Foundation Phase

Foundation Phase became noticed in the Plowden Report 1967 and officially became structured in schools. Between the ages of 3-7 years in Wales the foundation phase is statutory for both maintained and non-maintained settings (Government, 2009). Since September 2008 the Welsh Assembly Government combined the Early Years which are aged between 3-5 year olds where they attend an Early Years setting part time at the ages of 3-4 years and then full time 4-5 years. I agree that the foundation phase needs to encourage on teach children to be more creative, imaginative and to have fun while learning in order for it to become more effective and enjoyable to them (www.wales.gov.uk). The Foundation Phase has 7 areas of learning which I mentioned in my outdoor learning post. • Personal and Social Development, Well-being and Cultural Diversity • Language, Literacy and Communication Skills • Mathematical Development • Welsh Language Development • Knowledge and Understanding of the World • Physical Development • Creative Development These areas of learning are said to give children the chance to become stimulated with more structured play activites that can be embedded in their learning experiences (www.ndna.org.uk). The Foundation Phase is currently in place for young children to become taught within schools to a level/stage that is appropriate to the individual child and therefore in my opinion does not encourage teachers to base a child’s stage of development purely on their age (Government, 2009). The Foundation Phase needs to be a successful setting and is acknowledged by teachers that learning needs to be based upon: • A holistic view of learning • Active and experiential learning • Respect for children’s ability to be self-motivating and self-directing • Responsive interactions between adults and children (www.learning.wales.gov.uk) Children need support from teachers practitioners to get through their different developmental stages. Children also need support while going through the Foundation Phase, they need someone there to model and scaffold their learning in order for them to engage and get the best possible outcome of the Foundation Phase. Children need: • Support to challenge their widening interests and encourage them to develop their thinking • Practitioners who observe, assess and plan carefully for their developmental needs • To be encouraged and extend conversations • To have good role models • Opportunities that support their development as independent, confident learners • Opportunities to work collaboratively • Opportunities to follow routine and unfamiliar activities, as well as opportunities to be involved in new and challenging tasks • To be creative through access to a variety of media that allows them to express themselves and apply their imagination in a purposeful way • Opportunities to work cooperatively with their peers and to have time to sustain their interest in activities • Opportunities to keep pace with and challenge their physical coordination and development (Government, 2009) Children are observed throughout school and throughout the foundation phase. These are in order to help teachers and practitioners know and value the skills and strengths that an individual child has in order for them to give the child the support and for them to create an individual plan that will enable the child to progress within the foundation phase for the child’s age. Like I stated earlier in this post about the children’s development, they progress new skills rapidly but still develop at different paces compared to other children. This agrees with the fact that every child is an individual (Estyn, 2010). Looking at an article, some people seem to be disappointed about the foundation phase children at the age of five to six stated that they are not learning enough because activities are not challenging enough for them. Yet the inspection body Estyn found the foundation phase is having a positive impact on children’s wellbeing (www.bbc.co.uk). Personally I think that the Foundation Phase is not perfect but is a good structure for schools and how children learn. I think that how and how much children learn are up to the teacher or practitioner on their knowledge on how to teach the children and their previous experience. I think this video below backs up my point. This video is from www.youtube.co.uk