The benefits of ‘loose parts’ play in the early years

Undirected play with small materials can support a wide range of learning outcomes, but practitioners need time and support to use the approach well, writes Lucy Fox

https://www.tes.com/magazine/teaching-learning/early-years/what-is-loose-parts-play-eyfs

A Feature by TES Magazine

Rethinking the adult role in play

Exploring the role of the adult in independent play, Lucy Fox -  www.magonlinelibrary.com/page/collections/intered

Independent play = independent children?

 Lucy Fox, Assistant Headteacher and Head of Foundations at Stoke Primary School, explores the role of the adult in independent play, and discusses what effective adult involvement should look like in provision, verses adult withdrawal.

In many early years settings, independent play has quietly become synonymous with adults stepping back. While well-intentioned, this interpretation risks leaving some children unsupported at the very moment they need us most. Independent play is widely valued and promoted as a powerful route to strengthening children’s development, yet somewhere along the way “child-led” has, in some cases, come to mean “adult absent”.

This can leave staff carrying a familiar anxiety during continuous provision. What is the right thing to do in the moment? Do we join play and risk over directing or limiting children’s ideas and independence? Or do we step back, observe and risk children disengaging or repeating play that
remains surface level?

For some children, particularly those with limited play experience or emerging language, adult absence is not neutral. It reduces opportunities for modelling, shared attention and the kind of rich back and forth interaction that helps play deepen and learning behaviours develop.
As leaders and practitioners, we need space to think more carefully about what effective involvement looks like. That means moving beyond stepping back as a default and instead building team confidence in a more intentional approach: knowing when to join, when to wait, and when to withdraw, so that our presence supports children to become genuinely independent over time.

INDEPENDENCE VS WITHDRAWAL

It is important to remember as early years practitioners that play competence is learned, not innate. For many children, particularly in our post-Covid climate, developing independent play behaviours is the long-term goal, not a starting point they are ready to demonstrate on arrival.

An average two-year-old cannot approach a beautifully presented castle scene and immediately understand the role of each figure. They do not naturally know how to create play conversations or immerse themselves in a make-believe world. Children come to us having had a wide range of life experiences, including the quality of interactions they have experienced since birth and the play opportunities they have been exposed to. They do not all arrive with the same play schemas, language
repertoires or confidence to explore something new.

For independence to become authentic and sustained over time, children need clear, intentional interactions with adults. For some, this means sitting alongside them for extended periods, modelling the many ways resources can be used, thinking aloud and creating a safe space for trial and error. For others, it may mean sitting further back, offering small prompts when needed and providing reassurance at key moments.

The key is recognising that a child can show independence while playing alongside an adult. In many cases, adult withdrawal has the opposite effect, leading to disengagement or repetitive, shallow play.

STEPPING BACK TOO SOON

We have all seen the familiar scenes, often in the first few weeks of term or when a child first joins our setting. They hover at the edges of play, not quite confident enough to step into an already flowing conversation. They move between areas, flitting from one activity to another, or repeat the same simple actions repeatedly. These are the quieter children, the ones who prefer to watch rather than join in.

They are often described in staff meetings or CPD sessions as the children who “just won’t choose”. They are labelled as wanderers, and it is easy to mistake this for disengagement. In reality, what we are often seeing is a child who lacks the social confidence, language or experience needed to enter play successfully.

What these children need is the chance to build a repertoire of language and experiences that help them feel capable and included. Through shared imaginative play and adults modelling how play can develop over time, we often see them move from flitting around the environment to becoming deeply involved and purposeful in their play. These children benefit most from adults who invite them into play, rather than waiting for independence to appear on its own.

EFFECTIVE ADULT INVOLVEMENT

Effective adult involvement can be understood through three connected approaches.

■ 1. Joining play

As adults, it can feel as though entering a child’s imaginative world needs to be announced or made into an occasion. In fact, children respond best when we observe first, then enter quietly and sensitively, playing alongside rather than taking over.

When joining play, it helps to:
• Get down to the child’s level, both physically and emotionally.
• Follow the child’s agenda rather than replacing it with what you think the scenario should be.
• Use comments more than questions. This is not a quiz, and children absorb more language when play is narrated in a low-pressure way.
• Model language, curiosity and simple play narratives, drawing on what you know about the child’s development and next steps.

■ 2. Sustaining play
Once you have been welcomed into the world of play, the role shifts to sustaining interaction long enough to have meaningful impact.

This involves:
• Adding new vocabulary naturally, giving words clear, tangible context.
• Extending ideas without directing them; play should remain steered by the child.
• Supporting turn taking and collaboration, remembering these are skills that develop over time.
• Suggesting possibilities using open prompts such as “I wonder…?”
• Staying just long enough to deepen thinking, while noticing when your presence may begin to feel intrusive or overwhelming.

■ 3. Withdrawing deliberately
Recognising when play has gained momentum and therefore when to step back is just as important as knowing how to join. Adults should withdraw only once children are leading confidently, using introduced language, offering their own ideas and collaborating with others.

Two key reminders here are:
• Always leave play stronger than when you found it.
• Trust that once foundations are secure, play can continue meaningfully without you. Effective involvement is not about taking over play, but about making play possible.

ADDRESSING PRACTITIONER ANXIETY

Practitioner anxiety around interacting within play often comes from a place of care and professional responsibility. Adults understand the impact that high-quality, well-timed interactions can have, and the fear of over interfering is both common and valid. The adult role in play is skilled practice, and uncertainty about getting it right should be openly acknowledged within teams.

