The 3 prime areas of learning are considered the most important for life-long learning and we know that Ofsted are focusing inspection observations on communication and language – vocabulary acquisition, talking, sustained shared thinking conversations reading, songs and rhymes etc – however, I have also spotted that a lot of inspection comments are related to literacy (pre-reading, pre-writing and comprehension) and maths (number, patterns, connections and spatial awareness).
Ofsted are not talking about sitting children at desks and putting pencils in their hands – everyone (hopefully) recognises that early years children need to be up and moving before they can sit and listen and we know that mark making, messy play and, for example, kicking a ball and standing to paint a wall and similar gross motor activities are essential in the early years because children are still building those upper body muscles and the core strength which they will need to sit and hold a pencil effectively. Ofsted are not talking about expecting children to be able to read when they start school either and they have specifically stated that there is no place for formal phonics in the early years.
What Ofsted inspectors want to see is early years providers promoting activities that link through pre-reading, pre-writing and phonics awareness – for example, in our Ofsted inspection, the inspector asked about how we use ‘Letters and Sounds phase 1’ and we explained that we play games to support our pre-school children’s awareness of sounds, go on listening walks, play musical instruments, record voices to listen back to, sound out words etc.
When thinking about maths provision, inspectors are watching to see that staff are playing maths games, introducing maths vocabulary, using maths concepts during play etc. A common comment in inspection reports is that providers ‘miss opportunities’ for maths – for example, they might forget to say ‘half’ when cutting an apple for snack or don’t point out a pattern when making rubbings. Using maths vocabulary at every opportunity and, when appropriate, ‘directly teaching’ maths during ‘short, sharply focused teaching sessions’ will ensure children learn early concepts through play and have a good grounding and awareness of numeracy before they start school.
When thinking about these expectations, we must first recognise how Ofsted’s definition of curriculum and teaching links through the statutory requirements in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and the Ofsted early years inspection handbook –
**Educational programmes – the 7 areas of learning in the EYFS which must be delivered through children’s early years – from birth to age 5.
**Intent – curriculum – what we want children to learn and be able to do.
**Implementation – teaching – how we teach the curriculum.
**Activities – curriculum comes first and Ofsted state ‘activities are not enough’ (see blog signposted in the references). We must know what we want children to learn and be able to do and then we plan the activities to link into our intent.
**Impact – assessment – what children have learned and how we will move them forwards using ‘next steps’ planning.
In the early years, we typically support children’s literacy and maths through playful interactions with the children throughout the day. We do not need ‘workbooks’ and Ofsted do not expect us to be using them. Similarly, providing parents with ideas to support their children’s home learning does not mean sending home lists of ‘things to do’ or asking them to complete lengthy tasks at the weekend. Instead, we provide some ideas so parents know what their child is learning in the setting and can follow-up at home.
This means knowing what children already know and can do (starting points) and then building on their skills, knowledge and experiences by, for example, reading number books, singing number songs and rhymes, making up stories that include comparisons, direction and speed, doing jigsaws and puzzles together to explore shape, size and space and having fun playing number games at the tea table. All these opportunities for learning plus many other activities and regularly enhanced continuous provision resources support children to learn through play in age-appropriate ways.
We must remember that the prime and specific areas of learning in the EYFS is holistic – one area of learning cannot be taught in isolation, for example –
**Children are reading a book (literacy) about numbers (maths) – they are also developing their communication and language skills.
**Children are making bread – they are weighing and measuring the ingredients (maths), learning simple science (understanding the world), following a recipe (literacy) and much more…
**Children are dancing in the garden (physical development) – they are developing a sense of rhythm which is essential for maths and reading / rhythm and rhyme and extending their vocabulary (communication and language).
