Dear team , can you please advise on my worries? Please see below email from nursery assessment.
Son , I have written up some information regarding his behaviours at nursery.
Within the setting, son comes in really well. It is normally Mummy or Daddy dropping son off, he separates from whoever is dropping off really well and will have a quick cuddle before going to explore the room. He will play a lot around the door as there are less children in this area. He will also usually find a car or a sensory toy to hold. He enjoys exploring different toys and cars by putting them in his mouth and exploring the textures of them this way.
Son will wander around the room throughout the day, and does not like to sit in one place for too long. At circle times and meal times, he will often stand up and walk around the room. During circle times when the children are all singing, he will cover his ears, however if the children are getting excited and singing slightly louder action songs, such as sleeping bunnies and sticky kids, this will make him smile and walk over to clap along.
Son is not able to communicate with us verbally, however he will babble and make sounds such as, “dadadada, mamama, eeeeeee and ooohhhh”. He will often experiment with making different sounds, we are constantly hearing new sounds from him. When he is really happy and excited, he will flap his hands and say “eeeeeee”- however, this is not often and appears to only be when he is excited or overstimulated, watching his friends doing action songs and noisy activities. When he needs or would like a cuddle, he will find an adult or a child and give them a big cuddle. He really enjoys giving his friends cuddles, and will often walk over to them playing and give them a big squeeze. When son is feeling distressed, he likes to be held and to be able to put his hand in the creases of the adult holding him, for example, he will scratch and slightly pinch your armpit or the crease of your arm, until he has calmed down. He prefers going to, and finding reassurance and comfort in his teachers.
Son will play on his own most of the time, and likes an adult to be around him while he is exploring the room, however he does not generally interact with them during play. He doesn’t mind the children playing around him, but does not seem aware of them being around him, and is object motivated. We do try to get him involved with small group activities, but he has a very single channelled attention, and therefore it can be hard to engage him in these. Son is making more eye contact that is less fleeting and not coincidental in nature recently, as previously he wouldn’t engage in this as much, however he will now look at you when you are speaking to him. Son will now also look at you/ for you when you call his name too, and will also come for a cuddle when you call his name and put your arms out to him. In terms of our routine, son is starting to gain an understanding of this, and will come to you when you call him for his nappy, and go and stand by the garden door when you get his coat on for garden time.
Son is rarely upset at nursery, however he does not enjoy meal times. He does not like to sit and eat with his peers, and he will become very distressed and upset. Son parents have made us aware that he prefers his food slightly pureed, very warm and with a lot of sauce, he then will need to be spoon fed. However, at nursery we find it a struggle to get son to try any foods, he will often take one mouthful and hold it in his mouth for a long time before finally swallowing. If he doesn’t eat lunch we will also try him with Weetabix, as this is something his parents have said he does enjoy eating, which again he has on preference on how it needs to be. He is still struggling with eating, and often son does not eat at all, or will only have between one and three spoonful’s of food with us at nursery.
Physically, son is doing really well and is very strong. He loves the outdoors, he finds a quieter area of the garden and will run backwards and forwards across the garden. With adult support, he will go on our climbing equipment and is able to climb up and down on his own. He will occasionally walk around on his tiptoes around the room, but is also able to walk on his whole foot and only tends to tiptoe when he is excited. He is happy to have his nappy changed when needed and will lay nicely when being changed. He isn’t able to communicate when he has a soiled or wet nappy.
We have been supporting son with settling into our nursery. He has now been here for a month and we will be putting together a support plan in place, to help with his development. We want to support son with his speech, social interaction and the meal times. He is a pleasure to look after at the nursery and overall is a very happy little boy, who gives some of the best cuddles. We are looking forward to helping to support and watch him grow.