The foundation Phase is the statutory curriculum for 3-7 years. The
Foundation Phase was introduced for children aged three to four years-of-age in
September 2008 and in September 2010 for children aged five to six
years-of-age. The final stage of the Foundation Phase, for children aged six to
seven years-of-age, will be introduced in September 2011. The 2011-2012
academic year will provide the first national dataset of foundation phase
outcomes. The Foundation Phase is designed to meet the developmental needs of
all children. It is based on the principle that a developmentally appropriate
curriculum should offer sound foundations for children’s learning. It was
introduced by the Welsh Government as research evidence which shows that
children do not begin to benefit from extensive formal teaching until about the
age of six or seven. It combines what was called Early Years Education (for 3
to 5 year-olds) and Key Stage 1 (5 to 7 year-olds) of the National Curriculum.
The aim with The Foundation Phase was to make
the children become interested by being creative, imaginative and by having
fun. The Foundation Phase wanted the children learn through discovery, bring in
more structured learning, learning through doing so more activities outside,
time to repeat things to make sure all ideas concrete, small groups of children
with one teacher, reflecting on their learning and six areas of learning. The
six key points of the foundation phase are personal, social and emotional care
are to be developed through all areas of learning, emphasis on speaking and
listening skills for success in reading and writing, increased opportunity for
children to be in valued in creative an and expressive activity, focus on
observation, increase the use of outdoors as an learning environment and
balance between child initiated activities and adult prompted learning. This
frame works set out the curriculum and outcomes under seven areas of learning.
Each area of learning, educational programme sets out what children should be
taught and the outcomes. The Foundation Phase has seven areas of learning which
are personal and social development, language, literacy and communication
skills, maths development, knowledge and understanding of the world, physical
development, creative development and welsh language development.
It is still early in the implementation of the
Foundation Phase to be able to judge fully its impact on the standards being
achieved by five to six-year-olds. There is no quantifiable assessment outcomes
available to identify its effects. Schools are also implementing a range of
other initiatives and strategies designed to improve standards and teaching at
the same time. Most schools are amending their curriculum planning to meet the
requirements of the Foundation Phase for five to six-year-olds. Where there
were good plans in place for the subjects of the National Curriculum, many
schools have adapted these effectively to the requirements of the areas of
learning.
References
Literacy and the Foundation Phase, September 2011 Estyn
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