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Date: 23 July

Teacher: Julie

A learning storyJohn watches two children and an adult playwith hooks, chains, and lines.

When they move to work nearby, he beginsjoining the objects together.

He places them in a line. Some droop over theend of the table, so he brings a chair to attachthe length to.

A hook comes free on the table; he looks, thenreattaches it the other way around.

He has difficulty attaching the length to thechair and pushes it into a hole. He continueslinking and hooks the length to another chair.

He goes to the other end of the table andlooks at the doorknob, where a scarf is hanging.He removes the scarf and gives it to an adultwithout speaking.

He links his objects from the table to thedoorknob, then adds chains and lets the lengthhang down.

He steps back and smiles.

Short-term reviewJohn is interested in “linking objects”. Hewatched a group before attempting his work.

John continued to link his objects for aprolonged period.

A few of John’s hooks became detached.However, he was able to solve this by turningthe hooks the other way. He solved theproblem of how to hook the length over thetable to a plastic chair, and he used thedoorknob to attach his links at the other end.

John pointed to his construction with a bigsmile.

What next?Look for opportunities for John to work outideas about connecting – e.g., boxes, blocks,tyres, string, paper-tape, carpentry.

Encourage John to talk about his interest inthis play.

Date: 19 September

Teacher: Toni

A learning storyOn the deck by the carpentry table. It’s raining.

John picks up a paper tube and looks through it.“Rain,” he says, “rain.”

He looks at me as I talk into a tube. He putsthe tube to his ear. I talk into it. “Yes, it’sraining.” John laughs, pulls the tube away, andputs it to his ear again. I whisper, “How areyou?” He laughs.

John runs to the shelf and puts another tubeon the end and puts it to my mouth. I say, “Pl-p-plop! Rain.” He laughs and gets more tubesoff the shelf, adds three more tubes, andpasses me the end. I put it to his mouth. Hesays, “No. You noise.” I say, “Patter, patter,rain.” He holds it to his ear and laughs.

He adds two more tubes and puts one end tomy mouth and the tubes start falling off. Johnputs it on the ground and fixes the tubes thatfell off and attaches more tubes. He goes backto the shelf and sorts through the tubes. Headds more tubes – 17 in total. Sam and Blakejoin in and add more tubes on.

Short-term reviewJohn spent time looking at the rain beforetalking. Once he heard me talk, he indicated he wanted me to talk into his tube by putting itto his ear. He enjoyed hearing me talk indifferent tones of voice and using words toexplain the noise of rain hitting the groundbeside us.

John knew how to connect the pipes by choosingdifferent sizes so they would connect together.

What next?Continue joint attention with John.

Include other children in his play.

John is focused on connecting things together.Support his fascination with connection in theareas of play – e.g., blocks, pipes in the sandpit,tracks for the cars, boxes, and carpentry.

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Date: 9 October

Teacher: Toni

A learning storyJohn is in the sandpit. He picks up a plasticpipe and connects it to another. He looksaround. I ask him to help get more out. As hewalks towards me by the storage box, he says“Okay” and carries two pipes and connectsthem to the other two. He gets three moreand connects them to the others.

He looks at me and says, “Water.” We checkout the water tanks. He takes a hose andputs it in the end of his pipe. He looks in thepipe, takes the hose out, and pulls off some ofthe shorter pipes. He adds three to a longerpipe, sorting pipes that are similar in diameter.He puts two small pipes in, says “No, no”,takes them off, and adds two larger ones.

Joshua joins him. John looks at him andcontinues to add pipes, adding to Joshua’spipe. He puts the hose in the longer pipe. “Oh,water,” he says and shovels sand over wherethe water is leaking, covering four leaks withJoshua talking to him.

Short-term reviewJohn had an idea of linking the two pipes,looked for more, and was happy to help carrymore to the sandpit. He decided to add to thelonger pipe and knew how to sort the sizes sothey linked together with little gap around theseal. He enjoyed connecting the pipes andseeing the water in the pipes. He decidedcovering the joins might stop them leaking.

What next?Continue supporting his fascination withconnection.

He includes other children in his play – continueto encourage this.

Encourage John to “talk” with children he workswith by telling them what he seems to bedirecting at me – e.g., he looks at me if he isunsure.

Date: 9 October

Teacher: Toni

A learning storyAt the bike track, John rides his bike aroundonce, stops, and pulls at a trailer on anotherbike. I encourage him to tell me what he wants.He points and says, “Trailer on bike.”

