Nursery World - Common approaches

The youngest children in the education system are the most in need of stability and consistency. Yet most three-to six-year-olds experience multiple transitions from one setting to another. Some may move from a pre-school to a nursery class and then to an infant or primary school in just three years. Others will enter reception at a very young age, and in some cases may struggle with an over-structured day and poor staff ratios. The Government is starting to address these concerns by establishing a single phase, the 'Foundation Stage', for children aged from three to the end of the reception year. There are also moves to ensure that all reception classes employ a nursery nurse. The emphasis on appropriate training in the new Early Learning Goals document is another positive sign. In the meantime, reception classes, nurseries and pre-schools in the same local area could usefully share common approaches to planning and assessment and create a service for families that is not so disjointed. Topics worth exploring together could include:

In the meantime, reception classes, nurseries and pre-schools in the same local area could usefully share common approaches to planning and assessment and create a service for families that is not so disjointed. Topics worth exploring together could include:

* The role that motivation plays in successful learning throughout the Foundation Stage. Practitioners should structure the learning environment to enable children to follow their interests. They should plan to extend children's learning in areas of interest with carefully structured experiences and activities.

* The importance of informal but carefully planned and structured early literacy and numeracy experiences from the beginning of the Foundation Stage. The DfEE's Standards and Effectiveness Unit recommends that work from the Numeracy and Literacy strategies should be started in the final term of the reception year.

* Involving parents and carers. Practitioners need to develop their confidence in explaining to parents and carers what the learning outcomes of different experiences are, including play experiences, and how these outcomes particularly fit the needs and development of an individual child.

* Using a range of assessment strategies and sharing them with parents and carers. Formative assessment includes monitoring children's development in an ongoing way, such as keeping pictures, photos of construction and model-making and samples of early writing in a special book or portfolio. This could be handed on by one setting to the next, and continued. Summative assessment shows practitioners and staff what a child can do at a particular time and shows where a child's developing abilities lie against the overall plan of work for the nursery, pre-school or reception class. This helps a parent or carer to know how well their child is progressing and helps them to make sense of how planning is specifically relevant to their child.