There can be pressure to be seen observing rather than joining in, alongside accountability measures that prioritise visible outcomes and data. At times, this anxiety stems from wider misunderstandings about the role of play and the powerful impact that meaningful adult-child interaction can have on development.
There is also a genuine concern about adult dominance in child-led spaces. Practitioners may worry that stepping in could lead to overly structured play that limits children’s ideas. This can make it difficult to judge when to join, how long to stay, and when to step back.

A CHANCE TO REFLECT

For leaders and practitioners wishing to reflect on adult interaction within their setting, a helpful starting point is creating space for open, honest conversations about what is working well and where uncertainties remain.

To keep discussion constructive and solution focused, the following prompts can be useful:
• When adults step back, which children seem to thrive?
• Which children fade into the background?
• Where are adults positioned during play?
• What language are adults modelling most often?
• How do adults decide when to stay and when to step away?
• What does independent play look like in our setting?

Keep the tone curious rather than evaluative. This is not just an opportunity to strengthen practice, but also a chance for adults to recognise and feel confident in the positive interactions they are already having.

FINAL THOUGHTS

For many practitioners, the tension between stepping in and stepping back can feel like a daily balancing act. Yet high-quality play has never depended on adult absence. It relies on thoughtful, responsive adults who understand when their presence will move learning forward.

Independence is the goal, but it is not the starting point for every child. Through careful observation, sensitive joining, and well-timed withdrawal, adults help build the confidence, language and understanding that independent play relies on.

When we view interaction as a professional skill rather than an interference, we give ourselves permission to be present with purpose. In doing so, we make play richer, more inclusive and more meaningful for all children.

Stoke Primary Support #JamiesLaw and the OurJay Foundation

A visit to Stoke Primary School by Naomi Rees-Issitt - Facebook link here

Naomi's visit to Stoke Primary on 5th February 2026

Early years in schools: PBL

Making it real

By Nicole Weinstein

How play-based learning (PBL) in Key Stage 1 is transforming children’s outcomes at one Coventry primary school.

