1. ECA E124 Advice: there is no one right way to do this, but here are some hints. <br />Nearly all of this was produced by another tutor, Mike Read and is not my work. He has kindly shared this with us and I have had the cheek to twiddle with bits of it. No doubt this makes it lees good than it was and I do apologise if this is the case. If you know someone else who needs this guidance the can email me and I will send a copy I would rather this than you posting it on to them.<br />Think very carefully about your focus, and spend some time ‘dithering’ between different ideas, trying them out to see how well they will fit. Pick on something that needs change and that you feel you can write about. Try writing some notes to see if it ‘works’ for you: be prepared to change. Right now you are nearly ready to get started. <br />If you get stuck, try taking a break, go out for a walk or a meal, or met up with some mates. Try not to take it out on the dog/partner or children. Like the TV show remember you can ‘ask the audience’ (colleagues at work) phone a friend, you can even have 50:50, work out two topics you feel you could not write about. <br />If you need to phone or email me.<br />Good luck: people say this is like giving birth, painful at the time but worth it in the end<br />Les Hereward<br />leshere@ntlworld.com<br />01372800822<br />Also on facebook<br />General Points:<br />Please read the E124 Assessment Guide alongside these notes. Before going any further look at your last TMA marks, particularly the criteria, what do you need to be careful about. This is important because knowing the way the ECA will be marked and graded is very important. <br />Remember your ECA will be marked by someone who does not know you so be very clear in you writing. Use paragraphs properly and use the subheadings.<br />Writing style: <br />Check the work and then check the word. Avoid overlong sentences. Check the referencing to ensure accuracy. (Use the Assessment Guide to help with this – it gives useful guidance). Check it again at the end, getting the details right really helps.<br />Remember, you are writing an academic report. You can write using use ‘I’ , but try to avoid using I and then changing to ‘we’ and ‘our’ - this can be confusing. If you work as a team say so. It is your ECA, so be clear that it contains your views. <br />Be careful to adhere to the ethical requirements of the course (See Assessment Guide) Note the guidance about photographs of children and do not mention the name of the setting- in the main ECA or the appendices or the references. Lots of people leave the name of the setting in an appendix, check, check and then get someone else to check. <br />Do not add an overwheling number of appendices, keep a grip on this. If you do use appendices – label them clearly with your name, course title and date. It is also essential to explain the appendices. There is a need to this because otherwise the reader has to make up their own mind about what you are presenting. Introducing and explaining the appendices shows that you understand the importance the appendices. You should not leave the interpretation to the reader. If you do not refer to it, it will not be read.<br />Starting the process: <br />Read the ECA requirements in the Assessment Guide, keep this in front of you, I copy then and stick them on my office wall. <br />The ECA guidance asks that you reflect on the course as a whole – so ensure that you actually do this and USE course materials to underpin your views. This is ESSENTIAL because using the course materials shows the marker you have actually followed the course. In particular you are encouraged to read and make use of Study Topic 18, Reader 2, Chapters 18 and 24. DVD B1 Consultation, B3 Review meeting and B6 Planning; worms and treasure.<br />Generally you will be expected to refer to a good selection of different Study Topics and Chapters, these of course depend on your chosen area. Remember to use the earlier Study Topics and Chapters, for example looking at different approaches and theories: these will be useful in any case. <br />When you pick on a focus this becomes the focus for the whole ECA. The ECA is divided into a number of Parts – 1-4. Each section is ‘separate’ but interrelated. For example, (AND THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT) the focus you chose to ‘audit’ in part 1 should remain the focus of your views throughout each of the following sections of the ECA. Therefore, think carefully about which area you select. <br />Part (1) Introduction<br />This asks that you reflect on your roles and responsibilities. It may be useful to provide the reader with a brief indication of your role and your setting. Something like - I work as a team member in an X or Y setting. I take responsibility for planning, and carrying out day-to-day activities. You might say you work with individual and small groups of children aged 3-4 years. If you wish, you could draw on parts of the course to help your description. For example saying ‘My setting is similar to the nursery on the Course DVD Band …’ (correctly referenced). Do you work as a team? Do you play a role in planning? Do you actively support parents? Do you work in the UK or overseas? Are you a childminder? Do not try and respond to all of these pointers - be selective and provide information that will inform the reader and help them understand what follows. A tip is to re-read this section when you have completed the ECA – to make sure that relevant information that supports the ECA content you is present at the start. <br />Part (2) the Audit<br />This part asks that you complete an audit of an aspect of learning. (Basically, this is looking carefully at your provision and reporting on what you and your setting provides in order to support an area of learning you have chosen.) This means describing, what policies influence practice, what you do, and what resources you have available – this should show the reader how children’s learning is supported, and encouraged.<br />The guidance goes on to say that you must focus on ONE of four areas. Inclusive education: a learning or curriculum area: a cross curricular theme: or a holistic approach to children’s learning and development. PLEASE NOTE: A curriculum area does not mean a physical area such as the ‘dressing up area’ or ‘role play area’ or ‘outside area’ or creative’ area. It means an area of the curriculum such as language or literacy or mathematics. However, you may as part of your description care to illustrate your chosen ‘area’ by reference to such things as a role play area, or outside play area - but this is not the main theme.