The Blossom Nursery Glossary - Early Years Assessment

From EYFS to XYZ, we’ve pulled together every term you might need to know to work, run, open or book your child into any childcare setting.

Closely monitored during their time at nursery, early years assessment for children covers all of those developmental moments that make for a well-developed child. As part of that, there’s a few terms you might need to know.

Early years assessment

Early years assessment and outcomes are closely monitored during nursery. All small achievements add up to big golden milestones.

We’ve collated some of the top terms for EYFS assessment you’ll need to know.

Early Learning Goals (ELGs)

The ELGs are made up of 17 targets that children are expected to reach by the end of their F2 year (reception). These are linked to the seven areas of learning.

Characteristics of effective learning— Included in the EYFS Statutory Framework, the characteristics of learning should underpin all learning opportunities for children:

Playing and exploring
Active learning
Creating and thinking critically

Good level of development (GLD)

A level of good development is assessed at the end of EYFS using the ELG as a deciding guide. A GLD demonstrates a child is ready for the next stage of learning in Year 1.

To achieve a GLD, children must have achieved all prime areas of learning and Literacy and Mathematics in the specific area section.

Progress check at age two

Practitioners carry out progress checks to monitor a child’s development in the prime areas of learning. The results are shared with the parents.

Reception baseline assessment (RBA)

This assessment will be undertaken in the first 6-weeks that a child joins a school. It is their baseline assessment for mathematics, literacy and communication and language.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is used every day in EYFS. It consists of small pieces of information gathered to build bigger pictures about the child’s development and progress across all areas of the EYFS Framework.

Summative assessment

Summative assessments are more formal assessment points. They consist of assessments and observations, usually against a set of requirements (like the ELGs).

Observations in EYFS

Nursery practitioners frequently conduct observations, which are the process of gathering information about a child’s development journey. Although these may not be written observations, they should be frequent and not impede time spent with the child.

Development Matters EYFS Framework

The UK government provides non-statutory guidance to EYFS settings. The aim is to support practitioners in planning and assessing activities that will give early years children a broad and balanced curriculum.