Steering documents

All publicly funded pre-school settings are required to deliver the Foundation Phase Framework, the statutory curriculum for three- to seven-year-olds in Wales. It spans both pre-school education (ages three to five) and Years 1 and 2 of primary education (ages five to seven). The Foundation Phase Framework aims to offer a development-focused, age-appropriate curriculum that emphasises experiential, active learning. It is intended to develop children’s:

• skills and understanding;
• personal, social, emotional, physical and intellectual well-being; 
• positive attitudes to learning;
• self-esteem and self-confidence to experiment, investigate, learn new things and form new relationships; 
• creative, expressive and observational skills;  
• activities in the outdoors, where they have first-hand experience of solving real-life problems and learn about conservation and sustainability. 

The Foundation Phase Framework was first introduced in September 2010 and the current framework came into effect in September 2015.

The framework includes statutory areas of learning, skills across the curriculum, non-statutory religious education, and the Curriculum Cymreig (opportunities for children to develop understanding of the cultural identity unique to Wales). The subheadings below provide further information.

Note: A new curriculum for 3- to 16-year-olds is currently under development. It is intended to be used in all maintained schools and publicly funded early years settings by September 2022. The new curriculum will replace the Foundation Phase Framework. See the subheading ‘Curriculum reform’ below for further information.

Areas of learning and development

The Foundation Phase Framework is based on seven statutory 'areas of learning’ (six in Welsh-medium settings, where both English and Welsh are developed through the ‘language, literacy and communication skills’ area of learning):

• 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. 

Within the Foundation Phase Framework, the statutory ‘education programme’ for each area of learning sets out what children should be taught, describing the range of experiences which should be available and the skills to be developed (see pages 8-48). A series of outcome statements describes the expected standards of children’s performance (see pages 49-61).

Skills across the curriculum 

The development of literacy, numeracy, information and communication technology (ICT), and thinking skills also underpins the  Foundation Phase Framework (page 6).

The National Literacy and Numeracy Framework (LNF) supports practitioners to embed literacy and numeracy across the curriculum. It describes in detail the literacy and numeracy skills children and young people are expected to acquire and master and is statutory from ages 5 to 14. The LNF was extended, on a non-statutory basis, to include 3- to 4-year-olds in the earlier years of the Foundation Phase in September 2015. 

The Foundation Phase Framework is also intended to enable children to develop their thinking across the curriculum through the processes of planning, developing and reflecting; and, to develop their ICT skills, knowledge and understanding through a range of experiences that involve them finding, developing, creating and presenting information and ideas. The development of ICT skills in the Foundation Phase is further supported by a new Digital Competence Framework, which has been developed as part of the Curriculum for Wales (see the subheading ‘Curriculum reform’ below).

Religious education 

Religious education (RE) is not compulsory for children in publicly funded pre-school settings and only becomes statutory in the reception class of a primary school. However, the National Exemplar Framework for Religious Education for 3 to 19-year-olds in Wales (2008) provides guidance for the implementation of a non-statutory entitlement to RE for children in nursery settings (pages 14-15 and 32-34). It also provides the basis for planning statutory RE for children in the rest of the Foundation Phase (until age seven).

Curriculum Cymreig

The Curriculum Cymreig also forms part of the  Foundation Phase Framework, which states on page 7 that:

‘The Foundation Phase contributes to the Curriculum Cymreig by developing children’s understanding of the cultural identity unique to Wales across all areas of learning through an integrated approach. Children should appreciate the different languages, images, objects, sounds and tastes that are integral in Wales today and gain a sense of belonging to Wales, and understand the Welsh heritage, literature and arts as well as the language.’ 

Curriculum reform 

A new ‘Curriculum for Wales’ for children and young people aged 3 to 16 has been developed and is expected to be used by all maintained schools and publicly funded early years settings by September 2022. This will replace the Foundation Phase Framework for three- to seven-year-olds and include six ‘Areas of Learning and Experience (AoLE)’:

• expressive arts
• health and well-being
• humanities (including religious education)
• languages, literacy and communication
• mathematics and numeracy
• science and technology.