The bene ts of play-based, child-led learning beyond the EYFS are gaining momentum among education circles. Brave, forward-thinking schools are rethinking their Key Stage 1 (KS1) curricula in response to what they see in classrooms: children struggling to cope with more formal learning and rising curriculum demands, with prolonged periods sitting at desks. Stoke Primary School, an inner-city school in Coventry, made the shift to a play-based curriculum for its Year 1 children in 2023. ‘Something needed to change,’ explains assistant head teacher Ellen Parker. ‘The transition from Reception to Year 1 was resulting in a passive approach to learning with gaps in knowledge and a lack of love for learning.’   By introducing a new approach built on the core principles of the EYFS, with continuous provision at its heart, the school has seen improvements in children’s wellbeing, emotional regulation, communication and language that extend beyond Year 1. ‘We have children in year 1 who would probably not be in the classroom full time if we didn’t use this approach. They would either be on reduced timetables or going on regular walks around the school. This approach enables them to integrate and achieve in their own way, relative to where they are at,’ Parker says.
PLAY-CENTRED CURRICULUM So what does play-based learning look like in KS1 and how does it differ from early years? Stoke Primary School’s Year 1 classroom looks similar to a Reception classroom, with zones of learning and resources for the children to access. The physical environment – its continuous provision – contains an area for construction, crafts, role play, small world and loose parts, and there is a carpet area with a Whiteboard for whole-class teaching. Outdoors is a designated area with tyres, a sandpit and a mud kitchen. While the physical environment and continuous provision provide rich opportunities for play-based learning, as in the EYFS, KS1 teachers skilfully use these resources to deliver and reinforce national curriculum objectives. Adult-directed teaching is delivered to the whole class across all subjects – both core and foundation – but this is ‘deliberately kept short and focused’, so that children can embed key ideas before moving on to their own learning, Parker explains. For example, after the teacher has modelled a maths concept such as arrays to the class, the children go off into the classroom to practise it. Some choose to write it down, others use the loose parts to line up rows and columns. Another group might go to the construction area and make rows of houses or towers.   During this time, the adults bring key learning to them, drawing it out through the resources and interests they are already engaged with. Unlike free play, which happens outside the classroom during break time, play-based learning is structured play that is based around the learning objectives. Every resource has a purpose, and while children have freedom in their choices, that choice is structured and intentional, with clear outcomes in mind.   ‘We view the provision as the “third teacher”: it’s carefully planned and we model with the children what to do in the different areas each week,’ Parker explains. The curriculum is organised around topics, which drive the writing objectives. Maths tends to be more standalone, although teachers  nd that continuous provision offers ‘natural opportunities’ to connect it with the topics. ‘We aim to ensure that wherever children are within the provision, the topic is consistently embedded and visible, so that their learning is reinforced in meaningful, engaging ways. ‘For example, in the craft area, resources are linked to the topic: if the theme is All Things Wild and the children are learning about animals, the craft space will reflect that, reinforcing learning and sparking conversations. In construction, it might be the placement of topic-related books; in role play, it could be costumes, backdrops or key vocabulary,’ she adds.
While the expectations are more adult directed than in early years, the learning objectives for art, for example, might centrearound colour mixing, using strokes or identifying primary or secondary colours. The benefits of continuous provision is that children can practise and apply skills daily, rather than it being timetabled and not looked at again for the rest of the topic, Parker explains. There are times during the day that children engage in adult-directed activities at a table. ‘A common question is if children can sit at a table. Yes, they all can, they don’t all do it at the same time,’ she adds. LEARNING OUTCOMES Concerns about the shift from play-based learning in Reception to a more instructionled approach in Year 1 prompted teachers at Stoke Primary to rethink its KS1 curriculum to incorporate a play-based methodology.
With a high proportion of children eligible for free school meals and SEND support, and an above-average proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language, the school was experiencing challenges around persistent absence and ‘low school readiness’ in terms of executive functions and self-regulation.   ‘We wanted to ensure children were ready to learn and that the environment was inclusive for all starting points, backgrounds and experiences,’ Parker says. With the First cohort of Reception children now moving into Year 3, having benefited from play-based learning and continuous provision in Year 1 and 2, teachers are beginning to see the impact of the changes. ‘Outcomes in reading, writing and maths are in a strong place for our Year 2s, which provides the most reliable set of combined data in the school. We hope this will continue to grow, though we recognise it isn’t a magic wand,’ Parker says.    ere has also been a notable increase in children’s motivation to write, which contrasts with the previous formal approach, where writing ‘was met with reluctance and disinterest’, Parker adds. But one of the greatest benefits of the approach goes beyond the core subjects of reading, writing and maths, and supports behaviour and inclusion. The approach gives children like Lauren (name changed) time to process her  learning. After the teacher has explained a maths concept, for example, Lauren might pause and watch what the children are doing with the loose parts, talk to a friend and look at what another child is writing on her whiteboard. From the outside, it might look as though she isn’t learning, but in reality she is checking how others are approaching the task, gaining confidence and then completing her own learning. ‘Without these opportunities, children like Lauren might not be in class full-time or might be on reduced timetables,’ Parker explains. There has also been a ‘noticeable rise’ in talking, as small group work provides more opportunities for questioning, revisiting prior learning, extending thinking and providing challenge. But above all, the team  in Stoke say the children are ‘happy and motivated’. ‘This cannot be dismissed as a by-product. It is everything,’ Parker says.
case study: Action research at Stoke Primary School   Stoke Primary School extended its continuous provision approach from Y1 into Y2 and partnered with Emma Lewry, creator of the COOL Curriculum, to run a year-long action research project looking at the impact and factors affecting successful implementation. ‘One of the strongest findings was the way Stoke’s continuous provision model allowed for flexible routes between teacher input and pupil outcomes.  Rather than a single, predetermined path, pupils had multiple ways to engage with new knowledge and skills, and to demonstrate their understanding,’ explains Lewry. A teacher at Stoke backs this up, saying the children have ‘real agency’ and can show their understanding through building, painting, or talking. ‘The quality of their thinking often surprises us,’ she adds. Children showed consistently high levels of wellbeing and involvement in their learning, measured using the Leuven Scale, and were observed engaging deeply with activities for 45 to 60 minutes, which is ‘striking in a KS1 context, where shorter attention spans are often assumed to be the norm’, Lewry says. A child said, ‘I like that I can choose how to do my work. It makes me feel happy because I can do it my way and still show my teacher.’ Freedom to move around the classroom also contributed to high levels of  engagement. Lewry says, ‘Movement is not random or disruptive. It’s purposeful and often linked to the task at hand.’ But one of the most consistent observations across the year was the ‘sheer volume and quality of pupil talk’. Tracking showed that pupils spent about 75 per cent of their session time engaged in discussion – with peers, adults and in small group collaborations, the report says. The case study illustrates that a well-led, research-informed continuous provision model can ‘not only deliver strong engagement and inclusion but can also meet the diverse needs of a 21st-century classroom’, Lewry says. Lewry, also an early years consultant and former head teacher, is currently trialling the COOL Curriculum, a new continuous provision curriculum framework, with five schools.

Reimagining primary education:

Creating a place of belonging for the youngest children

by Michelle Windridge

National Education Lead for School-Based EYFS

How capital funding can convert an underused building into a school-based early years provision.

Copyright: Michelle Windridge. Used with permission

When you first step into The Meadow, something immediately strikes you: it doesn’t feel like a classroom at all.

The soft furnishings, the warm light, the gentle hum of play – it feels like a home.

And that’s no coincidence. The Meadow lives inside what was once the school’s site manager’s house, carefully converted using the government’s school-based nursery capital funding. 

Walls were opened up, corners softened, the garden reimagined. An empty house became a nursery – but importantly, it stayed a home.

Because this provision was never simply about childcare.

Why The Meadow matters

Based in Coventry, in the surrounding community, many children grow up surrounded by extended family – grandparents, aunties, cousins. 

For some, this means warmth, connection and support. For others, it means moving between multiple homes, never quite sure where they belong.

Headteacher Mat Ascroft shared a recent conversation that he’d had with a child who couldn’t identify where ‘home’ was. ‘He had slept in five different family members’ houses, yet none of them felt like his place.’

That conversation crystallised why The Meadow needed to exist.

This isn’t just a nursery.

 It’s a safe base.

 A consistent space.

 A place that says: you belong here.

Opening doors – literally and figuratively

Bringing two-year-olds into a primary school is no small feat. Many schools have shied away from it, and with good reason. The legalities, staffing ratios, environment requirements and curriculum considerations are overwhelmingly complex.

