Ofsted state that the aim of the research paper, ‘The best start in life part 2’ is to support early years practice. It follows on from part 1 which discussed staffing, curriculum and pedagogy.
Part 2 of the 3 part series (the 3rd one will be on the specific areas of learning) builds on part 1 and tells us that we must focus the curriculum and our teaching on the 3 prime areas of learning, communication and language, personal, social and emotional development and physical development so children learn 'what they need to know' to prepare them for school and later life.
Ofsted have picked out a number of key areas of practice including:
**Practitioners focusing on what children ‘already know and can do’.
**Planning based on starting points and noticing what children can do (observations).
**Planning the curriculum in advance so we know what we want babies and children to learn.
**A good understanding of child development.
**High quality interactions – planned and incidental – with adults.
The review recognises that some children will need more targeted time and attention than others.
However, Ofsted state that high quality interactions are not enough in isolation and staff also need to prioritise the prime areas in their ‘curriculum thinking’. This means, for example, recognising that the prime areas all work together – they give the examples of children’s language development being closely linked to high emotional wellbeing and physical activity supporting children to regulate their emotions.
The educational programmes for the 3 prime areas are set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Ofsted tells us what they will be inspecting when they describe:
**Communication and language – fundamental for thinking and learning – interactions with adults are essential – every interaction is a teaching opportunity – quality is more important than quantity.
**Personal, social and emotional development – underpins early learning – essential for wellbeing – focus on positive relationships - help children to understand and manage their emotions and relate positively to their peers- careful and sensitive teaching about emotions and how to build relationships - executive functioning to help form positive relationships when they start school.
**Physical development – supports fitness and engagement in sports in later life – supports academic success – improves health and reduces obesity; staff need to teach movement skills (balancing, jumping and catching) and get all children including less active children to move more.
Note: I will plan some FREE Childcare.co.uk webinars to look at the updated expectations in January 2024. You can find the webinars here - www.childcare.co.uk/webinars
The research papers are useful because they tell us Ofsted’s thinking and what inspectors will be looking at during inspection. Ofsted chief Amanda Spielman tells us that they are about children ‘catching up on learning they have missed during the pandemic’ and practitioners need to focus on gaps in learning and ‘designing a curriculum that gives children the best start in life’.
Chat soon, Sarah.
References
Best start in life review part 2 - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/best-start-in-life-a-research-review-for-early-years/best-start-in-life-part-2-the-3-prime-areas-of-learning
Early years blog - https://earlyyears.blog.gov.uk/2023/09/11/giving-all-children-the-best-start-in-life/