Baseline Assessment / Starting Points Assessment Help Please!

**Wiggle Wiggle** · 06-05-2013, 04:03 PM

Hello,

Just wondering if you can help on Baseline /Starting Points Assessment, please.

Firstly can you inform me how you complete yours – is it just on a check sheet or a sheet with a highlighted areas with regular daily observations from when the child starts (normal average number per week) to back it up or do you complete observations on each of the aspects and bullet points under these before completing baseline assessment?

At what stage do you complete this i.e. 2 weeks in or 4 or 6 weeks in from when the child starts?

How often do you complete assessments to show where the child is at?

How many observations do you complete on average per week?

Sorry for all the questions. Just getting a little confused on what is requested as someone suggested to me that I needed to do observations on each of the bullet points under each aspect in the ‘Unique Child’ section of the DM before I could do a baseline assessment and I know this cannot be correct!! I would be doing observations 24/7!!

Plus if anyone can share a baseline assessment sheet that they use it would be greatly appreciated as starting to doubt own!

Many thanks in advance.

**moggy** · 06-05-2013, 07:04 PM

Originally Posted by Wiggle Wiggle

Hello,

Just wondering if you can help on Baseline /Starting Points Assessment, please.

Firstly can you inform me how you complete yours – is it just on a check sheet or a sheet with a highlighted areas with regular daily observations from when the child starts (normal average number per week) to back it up or do you complete observations on each of the aspects and bullet points under these before completing baseline assessment?

At what stage do you complete this i.e. 2 weeks in or 4 or 6 weeks in from when the child starts?

How often do you complete assessments to show where the child is at?

How many observations do you complete on average per week?

Sorry for all the questions. Just getting a little confused on what is requested as someone suggested to me that I needed to do observations on each of the bullet points under each aspect in the ‘Unique Child’ section of the DM before I could do a baseline assessment and I know this cannot be correct!! I would be doing observations 24/7!!

Plus if anyone can share a baseline assessment sheet that they use it would be greatly appreciated as starting to doubt own!

Many thanks in advance.

I use a sheet with a bit for parent comments and a space for each of the 7 areas where I put what they are doing now ('X can xxx, she is starting to xxx... ' etc) and a block for opportunities/next steps ('Provide opportunities to encourage xxx, help her xxx...' etc).
I do it about 4 weeks after starting to give child a chance to settle in, they behave so differently as they start to settle, also this is the time to talk to parent as end of settling-in contract period.
I also check all areas and aspects, not with an obs for each but using my knowledge of the child, and mark which age-group they are in on a chart.
I ask parents to give input in all 7 areas, things they have noticed child doing recently in an 'I can xxx' format, new mile stones and any comments on how they are settling in. I sit with parent and go through the sheet with them and they sign.
I do obs every week for a newbie, more than usual for a newbie as everything is 'new' for me! It settles down to maybe 1 a week or 1 a fortnight for a 3-day-a-week child.
I then do termly reviews in a similar way.

**sarah707** · 07-05-2013, 05:10 PM

Development Matters is not a tick list - it is a guide to the types of things children might be doing at different ages / stages.

You don't go down the list observing each statement. You are looking for a range of observations which link generally to the types of things DM says the child might be doing / saying.

I do about 4 obs a month for my part timers - they come 2 days a week - 1 x outside, 1 x inside, 1 x from home, 1 x outing. If the child goes to another setting I try and do another from there.

Hth

**Belly2009** · 07-05-2013, 05:37 PM

My LA suggested we give the DMs to a parent and get them to highlight where they think their child is at and then we do our own assessments.

Recently, I have done them over a 4 week period but the new child whom started I kept extending it as I felt he was not showing his full potential. After 8 weeks, we are finally ready to do his baseline

xxx

**Wiggle Wiggle** · 10-05-2013, 06:26 PM

Thank you to Moggy, Sarah707 and Belly2009 for your responses and input these has been both really helpful and interesting!

Thank you so much for sharing what you do, especially how you go about doing the baseline assessment, getting parents involved is a fab idea, and that you do not need to be doing so many observations is good to know - it appears quality over quantity rules the day and makes sense as how could you realistically plan so many next steps!

Thank you again - yet again the support is great on here!!

**hectors house** · 10-05-2013, 09:08 PM

I have a 14 month old who just comes one day - I have used Sarah's L & D sheets to tick off things I have observed that he can do over the last 4 weeks (4 days settling in period), I will mark these as his starting points, everything else I will highlight and date as a best fit from subsequent observations.

**MessybutHappy** · 10-05-2013, 10:23 PM

My latest addition to the tribe started back in Feb, but has only just managed a month of normal attendance! So I've noted the things he's doing now, but added an opening statement highlighting why it's not been done earlier! As for obs, I do two big obs a month (with photo's & loomed to DM & with space for reviewing later), plus any number of little ones, no photo's, but I note next steps. HTH

**Wiggle Wiggle** · 11-05-2013, 07:15 AM

Thank you Hector's House and Messy But Happy for replying - this is great to here how you complete your observations and baseline assessments!

Thank you so much it is really helpful as I can see how I should be completing same!

Hector's House - Sarah's L&J sheets are they in the resource section? They sound brill!

Many thanks!

**Cinnamon Sugar** · 25-05-2013, 10:41 AM

Originally Posted by sarah707

Development Matters is not a tick list - it is a guide to the types of things children might be doing at different ages / stages.

You don't go down the list observing each statement. You are looking for a range of observations which link generally to the types of things DM says the child might be doing / saying.

I do about 4 obs a month for my part timers - they come 2 days a week - 1 x outside, 1 x inside, 1 x from home, 1 x outing. If the child goes to another setting I try and do another from there.

Hth

This is really helpful, it can be difficult to know how many obs we should be doing!

**gef918** · 09-06-2013, 06:05 PM

I was told by my DO that starting points should be from the moment a child walks through the door, i.e. just from parent observations. These don't normally cover every section of Development Matters, but I try to get as much info as possible.

I then do an end of settling in period assessment summary based on the prime areas with next steps for all areas - but I have found that the children have normally developed during the 4-6 weeks it has taken for them to settle in.