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8/8/2019 Foundation Stage Curriculum Guidance: Northern Ireland
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8/8/2019 Foundation Stage Curriculum Guidance: Northern Ireland
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8/8/2019 Foundation Stage Curriculum Guidance: Northern Ireland
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Understanding the Foundation Stage
Introduction
The Foundation StageYears 1 & 2 in the primary school
The purpose o this guidance is to provide inormation related to good
practice in the Foundation Stage. It outlines the approach to learning,
teaching and assessment and should be used to support the review,
development and improvement o existing provision and practice.
Young children come to school rom a variety o dierent backgrounds,
having had a range o diverse learning experiences at home and or most,
some orm o pre-school education. The Foundation Stage aims to buildon these learning experiences by providing children with an appropriate
learning programme to develop their dispositions to learn and to provide
them with the skills and competencies they will need to succeed in
school and uture lie. The Foundation Stage also endorses good early
years practice where teachers have more exibility in terms o what they
teach. This exibility allows teachers to ollow the interests o the children,
encouraging them to see links in their learning and to appreciate that the
skills they learn in one area can be applied elsewhere.
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Understanding the Foundation Stage
This section sets out:
The Characteristics o the Foundation Stage
The Aims o the Foundation Stage
The Principles Underpinning the Foundation Stage
The Curriculum in the Foundation Stage
The Characteristics o the Foundation Stage
The Rationale o the Foundation Stage
At the outset it is important to emphasise that
the Foundation Stage reects the existing good
practice already rmly established in Northern
Ireland schools. The Programme o Study (1996)
outlined the Characteristics o the Curriculum at
Key Stage 1 and the Foundation Stage seeks to
endorse these elements o sound educational
practice by providing a learning environment
which best meets the needs o young children.
The Programme o Study (1996) stated that Key
Stage 1 teachers should:
provide opportunities or pupils to develop the
skills they will need to become condent and
independent,
Thereore:
the learning experiences provided should refect
pupils interests and the practical and inormal waysin which pupils o this age learn. These experiences
should be enjoyable and challenging, and should
motivate pupils and encourage them to adopt
positive attitudes to school and learning.
The contexts or learning should:
relate to the pupils immediate and known
environment and should refect the act that pupils
at this age do not see knowledge and skills as
belonging to specic categories and subjects.
It goes on to state that education at Key Stage 1
should oster the intellectual, social, emotional,
physical, moral and spiritual development o
pupils by:
enabling them to work and play together
harmoniously;
promoting positive attitudes to school and
learning;
providing opportunities or them to learn in apractical way;
using to the ull, opportunities provided by
play or their development, both socially and
academically;
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Understanding the Foundation Stage
providing a wide range o opportunities or
developing movement and manipulative skills;
developing their natural curiosity and
stimulating their imagination;
providing opportunities or exploration,
investigation, problem solving and decision
making;
developing the undamental skills o
literacy, numeracy and oral communication,
both through direct teaching and by the
opportunities provided by other subjects and
activities;
providing opportunities or them to develop
knowledge, understanding and skills through
a range o contexts spanning all subjects o
the curriculum;
providing rich and varied contexts or
developing skills, such as observing,
investigating, organising, recording,
interpreting and predicting, which are
essential to learning in all subjects o the
curriculum.
Key Stages 1 and 2 The Northern Ireland
Curriculum Programmes o Study and
Attainment Targets (DENI:1996).
This guidance should be used in conjunction with
the Northern Ireland Curriculum and:Together Towards Improvement (ETI, 2003)
Continuous Improvement through
Sel-evaluation (ETI, 2003)
The Reective Teacher (ETI, 2006)
The Aims o the Foundation Stage
The Northern Ireland curriculum aims to
empower young people to develop their
potential and make inormed and responsible
choices and decisions throughout their lives.
The Foundation Stage aims to provide a learning
programme which will:
promote childrens personal development;
promote positive attitudes and dispositions to
learning;
promote childrens Thinking Skills & Personal
Capabilities;
encourage creativity and imagination;
enable children to develop physical
condence and competence;
develop childrens curiosity and interest in the
world around them;
enable children to communicate in a variety o
ways;
motivate children to develop literacy and
numeracy skills in meaningul contexts.