But six months ago, Stoke Primary decided to do it anyway.

Lucy Fox – Assistant Head and Foundations Lead – shared how Stoke Primary was the only school in Coventry to secure the school-based nursery grant, and the educator knew exactly how she wanted to use it: to give the very best start to as many children as possible.

Blueprints. Meetings. Legislations. Paintbrushes. More meetings. And finally, The Meadow was born.

 Lucy Fox with The Meadow staff, Alex Hughes and Lisa Beech. Copyright: Michelle Windridge. Used with permission.

Partnership at the heart

During my visit, Fox reflected on the support she received from a local Private, Voluntary and Independent (PVI) nursery during the development of this provision.

‘Their generosity-sharing expertise, helping navigate early years systems, offering practical advice, was instrumental.” Lucy describes it as “true partnership, a model of what can be achieved when schools and PVIs work together rather than compete.’

It’s a reminder that high-quality early years provision grows from collaboration.

The impact is real

Only six months since opening, and already measurable improvements are evident among Stoke’s youngest children.

Their communication and language skills have improved, with children showing greater ability to articulate views and respond to others.

They navigate their environment with growing confidence and independence.

Their relationships with peers and adults are characterised by secure attachments and positive social interaction.

They are fully integrated into the school community. The previously quiet building of The Meadow now hosts regular activity and interaction.

Most importantly, they walk in each morning with a sense of certainty: ‘This is my place. This is where I belong.’

A courageous step forward

Establishing The Meadow involved strategic planning, innovation, and resilience. The team approached the project with a willingness to explore new approaches. They took on the challenge of reshaping what primary education could look like.

And they have truly blossomed.

During my visit one parent told me how she has been blown away with how her child’s speech and language skills have developed in only a few weeks at The Meadow, and how the staff make every effort to ensure families feel welcome and included in their children's nursery experience.  

Alex Hughes – The Meadow’s nursery teacher – shared that moving from key stage 1 to nursery was a big jump, but there is nowhere else that she would rather be. 

He said: ‘It feels truly magical that our Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) journey now begins at age two for our children. Already, we have seen the positive impact the nursery has had, supporting children’s development, confidence and curiosity.’

Where next?

As we look at the impact The Meadow is already having, a bigger question emerges: Are we, as a sector, ready to rethink what ‘primary education’ really means?

If primary schools can be a home-from-home for two-year-olds…

If we can remove barriers for families who have never felt schools were their spaces…

If we can build trust, belonging and community from the very start…

…then perhaps the future of primary education is wider — and warmer — than we have dared imagine.

12 Dec 2025 - LeadershipTeacherTeachers' Standards

Continuous Provision at Stoke Primary:

A Seamless Learning Journey from Ages 2 to 7 and Beyond 

by Michelle Windridge, Dec2025

At Stoke Primary, continuous provision isn’t just an Early Years strategy — it’s a school-wide approach that nurtures curiosity, independence, and deep thinking.

 Link - https://www.twinkl.co.uk/news/a-continuous-provision-learning-journey-from-ages-two-to-seven-and-beyond

Twinkl - Quality Education Insights

Continuous Provision at Stoke Primary

Stoke Primary School is forging an exciting path in the development of continuous provision, extending a play-rich, inquiry-led pedagogy from nursery through to year 3 and, increasingly, across the wider school. 

In a climate where many schools feel the pressure to formalise learning increasingly earlier, Stoke stands out as a bold example of how deeply child-centred, research-informed practice can elevate outcomes, strengthen wellbeing, and create a culture of confident, independent learners.

Copyright: Michelle Windridge. Used with permission.

Through close observation, pupil tracking, and in-depth conversations with staff and leaders, it is evident that Stoke’s approach is making a transformative difference to children aged two to seven, and to the adults who teach them.

The power of movement and choice

What strikes me most as I walk through the school is how active and busy the children are — moving freely, out of their seats — yet the atmosphere remains calm, purposeful and deeply focused. 

One of the clearest advantages of continuous provision is the natural physical movement it affords children. They are more active throughout the day, not having to ask permission to leave their seat, but trusted to do so in order to support their chosen learning path in that moment. 

In a traditional model, movement might be limited simply to transitioning from the carpet to a table. The contrast is stark. For many children, particularly those who rely on physicality to regulate or maintain focus, this movement is not an optional extra but a vital condition for success. 

Continuous provision embeds these opportunities throughout the day, ensuring that children are not confined to a single posture or workspace, but instead are empowered to choose how and where they learn best.

This freedom was illustrated in year 3, where I observed children exploring star constellations. What could have been a simple worksheet-labelling activity became a rich, creative investigation. 

Copyright: Michelle Windridge. Used with permission.

Each child used an individual basket to collect resources from the pantry, selecting how they wished to map their constellation. Some arranged shells into star patterns, others sculpted forms from playdough, while some chose the more traditional pencil-and-paper route. 

Every pupil had genuine autonomy over their learning. Once finished, they photographed their creations using an iPad and uploaded them to their personal learning journal — a process often seen in early years but far less typical in key stage 2.

Headteacher Mat Ascroft explained how this approach ensures every child is included. Some pupils know instantly how they want to present their work and dive straight in; others prefer to pause and process the teacher’s input before beginning. 

