Description of the contract
Introduced in 2010, the Foundation Phase is the statutory curriculum for 3-7 year olds in Wales. It
encourages children to be creative and imaginative, making learning more enjoyable and effective while
addressing their developmental needs. Foundation Phase education is delivered in schools across the age range, and for many 3 and 4 year old children in around 550 funded non-maintained childcare settings which are supported in delivering quality early education by – broadly – Early Years Advisory Teachers employed by local authorities.
Curriculum for Wales guidance for schools was published in January 2020. This will enable schools to
develop curricula in time for legal implementation in autumn 2022. Further guidance is currently being
developed by the Welsh Government, co-constructing with stakeholders, to address the rapid development
needs of 3 and 4 year old learners in schools and a curriculum – building on the Curriculum for Wales
guidance – for funded non-maintained childcare settings.
Background to resources
Developed between 2007 and 2012, the Foundation Phase National Training Pack (‘the pack’) was designed
to support early years practitioners to embed Foundation Phase pedagogy and principles. The existing pack
included a handbook; CD and activities for each module:
1 - An introduction to the Foundation Phase
2 - Child development
3 - Observing, recording and reporting
4 - Play & active learning
5 – Additional Learning Needs
6 - Outdoor learning
7 - Leadership for learning
8 - Transition
Alongside the modules supplementary support materials were also developed:
• Learning and teaching pedagogy
• Observing children
• Play: active learning and overview for 3-7 year olds
• Year 1 & 2 planning guidance
Early work with stakeholders suggests there is considerable value in strengthening and updating these
resources to support Foundation Phase pedagogical practice in the new curriculum, and further discussions
are taking place to identify which of these resources will be critical in that context.
The project comprises the development of high quality, Welsh and English resources to support existing Foundation Phase pedagogical principles in Curriculum for Wales for learners up to the age of 7, who might receive their education in schools or funded non-maintained childcare settings. The resources will be designed to support the delivery of remote, asynchronous learning and will be made available to practitioners, free to access, via the Welsh Government’s Hwb platform or for personal learning.
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