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Understanding the Foundation Stage
The Principles Underpinning the Foundation Stage
Young children learn best when learning is
interactive, practical and enjoyable or both
children and teachers.
Children learn best when they:
have opportunities to be actively involved
in practical, open-ended and challenging
learning experiences that encourage creativity;
have opportunities to initiate experiences
that capitalise on their individual interests and
curiosities;
are actively involved in planning, reviewing
and reecting what they have done;
are enabled to express themselves by creating
images, sounds, movements, structures and
invented stories;
are involved in play that is challenging, takes
account o their developmental stage and
needs and builds on their own interests and
experiences;
work in stimulating environments and have
access to a range o resources;
develop secure relationships with peers and
adults;
have choice and exercise autonomy and
independence in their learning, and are
encouraged to take risks.
Learning is supported by adults when:
early years practitioners are committed,
sensitive, enthusiastic and interact eectively
to challenge childrens thinking and learning;
planning is collaborative, holistic, child ocused
and inormed by observations o learning;
assessment is ongoing, ormative and integral
to learning and teaching. It is observation
based, inorms planning and is carried out in
an unobtrusive way;
practitioners manage the introduction and
eective use o resources;
positively afrming environments are created
to support childrens emotional, social and
physical development;
the importance o process-based rather than
outcome driven learning is acknowledged;
practitioners and parents/carers work in
partnership to ensure children achieve their
ull potential;
a multi-proessional approach exists and
practitioners access the expertise o other
proessionals;
children are made aware o their progress by
receiving positive eedback and suggestions
or improvement;
they reect on their practice and are engaged
in proessional development.
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Understanding the Foundation Stage
The statutory curriculum in the Foundation Stage
is set out under the ollowing Areas o Learning:
Religious Education in accordance with
the core syllabus drated by the our main
Christian Churches in Northern Ireland and
specied by the Department o Education.
Language and Literacy including Talking and
Listening, Reading and Writing;
Mathematics and Numeracy, including
Number, Measures, Shape and Space, Sorting
and Patterns and Relationships;
The Arts, including Art and Design, Music and
Drama;
The World Around Us;
Personal Development and Mutual
Understanding, including Personal
Understanding and Health and Mutual
Understanding in the Local and Wider
Community;
Physical Development and Movement.
Note Although these Areas o Learning are
set out separately, teachers should integrate
learning to enable children to make appropriate
connections.
The Curriculum in the Foundation Stage
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Understanding the Foundation Stage
This section sets out:
The Approach to Learning and Teaching in the Foundation Stage
Adults Role in Promoting Learning
Learning Partnerships
The Physical Environment
The Approach to Learning and Teaching in the Foundation Stage
Creating an Efective Learning Environment
Children should have opportunities to experience
much o their learning through well-planned and
challenging play. Sel-initiated play helps children
to understand and learn about themselves and
their surroundings.
Play that is well-planned and pleasurable helps
children to think, to increase their understanding
and to improve their language competence. It
allows children to be creative, to explore and
investigate materials, to experiment and to draw
and test their conclusions . . . such experience is
important in catching and sustaining childrens
interests and motivating their learning as
individuals and in co-operation with others.
The Rumbold Report: Starting with Quality
(HMSO:1990)
It is important that children:
have opportunities to be actively involved in
practical, challenging, play-based learning in
a stimulating environment, that takes account
o their developmental stage/needs (including
Special Educational Needs) and their own
interests/experiences;
have opportunities to initiate play that
capitalises on intrinsic motivation and natural
curiosity;
are given equal opportunities to learn in a
variety o ways and dierent social playgroups.
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Understanding the Foundation Stage
Adults Role in Promoting Learning
Principals, teachers, assistants and ancillary
staf
The distinctive ethos o a setting is inuenced
strongly by the relationships within it. A culture o
mutual respect is based on open communication
and positive relationships, with each individual
participating as a team member.
Meetings between teachers and classroom
assistants enable eective planning, give time to
reect and provide opportunities to consult on
current issues. Sel-evaluation through review o
practice contributes to constant improvementand ocuses on quality. See Together Towards
Improvement section 1 (ETI:2003).
