Teaching and play in the early years a balancing act?

Teaching and play in the early years ? a balancing act?

A good practice survey to explore perceptions of teaching and play in the early years

Her Majesty's Chief Inspector commissioned this good practice survey to gather evidence to address the recurring myth that teaching and play are separate, disconnected endeavours in the early years. Her Majesty's Inspectors visited a sample of the most successful early years providers to observe the interplay between teaching and play and evaluate the difference chosen approaches were making to the learning and development of disadvantaged children, especially funded two-yearolds. All providers, which included maintained schools, pre-schools, children's centres and childminders, were selected because they were successful in achieving good or better outcomes for children in some of the most deprived areas of the country.

Age group: 0?5 Published: July 2015 Reference no: 150085

The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children's services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Contents

Executive summary

4

Key findings

5

Background

7

How do the most successful providers view teaching and play?

8

A teaching and learning continuum: the role of the adult

11

Successful working with funded two-year-olds

17

Parents as partners in teaching

20

Assessment at the heart of successful teaching and play

23

Recognising typicality and securing the accuracy of assessment

26

Notes

28

Further information

29

Publications by Ofsted

29

Other publications

30

Annex A: Providers visited

32

Executive summary

Research has never been clearer ? a child's early education lasts a lifetime. Securing a successful start for our youngest children, and particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, is crucial. It can mean the difference between gaining seven Bs at GCSE compared with seven Cs and is estimated to be worth ?27,000 more in an individual's salary over the course of their career.1 Such rich rewards are by no means guaranteed. When the first five years of a child's life pass by so quickly, achieving the highest quality of learning and development is critical.

For too many children, the foundations for a successful start to their education are weak. In 2014, around two fifths of children did not have the essential skills needed to reach a good level of development by the age of five. Worryingly, in our most deprived communities, the outcomes were much worse. Less than half of all disadvantaged2 children had the skills needed to secure a positive start to school; around one quarter still struggled to speak, listen or interact socially to support better learning overall. The 19 percentage point gap between disadvantaged children and their better-off counterparts has remained unacceptably wide for too long.3

The early years providers we visited showed that a strong start can be the norm for all children, regardless of their background. The schools and settings in this survey focused relentlessly on developing children's communication, language and vocabulary. They provided frequent opportunities for children to practise their speaking and listening skills by providing purposeful contexts in which they could interact with others. These `essentials' were particularly important stepping stones in allowing disadvantaged two-year-olds to catch up quickly with their more fortunate peers. Leaders in these schools and settings were clear: when narrowing the achievement gap between the rich and poor, teaching, in all its guises, matters.

The schools and settings we visited did not see teaching as separate from play or infer teaching to mean one fixed view of how things should be done. Leaders did not view their work in such black and white terms, believing that to do so would prevent the flexible approach needed when addressing young children's individual needs. Put simply, they saw teaching as the many different ways in which adults, consciously or otherwise, helped children to learn.

Parents,4 the first teachers any child encounters, will recognise this overarching view of teaching. Every word, choice and interaction made by a parent, either in their

1 Students' educational and developmental outcomes at age 16, Effective Pre-school, Primary and

Secondary Education (EPPSE 3-16) Project, Department for Education, September 2014;

.uk/government/publications/influences-on-students-development-at-age-16. 2 Throughout this report, `disadvantaged' refers to two-year-old children who are receiving funded

places in registered early years provision and those in receipt of the pupil premium funding in schools. 3 Statistical first release: Early years foundation stage profile (EYFSP) assessments, by pupil characteristics in England, for academic year 2013 to 2014, Department for Education, November

2014; .uk/government/statistics/eyfsp-attainment-by-pupil-characteristics-2013-to-2014. 4 Parents refers to parents and carers (those looking after a child) throughout the report.

4

Teaching and play in the early years ? a balancing act? July 2015, No. 150085

child's presence or while engaging directly with them, plays a significant part in their child's learning: instilling a bedtime routine; gentle reminders to say `please' and `thank you' and recognising colours or textures when toddlers help to unload the washing machine all constitute teaching. These playful, everyday activities are just as much about teaching as learning the names of shapes or remembering the sounds that letters represent. Setting up teaching and play as opposites is a false dichotomy.