Both approaches are not only accepted but valued. This flexibility allows all learners to access the task at their own pace and in their own way, without pressure or constraint.

Copyright: Michelle Windridge. Used with permission.

A culture of conversation and deep thinking

Another feature of Stoke’s provision is the richness of children’s talk. In a case study by Parker and Emma Lewry - Early Years consultant, pupils were observed to be engaged in discussion with peers or adults for approximately three-quarters of each session. 

This talk was purposeful and sophisticated: asking questions, articulating their thinking, reflecting on outcomes, negotiating roles, and even teaching one another skills and knowledge across a range of subjects. 

Importantly, children are encouraged to explore their ideas, take risks in their learning, and learn from their failures — understanding that mistakes are part of the process rather than something to be feared.

After the initial teacher input, the role of the teacher shifts to that of a facilitator, supporting children as they follow their own lines of inquiry and make decisions about how to pursue their learning. 

Research tells us that we should prioritise the development of children’s communication and language through socially meaningful interactions. Children thrive on conversation with people they have a strong relationship with, particularly when the discussion focuses on topics that interest them and are relevant to their experiences.

Continuous provision at Stoke evolves as children progress through the school. In the early years, learning is highly flexible – allowing for open-ended exploration. 

Copyright: Michelle Windridge. Used with permission.

As children move into key stage 1 and then key stage 2, the provision adapts. Older pupils are introduced to weekly ‘must do’ challenges that provide structure and clear objectives, while still allowing them to exercise choice, collaborate with peers, and pursue their own interests. 

This was introduced by Stoke’s Ellen Parker, Head of Teaching and Learning.  It ensures that the benefits of continuous provision — independence, active learning, and rich dialogue — are maintained, while gradually incorporating the level of guidance and expectation appropriate to each stage of development.

This constant dialogue is not incidental but a product of carefully planned, open-ended learning environments and highly intentional adult interaction. It is conversation that fuels cognition, deepens understanding, nurtures curiosity, and promotes social and emotional development.

The spine of the curriculum

Lucy Fox, Assistant Headteacher and Head of Foundations, shared that continuous provision isn’t an early years add-on, it’s the spine of the school’s curriculum from age two to year two. 

“By protecting play, language, curiosity, and independence all the way from our Meadow toddlers to our seven-year-olds, we’ve built a seamless progression where children don’t ‘grow out’ of what works; they grow deeper into it. 

The environment changes, the challenge grows, but the principles stay the same: rich interactions, meaningful learning, and children who know how to think, not just what to remember.”

From ages two to seven — and increasingly beyond — Stoke Primary is showing what is possible when schools trust children, invest in teachers, and commit to a pedagogy that sees capability, curiosity, and potential in every learner.

Mary Opens New School-based Nursery at Stoke Primary

Coventry’s first new school-based nursery – The Meadow at Stoke Primary – was officially opened by Mary Creagh, MP for Coventry East on Friday 12th September. It is one of 300 school-based nurseries across the country in the first wave of a £37 million investment by the Government.

Link - https://www.marycreagh.co.uk/news/themeadowstokeprimaryschool

Mary Creagh MP cuts the ribbon to open The Meadow

Mary Creagh MP cuts the ribbon to open The Meadow (with some help from the children Stoke Primary School)

Coventry’s first new school-based nursery – The Meadow at Stoke Primary – was officially opened by Mary Creagh, MP for Coventry East on Friday 12th September. It is one of 300 school-based nurseries across the country in the first wave of a £37 million investment by the Government.   Mary cut the ribbon and declared The Meadows officially open at a ceremony attended by the people who have made this happen - parents, staff, local authority officials and building contractors. This was followed by a tour of the smart new facilities on the school grounds. From next week, local two-year olds will gradually be introduced to the space, which will eventually have places for up to 30 children; 15 in the morning and 15 in the afternoon.   Stoke Primary already had a nursery for three-year olds and they have seen the amazing impact that engaging with education can have, especially for vulnerable children. Three out of five children who joined the current nursery at age three were assessed as having good progress by the end of their reception year. This is significantly higher than those that did not come to the nursery.

Mary Creagh MP said “We know that children benefit from high quality education before they start school. The brilliant staff at Stoke Primary have seen it with the children they have helped already. This new government funding makes it possible for them to do even more to give children in Coventry the best start in life.”

Stoke Primary is a proudly multicultural school, with families from 45 different countries and many different cultures and religions. The sight of parents chatting together at the school gates on Briton Road sharing their experiences and supporting each other is a fantastic example of multicultural Britain at its best.

Headteacher Mat Ascroft said, "At Stoke we understand the importance of Early Years learning and the difference it can make to children's life chances. Receiving this grant has enabled us to start to provide a quality learning environment for local two-year olds. Our brilliant staff are really energised and looking forward to welcoming the children. We can't wait to see how our youngest cohort thrive and grow in our caring, nurturing and ambitious Meadow." 

"High quality Early Years provision can transform children’s life chances,” said Lucy Fox, the Early Years Lead who will be running The Meadow. “Our team has worked hard to create an environment where every two-year old can flourish, and we are delighted to be able to offer this to our community."

Parents of children starting at The Meadow are delighted. "I'm excited, I'm very excited, I'm really excited to get her in," said one parent. "I'm happy, she is so smart and she is sitting at home doing nothing so school will be good for her. I'm happy and I love it."

Another parent said "It's great that he gets to access these hours, really great."

