The new framework, which takes a play-based approach to learning, was distributed to 41 settings last week. It contains guidelines and good practice to help Welsh practitioners establish a learning continuum for children from three to seven.
Announcing the four-year pilots, Jane Davidson, minister for education and lifelong learning, said, 'Best practice in early years education, with a strong focus on all-round growth and development, will give children the best start in life and in particular, support those facing disadvantage and poverty.'
Tina Bruce, honorary visiting professor in Early Childhood Studies at London Metropolitan University, welcomed the Foundation Phase and 'any approach which emphasises in-service training of teachers in developing the curriculum, rather than a testing climate'.
But last year the Association of Teachers and Lecturers in Wales gave only a guarded welcome to Foundation Phase proposals. In response to the consultation The Learning Country: Foundation Phase 3-7 years, it said that the Welsh Assembly's plans were 'ambitious' and 'comprehensive' but warned that for the Foundation Phase to succeed it must be backed by 'dedicated resources, proper training and professional development for adults, and include recognition of the central importance of play in school'.
Dr Claire Watkins, an early years adviser to Newport City Council, said that the Welsh Assembly and the Qualifications, Curriculum and Assessment Authority for Wales have undertaken a 'true consultative process, so its development is not likely to be fast'. She added, 'It's important that people understand the teachers and people involved in the pilots will be writing and editing the new curriculum over the next four years.'
Early years consultant Dr Jacqui Cousins said, 'Change is always a slow process, but with considerable support being given at all levels of in-service, the Welsh government, in close collaboration with early years advisors and practitioners, is trying to bridge the gap between the rhetoric and the reality of putting into practice the Foundation Phase.'