Relationships with children
Relationships are strengthened through shared
enjoyment and respect, where adults working
with young children respond positively with
warmth, genuine praise and encouragement. It is
also important that adults are:
sincere, air and honest with children;
patient, allowing time or children to adjust to
the setting (transition);
consistent and have a positive approach to
behaviour management;
spending time observing and listening to
children and interacting with them;
sensitive to the uniqueness o each child;
willing to seek support rom parents and other
proessionals where necessary;
Positive relationships with children enable the
development o independence, sel-assertion
and positive sel-image. It is important that adults
have realistic expectations o children and avoid
comparisons or inappropriate competitiveness.
Learning PartnershipsParents/carers
Parents/carers are childrens rst educators
and learning at home happens in a natural and
inormal way. It is essential that there is open
communication between school and home which
is based on shared understanding and mutual
respect.
Home/school learning packs can help parents/
carers support childrens learning development
within the home. Any activities which are to be
shared at home should be practical, enjoyable
and un. Parents/carers can also be encouraged
to spend time talking with their children and
involving them in everyday experiences.
Working in Partnership with other Proessionals
To allow or the exchange o inormation, it is
important that good relationships are established
with members o the community and otheragencies that contribute to the childs all round
development or example, health visitor, speech
therapist and educational psychologist.
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Understanding the Foundation Stage
The Physical Environment
Learning environments should be secure,
interesting and challenging. The structure and
presentation o the classroom and outdoor
environment should be considered. By adding
to and changing these environments, children
may be stimulated to pursue new interests, solve
problems and generate ideas.
Positive learning environments should:
Be attractive, welcoming and comortable:
a variety o areas including carpeted areas,
cosy corners/quiet places;
authentic and amiliar items should be
included rom the home, or example
household items, real vegetables, plants and
cushions;
childrens work is celebrated and displayed
in classrooms and throughout the school;
areas are created to provide opportunities
or learning and discovery.
Be organised:
time is allocated exibly;
eective and imaginative use is made o all
available space, both indoors and outdoors;
resources and equipment are clearly
labelled and accessible to both adults andchildren;
areas o interest are established with objects
arranged at an accessible height or children
to observe, touch and explore.
Follow Health and Saety requirements:
statutory health and saety requirements
are met;
the health and saety policy o the setting is
implemented;
children are adequately supervised;
rules are agreed with the children as
necessary;
children are supported in the use o tools
and equipment, appropriately and saely.
Resources may include:
a wide range o natural, man-made and
recycled materials which reects the needs,
interests and abilities o the children;
a careully selected and wide range o books
and other texts;
resources and equipment should be:
appropriately managed, planned or and
changed as appropriate;
high-quality, durable, varied and
accessible;
suitable or the developmental stage othe children;
attractive, interesting and challenging;
versatile enough to allow or a wide
range o learning opportunities and
progression.
~
~
~
~
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Understanding the Foundation Stage
This section sets out:
The Learning, Teaching and Assessment Cycle in the Foundation Stage
Planning in the Foundation Stage
Assessment or Learning in the Foundation Stage
Observations and Assessment in the Foundation Stage
The Pupil Prole in the Foundation Stage
The Learning, Teaching and Assessment Cycle
in the Foundation Stage
Learning, Teaching and Assessment
Planning or coherence and progression in the
Foundation Stage
Children learn best when learning is connected
and although the curriculum has been set
out in Areas o Learning, urther integration is
encouraged to help children to transer skills and
make links in their learning.
In the Foundation Stage teachers have exibility
to interpret the programmes to suit the needs,
interests and abilities o the children. Throughout
the Foundation Stage children need to be
observed closely so that:
teaching builds rom the childrens current
stage o development;
childrens needs and interests lead the
learning;
appropriate support can be given to those
children who require it;
children are motivated and their learning
challenged;
children have high expectations o themselves;
and
inormation can be shared with parents.
The Learning Teaching and Assessment Cycle
It is important to view learning, teaching
and assessment as a continuous cycle, where
assessment is not an end point but should eed
back into the process to help improve learning.
