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Exclusive: 'Avoid a Tesco curriculum', says leading academic

Settings should avoid ‘a Tesco-delivery’ model of early years curriculum under the new Ofsted inspection framework, Professor Elizabeth Wood has warned.

Talking at the Nursery World conference in London on the new inspection framework, Professor Wood, of the University of Sheffield, cautioned against settings resorting to commercially produced schemes of learning in their attempt to deliver the broad curriculum and ‘Quality of education’ expected under the new inspection judgement.

She told the 450 delegates, ‘The idea of intent, implementation and impact could very easily be interpreted as a Tesco-delivery model of curriculum. And I’m sure that you all understand very well that what you do on a day-to-day basis with children and families is much more complex than that.’

Under the new framework, there is the expectation that practitioners will deliver broad learning tailored to the individual children in their particular setting. However, noted Professor Wood, ‘I’ve already seen some examples of commercial companies producing ready-made curricula that they assume can be used in your complex and very diverse settings. I would argue that there is no substitute for professional knowledge.

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