Strong oral language skills are foundational for literacy development and begin before a child enters formal schooling. Oral language development has been related to pretend play abilities in children. Children, particularly those from disadvantaged areas, who enter school with low pretend play levels and oral language abilities, are at risk for learning. This quantitative study investigated the pretend play and oral language abilities of a group of 30 children from a disadvantaged area in Victoria, Australia, in their first year of school. Standardised play and language assessments were administered by researchers independent of each other. Results showed that, as a group, the children were entering school with play and oral language abilities below expected range for their age. Object substitution, the ability to symbolise and use an object as something else, was found to be a predictor of a child's expressive and receptive language ability. Applying a socio-cultural lens enabled further exploration of the findings in relation to children's lives. Implications for practice that are mindful of the policy context in which teachers work are noted.