Going back to the intent of this blog – I have noticed a lot of inspection report comments linking to lack of literacy and maths focus in settings. Let’s think about how you might support literacy and maths in more detail. Bear in mind that Ofsted will not look at written planning, so you do not have to write reams of notes. This is about you being able to explain to your inspector how you use the educational programmes in the EYFS and the guidance provided in booklets such as DfE’s non-statutory curriculum starting-point Development Matters 2021 and Birth to 5 Matters 2021 from the Early Years Coalition. Here are some examples taken from daily practice –
Literacy – pre-reading – plan daily reading and music and movement sessions with and for the children. Use puppets and small world toys to bring the books alive. Keep books short and use children’s interests when selecting which ones to read – everyone sitting and reading 1 book a day for a week is better than 3 aborted attempts to read 2 or 3 books a day because one child keeps getting up and another child simply will not sit still! Follow-up with movement – a song and dance or a puppet show will help the children to make links in their learning and they will quickly recognise that they have fun together when they have finished reading the story.
Literacy – pre-writing – in our early years setting, we provide regular opportunities for children to strengthen their hands and arms with daily fiddly fingers games and mark making resources alongside every activity. For example, you will see paper, pencils, chalk, paint, notepads etc everywhere in our provision including the house, garden, playhouse and left on different surfaces to encourage the children to pick them up and draw or write. There is no reason to set up specific mark making sessions – it can be included in everything throughout the day.
Literacy – comprehension – the more children know, the more they can do. This is the learning science of ‘sticky learning’ – as their brains make hooks between what they already know and can do and the games and activities you are providing for them. As they play, children make links in their learning and we, as skilled practitioners, support and develop these links through conversations and interactions.
Mathematics – numbers – talk about numbers, counting, finding a total etc when you are skipping, singing songs and rhymes, reading books and telling stories. Bring numbers into all aspects of children’s play and learning so they are immersed in a number rich environment. Bear in mind Ofsted’s statement that ‘activities are not enough’ and plan first, thinking about what you want children to learn and be able to do, working from their individual starting points.
Mathematics – patterns and connections – point out patterns to the children as they are playing and show them how to make patterns with, for example, the playdough or crayons. The children in our early years setting are fascinated by colour patterns so we explored Mehndi hand art with them and everyone had a go at painting their hands.
Mathematics – spatial reasoning – maths is everywhere and used constantly throughout the day during continuous provision, routines and planned activities. This part of the revised maths curriculum links closely to the old ‘shape, space and measures’ we have always planned. In our early years setting, we don’t feel the need to write separate maths planning for our children and we do not have a ‘maths shelf’ or ‘station’. Instead, we have lots of maths resources ‘just there’ as part of continuous provision, which we can grab and use throughout the day.
I hope this gives you some ideas for boosting your early literacy and maths provision and linking it to Ofsted expectations during inspection. You will find lots more guidance on the free DfE ‘Help for early years providers’ website.
Chat soon, Sarah.
Picture donated by childminder Frances Lindley - wellie maths - used with thanks.
References etc
Birth to 5 Matters 2021 - https://birthto5matters.org.uk/
Blog – activities are not enough –
https://independentchildminders.weebly.com/blog/activities-are-not-enough
Continuous provision is explained in this blog about using the rhythm of the day to support learning –
https://independentchildminders.weebly.com/blog/the-rhythm-of-our-day
Development Matters 2021 - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/development-matters--2
DfE further explain the 7 areas of learning – https://help-for-early-years-providers.education.gov.uk/
EYFS –
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2
Ideas for supporting home learning for Childcare.co.uk gold members –
https://www.childcare.co.uk/childminders/supporting-home-learning
Letters and sounds phase 1 – https://letters-and-sounds.com/phase-1/
Ofsted clarify phonics expectations in this TES blog –
https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/ofsted-no-need-teach-phonics-reception
Ofsted’s early years inspection handbook –
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-inspection-handbook-eif
Teaching and play in the early years: a balancing act –
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/936086/Teaching-and-play-in-the-early-years-a-balancing-act.pdf