<br />Remember to actually say which area you are focussing upon. (Obvious but important) Try to define the area you chose, do not assume that reader understands what you are auditing. Therefore, if you chose ‘an holistic approach’ define what you mean and then illustrate what this means in practice. For example: I have chosen to audit holistic practice. This is the way I (with co-workers) consider the whole child. This means not only planning for what children will learn but considering how they are learning. This mirrors what is said in Study Topic (X) which suggests that holistic learning is …. Such a view is also reflected within the policies developed by the setting, for example…<br />There are very useful headings in the ECA guidance which guide you towards the aspects of learning that you may consider when conducting your audit. These are given as bullet points within section 2 guidance. It may be valuable to use these as sub-headings to guide your writing. Remember, the audit should NOT just be a list of things that you have available to support learning. It should be an analysis of the way aspects of learning come together to form a whole. Therefore, you are asked to consider your policies and your provision in terms of staffing and expertise, your resources, your planning, staff roles and learning activities provided for the children. Obviously, with the limited words available for this section, you will need to decide what you illustrate and give examples rather than attempt to describe everything that you have ‘audited’ <br />It is important to use a range of course materials including the Reader and audio-visual materials to reinforce your views Avoid overlong quotations because the word limits are very tight for each section. It is your description and demonstration of knowledge and understanding of course materials that is required. When you refer to the course materials the reference is improved by the addition of a page number.<br />Part 3 Effective Practice<br />This means comparing, contrasting and considering effective practice in supporting children’s development and learning in the area you have chosen. PLEASE NOTE: this means continuing with the area that you chose for the audit. Therefore, if you chose ‘inclusive education’ for the audit, focus on ‘inclusive education’ for this section. <br />You need to ensure that your writing conveys analysis and compares and contrasts ideas. It is not just, what you did but why you did it and how you know it was successful. Therefore make your writing have a degree of analysis and try to integrate several aspects of the course into your TMA. Read the ECA guidance in the Assessment guide and then look at the examples below. I have deliberately not put exact course references in these examples - I want to give guidance, not tell you which part of the course to read. Remember, provide evidence not generalities and be specific in the way you illustrate examples of your practice. <br />(Example: assuming a description of learning strategy/activity has been described already) <br />I plan for such play opportunities and try to ensure that when I observe the children playing I consider if it extends learning. I look to see (for example) if the children are using socio-dramatic play, and encourage them to act out stories and can operate confidently in a group. In this way I can see if they are adapting and modifying what they did as a result of interacting with others. This is a key aspect of play contained in Table (X) Study Topic X . After reading this I adapted the Table so that when planning I used it to inform observations of the children. I am therefore trying to link information on the course to day-to day practice and planning. I also felt it was important to liaise closely with parents in order to underpin the emphasis on parental partnership shown in Study Topic (X) In the Study Topic Mary Smith tells of how she involves parents and children in evaluating… <br />Part 4 Planning for the Future<br />The ECA guidance also makes very clear that you should devise an action plan that reflects upon your chosen area and also considers your own professional and personal development in the short- medium and longer term. Therefore if you have focused upon ‘inclusive education’ as your chosen theme throughout the ECA - your plan should reflect this area in terms of how you might develop provision. This should involve <br />Resources<br />People <br />Training<br />Any other aspect you think is important.<br />Quite obviously, the person marking the ECA will have read your earlier views about the audit of your chosen area. Therefore, they will expect that issues for development identified, as part of those sections will appear on your plan. In which case if you have written in Part 3 there is a need to extend children’s learning by providing more varied outside activities - your plan might have details of how such activities will be developed - and why. <br />There is ample guidance about developing a plan in ST 18 and within the Activities in that Study Topic. Remember, that you can also say in this section how you have improved your own learning, as part of the course and where you wish to develop further professionally. <br />The word limits are very tight for this section and you may wish to provide a simple grid based ‘action plan’ based as an appendix. (A long ten page plan is not what is meant – a simple one page grid showing areas for development – short – medium and longer term is all that is required) <br />Check and see if you have: <br />Clearly identified what you know or do at the moment; <br />Clearly identified what you would like to improve and some time scale; <br />Clearly said what you need to do in order to achieve this. <br />Finally, check to see if what you have said is REALISTIC. It is better to have a simple and straightforward plan than a complicated and over ambitious plan that the marker will quickly identify as being unrealistic. Remember, it is OK to describe the way that a simple action (in your setting) may have a significant impact on children’s learning - and the development of your own practice. <br />Reasons why people fail:<br />Not writing the ECA…so if you have not started get going!<br />Not sending it to Walton Hall with all documentation and on time.<br /> Writing is muddled and not clear, the focus changes, work is poorly structured, section subtitles not used.<br />Few links made to course materials, links are not made between these and practice and are not specific (no pages).<br />Few links made to EYFS/Curriculum Guidance as above.<br />Referencing technique bares little or no resemblance to method set out in assessment guide.<br />Too much description and not enough analysis/discussion<br />Being overlength, anything over the word limit will not be marked.<br />