The Value of Organised Physical Learning in the EYFS
Introduction
I would like to propose a fairly controversial approach to one aspect of physical development within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). Given the need for a seamless transition into Key Stage One made apparent in the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile Handbook (Standards and Testing Agency 2014), it might be beneficial for nursery and pre school settings to allocate some time and funding from their budget to introducing children to organised physical activity. This could encompass basic games skills, sporting equipment and even an element of competition rather than just solely offering play-based physical development. The key elements of ‘object control’ could be taught within the physical development requirement of the EYFS, particularly to 3 to 5 year olds. These skills would include such skills as throwing, kicking, aiming, catching, dribbling, bouncing, striking and collecting. I propose this because these basic movement skills are an essential part of physical literacy.
Physical LiteracyWhat is physical literacy? The best analogy is with literacy. Instead of letter recognition leading to the development of words, then putting these together into coherent sentences, children build up a vocabulary of movement. The learning a single action can lead to a sequence of actions, which gradually is used to develop a range of movements.
Here is a bold statement. ‘Physical Literacy is as important as literacy and numeracy (Sport Wales 2014). The Youth Sport Trust recognizes the importance of physical literacy for the early years. Their advice to providers is to create environments that introduce and develop control and co-ordination for both large and small movements. Their advice is that this can be achieved through both structured and free play. This would help children to move confidently in a range of ways.
Fundamental movement skills and free play
The problem with free play is that it is a very ineffective way of achieving real progress and quality in terms of skill learning. Children do not pick up fundamental movements naturally as part of normal growth and development. It is estimated that it takes between 240 and 600 minutes of instruction time to become proficient in one fundamental movement skill (reference). Moreover, the best time for the development fundamental movement skills is the early years setting (Lavin 2002)
Without the teaching of some elements of skill development children moving up from reception could struggle to meet the requirement to ‘participate in team games, developing simple tactics for attacking and defending’ (Key Stage One, National Curriculum for Physical Education, England).
The current focus on play-centred learning through exploration and experimentation could be detrimental to the transition at Key Stage One to a more focused teacher directed, subject based approach. A focus on develop games skills for 3 to 5 year olds would feed quite naturally to the multi-skills approach taught in many schools at Key Stage One.
Investing in specialists to take short skill learning sessions
As in Key Stage One and Two, many early years practitioners do not feel that they have the necessary knowledge and understanding to promote skill learning in the games context. One response to this would be to use physical education specialists or coaches to lead and structure this learning. Thanks to the physical education and sport premium coaches are now a common sight in our primary schools and they could certainly offer a credible alternative to the lack of skill learning in the early years setting, provided that they were appropriately trained and briefed to work with this age group.
In some early years settings this approach is already in place. The charity Learning through Landscapes (www.ltl.org.uk) celebrated National School Grounds Week by organising ‘The big play experiment’ which involved fun, adult-led games that provided short bursts of exercise to get children active and demonstrate a commitment to children’s health.
Types of activityMovement education or physical literacy involves a wide range of learning experiences for the children in the early years setting. The programme of study for Key Stage One identifies the main characteristics of Agility, Balance and Co-ordination (The ABC’s of movement). Within this framework it is possible to categorise the following skills;
- Stability: turning, twisting, freezing, stretching, curling, landing and pivoting.
- Locomotor: walking, running, jumping, skipping, galloping, bounding and hopping.
- Object control: throwing, kicking, catching, dribbling, bouncing, striking and collecting.
It is not possible to fully explore the range of active learning experiences of all three areas within the confines of this article but examples of the type of activity that would come under the heading of object control are provided below.
Object control
Aiming games: This type of activity is best suited for the 3-5 year old age group. It provides a ‘closed skill’ in that the aiming skill takes place from a stable position rather than being on the move. Likewise the target is still and there the children are likely to learn from experience and improve. The children could use a variety of ways to send the object such as underarm throw, kicking, bowling and pushing. The target can be adjusted to present a challenge but also to ensure success. This activity also benefits from being helpful in assessing and evidencing the progress of the children. A visual record of the ability of the children could be taken by videoing the children’s first and then later attempts. iPads are ideal for this because it allows children to view and evaluate their attempts.
Getting used to a ball: The children should be encouraged to watch the ball whenever possible, to use their fingers to control the ball and to use two hands at first. The activities could include rolling the ball around different parts of their body, using different parts of the body to hold the ball such as elbows, knees and feet. Other progress include moving the ball from one hand to another, rolling the ball along the ground and running to catch up with it, throwing the ball into the air above their head and letting it bounce a number of time before picking it up. In all these activities, it is important for the children to have a ball each and that the ball should be appropriate to their size and skill level.
Spatial awareness: set out some markers in a line. The children start at one end and steer a ball in and out of the markers until they come to the end. Children could steer with their hands first and then progress to steering with feet or a bat.
Milestones
For 3 year olds: Change speed, direction or type of movement; throw an object without losing balance; catch a large or bounced ball with both arms extended.
For 4 year olds: Start, stop, turn and change direction around objects; throw with an over arm movement; bounce a ball; catch by trapping ball to the chest.
For 5 year olds: catch a thrown ball with both hands; intercept a moving ball; throw the ball with direction and force; play simple 1v1 games
Competition
An idea that has been successful in many early years settings has been to have a ‘games festival’. This involves organising fun, active stations that allow children to try different games skills. They are free to try apparatus and equipment that both interest and challenge them. It is worth finding ‘new’ games equipment that would be novel to them for this special event. This could be through the local school sports partnership, a coaching firm or even the local secondary school.
The future – is it fair play?
Taking this kind of approach to skill learning is important because they are the building blocks for more complex skills that are required by children to succeed in future sporting endeavours. Children who develop effective games skills at this stage are much more likely to continue to be play a range of games/sports in later life. Children want to be active and to learn physical skills; we know that physical activity, along with other key factors like better nutrition and informed parental influence can counter the growing trend for obesity in pre-school children.
About the author
Dr Jim Lavin is a Physical Education Consultant and Trainer