Nursery World - On soggy ground

Michael Pettavel disagrees with the chief inspector on the role of the sandpit in early number work.

‘The dichotomy here is not about formal learning versus play. It is about understanding the different ways in which children acquire different kinds of knowledge and skills. You don’t learn phonics quickly and efficiently by playing with soggy letters near the paddling pool. The sandpit is not a great place for early number work.’

The above statement from Amanda Spielman made me cringe. I have my ups and downs with our Chief Inspector of Schools and in the past even welcomed her intervention in areas such as risk aversion. Not on this though.

I haven’t seen many soggy letters in paddling pools recently, although I know there can be a misguided pedagogical understanding (in my opinion, often the result of senior school leaders with no understanding of early child development press-ganging inexperienced staff into justifying early literacy in play). Her statement beggars belief and simply demonstrates that people who have limited understanding should not make ‘expert’ judgements.

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