There are, to my mind, three main and potentially very disturbing issues:
- The focus in the statutory and practice document on child-initiated learning and play is very welcome, but how can this playful learning experience also be 'planned and purposeful', as required by the EYFS? Play serves whatever purposes the initiating child chooses - quality planning can only be achieved by practitioners who thoroughly understand and value young children's interests and motivations.
- Synthetic phonics - while I endorse strongly the need for children to be able to read and to understand phonics, it is not necessary - and positively harmful - to do this before children have the necessary oral language skills and enthusiasm for the written word. There is ample evidence that this type of skills-based teaching has no long-term effects on children's literacy capabilities.
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