Ongoing assessment is an integral part of the learning and development process. The nursery must ensure that key workers are observing children and responding appropriately to help them to progress from birth towards the early learning goals. Assessments should be based on the observations of what children are doing in their day to day activities.

It is the responsibility of the child’s key worker to keep formal records of the children for assessment purposes. When your child starts at the nursery they will have an Early Years Foundation Stage Development and Learning Record where the observations, photographs and comments relating to the development stage of the child are recorded. All effective assessment involves analysing and reviewing what you know about each child’s learning and development. The key worker can then make informed decisions about the child’s progress and plan next steps to meet their development and learning needs. It is important to note that children will not necessarily progress sequentially through the stages, which do not represent age-related goals. Some elements may appear to have been achieved very quickly and others will take much longer.