There are still some nursery places for this term so if local parents would like their children to join The Meadow, they can contact the school on 024 7645 1724 or office@stoke.coventry.sch.uk

Mary Creagh opens The Meadow

 Giving Children the Best Start in Life

The expansion is a key part of Labour’s Plan for Change to deliver practical support for families, boosting local economies, and helping parents stay in work.  

Nurseries in schools is just one part of the Labour Government’s ambitious plan to for our children. This month sees the landmark expansion of 30 hours of funded childcare which is a game-changer for working families in Coventry. It could save parents up to £7,500 a year. This comes the same week as the Labour government has delivered 30 hours of free childcare from age nine months to reception year. Despite inheriting a pledge without a plan from the Conservatives, this Labour government has delivered the largest ever expansion of government-funded childcare, with over half a million children set to benefit nationally this month alone.

Parents can access an all-new online platform BestStartinLife.gov.uk to offer support beyond the nursery door, with everything they need to give their children the best start in their early years and beyond. This will become a go-to destination for families navigating the early years and beyond – so they can play their vital role in getting their children school-ready.

Amid the ongoing success of the first phase, Labour is determined to go further and faster to tackle childcare cold spots to offer more choice for parents in Coventry.

As part of its drive to give every child the best start in life, the Labour government has invited more primary schools to bid for up to £150,000 funding from a £45 million pot to create a further 300 new or expanded best start school-based nurseries - offering up to 7,000 more places - from September 2026.

This second phase will prioritise quality bids from schools serving areas with childcare cold spots in some of the most disadvantaged communities, delivering thousands of new places for families who need them most. Contributing to the vibrant childcare market with a range of options that suit all family’s needs, school-based nurseries offer children the opportunity to grow up and learn in a consistent environment all the way up to age 11, so they can continue to thrive in an environment they trust.

Mary Creagh MP said “I know from speaking with families across Coventry childcare can put pressure on household finances. That’s why Labour’s offer of 30 government-funded hours of childcare has already begun to make a massive difference to local parents – saving them £7,500 a year and giving children the best start.”

“I’m so glad to see Labour doubling down by making high-quality early years education more accessible, affordable and convenient, boosting parents’ work choices and children's life chances. Making life easier for parents by reducing the pressures of the school run means they can keep working with confidence, earning more money and supporting wider economic growth, a priority in Labour’s Plan for Change.”

 Testament to the incredible work of providers and the Labour government, 9 in 10 parents are getting one of their three top choice nursery places. Alongside the Best Start school-based nurseries rollout, Labour is upping funding for the sector to £9 billion next year to support delivery of a brilliant early years education to give every child the best start in life.

Use of Screen Time in the Early Years

"Why we teach without screens in Reception"

by Lucy Fox

Following the movement of the wooden round house to the Reception outside area, data analysis identified that rates of progress and security of retention had improved in the cohort of reception children who were based in the round house.  Key to this was the environment had no links with wifi or tech leading to the development of a range of non screen based teaching methods.

 Link - https://www.tes.com/magazine/teaching-learning/early-years/teaching-without-screens-early-years

TES Magazine - Teaching and Learning - Early Years    When I first arrived at Stoke Primary School as early years lead, I faced a practical challenge that became a powerful learning journey. Our two Reception classes were sharing one large open plan space, but it was clear the children needed their own environments - places to build their identities and where they and their teacher could begin and end the day together, as a class. After many trials and much debate, we found a solution: we commissioned a grounds company to convert our forest school roundhouse into an early years space. With 360-degree windows, twinkling lights, rugs and heaters, it soon became a magical, cosy classroom.   However, there was one problem: the roundhouse had no wi-fi and no screens.   At first, this seemed like an inconvenience. But what felt like a hurdle ended up transforming our entire philosophy on early education, and has had a lasting impact on the school’s pedagogy. Rethinking how we teach Our first challenge was practical: how would we deliver phonics and maths, both of which had relied heavily on screen-led teaching?   Without interactive whiteboards, Microsoft PowerPoint or anything digital, we had to strip everything back to the essence of what we were teaching. For me, this was uncomfortable at first. Like many teachers, I had trained in an era where technology was fast becoming essential.   However, we returned to the foundations of effective early years practice: manipulatives, spoken language, storytelling, movement and song. Planning became more intentional, and teaching more responsive. Instead of clicking through slides, we were modelling, talking, drawing and acting things out. The impact on children and staff The difference was immediate. The children were more focused, imaginative and full of ideas.   Communication and language flourished; our windows filled with chalk drawings and emerging words, and their sense of identity grew stronger each week. By Christmas, the data confirmed what we had already seen. In phonics, 34 per cent of children taught in the roundhouse were “on track”, compared with 18 per cent of those taught through a screen-led approach.   Considering that none of our cohort had entered Reception “on track” for phonics in their baseline assessments, this progress was remarkable. By the end of the second term, the roundhouse group showed stronger progress across almost every area of learning, especially in literacy, where 76 per cent were meeting expectations, compared with 66 per cent in the classroom group.   This progress gap was so significant that, in the summer term, we swapped the groups. Those who moved into the roundhouse made accelerated progress, particularly in literacy and maths. We felt this proved that the difference lay not in the children or the quality of the teaching, but in the environment and approach.   One teacher, previously a strong advocate for screen use, completely changed her practice after moving into the roundhouse. Wherever she is teaching, she now delivers phonics, literacy and maths entirely off-screen by choice, not out of necessity. What this means for our school This experience has sparked a wider cultural shift. This year, neither Reception class has used their classroom screens once for teaching: a deliberate commitment to talk, exploration and real-world interaction.   We are not anti-technology, but we are now intentional about its use. We believe that in early years, in particular, screen use should be purposeful, rather than habitual. When planning new opportunities, we ask whether a tool deepens learning or replaces it; screens are no longer the default answer.   The change has also influenced our professional learning, which now focuses on communication and language, imaginative play and sustained shared thinking. It reminds us that high-quality early education relies on connection and creativity, not content delivery.   For early years departments considering going screen-free, I would make the following suggestions:   Start small and model Phonics is a great place to start, as it lends itself to physical resources like magnetic letters, sound cards or sand trays. Support your staff Removing screens can feel daunting, so offer teachers alternatives and celebrate creativity. Communicate clearly This isn’t about rejecting technology, but rebalancing children’s experiences to better support language development, imagination and independence. Use evidence Gather data, observations and pupil voice to check that the shift is having the effect you intended. Keep purpose central If a digital tool adds depth, use it. If it replaces thinking or conversation, rethink it.   What began as a logistical challenge to give two Reception classes their own space ended up transforming how we think about teaching and learning. For our youngest children - especially those whose early years were shaped by lockdowns - switching off the screens at our school has switched on something far more powerful.   Lucy Fox is assistant headteacher and head of foundations at Stoke Primary School

