Learning to Learn
Providing Additional Support for
Children in the Foundation Phase
Rosemarie Wallace
School Improvement Officer
&
Geraldine Jenkins
Foundation Phase Training Officer

• What is the Foundation Phase?
• What does the jargon mean?
• What do we need to do?
• What’s different?
• What’s the way forward?

• Framework for
Children’s Learning for 3 to 7 year olds in Wales
• Skills Framework for
3 to 19 year olds in
Wales
• Child Development
Profile
• Observing Children

Framework for Children’s Learning for 3 to 7 year olds in Wales
The seven Areas of Learning are:
•Personal and Social Development,
Well-Being and Cultural Diversity
• Language, Literacy and Communication
Skills
• Mathematical Development
• Welsh Language Development
• Knowledge and Understanding of the
World
• Physical Development
• Creative Development

• The Foundation Phase curriculum is planned as a progressive framework that spans four years (3 to 7 years) to meet the diverse needs of all children including those who are at an earlier stage of development and those who are more able.

Pedagogy in the Foundation Phase
The reflective Foundation Phase practitioner will have:
• knowledge and understanding of child development and how young children learn
• knowledge of the seven curriculum Areas of Learning
• skills and knowledge of providing the best learning environments and
• experiences to motivate children and stimulate their learning
• skills and knowledge of good practice in teaching young children
• skills and knowledge of good practice in observation and assessment of children’s progress and planning for the continuum of learning
• skills and knowledge of working collaboratively with others to share good practice and reflect on educational research
• continually developing professional skills, knowledge and understanding

We plan a Focused Task which provides children with new skills / concepts / knowledge and moves them forward in their learning.
We allow consolidation of that Focus by enhancing the continuous provision i.e. the environment.
Children take the new skills / concepts / knowledge into their spontaneous play.
Focused tasks become part of the repertoire of children which they take into their spontaneous play to consolidate the new skills and concepts.

FOCUSED TASKS
Direct teaching of concepts, skills & knowledge.
Adult Focus: Leading discussion, shaping ideas, direct teaching of concepts, skills or knowledge
ENHANCED PROVISION
Addition of stimulating resources, i nteractive displays, visits and visitors
Adult Focus : introducing new ideas and resources, role modelling possibilities, providing time for exploration
CONTINUOUS PROVISION
High quality indoor and outdoor learning environment
Child initiated
Adult focus : playing alongside to observe, identify learning, respond to and suggest ideas, wonder out loud, ask questions.

Skills
Role of the adult – areas / assessment
Activity Adult
Introducing a new skill
Practicing the skill
Using the skill
Focused Task
Enhanced Provision
Continuous Provision
Leading the Learning
Assessing
Supporting the
Learning
Assessing
Observer
Assessing

bilingual interested observant confident investigative happy independent inquisitive confident

As children progress through the Foundation
Phase practitioners should ensure that they continue to plan for the effective delivery of
experiential learning. Play and active learning is still important if we are to keep young children engaged.

• Audit – Where we are now?
• Adapt
- How will we get there?
• Aspire
- Where do we want to be?
• Assess
- How will we know if we’ve reached the goal?

A hundred years from now, it will not matter what kind of house we lived in, what kind of car we drove, or what our bank account balance was. But the world may be different because we made a difference in the life of a child.
The Magic –Weaving Business
Sir John Jones
2009