The early years foundation stage is a play-based approach to the care and education of children covering different areas of development. In 2005 the Government announced a new title for the birth-to-five framework to more accurately reflects the core elements that combine education and care. The single framework, combined Birth to Three Matters and the Curriculum Guidance for the foundation stage, was decreed the Early Years Foundation Stage. It previously carried the working title the Early Development and Learning Framework. The early years foundation stage becomes statutory in September 2008.

It is based on four guiding principles; each child is special, individual and capable; they learn to build relationships and grow into strong independent people; their surroundings have an effect on their learning; children grow and develop at different rates, and all areas of their development are important. Some early years workers have said that the foundation stage developmental stages for babies and toddlers are over-prescriptive and create red tape.

Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage

The foundation stage is the first part of the National Curriculum, focusing on the distinct needs of children aged three to the end of the Reception year (age five). The foundation stage is delivered in a range of settings including pre-school groups, early years centres, nursery and Reception classes. Early years settings in receipt of Government funding to deliver early years education are required to deliver the foundation stage curriculum through planned play activities for eligible three and four-year-olds. Play is an integral part of the foundation stage curriculum. It recognises that through supported play children can explore, develop and use their curiosity and imagination to help them make sense of the world in a secure environment. They practice skills, build up ideas and concepts, think creatively and imaginatively and communicate with others as they investigate and solve problems.

Visit www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/primary/foundation_stage/

The foundation stage was introduced in September 2000 as a distinct phase of education for children aged three to five. Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage was distributed to all schools with nursery and reception classes, and to early years settings receiving nursery education grant funding. It set out six areas of learning which form the basis of the foundation stage curriculum:

• Communication, language and literacy
• Mathematical development
• Knowledge and understanding of the world
• Physical development
• Creative development
• Personal, social and emotional development

When the foundation stage became part of the National Curriculum in October 2002, early learning goals (or the foundation stage profile) replaced baseline testing. The advice to teachers gets more prescriptive and detailed for the goals that should be attained by the end of the reception year (five-year-olds).

By the age of three
Children should be able to count to three, practise concentrating on a task such as making a birthday card, pinch some food into a fish tank to develop manual dexterity, listen to clapping patterns and copy them and whisk soap flakes into foam as a basic science experiment.  Teachers should structure play around an educational purpose: for example, creating pictures with glue and glitter could be used to develop the motor skills children would need to focus on an activity for up to 20 minutes.

By the age of four
Children would be expected to play more elaborate counting games, involving objects brought in from home.  They might create a café in the classroom and use pencils and papers to take reservations, copying the children's names.

By the age of five
They should be able to retell a story such as the Three Billy Goats Gruff, rather than just listen to it.  They should learn about basic adding and subtraction by using pebbles.  They should be able to talk about and draw their neighbourhood.

By the age of five or six
By the end of the reception year in primary school, they should have a wide range of social skills, including initiating ideas and speaking in a group, being able to concentrate, being aware of their own needs and sensitive to those of others' cultures and beliefs, understanding what is right and wrong, dressing independently and keeping themselves clean.

In reading they should know the alphabet, link letters and sounds and read a range of common words.  In writing they should hold a pencil correctly, write their own names and use phonic knowledge.  In maths, they should count reliably up to 10, recognise numbers, begin to grasp the idea of addition and subtraction and recognise patterns.  In speaking and listening, they should use imaginative language, speak clearly and audibly, and be attentive listeners.

At each age the guidance is structured around six goals, emphasising creative and physical development as much as language, literacy and numeracy.

For more information visit http://www.qca.org.uk/

The Foundation Phase Pilots (Estyn, 2007) said that teachers delivering the foundation phase (to three to seven-year-olds) are struggling on how to balance free play with adult intervention. Estyn recommended that guidance be sent to teachers after reports emerged that some allowed children to 'play aimlessly'.

London's Insitute of Education researchers found that literacy, language and communications standards had fallen when they undertook an evaluation of the 'learning through play' strategy for the Government at the start of 2007.