Best Start Assessment

Children start school with a range of early literacy and numeracy knowledge, skills and understandings. Many students are already engaging with the world around them to express their ideas. Many students start school knowing a range of things about numbers, patterns and basic mathematical ideas.

The Best Start Kindergarten Assessment is a statewide assessment that helps teachers identify the literacy and numeracy skills of each student at the beginning of Kindergarten. The assessment provides teachers with information on how to best support each student’s needs at school. It consists of both a literacy and numeracy component.

The Best Start Kindergarten Assessment supports teachers to develop teaching and learning programs that build upon what students know and can do. Teachers sit with the child one on one focusing on what they can do. The assessment does not require any preparation.

Teachers will provide parents and carers with information about the skills their child demonstrated during the assessment. All children learn at different rates and parents do not need to be concerned if their child can’t answer all of the questions.

The assessment is conducted in line with existing school practices and builds upon teaching and learning programs that support students in the transition to school.

Literacy assessment

The literacy tasks are designed to identify whether students can recognise familiar words, recall details about a picture book that has been read to them, write their name, understand how books work and recognise sounds and letters. During the literacy assessment the teacher will ask questions like:

▪ ‘Listen to these words: map, tap. Can you think of another word that rhymes?’

▪ Read a story book to the child and ask: ‘Can you tell me about the story that I just read to you?’

These questions will assist the teachers in determining if a student can recognise familiar print and recall information from a picture book. These are important literacy skills that children will develop over their first year at school.

Numeracy assessment

The numeracy tasks are related to early number concepts and are designed to identify how well a student can count; which numbers they can recognise; whether they can count a number of objects, add or subtract small numbers; and recognise repeating patterns. During the numeracy assessment the teacher will ask questions like:

▪ ‘Start counting and I’ll tell you when to stop.’

▪ ‘Can you tell me what number this is?’ 5

These questions will assist the teachers in determining if the student can recognise numbers and count from one onwards. Throughout Kindergarten students will learn to recognise numbers 1-100 and count to 30.

Scheduled Dates for Best Start 2022

Best Start Assessment in 2022 will be conducted during the first week of Term 1 2022. Each child will be given a 2 hour time frame to come to school to spend time with one of the kindergarten teachers to complete some numeracy and literacy assessments. They will then have time to play and interact with their new kindergarten friends. Your child can wear their new school uniform or normal clothing on this day.

Individual Best Start Assessment time slots will be given to families during Term 4 of 2021 once enrolments are finalised.

Picture: A Kindergarten student during his Best Start Assessment, making patterns with the different shaped counters