1. What were your original aims?
The pattern of early education experience differs around Europe and sees Pre-School or Kindergarten for the 3-6 year olds being the experience for many children. In this country however, the experience has been different. The 1988 Education Reform Act introduced a National Curriculum with an agenda of testing at 7, 11, 14, and 16. The resulting outcomes in Primary Schools created a culture of more structured teaching and learning which produced a downward pressure for an increasingly earlier focussed learning experience. The pressure on children became unacceptable and the government responded with the introduction of a Foundation Stage for Nursery and Reception children. (3-5 years.) This play based curriculum, with a significant emphasis on Outdoor Play, has seen a return to a more child centred, practical based learning agenda. This piece of action research set out to explore the resulting tensions at the interface between Reception (FS) and Year1 (NC) and consider how in one area, parental involvement might ease the tensions.
Context.
As Head of a large Primary School (500 pupils) and with a very active and successful Parents in Partnership Programme, I had a growing disquiet when both staff and parents began to share their concerns about the behaviour of pupils during the Autumn Term in Year 1. We were experiencing problems of distress previously associated with transition from Home to School and long eradicated through effective Pre-Nursery and Pre-School Induction Programmes. Why now were children not wanting to come to school, wanting parents to stay, even experiencing some bed-wetting. In the Summer of 2002 I met with parents to discuss concerns around transition from Reception to Year 1 and then throughout 2002/3 I conducted research into “Transition and the Importance of the Learning Environment”. Building on these research findings, I have been invited to create a national working group by the Dfes Innovation Unit, to identify what are the Learning Challenges between Reception and Year 1.This work is set in the context of that group and whilst data referred to is from the host school, the influence of the ever widening national group cannot be ignored. The direct link to the Dfes has resulted in an ongoing case study being posted on the Innovation Unit website called “Forgotten Transition” and the national project is called “Y1P:EE”…Year 1 Project: Excellence and Enjoyment. The findings from the original research have been implemented in the host school and are also influencing the wider work.
This action research looks at one specific aspect: the impact of changes made to the Induction Process with a specific focus on family engagement.
Research Question
How can we actively engage family members with their child’s learning in order to minimise the pressure on children as they move from the Reception Class ( Foundation Stage play based learning ) to Year 1 ( the more formal National Curriculum environment)?
2. In what ways did you refine your aims?
Given the tight focus of this work I experienced some difficulty in finding published research about Transition R/Y1. Also, during the allotted period of time, the professional agenda changed with an increasing awareness on this area of work and the growing national concern around the child’s experience at the interface between Reception and Year1. Therefore I fine tuned the study to look closely at the impact on pupils / family / and school of a closer working partnership between home and school.
3. What research processes did you find helpful?
Research Design and Methodology.
- Invitations to parents were sent to visit the class base to work alongside their child.(Termly)
- Parents indicated a preference time from options given and attended as part of a small group of parents on a rolling programme.
- Prior to their joining the class a session was held in the staffroom and led by the teacher to set in context the purpose of the visit and ground rules for involvement.
- Post visit a questionnaire / feedback session was held.
- An end of year meeting was held for all Y1 parents to discuss the outcomes of the project and their involvement with their child’s learning.
Sample size and rate of response.
4. What research processes did your pupils find helpful?
Children enjoyed being part of a process that enabled them to talk with their teachers and their parents around the questionnaire questions. (Children were 5/6 years of age.)
5. What were the findings?
The purpose of the interactive Parents in Partnership programme was to :
- develop positive relationships between Y1 and our parents in order to ease transition for all concerned.
- enable parents to see and feel part of the developmental process being worked through in the Y1 Project.
- give pupils the opportunity to invite parents/carers to be part of their school learning agenda.
At the end of each visit, parents were asked to reflect on their involvement and consider their reaction to the following questions:-
- How did you feel about your visit?
- How did your child feel about your visit?
- (After 2 nd and 3 rd visit)If you visited in the Autumn Term how did this visit compare?
- What did you enjoy or find particularly interesting?
- How could we improve the experience?
There were Key words that summarised parents’ feelings about the visits. “valuable / enjoyable / informative / interesting / looked forward(to it)”. As the year wore on the responses became more detailed…for example “The visits have all been enjoyable but now the work is more involved and is showing the difference in how they are being taught to 6 months ago”. “They seem so much more confident”.
The responses show a growing understanding that not all children make the same progress at the same time and that in September there was a need for quite young children to still have access to the play based learning curriculum experienced in Reception. One comment echoes a number of responses after the Spring Term visit. “The atmosphere was quieter and seemed more focussed.” Parents saw that as children matured so the curriculum content changed as well as styles of teaching. This understanding will not only benefit the children in the programme but also as they move through the following years. Parents expectations will be more realistic. The final outcome of the programme is that parents wish it to continue their active involvement, some as far as Year 6, certainly into other early years and they would like the sessions to be longer and more frequent.
6. What evidence relates to this learning and findings?
There is a great deal of detailed data collated from the questionnaires giving a wealth of information about parents growing understanding of how children are taught and how they learn. Also as to how they can support their child’s developing learning at home. This data provides not only interesting information for the teachers of these particular children but also an insight into parental perception of how children learn.
7. What are the questions for future practice?
How can we improve on and further extend the programme for the children as they move from Reception to Year 1?
8. What are the questions for your school?
The outcomes from the original research have impacted throughout the school and our Year Induction Programme (whole school) now begins in June. Three weekly sessions take place when the children spend the morning in their new Year Base with the Teaching Team due to work with them the following year. The staffing is now organised so that a member of staff moves forward with the children into the new year group. The practice of inviting a family member to work alongside the child has been extended to the Nursery and Reception and has followed the original children forward into Year 2.
9. Are there any questions for further research?
The further area of research will be to see if this method of working is beneficial and practical when extended into Key Stage 2. Parents have expressed their wish that we continue to offer them the opportunity to stay actively involved.
10. How did you disseminate your findings with others.
The outcomes of this work have been disseminated through presentations at three conferences and in two publications. Findings from this work will be included in a publication commissioned by the Dfes Innovation Unit drawing on the work of the national group engaged in the Y1P:EE Project. Through this project the host school has received 84 visitors in the last year. During these visits we share the work of the school and link to the wider work of the group. The work on the active engagement of family members with their children’s learning has been one aspect of our dissemination.
The conclusion drawn from this piece of action research is that when parents understand the practice of teaching they further understand the purpose of teaching and how each child is an individual. They are then able to understand their own child’s individual learning pattern and are more able to accept the rate of progress. This is turn takes pressure away from the child and the school to meet parents often uninformed expectations. Therefore the extension of the Foundation Stage Curriculum into Year 1 was better received and pressure was taken off children.
Gail K Bedford.
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