How screen time affects toddlers:

‘We’re losing a big part of being human’

Emine Saner, Jan2025

Link - https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jan/22/how-screen-time-affects-toddlers-were-losing-a-big-part-of-being-human 

The Guardian - Education - Children

‘We’re losing a big part of being human’

Composite: Guardian Design

It isn’t uncommon for children to make phones or tablets in art classes.

In the UK, 98% of two-year-olds watch screens on a typical day, on average for more than two hours – and almost 40% of three- to five-year-olds use social media.

Could this lead to alarming outcomes?

At Stoke primary school in Coventry, there are many four-year-olds among those starting in reception class who can’t sit still, hold a pencil or speak more than a four-word sentence. Lucy Fox, the assistant headteacher and head of foundations, is in no doubt what is causing this: their early exposure to screens, and a lot of it. When the children experiment with materials and creativity, and make things in the classroom, she says, “We notice a lot of children will cut pieces of cardboard out and make a mobile phone or tablet, or an Xbox controller. That’s what they know.”

At another school in Hampshire, a longtime reception teacher says in the last few years she has noticed children getting frustrated if activities aren’t instant and seamless – something she thinks comes from playing games on a phone or tablet. There is a lack of creativity and problem-solving skills, noticeable when the children are playing with Lego or doing jigsaw puzzles and turning the pieces to fit. “I find their hand-eye coordination isn’t very good, and they find puzzles difficult. Doing a puzzle on an iPad, you just need to hold and move it on the screen. They get really frustrated and I feel like there are certain connections the brain is not making any more.”

There is also something of an attitude shift, she says – a kind of individualism that she’s convinced comes from playing alone on a device. “We are having to model to children how to be with others, how you work as a team, how you share things, because they’re so used to having their own time, doing their own thing. We’re losing a big part of being human, and if these young children don’t get all those skills, they’re not going to pick them up later on.”

Earlier this month, the government announced it would be issuing new guidance on screen use for under-fives in April, after a report it commissioned found 98% of two-year-olds were watching screens on a typical day, with the average duration more than two hours. Those who spent the most time – around five hours – had limited vocabulary compared with those who spent the least, and were twice as likely to show signs of emotional and behavioural difficulties.

“It’s a trend that we’ve been seeing for quite a long time,” says Pasco Fearon, a professor of developmental psychopathology at University College London and the director of the Children of the 2020s study. “Look at studies getting all the way back to the turn of the century – you can see that screen time, on the whole, has been increasing.” That’s true for all of us, not just for children. Of the impact on children, Fearon says: “I’m sure it’s a factor that a lot of parents, like the rest of us, are on their phones. It’s becoming very dominant in everyone’s lives.” The data in this study, he says, “can be quite a useful focal point to start thinking: Wait, is this what we want? A little bit of a reset might be useful for everyone.”

This report comes on the back of other recent research showing very young children’s screen access is increasing. In October, the American research organisation Pew found that 38% of parents of under-twos said their child uses or interacts with a smartphone, and 8% of under-fives had their own smartphone. In the UK, Ofcom’s research has found that 19% of children aged three to five had their own mobile phone in 2024, and that 37% of children this age – more than 800,000 kids – were using at least one social media app, up from 29% in 2023 (though the majority use it with their parents’ supervision).

More is becoming known about the impact of young children exposed to excessive screen time, though. In 2025, a New Zealand study found that young children who had watched more than 90 minutes a day had below-average vocabulary, communication and numeracy at the ages of four and eight, and that more screen time meant even poorer outcomes.

Today Kindred Squared, an organisation that campaigns for early years education and development, releases its latest report on children’s school readiness. It found that more than half of teachers believed spending too much time on screens – by children and their parents alike – was the single biggest factor contributing to the child not being ready to start school. “We know that screen time is a problem,” says the CEO, Felicity Gillespie. This year, reception teachers reported 28% of children were unable to use a book correctly, for instance tapping or swiping the pages as if it were an electronic device.