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Understanding the Foundation Stage
Learning, Teaching& Assessment Cycle
Feedback
Learning
Activity
Input
Planning
Learning
Intentions
Success
Criteria
Improvement
Sel
Evaluation
Questioning
Questioning
Que
stioning
Questio
ning
The Learning, Teaching and Assessment Cycle
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Understanding the Foundation Stage
Planning in the Foundation Stage
Good planning and eective assessment are
closely related. Since the purpose o teaching
and the main purpose o assessment are to
help children to learn, teaching and assessmentneed to be planned together as complementary
aspects o the one activity. In turn, the
inormation obtained rom assessment should be
used to inorm the planning process.
Plans are not an end in themselves, rather it is
the process o planning that is important. This
process allows teachers and classroom assistants
to think and talk about what and how children
should learn and also how they can create asuccessul learning environment to promote this.
It also ensures that teachers and classroom
assistants have a clear idea o how they might
support this learning through their participation
in activities which are interesting, varied and
show progression.
As teachers develop long, medium and short-
term plans they should ensure that everyone
involved is kept inormed. Planning documentsshould be regarded as exible; teachers
should alter or add to them as they observe
the childrens responses and the outcomes
o play. They should also take account o the
developmental stage o the children and their
previous experiences.
Long-term plans
Long-term plans set out, in broad terms, the
learning or a whole group o children, usually
over a period o a year. These plans are likely to:
ensure that children experience a broad and
balanced curriculum with all areas o learning
being given appropriate emphasis;
outline the knowledge, skills and concepts andthe progression expected, within each area o
learning;
include seasonal and estive and other
planned events that occur during the year; and
inorm medium-term planning.
Medium-term plans
Medium-term plans bridge the gap between the
broad outline o the long-term plan and the day-to-day detail o the short-term plan. Medium-
term plans may reer to hal-termly or monthly
periods and are likely to:
relate to the long-term plan;
outline the planned activities and the
resources required;
identiy the learning potential that the sta
intend to promote in each area; and
be evaluated to inorm uture planning.
Short-term plans
Short-term plans should take account o the
childrens individual needs and be responsive
to their ideas and spontaneous play. There
should be enough detail to inorm teachers and
classroom assistants on a daily basis to ensure
that the best use is being made o time, spaceand resources. An evaluation o the planning or
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Understanding the Foundation Stage
each period o time and the childrens responses
to the activities and experiences, should inorm
the drawing up o the next set o plans. These
plans are likely to:
take account o recent observations and
assessments o children;
transer medium-term planning into
manageable steps, by including sequences
o experiences and activities, and the
introduction o specic resources, which have
the potential to promote new learning or
reinorce previous learning;
clariy the role o the adults in the play and
other activities;
provide or the needs o individual children;
be exible to allow or spontaneous responses
and activities rom the children;
ensure challenge within play activities, altering
these in the light o the childrens responses,so that all children have opportunities to make
progress; and
be evaluated on a daily/weekly basis to inorm
uture planning.
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Understanding the Foundation Stage
Assessment or Learning in the Foundation Stage
Assessment is an integral part o the learning
and teaching process. By gathering inormation
about a childs progress over a period o time,
teachers build a comprehensive picture o
the learning in order to plan uture work. In
developing Assessment or Learning practices
in the Foundation Stage adults should, when
appropriate, engage in dialogue with children
about their learning;
Eective questioning is also an integral part
o observation and assessment practice in the
Foundation Stage. Adults should use questioning to:
clariy or extend childrens thinking;
interact sensitively with children to support
their learning on topics o mutual interest;
engage children in reective discussion about
their learning;
make judgements on what children
understand and can do;
model the eective use o questioning.
Feedback in the Foundation stage should
primarily be oral and should take place
throughout the learning process. When giving
eedback to children, adults should remember:
young children need a nurturing climate;
verbal and non-verbal language rom the
adult gives powerul messages to the child
about his/her ability;
to ocus eedback on individual progress;
to give eedback that ocuses on success and
improvement; and
to give children time to make improvements.
Why observe?
Observations are a natural and essential part
o good practice or teachers and classroom
assistants. Without the use o regular
observations and written records on each
childs development, the teacher is let with an
incomplete picture o the child. This may lead to
the loss o signicant inormation that could help
shape planning and take more account o each
childs needs.
