Assessment in Junior Infants

It can be hard to know where to start for assessment in Junior Infants.

In the early days of Junior Infants I think it’s important to observe the children for specific criteria such as identify their dominant hand, recall of nursery rhymes and pencil grip. I designed my own checklist based on the Early at Risk Indicators from the PCSP.

My checklist focuses on fine motor and oral language, while in the early days the children will engage in free play activities it can allow for some time to note down some observations on some of the children, the checklist provides an easier guide to identify if there are any areas of need.

As the year progresses the checklists can focus on more specific academic areas.

With regard to my assessment folder, I have one folder with dividers for each child, ideally I get the extra large dividers for use with plastic pockets. Each child has a plastic pocket to keep some of their cutting activities, more detailed observations, worksheets and tests can be added to their section of the folder as the year goes on. At the very front of my folder I have a section for class checklists, the checklist in my assessment pack will go here once completed. These checklist provide an overview of the class at a glance and will also identify any children that may need early intervention at Stage 1 of the Continuum.

My assessment pack for the beginning of Junior Infants is now available on Mash.ie.

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