“In cases of higher usage,” says Gillespie, “there is a real negative impact on language acquisition. It’s not that surprising when you think about how language is developed in babies, that it is through that serve-and-return interaction with adults – the baby makes a noise, the parent makes a noise back. The baby smiles, the parent smiles. It’s that two-way interaction that fires the baby’s brain. Nought to two is the period when our brains are growing at their fastest rate, so the earlier you put babies in front of screens, the more they are missing out [on] those early interactions, which is where the hard-wiring of the brain is happening.”

The early years, says Gillespie, “are the foundation for everything that follows, for mental and physical health, wellbeing, your happiness, your success in relationships. I think it comes back to this need for better information for parents and clear, simple, unequivocal guidance. Tell them the truth. Tell them what the evidence says.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends children under two should get no screen time at all, and for those aged two to four, a maximum of one hour. Is that realistic in today’s parenting world? Gillespie acknowledges the latest study showing two-year-olds are watching two hours a day. “Then what we then need to do is give parents the information about why the WHO advises that, to inform people about the preciousness of these early years and the importance of brain development.” The government, she hopes, will “give parents the kind of practical, real-world guidance that takes account of the fact that, I think, we’ve probably missed the boat on the WHO guidance”.

The Covid pandemic accelerated screen use (many children in current reception classes and year 1 were born in that first year), but it had been steadily rising before that. “My referrals have been increasing over the past 10 years,” says Sandy Chappell, an early years speech and language therapist. During the lockdowns, she says, it was “not just that children were isolated from other children, but also that parents were relying more on screens to pacify young children. I had many parents in impossible situations, where they were trying to work from home and had babies and toddlers to entertain at the same time, so they had no choice but to rely on screens.”

She has sympathy for parents who rely on screens now. “Absolutely. It’s unbelievably difficult.” Fearon too, talking about the research that is driving the government’s advice, stresses it’s not about blaming parents. The study found children from disadvantaged families were more likely to spend time on screens. “This is about understanding the context in which this is happening, and how people are making the day work when there are challenges families are experiencing, financially, and in terms of work and all the pressures of daily life. If we’re trying to support families, it’s partly about giving them really clear advice, but also about giving more help to families, particularly those who are experiencing economic disadvantage. That’s going to give them a bit more slack to be able to play more, talk to their children more, be more engaged in the way that they’d like to.”

In Chappell’s clinic, she is seeing children with “poor attention and listening skills, poor turn-taking and social skills, as well as poor vocabulary and expressive language”. Many have their own electronic devices, and although Chappell has seen the stats about social media use, it’s not something she’s aware of. “Parents don’t tend to tell me that’s what’s happening, because I think instinctively they know it’s not a good thing.” And while some content is better than others – “things like [the BBC’s] CBeebies, where [many programmes are developed with] educational value by psychologists and educationists” – what matters more is duration. “We really need to cut the time down,” says Chappell.

This is often when the child is referred to her, with parents worrying they’re not ready for school. “Preschool children can catch up to a certain extent if the screens are reduced to a bare minimum and time is spent on building other skills. It becomes more difficult once they get to school, and we are finding that these issues are following children right through school. Their language levels at age four are one of the biggest predictors of their later academic achievement at GCSE level and beyond. So it really is important that we put the work in with children way before they go to school.”

By the time they join reception, many children will already be familiar with a tablet, and in 2025, for the first time, children used a touchscreen device to take the 20-minute test known as the reception baseline assessment. “There were children who couldn’t speak a sentence who did very well in the assessment, because they could scroll,” says Fox, sounding exasperated. “It became not an assessment of what children academically could do, and where they were developmentally, but an assessment of how computer-literate they were – and that’s what horrified me.”

To accommodate 60 reception children, but without space within the school, Stoke Primary turned a wooden “roundhouse” (a simple octagonal wooden structure), which had been in their forest school area, into a new classroom, complete with rugs, fairy lights and, inadvertently, no wifi – and therefore no screens. At first, as Fox wrote in TES (formerly the Times Educational Supplement), this seemed an “inconvenience” and a “hurdle”. It ended up transforming her thinking on screens in schools; her previous job had been in a school which prided itself on giving each child an iPad.

“Very quickly we realised the impact that it was having on the children,” says Fox now. By the end of that first autumn term, 72% of the “roundhouse” children were considered to be “on track” compared with 44% of the children in the traditional classroom. When they switched the classes later in the year, they got similar results.

The roundhouse style, in which children sit in a circle, “forces communication and language to come before anything, which is so important. We have quite a significant amount of English as an additional language compared with other schools – 60% of our children in reception last year – so the language skills that it’s pulling out of them is remarkable.” Instead of the usual schemes, or structured lesson plans that use PowerPoint and other software, “there is none of that in the roundhouse. It forces you to go back to basics. I had to build up the confidence of those teachers to feel they could do that, and could make their own decisions about what they knew was best for their children. We all know that we live in a digital age, and there is no stopping digital growth. But to what extent are we using tech to replace the things that we know are best for our children?” Both reception classes no longer use screens for teaching, though the older classes do.

Fox is turning her attention to the newest generation of teachers coming through. “They’re from a different generation,” she says – people who have grown up with screens themselves. “How can we give them the confidence to know what’s best, and to put the scheme down and just connect with their children?”