Blog by Dr Viki Veale: Learning to play well together in Reception classes

As former TACTYC Chair, Janet Moyles (2010) pointed out in ‘The Excellence of Play’, the value of play in early education is undisputed, but there is a problem with how play is perceived in schools. The problem persists today and many of us will have read OFSTED’s (2024) ‘Strong Foundations in the first years of school’ with our heads in our hands. The role of OFSTED has changed considerably over the last twenty years (Perryman, Bradbury, Calvert and Killian, 2023). Rather than supporting settings to develop the quality of their provision as they did when our president, Wendy Scott, was a member, they seem increasingly to dictate what and how children should learn. This is particularly problematic for Reception class teachers, who face a daily battle to defend play based pedagogy in Primary schools (Veale, 2023). Ofsted’s observation that ‘play based learning in reception classes sometimes does no more than occupy children’s time’ will inevitably add weight to the pressure to conform more closely to the schoolification agenda discussed by McDowall Clarke (2017) and move practice in Reception classes further away from the play-based pedagogy promoted in the EYFS. There is no denying that, as many of our Reception class teachers will have followed Primary rather than early years specific pathways some may struggle to know how to support learning through play. However, it is not play that is the problem here, but the way in which teachers are prepared for professional practice. Although Nutbrown (2012) pointed out the need to ensure there is sufficient focus on early learning and development in initial teacher education, the ITT Core Content framework (DfE, 2021) focuses almost exclusively on strategies designed with much older learners in mind. The framework encourages strategies such as ‘retrieval practice’ and encourages the development of ‘executive function’, but in prescribing pedagogic strategies to support these important elements of learning, the word ‘play’ has become a profanity- a fourletter word which must not be uttered in serious conversations about education (more on this in our January webinar which will be led by Dr. Sue Allingham). The fact that there are three key stages in every primary school is often forgotten. Although located in Primary schools, Reception is part of the foundation stage. Practice is guided by the Statutory Framework for the EYFS (DfE, 2023) rather than the National Curriculum (DfE, 2013). The push to prioritise the teaching of phonics in Reception in preparation for the screening tests in Year 1 began with the devastating ‘Bold Beginnings’ (Ofsted, 2017:5) report and has been compounded by the introduction of baseline assessment. Despite the lack of robust evidence the ‘phonics first and foremost’ approach is epidemic in Early Years and failing many children (Wyse and Bradbury, 2022). Ofsted’s latest report seems to further increase pressure to pursue pedagogically inappropriate practices that limit, rather than enhance, learning and development. Rather than an anachronism with no place in discourse about education, play is at the heart of how children, and indeed adults, learn. We can only hope that policy makers and senior leaders will remember that there is a rich and diverse body of evidence that supports the value of play and not be drawn to that one line in this one report which could so easily be misinterpreted as suggesting that play has no place in Reception classes. Let us hope instead that our current government has the courage to engage with experts and that we can learn to play well together References: McDowall-Clark, R. (2017). Exploring the Contexts for Early Learning. Oxon: Routledge. Moyles, J. (2010). The Excellence of Play. Berkshire: Open University Press. Ofsted. (2024) Strong Foundations in the first years of school. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/strong-foundations-in-the-first-years-ofschool/strong-foundations-in-the-first-years-of-school Ofsted. (2017). Bold Beginnings: The reception curriculum in a sample of good and outstanding primary schools. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a82d03040f0b6230269cd73/28933_Ofst ed_-_Early_Years_Curriculum_Report_-_Accessible.pdf Perryman, J. Bradbury, A. Calvert, G. and Kilian, K. (2023) Beyond Ofsted: an inquiry into the future of school inspection. Available at: https://beyondofsted.org.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2023/11/Beyond-Ofsted-Report.pdf Veale, V. (2023). Right from the start: an exploration of the lived experience of qualified teachers in maintained early years settings. Available at: https://research.stmarys.ac.uk/id/eprint/6189/ Wyse, D. and Bradbury, A. (2022). Reading wars or reading reconciliation? A critical examination of robust research evidence, curriculum policy and teachers' practices for teaching phonics and reading. Review of Education, 10, e3314