He unhooks the trailer as I tip the bike. Hehooks it onto his bike and rides around,watching Isaac following him. John stops, addsanother trailer onto his trailer, and goesaround the track. He stops by Isaac andwatches him. He puts another trailer onto histrailer (three now). He squeals and followsIsaac. He goes around again, stops, hooks onanother trailer and looks at Isaac, who’shooking on more trailers, too.

John smiles. “More,” he says. “Go now?” hesays and smiles at Isaac. Isaac follows himand talks with him. John points to both theirbikes. Each has four trailers connectedtogether.

Short-term reviewJohn asked for help because the trailer washard to get off. He knew how to hook thetrailer onto his bike and enjoyed moving his legsfast to push his bike around. He kept lookingback at Isaac, enjoying having him there.

Having other trailers out and free supportedJohn’s connecting, as did Isaac following hislead. He spoke directly to Isaac and enjoyedbeing with him.

What next?Continue supporting John in including others in his ideas and also in joining others himselfwhen he indicates that he wishes to.

Give him the words he needs, if needed.

Continue supporting the fascination with“connecting” – make an obstacle course, withhim leading how he wants it to connect.

Junk construction – heavy boxes, tubes, etc. tojoin together.

Date: 3 March

Teacher: Toni

A learning storyJohn stopped in front of Joshua, who washolding a stop/go sign he had made. When thesign changed to red, John looked behind him,not moving. Oliver, Blake, Sam, and anotherchild behind shouted “Go now!”

John moved on and went round again, this timestopping on green. Oliver said, “You go ongreen, John.” John smiled and moved on.

He looked at another child making a stop/gosign. He ran down and took some greencellophane out of the box and found long piecesof bark. He said “Stick”, cut off some tape,and stuck it to the bark. He tried three timesand it wouldn’t stick, so he went inside and gotsome sticky tape and paper, with no promptingat all, and stuck the cellophane to the paper,and then sticky taped it to a tyre on the biketrack. He smiled and said “Go now” and rodeoff on his bike.

Short-term reviewJohn listened to the other children and joinedin the game. He decided to make a sign, and intrying, solved his own problem. He decided toput his sign on a tyre by where Joshua hadstood. He joined in the game again.

What next?John is enjoying taking the initiative, knowinghow to solve his own problem. Encourage himto verbalise what he is doing, too.

Date: 18 October

Teacher: Stephanie

A learning storyJohn was in the sandpit, connecting pipes. Hemade the pipes connect almost a quarter ofthe way down the playground. At the end ofsome of the pipes, water was leaking outinstead of going down the next pipe. John gotsand and packed it around the leaky spots tostop water from coming out onto the grass.

Short-term reviewJohn found an interest in connecting the pipesto make the water flow. He keeps his interestfor a sustained period of time and was playfulwith the materials. When he chose the task, hecame up with a solution to solve the waterleaking out the sides.

What next?Challenge John to set and solve his ownproblems.

Encourage trusting others and groupinteractions.

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How might this assessment contributeto this child’s learning anddevelopment?

This set of assessments shows John’s ongoingprogress. Trusting to John’s interest, whiledocumenting carefully just where he is up to andgoing, allows the teachers to take John forwardtowards the goal of building relationships withthe other children. These assessments,particularly that of 3 March, show the adults inJohn’s life (and John himself) that he is beginningto put other points of view first – a big ask forhim.

Incidentally, John’s parents enjoyed the storiesvery much and joked that he might grow up to bea plumber!

What might this tell us about informalnoticing, recognising, and respondingin this place?

This set of stories illustrates the thoughtfulreflections of John’s teachers. They notice whatis happening and recognise how this maycontribute and lead to the goal of interacting withother children. Their responses highlight theirsensitivity and professional expertise.

What’s happening here?

These learning stories describe how John’steachers extend his interest in connectingobjects. His fascination with this is distributedacross the curriculum, enabling him to involveother children in his games.

What aspects of inclusive assessmentdoes this exemplify?

An important function of inclusive narrativeassessment is to show progress towards IP goals.One of John’s IP goals is interacting with otherchildren. John’s learning pathway is unique, butwe can see his progress towards this goal as hisinteractions become more frequent and thestories become more complex.

John’s voice comes through strongly in thestories, as a result of his increasing participationin the curriculum and the learning that followsfrom this. For example, when he drives through a red light, it is against his better judgment, buthe does so because his friends tell him to. Hishesitation next time round (to check whether thered/green rule has changed) and the way hesolves the problem with his sign reveal a lotabout the way he is thinking.