Reception classes and the Foundation Stage: Tear down the walls

At the heart of the Foundation Stage is a recognition that children learn through play. Are reception classes making the major adjustments required? Mary Evans reports

Learning through play, the mantra of early years experts often dismissed by parents, heads and school governors, is now firmly established at the heart of the new national curriculum for the Foundation Stage.

Previously, reception class staff have found themselves under pressure to adopt a formal approach to teaching. Instead of being able to foster active learning they have been obliged to deliver a beginner's version of Key Stage 1. Some have complained about not being taken seriously by their colleagues while others have seen themselves as the Cinderellas of the school system. So, is there a fairy-tale ending?

Early years specialists say it is too early to gain a comprehensive view, but the widespread belief is that the Foundation Stage, which was introduced this September, is a welcome catalyst for change.

Official back-up
Julie Fisher, early years adviser for Oxfordshire, says that at last practitioners feel that people are beginning to value their work. 'They feel they have been given a status and a voice,' she says. 'Heads and governors are understanding that good reception class practice is like good nursery practice - and most definitely not like good Key Stage 1 practice.'

Early years consultant Margaret Edgington, who has been working with schools on the implementation of the Foundation Stage, says that reception teachers can now go to their head and the governors and 'quote chapter and verse from an official document. Before, when they talked about learning through play it might have been seen as their personal view and did not carry any real weight,' she says.

The curriculum guidance for the Foundation Stage was circulated to all settings, including schools, in May. This is the core reference document for all practitioners and contains many illustrative examples of well planned play activities and how they can assist children to learn with enjoyment. Further guidance will be issued in March on the Internet as well as in document form.

The training support framework, which supports the Foundation Stage's introduction, should also have made its way to representatives from the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships.

Informing heads
Four briefing sessions on the Foundation Stage for head teachers have already taken place around the country and another is due in December. This is to be welcomed as, unfortunately, there are still some heads who claim ignorance of the new curriculum.

Luckily this is not the case at the Sir John Cass Primary School in the City of London. Wendy Bate, nursery centre organiser at the school, says, 'Our head and governors really support the Foundation Stage. However, I suspect there are still quite a lot of heads and governors who are not interested, but everybody has to wake up to the Foundation Stage. They are going to be inspected on this.

'In the past we have been seen as Cinderellas and people said, "all they do is play", but play is learning. People  now realise it is proper learning but you have fun while you do it.'

Practitioners not only have to educate their colleagues about their role, they also have to teach parents. Sir John Cass Primary is planning to run workshop sessions for parents. Linda Yon, early years manager, says, 'We're planning the sessions so that we take parents with us. The media puts so much pressure on parents to pressurise the schools and ask when the children are going to go on to the next stage, the next book and so on, so it is important that they understand what we are doing.'

Ann Elliott, head of Horton Grange First School in Blythe, Northumberland and vice-chair of the National Association of Head Teachers early years committee, adds, 'I started an early years unit here about eight years ago and I had one mother say, "I don't want my son dressing up. He should be at his desk doing sums." I had to explain how important dressing up was for children.'

Hopefully the DfEE leaflet on the Foundation Stage for parents put out in October will have helped to allay fears. Nursery World has also published a 'cut out and photocopy' parents' guide to the Foundation Stage for nursery staff to hand out to families (see 19 October 2000).

Practical changes
Some early years specialists complain about mixed messages from Whitehall over the literacy and numeracy hours. Early years consultant Marian Whitehead says, 'It is not clear what is meant by saying practitioners will be required to teach elements of the literacy and numeracy hours. I think the message has been muddled.'

A spokesman for the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority spells it out. 'There is no requirement to have the literacy and numeracy hours in the Foundation Stage. But the hours are required in Key Stage 1. But, again, practitioners should follow the Foundation Stage guidance.'

Horton Grange First School takes the following approach. 'My early years staff go to the training days for the literacy hour and numeracy hour and we talk about it very carefully,' says Ann Elliott. 'I am not saying we don't do it but we do it in a way that is appropriate - we sing songs, play games and make it interesting and stimulating. We don't sit the children down for an hour. That is too long for little ones.'

Julie Fisher warns that literacy and numeracy hours can pose problems for small schools. 'It can be a real dilemma for mixed-age classes. In a village school you can have reception, Year One and Year Two all in the same class. We are working in Oxfordshire towards ratios of 1:15 so the reception teacher can take the literacy hour for the older children and have the assistance of a second adult qualified to work with younger children.'

In the draft guidance issued to EYDCPs recently, it was stated that a further 20m will be available to increase reception class adult:pupil ratios to 1:15 in the 60 most deprived LEAs. This money is in addition to that which will be channelled through the Standing Spending Assessment in future years for the same purpose, the guidance says.

Creating the space to implement the new curriculum can prove difficult but Margaret Edgington has been amazed at the scale of renovations. 'Doors are being blocked up here and bits of the playground are being fenced off there. And in schools where no renovation work is happening yet, they are at least getting projects into the development plan.'

Parent know-how
Ann Elliott argues that determination counts as much as cash. She equipped Horton Grange First School's early years unit by recruiting parent power. 'We did it with very little extra money. A father who was a carpenter came in and others helped.'

But Wendy Bate says the biggest challenge facing practitioners is re-appraising their thinking, not renovating classrooms. 'People are having to tear down the walls in their minds. Reception teachers are used to planning for Key Stage 1 which is subject planning and they are finding it very difficult to plan as we do in early years around learning areas.

'People say they can't see how they will fit everything in and there is not enough space in the room. If a child is in the home corner counting out one cup, one plate, one spoon, that is maths. You don't need a separate maths area and you don't need to divide everything up into subjects. If you are outside studying mini-beasts you have the reference books with you and that is literacy. People are a bit frightened of getting started.'

Margaret Edgington adds, 'Some reception teachers are comfortable, but there are some who are not happy. I say to them, "if you can't do it and don't want to do it, then you must think about whether you should be teaching reception classes or at another level". It is important people realise the different approach.'