This paper discusses some findings from a small-scale investigation of the assessment of young children's oral narrative skills that was conducted in three primary schools in London, UK. Effective early language and literacy teaching with children from diverse backgrounds such as those in London depends on having articulated knowledge about children’s skills (McNaughton 1995). A particularly important area is that of narrative skills since the ability to narrate and report is a vital skill for future academic success and is highly correlated to later fluency in reading (Beals and DeTemple 1993; Dickenson and Snow 1987). Teachers need to have sufficiently detailed descriptions of their pupils’ language skills and this is especially important where populations are diverse. A procedure, developed and used extensively in New Zealand, exists for increasing teachers’ knowledge of their pupils’ language skills on entry to school. This story retelling activity (Tell Me) lends itself to use in the normal course of classroom teaching and is the focus of the present study