There is no one way to achieve the very best for young children. Many different approaches to teaching exist. Most of the providers we visited did not think of their time with children as being either teacher-led or child-initiated. They found this terminology unhelpful and sought a better way to articulate the subtleties of their work. They saw their approaches to teaching and play as sitting on a continuum, their staff weighing up the extent of their involvement and fine-tuning how formal or informal, structured or unstructured, dependent or independent each learning experience should be to meet the needs of each child most effectively.

The leaders we visited recognised accurate assessment of what a child could do as being at the heart of any decision regarding their learning. Many invested significant time and energy in checking that their initial thoughts about children's skills and abilities were correct, discussing and agreeing their judgements with colleagues, including those from other settings, to ensure a common view.

We found too few disadvantaged two-year-olds accessing early education to secure a better future. The schools we visited were only just recognising the long-term benefits to a child of admitting them at a younger age. Many took as few as four two-year-olds at a time, only just scraping the surface of those needing most support in their community. If more schools do not realise their role in addressing the needs of the most disadvantaged, the work already underway is at risk of a false start.

A large number of the providers we visited shared a site with other forms of early years provision. We found the most successful went beyond simply occupying the same buildings and formed powerful, professional networks to collaborate with a wider range of colleagues. These networks were increasingly seen as `the hub' within their community; beacons of early years excellence that were recognised for the quality and impact of their advice, guidance and training beyond their own gates.

While long-held beliefs about teaching and play have proven difficult to shift, the danger of allowing them to continue is all too real. If those in the early years sector continue to see teaching and play as separate, disconnected endeavours our future generations will continue to fall at the first hurdle.

Key findings

Leaders did not think of teaching and play as separate endeavours. In every playful encounter we observed, adults, consciously or otherwise, were teaching. They were making important decisions about the resources they used and the questions they asked. They thought carefully about their physical

Teaching and play in the early years ? a balancing act? July 2015, No. 150085

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behaviours, the language they used and the environments they created. These constant, everyday decisions were recognised as teaching.

We found no one way of approaching teaching and play. The views of the providers we visited were deeply rooted in their own personal beliefs about how young children learn. The common factor across all of the different approaches observed was the role, influence and interactions of the adult.

Teaching incorporates all of the ways that adults help young children to learn. Those we visited found it unhelpful to think of their work as either teacher-led or child-initiated. They saw the interplay between adults and children as a continuum, with the adults making constant decisions about the level of formality, structure and dependence that would promote the best possible learning.

The prioritisation of speech, language and communication was the cornerstone of leaders' work with disadvantaged children, especially funded two-year-olds. Leaders knew that all areas of learning were important but gave more attention to some, especially when ensuring that disadvantaged children received the best possible start to their education.

Where we found disadvantaged two-year-olds making rapid progress, they spent a higher proportion of their day interacting with adults than their better-off peers. Most providers we visited recognised disadvantaged two-year-olds to be quiet observers of their surroundings, hesitant to interact and engage with new experiences. We observed up to 100% of a disadvantaged twoyear-olds' time being spent with adults, with the staff working alongside children to teach them how to play and engage with the people and world around them.

Disadvantaged two-year-olds learned best when they played alongside older early years children. Those schools and settings that allowed two-yearolds to learn and play alongside three-, four- and five-year-olds noticed a quicker rate of development for all children. Two-year-olds looked up to the older children as role models. The older children, in turn, reinforced and developed their own skills by explaining what they were doing and helping their younger friends.

Disadvantaged two-year-olds made the strongest progress when they continued their learning as three-year-olds in the same setting. We found that children who had benefited from funded early education as two-yearolds in the same setting showed greater social and emotional development. Familiarity with adults, the physical environment and the routines and expectations of the setting enabled a more successful start at the age of three.

We found approaches to early reading to be viewed as the most formal approach to learning. All schools and settings we visited ensured dedicated time each day to teaching communication, language and literacy. We saw that short, sharply focused teaching sessions, together with frequent opportunity to apply learning across all other activities, allowed the rapid development of literacy skills.

