Range of evidence for the All Wales induction Framework (AWIF) for early years and childcare

During a team meeting the setting’s equality and diversity policy could be used to discuss:

• what’s meant by the terms ‘equality, diversity, inclusion and discrimination’ (from progress log 1.3a).

Participation and contributions by workers who are completing the AWIF can be used as part of the required evidence.

Team quizzes could be used to test new staff’s knowledge of the AWIF and remind other staff about it.

This can also be used to judge if the worker has sufficient knowledge before signing off on specific learning outcomes.

Observing staff with children and their parents or carers and seeing how they interact and communicate. This could be developed during one-to-one discussion, supervision or in feedback sessions.

For example:

• balance a child’s need to experiment and take some risks, with your duty to keep them safe (progress log 1.5b)
• develop positive relationships in the context of ‘professional boundaries’ (progress log 1.7b)
• ways to address barriers to effective communication (progress log 1.8)
• follow workplace policies and procedures (progress log 3.1b)
• apply the principles of partnership working in your work with others (progress log 3.2b)

When good feedback is received about a particular worker, it can be used as evidence to complete relevant sections of the AWIF.

This evidence may be developed further through one-to-one discussion.

The setting could provide a mentor to offer direct support for the new member of staff. The mentor could also provide evidence to whoever is responsible for monitoring the AWIF about how the staff member is meeting standards.

Supervision could include one-to-one discussions or structured conversations to help the worker gain evidence to complete the AWIF.

Work products such as daily paperwork, logs and observations could be reviewed and discussed to check knowledge and skills before signing off on specific learning outcomes.

The setting’s induction programme could be designed to make sure that the worker can gain the evidence needed to complete AWIF, for example understanding:

• the purpose of job descriptions and person specifications for defining the expectations and limitations of roles and responsibilities (progress log 3.1a)

• the ethos and structure of the workplace/setting you work for and your role within it (progress log 3.1b)

Using a previous ‘real life’ example from the setting, the worker could be asked to either write their thoughts on what they would do or to explain this in a one-to-one discussion with their employer or manager, who could then help draw out more details and/or provide a steer.

The employer or manager could have an informal conversation with the worker to look at different topics, for example:

• ‘The importance of knowing a child’s preferences and background (the unique mix of a child’s experience, history, culture, beliefs, preferences, family relationships, informal networks and community)’ (progress log 1.4a)
• ‘The scope and purpose of the early years, childcare and play sector’ (progress log 3.1a)
• new workers’ contributions can be used as part of their evidence (progress log 3.1a).
• a case study could be used as a basis for one-to-one discussion.

One-to-one discussion could also be used to follow-up on any observations.

As part of their induction, the worker’s job description is likely to be reviewed with them on a regular basis, to make sure they understand their role and responsibilities. This activity could allow the worker to record evidence around:

• ‘The purpose of job descriptions and person specifications for defining the expectations and limitations of roles and responsibilities (progress log 3.1a)

Training can be used to cover a wide range of progress logs, depending on the nature of the information covered.

Workbooks give the employer or manager ideas and a structure to support their workers to complete the AWIF. They can also be useful if the employer or manager isn’t able to offer an opportunity to obtain a particular piece of evidence within their workplace.

The pre-set questions could be used to help with one-to-one discussion and supervision with the manager or employer, or for the worker to use to support their AWIF workbook.

The pre-set questions can help to make sure that evidence is specifically related to your setting.

Examples of pre-set questions:

• Describe our values and how this relates to working with parents and carers

• We celebrate various festivals during December, for example Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. What would you do to make sure children feel involved and that they learn more about the range of festivals?

• We are very mindful of cultural appropriation while talking about different cultures. What do we mean by the term ‘cultural appropriation’, and how we can avoid this?