First Minister Rhodri Morgan today hailed the start of the roll-out of the Foundation Phase as a landmark day for children in Wales. Visiting Brynnau primary school in Brynna, near Llanharan in Rhonnda Cynon Taff, with Education Minister Jane Hutt, the First Minister said the Foundation Phase would transform early years education in Wales:
It will help us reduce under-achievement and low esteem among primary school children and get to those who struggle to read even when they reach 10 and 11 years old, which has hampered children’s learning for too long.
The Foundation Phase - Wales’ ground-breaking learn through play-based curriculum - is being rolled out to 3 to 4 year olds in this academic year and will continue until 2011 when all children aged 3 to 7 will benefit from this new and exciting approach to learning.
The focus of the Foundation Phase is on children learning through experience rather than more formal classroom based lessons. It is designed to meet the developmental needs of all children, so that more formal teaching is introduced when the child is ready to benefit from it.
The First Minister said:
Albert Einstein once said ‘It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.’ Our revolutionary initiative is a break with 125 years of British traditional formal “learn through learn” education. That is a major step for a small country like Wales to take on its own, in UK Terms. But I don’t believe we will be on our own for long.
The Foundation Phase will encourage children to learn using their imaginations. They’ll discover the world around them by going on holiday with 'suitcases' made out of cardboard and passports they've designed themselves. It has evolved out of a strong sense of belief that if children are encouraged to learn in this positive way, their self-confidence improves along with their personal and social development skills.
Jane Hutt added:
The Foundation Phase takes a different approach to learning and a key feature is using the outdoors to encourage children to learn about conservation and the environment.
In Wales we are lucky to have a fantastic outdoors and children will discover their environment, the seasons and the weather by exploring fields, woodlands and the outdoors looking for bugs and wildlife. Children will also help to create their own outdoor learning areas by creating their own vegetable patches and flowerbeds to transforming dull and grey areas of the yard into vivid imaginary play scenes, such as seasides.
Having drawn on best international practice from countries such as Denmark, New Zealand and Italy in introducing the Foundation Phase we believe that the pay-off of this radical new way of learning will be long-term and its impact will be felt for many years to come.
Head teacher of Brynnau Primary School, Vanessa McCarthy said:
I believe the Foundation Phase will have a positive impact on the teaching in that it encourages teachers to develop confidence in their own skills as directors of learning, helping to guide children through their early education experiences in an imaginative way.
Related Links
Foundation Phase - The Foundation Phase is a new approach to learning for children from 3-7 years of age.