Regular observations will allow teachers and
classroom assistants to assess:
the childs level o concentration and
involvement;
how skills and concepts are developing;
levels o concentration and communication;
the individual character o each child bynding out his/her interests/passions;
Observations will also allow adults to evaluate
practice as they:
Observation and Assessment in the Foundation Stage
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Understanding the Foundation Stage
reect on any aspects o provision where
children have experienced difculties, or
where they need more time or additional
resources/opportunities; and
respond appropriately by deciding whatneeds to be planned next or children to
make progress and build on their previous
experiences.
Well-planned, regular and skillul observations
help teachers gain a more accurate picture o the
progress each child is making across the whole
curriculum. This in turn allows the teacher to plan
a more relevant programme which will ensure
that all childrens needs are being met.
What to observe
There are two aspects to consider during any
observation.
1. What the children say when they:
access the activities planned or the various
Areas o Learning;
spontaneously interact with their peers;
are involved in dialogue and discussionwith adults and peers (including asking and
answering questions); and
interact with each other during all aspects
o play (indoors and outdoors), story time,
show and tell and other activities.
2. What the children choose to do when they are:
working alone or working in groups;
using the resources available;responding to other adults/parents visiting
the school or on school outings; and
challenged by situations which require
problem-solving and thinking skills.
It is obviously not possible to record everything
a child says or does, even in a very short
period, however it is desirable to record the
important aspects o the situation observed. The
signicance o any situation will be determinedby the adults previous knowledge o the child.
Observations may include evidence o the childs:
use o language in a range o situations;
ability to problem-solve and make decisions or
demonstrate thinking skills;
level o involvement and concentration during
activities;
willingness to investigate and be creative;
use o resources in an imaginative way;
desire to plan his/her activities;
level o sel-awareness and sel-condence;
ability to manage emotions and eelings; and
ability to work with others.
How to plan or observations
Observations are the key to eective planning
and Assessment or Learning and it is essential to
take time to plan or them. Adults need to adopt
a exible approach to observations which allows
or the unpredictable reactions o the children
to the activities oered and which provide some
o the most detailed insights into the child asan individual. So, the most eective methods
o observation provide opportunities or the
adult to record both planned and spontaneous
observations.
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Understanding the Foundation Stage
The Pupil Prole in the Foundation Stage
The Pupil Prole at the Foundation Stage is the
statutory means o reporting to parents. The
ormat o the Prole will address and reect
the curriculum in Northern Ireland. It will alsoprovide a record o the childs learning and
attainment together with any learning issues. The
Pupil Prole will inorm parents how their child is
progressing at school and will help orm the basis
or planning uture learning.
Reluctant to visit the reading corner
An observation raised the issue that one o the
children seemed to be to be reluctant to visit
the reading corner, and showed little interestin books. The adults wanted to consider how
to attract the child to this area. This included
reecting on his natural interests, hobbies
or passions as displayed in the classroom,
and asking the boys parents. It became
apparent that the child was passionate about
animals and dinosaurs in particular. The adults
responded by providing a range o dinosaurs,
large stones and leaves in the dry sand, and
placing non-ction dinosaur books nearby.
The ollowing day when the child was playing
with these gures, the teacher joined the
child and engaged him in conversation aboutthem. When the child asked about the names
o some o them, the teacher suggested using
the books as a source o inormation and
shared the books with him.
Ater a ew days it was observed that the
boy was absorbed in turning the pages,
looking through the images and talking to
himsel about the contents. These books were
subsequently moved to the reading area, and
the teacher was delighted to observe the boy
going there to read them, and then starting to
browse through other books.
Adults may decide to observe specic children
on particular days, ensuring that observations
include all children over a period o time. The
curricular areas or the activities oered may be
the starting-point or planning observations. It
is widely accepted that children perorm bestwhile engaged in sel-chosen activities, so it is
important to avoid the overuse o checklists.
How does observation lead to assessment and
uture planning?
Observations provide the adult with the evidence
about the childs progress in learning. These
observations enable the adult to assess the childs
learning and development which then leads to
the appropriate planning and provision or thenext stages in learning.
In order to decide what any child needs to learn
next, the context and the area or development
must be considered. The ollowing example
shows how the important principles o observing,
reecting and responding led to appropriate
planning.
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