Smooth moves

Most five-year-olds in England will now be in their final term of reception class where, it is hoped, they will be accessing the kind of child-centred curriculum laid out in the Foundation Stage guidance. What is important now is that young children make a stress-free move into Year 1 and continue to enjoy this same child-centred approach to learning in their new class.

The Foundation Stage, developed in response to our knowledge of how children learn, emphasises a particular learning and teaching style, characterised by active, child-initiated learning.

There is growing concern among parents, practitioners and education advisers about how this 'bottom-up' approach fits with the target driven, 'top-down' model of managing teaching and learning followed by many schools. The tensions, mainly linked to the debate between formal and informal approaches, include:

* an active (doing) curriculum vs a more passive (listening) curriculum

* an integrated curriculum vs a subject-based curriculum

* play-based literacy/numeracy activities vs literacy/numeracy 'hours'

* individual/small group work vs large group/class activities

* informal access to the outside vs timetabled break/playtime.

Everything we know now tells us that a bottom-up model is more likely to be effective than any top-down approach, and Foundation Stage practitioners, parents and children themselves need to work in partnership with teachers and classroom assistants in Year 1 to ensure a smooth transition for young children and continuity of good quality provision.

To bring this about, staff need to consider four key aspects: space, time, people and information, and adopt the principles of a child-centred curriculum that is engaging and effective. Only then will children stop feeling like the boy who said of Year 1, 'There ent no sand and the work's too hard.' Following is an extract on 'space' and 'time' from Smooth Transitions - Building on the Foundation Stage.

Space

Children of five and six years old need space that meets their learning needs. When children move from Foundation to Year 1, careful consideration will need to be given to the arrangement of physical space to ensure that there is continuity of experience between the two phases.

Year 1 staff will need to spend time looking at the key features of the learning environment in the reception class and observe the way in which it is being used by children. Once this has happened, the staff will be able to decide how to make developmentally appropriate provision for the autumn term: provision that supports a smooth join between the child's two experiences.

This process is absolutely crucial, and unless it takes place, it is highly likely that when children enter Year 1 they will enter an environment that has a negative effect on both their well-being and their learning.

Before transfer, try some of these:

* build in time for Year 1 staff to observe the children as they move about and use the learning environment in their reception class

* create time for the staff in reception and Year 1 to discuss the learning needs of the children together

* talk with the children about their expectations of their new learning environment

* consider how each aspect of this learning environment can be continued in Year 1 - sand, water, construction, role play, etc

* think about how you can build progression into each aspect, ie putting the same basic provision in place, while at the same time ensuring that you have added enough new materials to allow the children to work at an increased level of complexity

* think back to the things you enjoyed doing when you were five or six. (The things that young children enjoy and learn from today are not so very different, and if you do spend time on this simple exercise you will be amazed to see how many of those memorable childhood activities involved the use of large spaces and active movement, and how many of them happened outside.)

Before and during transfer we need to spend time considering ways in which we give children access to large spaces and outdoor experiences.

Some of the questions we need to ask ourselves are, do we:

* make a conscious effort to build such experiences into the weekly and daily plans?

* think about how we can make the best possible use of the school grounds?

* have a range of prop boxes, bags and other resources that can be taken outside with the minimum of fuss?

* look at the ways in which we might use the hall when it is not being used by the rest of the school?

* identify those children who need high levels of physical activity (usually boys) and make special provision for them?

As part of designing an appropriate learning environment have we thought about how the children will use the space?

Some of the issues that may arise here are:

* building in time to introduce children to their new environment, showing them how to use it and sharing our expectations with them

* ensuring that children can take care of their own needs by accessing resources and materials and putting them away again

* giving children responsibility for caring for their new environment

* structuring the timetable in such a way that children have continued and frequent opportunities for child-initiated learning, and plenty of time to extend their activities.

Once we have made decisions about what will be the most appropriate learning environment for the Year 1 children:

* have we communicated with the rest of the staff about why we have made the decisions we have made?

* have we checked out the expectations of the parents? (There might be an expectation that Year 1 is not the sort of place were you would find sand, water or role-play activities.)

* have we set up a meeting with parents where we can explain the importance of a school's active learning environment?

Time

We all need time to adjust to any new situation, and children need time too. For any new experience to be turned into learning, children need time to become familiar with the new situation, what will be different, what will be the same. If we leave this adjusting until the autumn term, we leave the children all summer to think, worry and imagine what it will be like. Worry results in stress, and stress inhibits learning. Stressed children are also more likely to be tired, aggressive and impulsive. Some will become withdrawn and distracted.

Before and during transfer, do we try to give children the following opportunities?

* time in their new classroom or school before the summer holiday

* time to talk about the new place, the new people, the new programme

* time to think about what they have learned in reception or nursery, what they know and can do, the things they are good at

* time to find out about what will be the same - friends, family, activities, as well as what will be different

* time to absorb the information, check the details, go back for another look (through photographs or further school visits)

* time to share experiences with the present Year 1 children - school outings, visits in both directions, letters and messages, photographs.

In Year 1, before we make judgements about what children know and can do, do we give them the following opportunities?

* time to learn the new routines and procedures

* time to adjust to new activities

* time to make new friends

* time to get to know new adults

* time with activities that are familiar, to remember and revisit what they know and can do

* sustained lengths of time to play, to select their own activities, to make friends, to be outside, to talk and to be active.

And what do the adults involved in transfer need time for?

During the summer term, some of these ideas might help:

* take time to enjoy the last term with the children and celebrate what they have learned with you

* take time to watch the children, identifying those who might need some additional support at transfer

* take time to talk to and about each child as an individual

* take time to think about the information you are sending

* take time to help the children and their parents manage a significant change.

And during the first weeks of autumn, do we give ourselves and other adults the following opportunities?

* time to get to know the children and their families

* time to read the information that has been offered by colleagues and parents

* time to find out what children already know

* time to watch children in play activities chosen by themselves

* time to think about how to manage the transition in planning and organising the curriculum from reception to Key Stage 1

* time to notice and support those children who may find the transition to a more formal curriculum difficult (particularly summer born children, those with English as a second language or special educational needs, or children who have disturbing or disturbed behaviour)

* time to read what the guidance on National Literacy and Numeracy strategies says about the move between the reception and Year 1 programmes.

Extracts taken from Smooth Transitions - Building on the Foundation Stage by Ros Bayley and Sally Featherstone

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