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Meeting Aims

Understand the purpose of a direct observation
Understand how to make judgements when completing a direct observation
Be able to complete the recording documents inline with NCC expectations
To be able to solve some common issues that occur during direct observation

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Intent of Direct Observation

Direct observations are observations of practice allowing learners to demonstrate their abilities in a real work environment.
Direct observations are carried out by a competent person, contracted by NCC, to determine the learner’s practical capabilities.
Evidence of the learner’s capabilities and context of the observation need to be clearly documented.
Direct observations should be well planned by the learner and observer and the criteria to be covered should be agreed beforehand.

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Preparing for a direct observation

Prior to arranging any direct observations, it is important the learner shares the following with their mentor:

Setting Agreement Form and Guidance
Observation – Exemplar and Guidance
Guidance for Placement Setting Document
Copies of the corresponding Planning Document completed by the learner (e.g. Plan 1 for Observation 1)
Observation Recording Documents
Placement Hours Record Form

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Setting agreement form

The Setting Agreement Form should be completed between the learner and the mentor/manager/supervisor at the start of the course/placement. All those, who agree to be a mentor and complete Observations of the learner are required to have their details on the Setting Agreement Form. If other mentors need to be added at a later date, the learner can complete and upload subsequent Setting Agreement Forms.

There are 8 Observation recording documents to be completed with observations against the Practical Placement Assessment Criteria.

A suitably qualified observer must complete the observations.

They should fulfil the following criteria:

Have a working knowledge of the course units on which their expertise is based
Be occupationally competent in their area of expertise
Have EITHER any qualification in assessment of workplace performance OR a professional work role which involves evaluating the everyday practice of staff.

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Observations

Observation 1: Observation of learner leading a reading session with a young child.
Observation 2: Observation of learner leading a reading session with a small group of children (up to 4 children).
Observation 3: Observation of learner leading a session with a large group of children (5 children or more) which includes participation in songs and rhymes and reading a story.
Observation 4: Observation of learner leading a play experience within an indoor environment which includes an element of early mathematics.
Observation 5: Observation of learner leading a play experience within an outdoor environment which includes an element of supporting early mathematics.
Observation 6: This observation should focus on leading an experience which includes an element of food preparation.
Observation 7: This observation could include an element of communication with parents and carers or visitors to the setting, communication with other staff members (for example in a team meeting or during a handover) and record keeping.
Observation 8: Observing a learner leading a reading session and participating in songs and rhymes with an individual baby (if a learner does not have access to babies within the setting, they are required to contact the support team to discuss this observation)

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Implementation of Direct Observations

In order to complete a direct observation, the mentor needs to complete three actions:

Plan the direct observation with the learner (for observations 1-6 the learner should produce a written plan).
Complete the direct observation and make notes during this.
Complete the observation recording document and sign.

In order for a direct observation to be valid all these steps must happen and be in this order.

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Planning the observation

Mentors and learners must ensure that direct observations are sufficiently planned. This is done by planning the observation effectively.

Firstly, the learner and mentor must agree a suitable time (and location if there are multiple rooms in the setting) to carry out the observation.
Next, the learner and mentor must agree on the criteria to be covered (these are detailed in the observation recording documents).
For observations 1-6, the learner must ensure that this is adequately planned and share the written plan with the mentor.
The learner must prepare the required resources.

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Planning the observation

It is anticipated that a direct observation can take up to a few hours depending on the number of criteria which is required to be observed. This can be broken down into shorter observations as appropriate to the learner/setting.

Once the observation has been confirmed with the learner, make a record of the time, date, observation to be covered and ensure you have the correct observation recording documents.

Ensure you are familiar with the guidance and exemplar for completing observation documents.

It is recommended that the recoding document is completed directly after the observation, however we understand this may not always be possible.

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Planning the observation

What do you want to do for the following:

Observer sick or unable to complete – please liaise with the learner to rebook the observation.

Learner not prepared – Please liaise with the learner to rebook the observation when they are better prepared. Please ensure that the learner shares their planning with you prior to any observation.

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Direct Observation

The impact of a direct observation is the learner demonstrates their practical capabilities of the practical criteria.

