Basic instruments should be checked every flight anyway - I can go through them all if you want, but it would be fairly long winded and you should have learnt this in PPL training. ALL radios should be turned on after start and checked for sensible indications if possible but at some airfields this is not possible as there may not be suitable aids within range. I would have thought though, if you are part way through, YOU should be doing all these checks without the instructor having to say anything, though personally I would be correcting you if you were not.