Oral -Statement on the Change of Policy for Children under 7 Years of Age and its Financial Implications

 I welcome this opportunity to make a statement on the foundation phase for three to seven-year-olds, as I regard it as a fundamental part of the drive to improve outcomes for learners in Wales.

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to address a positive event: the Building the Foundation Phase conference. In that speech, I was glad to reaffirm that, in the light of the final evaluation of the pilot scheme, we would be proceeding with our current policy to introduce a new curriculum for our three to seven-year-olds from September 2008.

The commitment to introduce the foundation phase was set out in ‘Wales: The Learning Country’ and was further amplified and explained in the foundation phase consultation paper, published in 2003. The proposals in that paper were supported by 96 per cent of respondents, and the foundation phase has always received cross-party and Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills Committee support.

We have been piloting the foundation phase since September 2004 and, at Monday’s conference, the evaluation report of that pilot scheme was published alongside our action plan for introducing the foundation phase on a statutory basis from 2008. Copies of both documents were made available to all Members in advance.

The foundation phase will provide our young children with a curriculum that is more appropriate to their stage of development. It offers an approach that caters for their individual needs. Such an approach will, I am sure, lead to a reduction in disaffection and will encourage more students to stay on at school and become lifelong learners. That approach shaped the philosophy and content of the foundation phase curriculum, which, through its seven areas of learning, is sufficiently flexible to allow staff at a local level to prepare experiences that cater for the needs of their children. It builds on what children can do and what they bring to the learning environment, and provides a broad and balanced basis for children’s learning and development.

As you know, in the early years, it is the way in which children access the curriculum that is important rather that the content, and the process that young children go through is more important than the end product. With the foundation phase, we now have an education model that is based on learning through play and real experiences in the indoor and outdoor learning environments.

The foundation phase brings with it a new approach and philosophy. It makes greater and positive use of play and experiential learning. However, it is not just about play; it is about providing more appropriate and relevant opportunities for our children to learn and develop, and play forms a crucial part of those opportunities. Play that is well planned helps children to think and to make sense of the world around them, it enables them to be creative, to investigate and to explore different materials, and it provides them with opportunities to experiment and to predict outcomes. Children learn when they are playing and the foundation phase will enable them to acquire the skills to learn how to learn.

Observing children is a key part of assessment in the foundation phase and we have draft guidance that has been well received on this aspect. It focuses on what the child can do, and not just on pre-determined outcomes. At the end of the phase, there will be statutory teacher assessment in three proposed areas of learning: personal and social development, wellbeing and cultural diversity; language, literacy and communication skills, English or Welsh; and mathematical development. A foundation phase profile is being developed that focuses on children’s achievements and stages of development, and that will be used for transition purposes. It is anticipated that there will be an ongoing record of children’s skills and stages of development. A review of the statutory baseline requirements will be undertaken to ensure suitability and relevance to the foundation phase.

The new approach that is an integral part of the foundation phase will, of course, have an impact on all of those working with our youngest children. Teachers will continue to lead in the classroom, but classroom assistants will take on a more proactive role with both individuals and groups of children. We will need to ensure that all staff are fully trained in the foundation phase philosophy.

I am absolutely focused on ensuring that people are suitably trained to deliver the foundation phase. We are currently working with local authorities, looking at workforce issues by analysing the number of people who are working in the early years, identifying their training needs, and putting in place a programme of training during the lead-up to the roll-out of the foundation phase and beyond. That work will provide both a workforce plan and a realistic estimate of what funding is needed to deliver the foundation phase. However, we already know that it will require a significant investment, because the foundation phase is a crucial part of the big vision that we have for transforming the life chances of our youngest children.

This is a significant package of change, requiring significant investment and commitment from all stakeholders and partners, but it is a package that the Assembly Government is determined to deliver. That is ably demonstrated by the increasing financial commitment that we have made since the pilot started in 2004-05, when £500,000 was available, to the £10 million in next year’s draft budget.

Funding for the years after 2007 will need to be dealt with in each successive budget planning round, as I have always made clear. However, the foundation phase has always attracted all-party support. The early years experts at Monday’s conference showed clear enthusiasm for the foundation phase, and I urge all Members to join me in supporting that enthusiasm. We all owe it to the youngest children of Wales to ensure that the foundation phase succeeds so that they can truly have a flying start in life.