Learners should be encouraged to be fully prepared and bring notes and any required resources such as workplace recording documents or their planning.

Before the observation, remind them to collect anything they have prepared before starting.

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Completing the Direct Observation

During the observation, the observer may take notes and record specific examples of where individual criteria were met.

The observer should record exactly what the learner does and says and the observation record should be written as a narrative.

Mentors will need to record whether each criteria were met and NCC assessors will make the final judgement on whether the criteria has been sufficiently evidenced or not. If some but not all criteria are met, these will need to be documented clearly and any gaps identified.

Where a large number of gaps are identified, these will need to be planned as an additional observation. We would recommend that you add to the original observation form in a new colour for observations completed at a later date and that these are clearly dated.

Where a small number of gaps are identified, these can be covered as a professional discussion and recorded in the relevant box on the observation form.

Where criteria other than the planned criteria was also met, these should be recorded on the form.

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Recording observation details

Observations of Practice must be:

Dated at the start of the observation
Written in the third person (I observed Joanne working with…..)
Written as a narrative (explaining exactly what Joanne was seen doing or saying to show the skills and abilities were in place in her practices, not simply what she knows). The mentor can ask questions to the learner and record their responses, e.g. I asked Joanne if she could explain why she asked the child to repeat back to her what she needed to do. Joanne replied, “So that I can check whether she understands what she needs to do and provide further support if required.”
Typed or handwritten by the mentor (it cannot be in the learner’s handwriting and, if typed, the mentor should handwrite a short confirmation at the end of the document confirming it is a true and correct record)
Include a signature and date of both the mentor and learner
All mentor/supervisor signatures on the Observation documentation must be included on the Setting Agreement Form
Written as a detailed narrative of what was seen and said
Each criteria met should be clearly recorded against the list of planned criteria
Any additional criteria met which was not planned to be listed at the end of the form
Where a small number of planned criteria were not met, a record of a professional discussion to cover these gaps should be included which details what was discussed and said and whether the criteria had therefore been met

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Example

Key Focus of Observation lists the main focus which should be covered in the observation and is set by NCC. The learner should produce a planning document which matches this.

Planned Criteria to be covered (set by NCC). In this instance, only working with ‘children’ is being observed and ‘babies’ and ‘families’ are observed in different observations. Guidance is provided on the context of each observation.

Whether the criteria was met

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Example

Context (learner first name can be included but no children’s names should be included). Initials or an identifier e.g. ‘Child X’ can be used.

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Example

What the learner did/said

Narrative record of what was observed.

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Example

Any additional criteria planned for other observations which was seen can be listed..

Record professional discussion if any criteria were not observed (most criteria should be observed).

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Example

Feedback to the learner can be provided at the end of the observation document. An overview of the findings of the observation can be provided.

Form should be signed and dated by the mentor.

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Uploading Documents and Receiving Tutor Feedback

Once you have completed the Observation document, please provide this to the learner so that they can upload it to their portal. The learner can contact the support team if they are struggling with this.

The NCC tutor will provide feedback on the observation document and the learner should share this with you.

Next Steps if referred:

Arrange another observation with the learner to cover any gaps identified
Contact learner’s tutor or support team if you have any queries.
Support team contact – support@ncchomelearning.co.uk

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Addressing Common Issues

Some common issues with Observations of Practice paperwork include:

Dates not being included or not recent enough – please ensure every assessment criteria is dated with an observation and that these are dated within 3 months of being sent to the NCC tutor.
Signatures have not been included – Please include real signatures which match those on the setting agreement form.
Generic statements have been included e.g. ‘The learner always does…’, ‘The learner is good at/knows….’ rather than a specific observation ‘On 07/05/24, I observed the learner do/say…..’.

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Conclusion

Thank you for taking the time to view this presentation.
Please follow the link to confirm that you have viewed and understood the contents of this presentation: Link to confirm standardisation complete
You will also have the opportunity to ask any questions you might have and to provide your comments on the standardisation presentation.
We appreciate your feedback and would welcome any comments you have about this presentation or mentoring with NCC.
Thank you for your continued support!

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