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Tailored curriculums, skilled staff and an open culture have been highlighted as key features of good practice in early years.

 

The government has released a report titled Good Practice in Early Education as part of its Study of Early Education and Development (SEED). It identified three main features of good practice: child focused planning, qualified staff and a positive, open culture.

 

The report also praised tailored, child-focused curriculums and high staff-child ratios for delivering good practice. Prioritising Continuing Professional Development (CPD) was also seen as key as well as engaging with parents.

 

SEED is following 6,000 children as they progress from age two up until the end of Key Stage 1 in a study conducted on behalf of the DfE by NatCen, with support from the University of Oxford, Action for Children and Frontier Economics.

 

Good Practice in Early Education is based on case studies from 16 early years settings said to be good or excellent.

 

The Alliance welcomed its findings as “positive” for the sector. Chief executive Neil Leitch said: “The approaches highlighted in the report - such as maintaining high-staff child ratios, focusing on personal, social and emotional development, and tailoring assessment processes to the individual needs of each child are ones that the Alliance has long advocated, and so we welcome the recognition of the importance of such a child-focused approach in the early years.”

 

Neil also recommended that the DfE takes the report’s findings into consideration when shaping future early years policy.