Planning is about practitioners giving informed thought to what the children in their setting are going to do or will be encouraged to do. The key word here is 'informed' - practitioners need to use their knowledge of the children and the children's learning needs to inform their planning.
At a basic level, practitioners providing certain resources because they feel sure that children will enjoy and learn through them is 'planning'.
Conversely, detailed lists of topics running 12 months into the future and charts stating what will happen, week in week out, have little to do with planning for learning in the early years.
Lesley Staggs, former head of early years development at the QCA, introducing the early drafts of the Early Learning Goals at a conference in 1999, said that everything that happens in settings happens because practitioners allow it to happen - because it is planned. Planning is, therefore, about making decisions -about what you allow, encourage and intend children to learn, do and experience in your setting.
The areas of learning, aspects (the subdivisions of areas of learning) and Early Learning Goals (expectations for the end of the Foundation Stage) are detailed in the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage (see box), and these provide a framework for planning.
Each area of learning has equal importance, and planning documents need to show clearly how they will be addressed. Practitioners should also plan for the attitudes and dispositions that they want to foster in children (see box).
However, the starting point for planning must be practitioners' knowledge of each child in their care, rather than the curriculum content.
It is vital that planned learning is appropriate to a child's level of development, meets their needs - which may be special - and responds to their interests and attitudes.
As well as supporting children at their current stage, practitioners need to be aware of the next steps in a child's development, and plans needs to demonstrate how children will be encouraged to progress.
The stepping stones within Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage show how children may progress toward the goals. But it is important to note that children progress in different ways and at different rates, so a group of children will have a wide spread of abilities.
PLANNING CYCLE.
Such in-depth knowledge of a group of children can only be gained through observations. Observation and ongoing assessment of children are central to planning. Without them, the curriculum would be planned in a void.
Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage seems to contain little on planning - indeed, the QCA later published supplementary planning guidance, to a mixed response - but page 24 of 'Learning and teaching' covers the process:
* observation of children
* assessing children's different abilities
* keeping records and sharing them in meaningful ways
* reporting progress to parents
* evaluating and developing provision
* planning for learning.
The process is sometimes described as a 'cycle'. This is probably an oversimplification, but the idea of all these elements being interrelated is fundamental to early years practice. As the year progresses, practitioners' observations and insights should be used continually to shape and inform plans.
If practitioners do not plan as a result of observations, if they do not review and make alterations, then the children in their care become victims of the curriculum, rather than its beneficiaries.
In Wandsworth, our maintained nursery schools tend to systematically observe a small cross-section of children and then plan with those children in mind. The idea is simple, but challenging - by observing a few children in depth and planning very personally for them, practitioners can plan more effectively for everyone.
ACTIVITIES AND EXPERIENCES.
Having established children's learning needs, practitioners then need to decide how to promote that learning through planned activities and experiences that fit with children's interests and attitudes. It is important to note that learning activities and experiences cover several areas of learning simultaneously.
A distinctive feature of the best early years practice is that the learning is not entirely dominated by adults. Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage states clearly, 'There should be opportunities for children to engage in activities planned by adults and also those that they plan or initiate themselves' (page 11). It is a principle worth remembering as a central requirement of planning.
Julie Fisher, early years advisor at Oxfordshire Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership, encourages practitioners to consider three levels of provision in settings: child-initiated, adult-initiated and adult-intensive. To be effective, early years settings should offer these levels of provision across the six areas of learning, across nursery and reception and across indoor and outdoor environments.
Child-initiated learning
This involves planning for what you will allow and facilitate. If planning is fundamentally about what you will allow children to do, then there will be very little unplanned learning in your setting. The more open-ended opportunities there are and the more playful the environment is, then hopefully the more child-initiated learning there will be.
Consider these questions:
* Why did you put the sand tray where it is?
* Why do you always provide a display of books and some comfortable cushions?
* Why do you make sure that the children have plenty of time to play outside every day?
If your answers stem from a desire to see children using the environment in different ways and linking resources, people and play in creative ways, then you are planning for child-initiated learning.
How you set out your environment (outside and inside), the resources you make available, your routines and the way you respond to how children function in your environment, have much to do with planning for child-initiated learning. How might children use the resources that you have provided? Are they able to pursue their interests? What is likely to develop?
Write down the play that is likely to develop. If the reality proves different, then celebrate that, and add it later to your planning!
Adult-initiated learning
This involves planning for what you will promote and encourage. Sometimes practitioners will encourage children to use resources that they, rather than the children, have chosen. There may be several reasons for this:
* Practitioners may have identified a learning need from their observations, made it a learning intention and identified specific experiences that will promote this learning.
* Children may lack the experience to set up the resources correctly, for example a new game.
titioners may want the children to investigate a particular concept - for example, forces, using cars in block play.
* In response to their observations, practitioners may think that the resources will interest the children and encourage them to develop their ideas and skills.
* More experienced children may be encouraged to pursue a line of investigation that may not otherwise have occurred to them, or to do independently what previously needed adult help.
Practitioners need to discuss, and possibly write down, the learning that stemmed from the experiences that they have promoted.
Adult-led/intensive learning
This involves planning for what practitioners will direct and support.
There will always be parts of the daily programme that require practitioners to take the lead by modelling certain behaviours or questions or encouraging children to use language, practise skills and develop thinking. Adult-led activities may include:
* story and song times
* activities like cooking with small groups
* trips into the local community
* a new game.
