Planning should be a process that is continually evolving. It is the role of the reflective practitioner to evaluate regularly the resources, opportunities and experiences that are offered to the children in their care.
This reflection is necessary as children, opportunities and contexts change over time. The environment will be most enabling for young children if practitioners are prepared to adapt their planning to reflect the personalities, needs and talents of the setting's current - not past - occupants. Expecting planning to work historically is at best unrealistic and at worst ineffective.
We are fortunate that we have a curriculum document that requires us to plan from the children's interests and that we can use our observations to inform such planning. Clearly, as discussed in the previous parts of this series, our prime responsibility is to plan an environment that empowers children to show us what they know. In short, we need to plan to expect the unexpected.
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