompts that support an interest or encourage investigation and questioning.

• Enhanced Provision (skill) - areas that have been enhance with resources to support the teaching of a specific skill or concept. These resources will have been levelled in accordance with current assessment and 'dressed' for interest adn engagement

The role of the adult is, of course, then crucial in facilitating effective learning through Continuous Provision. You can't do it from behind a table!

But, that is a whole other blog post.

Happy linking and levelling!

Alistair

 

Comments

[Valerie Barnes]

I prefer the wording "core provision" -at this time in the year it should still be exciting and stimulating.

Please explain more about differentiating every area. Do you then direct individual children to use the smallest brush or the scissors designed to aid snipping according to your assessment?

[Hettie]

Thank you for reassuring me! I have been 'just getting stuff out' in terms of small world, construction etc. so that I can see how they handle different things (e.g. is the extent of their construction 2 sticklebricks stuck together to be a 'phone' (which you know is a gun whenever they think you're not looking - and that's pre-conditioning because I don't tell them no guns) or whether they can construct the most amazing castle with turrets, swimming pool and a next door neighbour. It also is giving me a sense of who goes for what, who they play with, how they play and so on.

I am, however, feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment. I have a YR/1 mix again this year and had forgotten how hard I find it. So, a question - I understand the 3 levels in continuous provision (your CP book really helped - thank you!) but should I be doing this for all the different areas (playdough, cutting, construction etc.) all the time. I am struggling to plan and prepare for all the Y1 objectives/lessons I need to fit in as well as get time to interact in CP with the children. I have very limited TA support this year too so am still trying to figure out how to manage that.

I have no idea whether that makes any sense at all - it's been a long day!