The crucial role of Reception in young children’s development and learning is highlighted in a new report by training organisation Early Excellence.
The survey of 4,000 primary head teachers and teachers found that 98 per cent were in favour of keeping Reception in the Early Years Foundation Stage.
Speaking to Nursery World, Jan Dubiel, national director of Early Excellence, said, ‘The main point of the review was to get a really grassroots view of what it means to teach Reception, what teachers and head teachers think it should be like and could be like.’
He said there needed to be ‘a wider understanding of what Reception should be for. Teaching four- and five-year-olds – the experience they get is different. Reception sits awkwardly before the end of the EYFS and the beginning of school. The tension has always been there, but it has become particularly pronounced in the past 18 months.’
Asked why this might be, he said, ‘The introduction of the baseline in 2014… and the Teaching Schools Council report, which [both] located Reception very much at the beginning of school.’
Early Excellence works with around 7,000 schools a year. ‘We picked up on a feeling that there was a momentum towards a less balanced approach,’ Mr Dubiel said. ‘There’ a perception among Reception teachers that literacy and numeracy dominate the curriculum.’
The report found no significant difference between the thinking of heads – around 1,000 of whom took part in the survey – and Reception teachers.
‘There was very much a similar response, a very strong consensus in the community about outcomes, the stuff that really matters – there was very broad engagement,’ Mr Dubiel said. He highlighted three key points from the report.
First, leadership – the report recommends that every school should have a member of the senior leadership team with specific responsibility for supporting ‘YR’.
Secondly, he said there was a counter-intuitive approach to maths and literacy. The report found evidence that effective ‘YR’ teaching supports the teaching of early literacy and maths.
Mr Dubiel said, ‘People who are not early years specialists need to understand that to get good outcomes at seven and 11, maths and literacy look different in Reception. In Reception it’s not just about lots of literacy.’
He added that while phonics and decoding might be important, they should be done in combination with the EYFS’s language, physical development, personal, social and emotional development, and the characteristics of effective learning.
‘What research shows us is that these are equally important. People who don’t understand early years development think you just need phonics and decoding, but they need to be done in conjunction with those other things,’ he said.
Thirdly, Mr Dubiel said, ‘There is real confusion about what constitutes early years in Reception, and confusion about the language. When people describe teaching in Reception, it often falls into specific terms; for example, “children learn through play”, but there is very little agreement about what that means.
‘Children learn some things through play, but they also need direct teaching. There is a need for balance. I don’t think it’s helped by the language used.
‘My personal view is that we need to talk about what constitutes effective learning and teaching. I would want to use Julie Fisher’s definition of effectiveness, which is that effective interaction is when the child gains something that they wouldn’t otherwise have gained.
‘People get caught up by: is it play, is it informal, is it formal? Practitioners become more confident, responsive and effective if they are not thinking about [whether it is] adult-directed or child-initiated.’
- Read The Hundred Review of Reception Practice here
Jan Dubiel will be writing an ‘EYFS Best Practice in Schools’ article for Nursery World 26 June-9 July.