09 March 2007
Pre-school children are not meeting government-set learning goals because of variable early years teaching standards, education inspectors said this week.
Ofsted carried out a major survey of the foundation stage – the first phase of the national curriculum focused on children aged three to five. This revealed that while most places provided effective education and care, in a third, communication, language and literacy standards were lower than expected. Speaking and listening skills were also weak.
The foundation stage sets out early learning targets in six areas: personal, social and emotional development; communication, language and literacy; mathematical development; knowledge and understanding of the world; physical development; and creative development.
The survey, published on March 6, represents the first major examination of the foundation stage since 2001. Inspectors visited 144 different types of location, including primary, special and nursery schools, children's centres and private nurseries.
It found that teaching was good in 70% of places but there were concerns about a lack of continuity as children moved year groups, as well as the underachievement of those who have English as an additional language.
Miriam Rosen, Ofsted's director for education, said parents needed assurance that the quality of learning and care received by their child was of a good standard, regardless of the type of place attended.
She said: 'Children's low achievement in early reading, writing and calculation in some settings must be tackled so they are able to achieve the best possible outcomes to set them on the right path for their future education.'
Sue Owen, director of the Early Childhood Unit at the National Children's Bureau, told Public Finance that the picture of early years education was not as bad as it had been painted in some newspapers, but agreed that there were weak spots.
She said: 'Clearly there are areas for improvement, particularly around children's language skills, which we know is a problem area.'
Owen added that quality assurance schemes, focused on improvement, could help the early years sector address some of the problems identified by Ofsted.
The NCB is to facilitate a national peer-support network, announced on March 1, made up of local authorities and national childcare organisations to support continuous improvement and develop good practice principles.
PFmar2007
