Too many leaders ignore the early years - but our school does things differently

For many children, Reception is where their educational journey begins.

The reality is that everything that follows is built on the foundations that were laid in the Early Years Foundation Stage.

These early school experiences are the backbone of a successful educational journey and should underpin the decisions we make across the school.

Given this, you might expect the EYFS to sit at the heart of whole-school leadership.

Overlooking the early years

Yet many senior leaders become gradually removed from what happens at the start of a child’s journey, and this can lead to a huge disconnect between what a strong start means and what leaders expect when they enter these classrooms.

This isn’t a criticism of senior leaders. The demands of senior leadership often mean wider school priorities are centred around older pupils.

Accountability places a natural spotlight on key stage 2, while other priorities of day-to-day leadership often focus on safeguarding and staffing challenges. The problem isn’t intention, it is opportunity.

But when leaders become disconnected from younger children, they risk making decisions without considering the foundations that those decisions rest upon.

Why it’s called the foundation stage

If we look closely at some of the challenges we see in older pupils, we may find there is reason to reflect.

Collaboration, articulation, curiosity, independence and self-regulation are the core of early years practice, yet these principles can gradually get forgotten as children move through school.

By remaining connected to early childhood pedagogy, leaders have the opportunity to consider how those foundations might continue to inform teaching and learning long after Reception.

At our school, we make a conscious effort to do things differently. The early years are kept firmly within every leadership conversation, weaving the principles of early education into our wider school priorities at every turn.

We know that the decisions made during those earliest years echo throughout a child’s time in our school.

Co-teaching and understanding

Keeping the EYFS central to leadership isn’t about improving Reception in isolation, nor is it about improving good level of development (GLD) outcomes. It’s about strengthening every stage that follows.

It is important to us that all of our subject leaders, particularly those leading core subjects, spend a regular and sustained period of time in our early years environments.

This is not intended as a monitoring exercise or a token visit. Our leaders spend time co-teaching with our practitioners, working alongside our children and understanding our curriculum and environment.

All leaders are expected to spend time alongside practitioners on a regular basis.

They listen, observe and understand what effective early childhood pedagogy is and what it means to lay the solid foundations at the start of school.

Alongside this sits an ongoing programme of early childhood CPD, supported by strong relationships with our local authority early years team. This keeps the start of every child’s journey at the heart of all that we do.

Our school community places a huge emphasis on collaborative, multi-role learning walks involving teachers and support staff from across different phases.

It’s an invaluable strategy led by our leadership team that has shifted our monitoring culture to one of shared professional dialogue.

None of these ideas are revolutionary. They’re simply ways of ensuring that leaders continue learning.

Improvements across the school

The impact of this has extended far beyond the EYFS. Our teachers understand the impact of nurturing the characteristics of effective learning beyond Reception.

We have sharper professional conversations because early years practitioners remain part of the wider school conversation rather than being kept on the sidelines of school life. CPD is designed with the whole school in mind, rather than being key stage-specific.

Subject leaders have a better understanding of progression and are able to make more informed curriculum decisions.

There is a greater appreciation of early years expertise.

Transition from the early years into KS1 is stronger and more holistic because there is an understanding that child development continues, rather than an expectation of an abrupt end point once GLD has been reported.

Joined up, whole-school thinking is vital to the success of all children.

Every school has different structures, priorities and pressures. The practicalities will always look different from one setting to the next.

The principle, however, remains the same: if we believe that the early years provide the foundations for everything that follows, they must remain a central consideration in the decisions that shape the whole school.

If EYFS really is the backbone of a child’s educational journey, it deserves to remain at the heart of the decisions that shape everything that follows.

Lucy Fox is assistant headteacher and head of foundations at Stoke Primary School in Coventry