Opinion12th November 2024

Building on firm foundations: What to do about key stage 1

Molly Devlin

A stronger steer on the all-important transition from early years to school will help both sectors to ensure every child gets the best start.

Ark Start

This article was originally published in Schools Week on Saturday 9 November 2024.

Now you might be surprised to read an article on the curriculum review by an early years specialist.  After all, we are the one phase that is not in the scope of the curriculum and assessment review.

Yet we are the place where a child’s formal learning begins. Everything flows from here, and a careful transition in subsequent years is crucial to maximising this impact.

The early years are actually the most recent phase to have had a curriculum review, back in 2021. There is always scope for improvement, but a lot of positive changes were made and are still bedding down, so it makes sense not to disrupt this ongoing progress.

However, there is potential for the review to smooth out the rather abrupt transition between reception and year 1, as well as retain the reception curriculum’s focus on the whole child.

Retain the focus specifics

Children in early years leading up to reception are tracked carefully in relation to developmental milestones. At the end of the year, they are assessed against the  early learning goals. This gives specificity about the particular challenges they face in their development and clear next steps to support them.

Depending on how schools transition their pupils into year 1, a child may  go from having a tracked developmental delay to becoming  simply  “below age-related expectations” in literacy, for example.

In the prime areas of learning, a child with a developmental delay in self-regulation may cease to be assessed in that area completely in year 1.

In Ark schools, we recommend staff continue to track children that didn’t reach early benchmarks more closely, carefully focusing any action and intervention.

Consider the whole child

One of the particularly strong elements of the reception curriculum is its emphasis on developing executive function, self-regulation and fine and gross motor skills.

These are all important for children’s future success at school and in life. They should be a golden thread running through a child’s school career, especially when they hit that second phase of increased neuroplasticity in their early teenage years.

All too often, however, we are taking remedial action to address behaviours that result from a lack of these core skills.

Given that schools this year are receiving reception pupils who were born during the pandemic and exhibit what appears to be a high level of need, this is definitely something to think about when we imagine this cohort’s journey across each stage of education.

Start with the end in mind

But if key stage 1 colleagues could benefit from carrying on some of what we do in reception, there is also a case for some practice going the other way.

Laying the building blocks for composition, transcription and basic maths knowledge in reception and nursery can make a real difference.

But what are the building blocks that children need to become effective subject learners in key stage 1? And what can we teach in terms of specific vocabulary and concepts that will help pupils engage with that subject from day one?

The recently published research report from Ofsted, Strong Foundations in the first years of school  recommends greater prioritisation of the knowledge children will need, activities that help build fluency in core skills and more time for pupils to practice what they are learning.

This can be achieved without a review of the early years framework. All early years practitioners would need from the Francis review is a good steer towards a clear and fulsome definition of ‘school-readiness’.

Doing so would not only benefit teachers but parents too. Both groups know that transition from Reception to year 1 can often be more of a challenge for pupils than that from nursery to Reception, particularly after a six-week break.

Working out how to bridge this gap more effectively could make a real difference, ensuring every child has a fair chance at a strong start on the more academic part of their early learning journey.