“Do you really want to spend your time wiping noses and bottoms?” This is what my former headteacher asked me, back when I first decided that I wanted to teach Reception.
That off-hand remark illustrates how some school leaders still view the early years: as a strange, “other” world that is somehow less important than what comes after it.
Yet by the end of Reception, disadvantaged children already trail their peers by 4.6 months - a figure that represents nearly half the 10.6-month gap we see at the end of key stage 2.
Leaders who treat the early years foundation stage as an add-on, who do little more than hop into lessons for a 15-minute phonics check from time to time, miss so much that is important about this stage of education: guided play, teaching that scaffolds children’s learning, child-led exploration and the everyday moments that build children’s language and confidence.
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