Pre-School Assessments - I don't agree with them!

[Daisy De]

Background to this is two los started pre-school January, born within a week of eachother but very different.

I have just received Pre-School Assessments for both (I have a good relationship with pre-school and we share information very well) but I have come over all protective over one of the los and wonder if I should say something, the reports are written by 2 different keyworkers.

Lo 1's report is very positive, in my opinion he has a few issues which they have covered by saying "beginning to" rather a lot whilst ignoring other issues but its good to be positive and overall I agree with this one.

Lo 2's first language is not English but his English is perfect far better than lo 1 but they have marked his development stage much lower. The rest of the report is the same.

I think his development stage is much higher than they do, way above lo 1 and although I don't want to compare the two children looking at the two reports I don't get where they are coming from and feel protective over lo 2. He is a boisterous, in your face child, very loving and, in my opinion quite advanced for his age but they have only known him for a short while and seem to have got the wrong opinion of him. In a group setting I imagine he is quite rowdy through excitement whereas lo 1 would become invisible which in my opinion is a problem in itself although it makes him an easy child for them. One to one or in a small group lo 2 is sociable, creative, intelligent and he knows my boundaries so behaviour is not an issue here.

What would you do, wait for next assessment to see if time has made them know him better or say something? To be honest, I know I will say something but I don't want to alienate the pre-school so what would you say?

[Daisy De]

Just an add on

I did a Transition Report for both los when they started pre-school so they knew a lot about both of them, we also talked about some concerns I had and I felt I had given them the best start I could at pre-school.

These assessments make me feel they don't agree with anything I said but they have said nothing to me or parents.

I'm not working this morning and sorting out paperwork but keep coming back to these 2 reports!

[sarah707]

It's like the 2 year progress check - as long as it is done sensitively and focuses on the positives and how much the child has achieved from their starting points then fine -

But if it's a list of negatives then I wouldn't do it either, I'd do my own baseline instead.

xx

[Daisy De]

Would you say anything to pre-school though Sarah that you don't agree with their assessment or would you just do your own assessment and send them a copy as I usually do when its due?

[sarah707]

Would you say anything to pre-school though Sarah that you don't agree with their assessment or would you just do your own assessment and send them a copy as I usually do when its due?

It would depend on how well I got on with pre-school.

My 2 local pre-schools are very approachable and I have worked with them for years so I would chat to them, explain my reasons and say I was happy to provide a baseline.

I would hope that they would accept it as a professional discussion and use it to improve what they do...

However, if I didn't know them / get on with them or if I thought it might cause tension I'd just provide my own baseline for the sake of harmony in the future :D

[zippy]

It might be that he is a lot more confident in your setting, smaller numbers less overwhelming etc, I'd do my own for parents too, and just explain ht they may show different outcomes because of this. We all react differently depending on the environment we are in, doesn't mean nursery is a bad thing, he has to get used to bigger numbers just different, and you'll probably notice much more as you are pretty much with him constantly when he's with you.