The AoLE will sit alongside three cross-cutting curricular responsibilities – literacy, numeracy and digital competence, which will be the responsibility of all teachers and taught across all subjects. Digital competence will be taught in line with the Digital Competence Framework, which has been available to schools and pre-school settings since September 2016. This is to enable them to familiarise themselves with it before 2022. The Framework is intended to encourage the integration of digital skills across the full range of curriculum subjects for learners aged 3-16+.

Once the new Curriculum for Wales has been introduced, the Foundation Phase Action Plan, which was published in 2016, will be further developed and adapted in line with it. The plan sets out actions for improvement in the delivery of the Foundation Phase, and identifies four strategic areas for attention:

• curriculum and assessment
• professional learning
• narrowing gaps in achievement
• regulation and inspection.

For further information regarding the ‘Curriculum for Wales’, see the subheading ‘Curriculum reform’ in the article ‘Teaching and Learning in Primary Education’.

Time allocation 

The time to be spent on each area of learning in the Foundation Phase Framework is not prescribed. The pre-school leader / headteacher and other staff decide on the timetable, as well as on matters such as classroom organisation.

Pedagogical approaches

In all early years settings, the headteacher, or pre-school leader, and staff are free to decide on teaching methods and materials. The Foundation Phase Framework (pages 3 and 4) does, however, advocate a play-based, active learning approach. It also recommends a balance of child-initiated and practitioner-directed (or practitioner-initiated) activities within stimulating indoor and outdoor environments, alongside an emphasis on using the outdoor environment as a resource for children’s learning.

In terms of materials and equipment, the Foundation Phase Framework states that ‘it is essential that children have access to a variety of media to express themselves’ (page 4). A wide range of materials is usually provided to facilitate children’s play and learning, e.g. toys, books, ICT equipment, art and craft materials, and musical instruments, and there is normally no charge for these.

In March 2018, a new network was announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Education. The Foundation Phase Excellence Network aims to improve teaching and learning during the Foundation Phase across all education settings by providing more structured support to practitioners working within this area of education. The network involves representatives from local authority (LA) education services, schools and childcare settings delivering the Foundation Phase, regional consortia, higher education, and third sector organisations sharing expertise, knowledge, best practice and experience. A new community learning zone was also launched to facilitate these activities. 

Assessment

This article focuses on the assessment of children aged three to four/five attending publicly funded non-compulsory pre-school education. These children are in the Foundation Phase, which spans both pre-school education and Years 1 and 2 of primary education (ages five to seven).

The Foundation Phase Profile (FPP)

There are no statutory requirements for early years practitioners / nursery teachers to assess children during non-compulsory pre-school education in the Foundation Phase.

However, the Foundation Phase Profile, which is used to assess children in the reception class (ages four/five) in maintained primary schools, and at the end of the Foundation Phase (ages six/seven), can be used to support assessment of children’s learning and development in the earlier years of the Foundation Phase (ages three to four/five).

The Foundation Phase Profile is a tool which assesses children’s abilities and development in different areas of learning. It is based on the Foundation Phase Framework Outcomes and, through the use of observations and formative assessments, it aims to support practitioners to develop an appropriate curriculum for all children.

The Profile consists of a ‘compact profile’, designed for use in ‘baseline assessment’ in the reception class, and a ‘full profile’, designed for use in assessment at the end of the Foundation Phase. Four areas of learning are assessed in the compact profile; three at the end of the Foundation Phase, as follows:

• personal and social development, well-being and cultural diversity,
• language, literacy and communication skills,
• mathematical development,
• physical development (as part of baseline assessment only).

The Profile contains detailed ‘skills ladders’, which practitioners use to form consistent judgements about each area of learning.

The Foundation Phase Profile is described in detail in the article on ‘Assessment in Primary Education’.

Transition to primary school

A key part of the Foundation Phase Framework is to help provide children the necessary skills to allow the transition into primary education.