What time and setting will give you useful material?<\/strong> Choose a period where the child is likely to be actively engaged (free play, a focused activity) rather than a transition or waiting period, which tends to produce thin, low-detail observations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nPractical tip for struggling students:<\/strong> If you’re not sure what to focus on, observe during free-flow play for 10\u201315 minutes and write down everything the child does and says, in sequence \u2014 you can decide what’s developmentally significant afterward, during the assessment stage. Trying to decide what’s “important enough” to observe while<\/em> you’re observing often leads to a thin, cherry-picked record that’s harder to assess properly.<\/p>\n<\/span>Step 2: The Observation \u2014 Full Worked Example<\/span><\/h2>\nBelow is a complete, realistic example you can use as a model for structure, tone, and level of detail.<\/p>\n
Child:<\/strong> Child A, aged 3 years 4 months Date\/Time:<\/strong> [date], 9:05\u20139:18am Context:<\/strong> Free-flow play, indoor construction area Method:<\/strong> Narrative observation<\/p>\n\n9:05 \u2014 Child A walks to the construction area and selects the wooden block basket. She tips the basket over, spreading blocks across the mat. 9:06 \u2014 Child A begins stacking blocks vertically. She places four blocks before the tower topples. She says, “Oh no, fall down,” and laughs. 9:08 \u2014 Child A rebuilds the tower, this time selecting larger blocks for the base and smaller blocks toward the top. The tower reaches six blocks before it is stable. 9:11 \u2014 Child B approaches and reaches for a block near Child A’s tower. Child A says, “No, I’m using that,” and moves the block toward herself. 9:12 \u2014 Child A offers Child B a different block from the basket, saying, “You can have this one.” 9:13 \u2014 Both children begin building separate towers in parallel, occasionally glancing at each other’s structure. 9:16 \u2014 Child A’s tower reaches eight blocks. She calls to the practitioner, “Look how big!” 9:18 \u2014 Observation ends as children are called to tidy-up time.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Notice this observation contains no interpretation at all \u2014 only actions, direct speech (in quotation marks), and a clear time sequence. This is exactly the standard assessors are checking for, and it’s also what makes the next stage possible to write well.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Step 3: The Assessment \u2014 Full Worked Example<\/span><\/h2>\nThe assessment stage takes the raw observation and interprets it against expected developmental norms, ideally referencing a recognized framework (such as EYFS Development Matters bands) or theorist.<\/p>\n
\nThis observation of Child A, aged 3 years 4 months, provides evidence across several areas of development. In terms of physical development<\/strong>, Child A demonstrates competent fine motor control and hand-eye coordination, successfully building a stable eight-block tower \u2014 broadly consistent with expectations for her age band, where children typically manage towers of six or more blocks with increasing stability (Development Matters, 3\u20134 years).<\/p>\nIn terms of cognitive development<\/strong>, Child A shows early problem-solving skills, adjusting her strategy after the tower’s initial collapse by selecting larger blocks for the base \u2014 evidence of trial-and-error reasoning and an emerging understanding of basic structural stability, rather than simply repeating the same unsuccessful approach.<\/p>\nIn terms of social and emotional development<\/strong>, the interaction with Child B is particularly significant. Child A’s initial response (“No, I’m using that”) reflects a still-developing, though age-appropriate, sense of ownership over resources, which is typical at this age. However, her follow-up action \u2014 independently offering an alternative block rather than the practitioner needing to prompt a resolution \u2014 indicates an emerging ability to self-regulate and negotiate a shared-resource conflict, which is slightly more advanced than what would be expected as a baseline for many children at 3 years 4 months, where adult support to resolve such conflicts is still common.<\/p>\nIn terms of language development<\/strong>, Child A’s spoken output (“Oh no, fall down,” “No, I’m using that,” “You can have this one,” “Look how big!”) shows use of short, functional sentences of three to five words, consistent with typical expectations for her age.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nWhy this example works:<\/strong> Each paragraph explicitly names a developmental area, references a specific moment from the observation as evidence, and compares it to an age-appropriate expectation \u2014 rather than simply re-describing what happened. Notice also that the assessment doesn’t just confirm “everything is normal” \u2014 it identifies one area (the independent conflict resolution) as a specific strength worth highlighting, which shows a more nuanced, individualized understanding of this particular child rather than a generic, one-size-fits-all assessment.<\/p>\n