Adult-intensive activities may include:
* shared reading and writing
* scientific investigations
* new imaginative play settings.
Plan for what you intend children to learn from the activities.
WHO'S INVOLVED.
Staff team.
All team members should be involved in planning, but their level of involvement will vary, depending on confidence, professional skills and organisation. A staff member offering verbal input in a team meeting is involved in planning, but so too is an absent member who later comments on written plans. Provide a white-board or space for notes to help colleagues develop plans outside of planning meetings.
Parents and carers.
Planning must involve parents and carers, as they provide vital information about their children's interests, skills and needs that must be factored in when planning the curriculum. Inform parents and carers also about what is going on in the setting, out of professional respect; it will also help them make links between experiences in the setting and at home.
Children.
Practitioners should find imaginative ways to seek children's opinions. For example:
* Display plans clearly so that children can see them, and talk to the children as you write down child-initiated learning that has been observed.
* Brainstorm with small groups around topic themes and ask the children to suggest stories and activities.
* Ask children to suggest resources for a new imaginative play area.
* Ask children to think about what they would like and intend to do that day, the following day or week.
WRITTEN PLANS.
Practitioners need to document some of their planning decisions but are often unclear about which need to be recorded in their long-, medium and short-term plans (see page 19).
It is usually impractical to write down everything. Therefore, record only those aspects of learning that you will emphasise. These aspects will include learning intentions, activities and experiences and language.
A good early years environment will inevitably encourage spontaneous learning that may not have been documented. Practitioners should not expect to anticipate everything that will happen on a day or during a topic, nor should they go overboard and try to list every possible outcome of every aspect of their provision.
The amount of written planning that is necessary or helpful depends on:
* the team size
* the complexity of work rotas
* the amount of information that practitioners find helpful, without being too sparse or too complicated
* the demands of those who may need to monitor the curriculum.
Planning documents need to be clear, easy and quick to use, and avoid writing things more than once. Written plans need to improve the quality of what practitioners do, without being time-consuming to complete. Medium- and short-term plans should not be unduly repetitive.
What is crucial is that practitioners appreciate that written plans are flexible and that children's learning will go beyond the initial written documents.
Plans must be flexible to allow for spontaneity, not restrict it.
Children's contributions and unexpected events help to keep a curriculum lively.
The best settings are able to bring together their written plans, observations, evaluations of plans and relevant spontaneous learning to present a full picture of what happened, how successful it was and what the children learned.
Written plans should provide space for practitioners to add brief notes, ideally in a different colour. Managers monitoring the plans will often then get a better picture of the curriculum from these annotated plans.
They are not as neat, but they do demonstrate both the offered and the received curricula.
CURRICULUM GUIDANCE.
At first glance, Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage looks like a curriculum resource pack with little to say about planning. In fact, it is central to planning - though it is not a scheme of work or a long-term plan - and has some very useful elements:
* Aims for the Foundation Stage (page 8).
* Learning and teaching (page 20-24) helps to plan for children to learn in a range of ways with practitioners taking a range of roles.
* The areas of learning and the multicoloured 'aspects' (pages 28-127) help with planning a balanced, developmentally appropriate curriculum.
* Bulleted priorities, 'learning' and 'teaching' at the beginning of each area of learning are extremely helpful in developing long-term plans and evaluating provision.
* 'What Does the Practitioner Need to Do?', included in each aspect, helps practitioners to pitch activities at the right level for children's needs.
LEARNING INTENTIONS.
'Learning intentions' are statements of what practitioners intend the children to learn. Children's learning is normally described in terms of:
* knowledge and understanding
* skills
* attitudes and dispositions.
Knowledge and understanding.
What do your observations suggest that the children would like to find out more about? What do children need to know? What are they beginning to understand?
Learning intentions that start with:
* To know...
* To understand...
* To be aware of...
will normally be referring to knowledge and understanding, for example, 'to know how to play dice games', 'to understand that colours can be mixed to make new colours', 'to be aware of water in the outdoor area'.
Skills.
What do your observations tell you about what the children can already do and what they need to practise and learn to do for the first time?
Learning intentions that start with:
* To (+ a verb)...
* To be able to...
will normally be referring to skills, for example, 'to compare materials'
and 'to be able to dress and undress independently'.
Attitudes and dispositions.
At the centre of young children's learning is their social and learning behaviour. Observations that focus on children's ability to initiate activities, to persevere and to become involved help practitioners to determine the learning priorities.
Learning intentions that start with
* To show...
* To be...
* To become...
will normally be referring to attitudes and dispositions, for example, 'to show interest in writing', 'to be careful when using woodwork tools', 'to become confident to talk in front of a small group'.
PLANNING JARGON.
Learning need An area of understanding or skill in which a child needs more support and is identified during observations.
Learning priority The learning that needs the most immediate attention, and is identified from the collective observations of a child.
Learning intentions/objectives/ outcomes What practitioners intend children to learn over a period of time, and are based on learning priorities.
Experiences Opportunities for children to engage with resources or the learning environment in an open-ended way - for example, playing in a role-play area.
Activities Opportunities for children to use resources or interact in specific ways, usually with a beginning, middle and end - for example, making a sandwich for snack time.
Resources The equipment that children have at their disposal.
Starting point The basis for a series of linked activities, experiences and resources - for example a group trip to a local shop, to kick off a project on shopping. Starting points can be identified during preparation and follow-up work.
