Foundation training 'over-standardised'

Plans for a centralised, nationally-directed training programme for the Foundation Stage have prompted concerns that it will be too standardised to meet the needs of practitioners working in different settings. The consultation Expert support for the development of Foundation Stage practice, which closed at the end of December, set out plans by the Department for Education and Skills to introduce a standardised support programme 'built around a common set of principles, but differentiated to recognise the individual needs of practitioners and the range of settings delivering the Foundation Stage'. It would be headed by a national director in charge of...