Wales' early years framework is being rolled out over four years and it will be statutory for all children aged from three to seven by the 2011-12 school year. The curriculum has been statutory for three- to four-year-olds since September 2008.
The Foundation Phase operates on an adult:child ratio of 1:8 for three- to five-year-olds, which means that schools have employed an increasing number of classroom assistants. The Welsh Assembly Government said that more than 2,000 additional classroom assistants have joined the Foundation Phase workforce since September 2008, and it is expecting this figure to increase to 3,250 from September this year.
First Minister Rhodri Morgan said, 'Based on international research and examples of delivery in Scandinavian countries and New Zealand, we believe the Foundation Phase will deliver huge benefits which will become apparent during the teenage years, when there can be a fall-off in attendance and interest in learning.
'We want to reduce that "long tail" of educational non-attainment that has bedevilled Welsh education for far too long. Making this change is a big step, but it has been very extensively piloted to ensure that we can make this massive step forward with confidence.'
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association, said, 'NDNA has been supporting members to embed and use the framwork with a series of factsheets and hands-on support through our Wales office. However, an unintended consequence of its implementation has been that some settings have found it harder to recruit and retain staff at level 3, as the Foundation Phase requires delivery by someone with or working towards level 3.'
