new Foundation Phase - now, is it going to work? Mary Evans reports
A major study of the play-based Foundation Phase (FP) pilots in Wales - the new approach to learning for children aged three to seven - found that despite increased staffing, the children's opportunities for learning in the areas of literacy and their interaction with adults declined compared with the existing system.
While participants felt better ratios made a difference to the children they were teaching, they struggled to quote specific examples. Some cited improvements to classroom management and organisation, according to the final evaluation report.
The study team, from the Institute of Education, University of London, the University of Oxford and the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, visited all the 41 pilot schools and early years settings four times over the course of the exercise, which ran from September 2004 to October 2006.
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