What is Validation?
Once you have completed your submission it needs to go to the validation panel. These are held seven times a year, usually in the second week of every term and two weeks before the end of the academic year. You will need to get your submission in by the Monday prior to the validation day. This is because not all validation takes place in Bristol and the files need to be packed up and transported to the validation venue.
You need to send or take your submission to:
The Early Years Administrator
Bristol Education Centre
Sheridan Road
Horfield
Bristol
BS7 0PU
Most people prefer to hand it over in person as they do not want to risk a year’s work being lost in the post.
The validation day venues are spread amongst the other counties that use the Bristol Standard with two being held in Bristol each year.
Validation Process
The validation days are cross local authority which means that lead officers and assessors come from all six counties that use the Bristol Standard. Submissions from these counties are also validated on these days. This enables the process to be objective and fair as no assessor validates submissions from their own county.
What happens to your folder?
When your folder arrives in the early years office it is carefully logged in on our computer. This ensures that submissions are validated in the order they are received. This means that in the rare event that we run out of time on the day, the submissions that came in first will be done first. If you have not provided us with a copy we will photocopy your paperwork for our records as we will need to refer to your full submission when validating your interim. They are then packed up and taken to validation by Bristol’s lead officer.
At the validation panel your folder is first looked at very closely by a pair of assessors. They fill in the paperwork as they look at each dimension (full submission) and progress reports and dimensions update (interim submission). They record their decision and the folder is then passed on to a moderator who looks closely at your folder independently and will check whether they agree with the decision. If they do, the decision is ratified, if not they will have a discussion with the original assessors.
As a further check one of the lead officers and an experienced assessor act as Quality Control checkers throughout the day. They look at a cross section of submissions after they have been validated and moderated to ensure that the assessors are consistent in their judgements. Throughout the day they will aim to quality control check submissions from a childminder, playgroup, pre-school, nursery and school. They will also ensure that in this process they are checking each assessor. The assessors are then given written feedback at the end of the day. At the end of the day the Quality Control checkers will give a general verbal feedback to the whole group.
There is always a very positive atmosphere on validation days. Assessors feel privileged to be able to see your submissions and share your celebrations of what you do.
Post validation
Once the folders are back at the early years office the reports are gathered and the lead officer and mentor meet to look at the outcomes. The letters are written from the validation reports and certificates printed. This will be completed in the two weeks following validation.
If a submission needs some more work the mentors will telephone and arrange a mutually convenient time to come and support you with resubmission.