Steering documents

All pre-school settings which receive government funding to provide teaching and learning for children aged three to four are expected to follow the Curricular Guidance for Pre-School Education. This guidance, developed by the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA), was originally published in 2006 and updated in 2018, to better align it with the Foundation Stage curriculum and make it more succinct and clear for teachers.

Learning to Learn – A Framework for Early Years Education and Learning, published by the Department of Education (DE) in 2013, provides the policy focus for pre-school education in Northern Ireland. The overarching aim is that ‘All children have equal opportunities to achieve their potential through high quality early years education and learning experiences’ (page 17). Policy objectives supporting this aim are to:

• ‘provide equitable access to high quality early years education and learning services;
• support personal, social and emotional development, promote positive learning dispositions, and enhance language, cognitive and physical development in young children;
• provide a positive and nurturing early learning experience, as well as a foundation for improved educational attainment and lifelong learning;
• identify and help address barriers to learning, and reduce the risk and impact of social exclusion and the need for later interventions;
• encourage and support parents in their role as first and ongoing educators’ (pages 17-18).

Areas of learning and development

The Curricular Guidance outlines the range of learning opportunities that pre-school children should have ‘through play and other relevant experiences’ across the following six areas: 

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Physical Development and Movement
• Language Development
• Early Mathematical Experiences
• The Arts
• The World Around Us.

It aims to help staff to develop and broaden children’s learning experiences and make them confident, eager and enthusiastic learners ready to start compulsory education at age four.

The time to be spent on each area of the curriculum is not prescribed. The pre-school leader / principal and other staff decide on the timetable, as well as on matters such as classroom organisation. The ‘Time’ section of the Curricular Guidance provides some limited guidance on the use of time in pre-school education (page 12).

Pedagogical approaches

In all publicly funded pre-school settings, the pre-school leader / principal and staff are free to decide on teaching methods and materials.

The Department of Education (DE) and / or the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA), and the Education Authority (EA), may, however, give advice about the organisation of teaching and learning and the teaching programme. In particular, the Curricular Guidance for Pre-School Education, originally published by the CCEA in 2006 and updated in 2018, provides some guidance on planning, on the pre-school learning environment and on materials and equipment. The guidance focuses on ‘learning through play’ activities and ‘other relevant experiences’ (page 3) in a stimulating environment.

With reference to materials and equipment, page 12 of the guidance states that:

‘Staff should ensure:

• 'children have access to a wide range of well-presented materials throughout the day that can be added to;
• materials are safe, clean, fresh, attractive and accessible to the children; and
• where appropriate, natural and authentic materials are used to enhance learning.’ 

In terms of the learning environment, page 11 of the guidance states that outdoor learning ‘is an integral part of the overall educational programme and should contribute to children’s learning across the entire curriculum’. Page 12 states also that outdoor learning should happen ‘frequently’ and be ‘safe, varied and stimulating’.

Examples of the type of materials provided include toys, books, large and small indoor and outdoor play equipment, ICT equipment (such as computers and hand-held devices), art and craft materials, and musical instruments. There is normally no charge for these.

Assessment

There are no statutory requirements for early years practitioners to assess children during pre-school education in Northern Ireland. However, the Curricular Guidance for Pre-School Education, which all providers in receipt of government-funding are expected to follow, promotes the assessment of children’s learning through day-to-day observations of, and interactions with, children in a range of situations. Pages 8-10 of the guidance, which was originally produced by the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) in 2006 and updated in 2018, include the following recommendations.

i) ‘Regular, skillful observations’ are essential for effective planning and assessment for learning.

ii)  Day-to-day observations of children over a period of time and in a variety of contexts give staff an insight into their needs, experiences, interests, thinking, strengths and areas for development, and information from these observations should be recorded regularly and systematically.

iii) Information should be shared with parents / guardians / carers so that they have an understanding of their child’s progress, and are encouraged to contribute to observations through formal or informal comments.

iv) Formal reporting should also occur, involving individual meetings with parents / guardians / carers at which staff should suggest ways that they can support their child’s learning.

Developing a measure of children’s development 

The Draft Programme for Government Framework 2016-2021 of the Northern Ireland Government sets out a broad range of outcomes including Outcome 12: ‘We give our children and young people the best start in life’. Steps to achieve this include developing a measure of the percentage of children in their immediate pre-school year (three- to four-year-olds) who are at the appropriate stage of development, and putting in place timely interventions for those children not yet at this level.

Transition to primary school

The Curricular Guidance for Pre-School Educationincludes guidance on children’s transition from pre-schools to primary schools. They recommend, where possible:

• for Year 1 teachers to visit the pre-school setting, to appreciate the learning environment and curriculum the children have experienced and see them in familiar surroundings; and

• for the children to visit the primary school as a group activity, for example to see a concert or listen to a story.

The guidance also recommends that, before a child moves to primary school, relevant information about his or her progress in learning should, with parental consent, be shared with the school so that primary teachers can begin to plan appropriately for the child.

The Department of Education has also published guidance regarding the arrangements for the induction and transition of children to pre-school education and Year 1 of primary school. See Guidance on induction and transition in pre-school education and Year 1 of primary school.