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The eyLog observation screen has been designed to look like the paper version you may have been using before. The name of each of the sections can be customised from the Managers login to suit your nursery and make the transition to online observations easier. Additional frameworks such as Leuven Scales, CoEL, ECaT, British Values, Schemas, Phonics, EYDJ and Montessori are also available as options here depending on your individual requirements. See the ‘Linking Observations to Additional Frameworks’ document for more details on these.

To start an observation, choose a child and click ‘New Observation’.

This will load the Observation screen. The staff members name, date and time are displayed in the top right corner and the child’s name, group and age in the top left corner.

Media

In this box, photos, videos and audio clips can be added to an observation as evidence of a child’s development. To add a photo, click on the ‘+’ in the Media box or on the ‘Photo’ icon at the bottom of the screen, this will load the camera.

To take a photo press the camera button on the right hand side.

Once you have taken the photo, click ‘Save’ and this image will be automatically linked to the observation.

To add a video, click on the click on the ‘+’ in the Media box or on the ‘Video’ icon at the bottom of the screen, this will load the camera.

Press the video recorder icon to begin recording and then the stop button to finish recording.

Then click ‘Save’ and this video will be automatically linked to the observation.

To add an audio clip, click on the ‘+’ in the Media box or on the ‘Audio’ icon at the bottom of the screen.

Press ‘Start Recording’ to begin recording and ‘Stop Recording’ to finish recording. Then click ‘Done’ and this audio clip will be automatically added to the observation.

Alternatively by clicking the ‘Media Gallery’ icon at the bottom of the screen, the media gallery will open so previously saved files can be added to the observation.

On the Observation screen, a thumbnail view of the photos, videos and audio files will show in the Media box.

Media files can be enlarged by clicking on the thumbnail then scrolled through by swiping the screen. If a media file is no longer required, click on the red ‘x’ in the Media box or the bin icon at the top of the screen in the enlarged view to delete.

Observation

This box is the only mandatory section when filling out an observation.

Click anywhere in the box in order to add text observations. Use the keyboard to type and predictive text will appear with common words/phrases. Click ‘Done’ and this will be added to the Observation screen.

Evaluation

This is another text observation box where staff can log any analysis or evaluations relating to the observation text. Once you have entered text, click ‘Done’ to save to the observation.

Additional Notes

As above, this is an additional text box where staff can make any additional comments or use as a tool for communicating with the parents about activities they can do at home. Once you have entered text, click ‘Done’ to save to the observation.

EYFS Assessment

This box allows staff to easily link observations to the EYFS framework. The assessment screen shows the list of all Areas, Aspects and Age Bands and the corresponding Statements as per the latest EYFS Framework.

A key element is the EYFS assessment level (e.g. Emerging/Developing/Secure) which can be set against each Age Band as an indication of the progress made by the child in the various learning Aspects. Click on the ‘EYFS’ box to load the framework. By selecting an Area, then an Aspect, the applicable Age Bands and Statements will show. Under the Age Band the child falls into tick the relevant statements by clicking on the checkbox at the end.

Multiple Statements can be marked across different Aspects and other Age Bands within the same Aspect. You can also search for statements with key words using the search bar at the top of the screen.

To access the child’s progress level across an Age Band, select Emerging/Developing/Secure on the right above the Statements. Age Bands can also be accessed without selecting any statements to show an overall summary of the child’s development in that Aspect. 

Note: If you do NOT mark the Age Band as Emerging/Developing/Secure this will NOT be reflected in the progress trackers.

To help you make a judgement and see an overview of the progress previously recorded for this child, tap on ‘Show Current Assessment’. If there is an internet connection, the number of times that each statement has been previously marked will be displayed in the green circle at the end of the row.

The latest previous assessment level for that Age Band will also be displayed on the top left above the statements. A new assessment of the child’s progress level can still be marked by selecting Emerging/Developing/Secure on the right as above. 

Note: Assessment level names and colours can be customised from the Managers login so may appear differently here.

Click ‘Done’ to link the EYFS goals to the Observation sheet.

Next Steps

This box allows staff to record any areas of the child’s learning they feel needs further work and is linked to the planning tool. This can be free text or learning statements taken from the EYFS, EYDJ or Montessori frameworks which can then be edited detailing specific activities or learning points. This feature eliminates the need to type in learning statements manually and enables staff to link planning of future activities directly to EYFS, EYDJ or Montessori assessments. Use the keyboard to type or alternatively click ‘EYFS’, ‘EYDJ’ or ‘Montessori’ to bring up the relevant framework.

Select the relevant Statements from the framework and click ‘Done’ to add them as Next Steps.

The ‘Show Current Assessment’ tool is also available in the Next Steps section for the EYFS, EYDJ and Montessori frameworks. Again, this can be used to see what the child has already completed and what could be Next Steps. Within EYFS, the Positive Relationships and Enabling Environments statements are also available to help practitioners plan what they can do and what they can provide to assist with the child’s development.

Once you have selected all the required statements, click ‘Done’ to copy them to the next steps box.

Once you have entered text, click ‘Done’ to add the next steps to the Observation sheet.

Note: Anything you enter in the Next Steps section will automatically be reflected in the following week’s Planning Sheet once the observation is published.

Staff Notes/Insights

Staff notes/insights about a child and/or their behaviour can be added to an observation by clicking on the pencil and paper icon on the top right of the Observation screen. Any text entered here will NOT be visible to parent once the observation is published but will be available on the practitioner view of the child’s Learning Journey.

Tags

An observation can also be tagged to help categorise it by type and later used to filter a child’s learning journey. Multiple tags can be selected for any one observation. To add a tag, click on the ‘Tags’ button on the top right of the Observation screen.

Once a tag is selected a coloured square with the tags initial letter will display in place of the ‘Tags’ button. In the learning journey observations will be shown as marked with the selected tags.

Note: Tag names and colours can be setup and customised from the Managers login so may appear differently here.At any point the observation can be saved by clicking on the ‘Save Draft’ button. 

The observation will then be available in the ‘Drafts List’ to continue editing later. To access the draft observations from the Children List screen, click on ‘Draft List’ in the task bar at the top.

 

This will load a list of the draft observations. These can then be opened and edited by clicking anywhere on the relevant draft.

Once an observation is completed it can then be published to the child’s learning journey. More junior members of staff may not have this capability and will need to click ‘Submit for Review’ to complete the observation. This will then be saved in the Drafts List to be reviewed and published by a senior member of staff. 

A senior member of staff will then need to log in and click on the ‘Drafts List’. By default, only observations created by the logged in practitioner will show, to see all observations click on the ‘Observed By’ filter and select ‘All Observations’.

You can also filter the Drafts List by Group and/or Status (either Draft/Pending Review). This will allow you to see all the observations ‘Pending Review’ which can then be opened, reviewed and edited as required.

Once the senior member of staff is happy with the observation they can click ‘Publish’ and ‘OK’ to submit the entry to the child’s Learning Journey.