Communication and Language Personal, Social and Emotional Development Physical Development

 During story times, read stories to the children and ask another adult
to make notes. Which children listen carefully, show an
understanding of what is happening and answer questions?
 Are children able to understand and answer simple what, where,
who questions? You could use this Actions Can You Find…? Poster
and ask children questions such as, “Who is swinging?” Are the
children able to choose the correct pictures?
 Display some pictures or photos of familiar objects and events that
happen while they are at nursery. Can the children begin to talk about
what happens? Can they link up to five words together?
 Observe if children are able to follow simple instructions. Tidy-up
time or snack times are useful times to observe this.
 Hide a teddy and ask, “Where is Teddy hiding?” Can children find the
teddy, then use pronouns and prepositions to say where the teddy
was hiding? For example, “He was under the slide.”
 Set up a role-play area and observe if children are using speech to
engage in pretend play.
 Provide children with extended periods of time to play together
outside. You may like to set up an outdoor Builders Yard Role-Play,
with crates, high-visibility jackets, etc. Do the children want to play
with other children? Are they able to extend play ideas?
 Observe the children as they play together. Set up activities that
encourage children to take turns. For example, jigsaw puzzles,
simple matching games or rolling a ball to each other outside. Are
the children able to share and take turns with others?
 Look at these Feelings Face Cards. Are the children able to
recognise some of the feelings? You could provide them with paper
plates to draw a face on to show how they are feeling.
 Take pictures throughout the week of the children playing. Show the
children the pictures and ask them what toys they have enjoyed
playing with and how they have felt.
 Once they have been explained, are the children able to follow some
of the simple rules you have at your nursery?
 Use lunch or snack time as an opportunity to discuss making healthy
choices. Observe how children wash their hands and use cutlery and
cups as they have their lunch.
 Provide tweezers, spoons, scoops, pom-poms and coloured buckets.
Encourage children to pick up pom-poms with the different
equipment and put them in the bucket that is the matching colour.
 Play a game, such as musical statues, that involves the children
moving in different ways, stopping and holding a pose. Are the
children able to stop when asked? Are they able to show some
control over their bodies when dancing and moving around?
 Provide large outdoor chalks and these Mark-Making Posters. Can
the children copy the patterns or draw their own patterns onto the
floor or an outside wall?
 Provide a variety of scooters, trikes and bikes for the children to use.
Which are the children able to use independently? You could set up a
simple course for the children using cones or chalk markings.

Nursery On-Entry Assessment

Literacy
 Provide a selection of fiction and non-fiction
books as well as children’s magazines for the
children to look through together. Do they have
a favourite story? As the children engage with
the books, watch to see how they hold them
and turn the pages. Do they know where you
start to read from?
 Provide these Nursery Rhyme Choosing
Cards. Can the children sing popular nursery
rhymes?
 Cover a table in paper. Provide some trays of
paint, sponges, brushes, toys and rollers. Can
the children talk about and give meaning to the
marks they make?
 Place buckets of water and large paintbrushes
outside. Can the children paint a picture on the
wall/floor and then write the first letter of their
name or make marks to stand for their name,
so others know who painted the picture?
Mathematics
 Set up a large activity tray with 5 Little Speckled
Frogs Stick Puppets, a log and blue paper.
Encourage children to sing and act out the rhyme.
Can they use ‘finger numbers’ up to five? Can they
use number names in order when counting?
 Provide a range of containers of different sizes
in the sand or water tray. Can the children talk
about and compare the sizes of the containers?
Which holds ‘more’ or ‘less’?
 In the outdoor area, create a simple repeating
pattern, such as pine cone, leaf, pine cone. Can
children extend simple patterns? Can they create
their own?
 At snack time, ask children to point to the bowl
which has up to three objects, such as the bowl
with three strawberries/ two tomatoes, etc. Can
the children use their subitising skills,
recognising up to three objects without needing
to count them?
Understanding the World
 Add a selection of natural materials, such as
different types of leaves, pebbles and tree
bark, to a large activity tray outside. You could
also add magnifying glasses. The children can
explore and talk about the materials.
 Ask children to bring in a photo of their family.
They could also draw their family on a My
Family Photo Frame. Can they tell you about
each person in the photo? Can they make
connections between features of their family
and other families?
 Provide toys and equipment that encourages
the children to explore how things work, such
as wind-up toys and sets of cogs.
 Enable the children to spend long periods of
time outside exploring the natural world. You
could provide child-friendly gardening tools or
bug catchers. Do the children show curiosity
and care for living things?
Expressive Arts and Design
 Create rhyme bags/baskets for different nursery rhymes
that the children might be familiar with. Leave them out in
enhanced provision for the children to explore and sing.
 Create a music wall outside with a range of different
resources, such as pots and pans, trays and buckets.
Encourage the children to play the instruments in different
ways and explore the different sounds they can create.
 Create a role-play house for children to use. Add role-play
food, cooking equipment, chairs and tables, a toy baby in a
cot, etc. Can the children role play their own experiences?
 Provide children with a selection of stamps and shallows
trays of different coloured paints. Can they talk about what
happens when they stamp it onto the paper? What
happens when two colours overlap?
 Provide a range of materials, such as strips of fabric,
paper, ribbon and pom-poms for children to explore.
Observe how children use the materials. Do they use their
imagination when using the materials to create a model or
picture?
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