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Teaching and play in the early years ? a balancing act? July 2015, No. 150085

 We found that many leaders had prioritised mathematics for improvement to ensure that learning experiences were challenging children to reach their full potential. We noted that adults' subject knowledge in mathematics was not as strong as other areas of learning. Confidence to teach mathematics was highest in Reception classes, linked to the level of qualification and training of staff, and lowest among childminders and those who taught two-year-olds.

Accurate assessment of children's starting points was based on constant reflection about what was deemed typical for each child given their chronological age in months. Where we observed this to be most effective, staff entered into frequent discussion, within and between providers, to check and agree their judgements. This included the frequent sharing of information between parents, other pre-school settings and health visitors.

Collaboration between early years providers was key to securing a higher quality of teaching and play. We found that where schools and settings shared a site, were directly managed by one overarching leader or had entered into a professional network with others in the locality, expertise was shared effectively to allow all early years professionals to learn from the best. Many had become early years hubs for their area, championing the importance of early education and raising the quality of learning and development.

Background

Between 3 December 2014 and 13 February 2015, Her Majesty's Inspectors (HMI) conducted survey visits to 49 settings across a range of early years providers. In total, HMI visited 21 schools and 28 pre-schools, children's centres and childminders. All providers visited were in the 40% most deprived areas.5 Overall, 27 of the providers in our survey offered funded provision for two-year-olds: nine schools, 15 pre-school settings and three childminders.

All settings had been inspected under the most recent iteration of the relevant inspection framework and had been judged as good or outstanding. The schools were chosen because they successfully ensured that a high proportion of children secured a good level of development6 by the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage and that this early success was maintained as pupils moved through the school.

5 Deprived areas are the 40% of lower super output areas with the lowest rank in the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index 2007; . 6 A child achieves a good level of development, as defined by the government, if he or she meets the expected level in the early learning goals in the prime areas of learning (personal, social and emotional development, physical development and communication and language) and the specific areas of literacy and mathematics.

Teaching and play in the early years ? a balancing act? July 2015, No. 150085

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How do the most successful providers view teaching and play?

1. Early education is about every aspect of a child's development. It is about more than imparting knowledge. It is about providing a wide range of experiences and opportunities so that every area of development receives attention. Essential physiological routines, such as being able to recognise and go to the toilet, the social and emotional skills needed to form relationships and adapt to new experiences, the building of a receptive and expressive vocabulary to understand and communicate effectively, as well as the characteristics of learning, such as `having a go' or persevering when faced with a tricky task, are all of prime importance.

2. The significance of play in allowing children to learn and develop across such a broad range of developmental areas has long been understood. Its fundamental value is recognised in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child7 and the statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage.

3. Play provides the natural, imaginative and motivating contexts for children to learn about themselves, one another and the world around them. A single moment of sustained play can afford children many developmental experiences at once, covering multiple areas of learning8 and reinforcing the characteristics of effective learning.9 When learning for our very youngest children looks so different to elsewhere in the education system, a fixed, traditional view of teaching will not suffice.

One setting provided children with the opportunity to become builders and challenged them to make a brick wall to stop the Big Bad Wolf from taking their toys. This playful activity broadened so many important areas of learning. Children were developing socially by cooperating with their peers, working alongside each other to share equipment. They rehearsed important language and communication skills when asking each other for specific equipment or offering suggestions about what to try when initial attempts did not work. They strengthened important physical skills by loading and unloading the wheelbarrow. They reinforced early counting and one-to-one correspondence when making decisions about how many trowels and bricks they needed. They gained understanding about the world and materials around them when they added water to their sand and soil to make the bricks stick together. Importantly, children enjoyed this experience and, unbeknown to them, they were learning.

7 United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child, UNICEF; . 8 The seven areas of learning within the Early Years Foundation Stage are: personal, social and

emotional development; physical development; communication and language; literacy; mathematics;

understanding the world; and expressive arts and design. 9 The characteristics of effective teaching and learning are set out in the early years statutory

framework as: playing and exploring; active learning; and creating and thinking critically.

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Teaching and play in the early years ? a balancing act? July 2015, No. 150085

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