51ºÚÁÏ

Young children are naturally curious about the world around them, but to build scientific knowledge we need to go beyond creating opportunities to explore, says Julian Grenier

In the early years, curriculum shouldn’t be either play-based or adult-led, but a mixture of both, writes Julian Grenier

Research shows that teacher belief in a child’s abilities can act like ‘rocket fuel’ for those growing up in poor communities, so staff must take conscious steps to challenge deficit narratives, says Julian Grenier

Whole-class story time is still very popular in schools, but research shows that sharing a story in small groups of three or four children is much more beneficial for language development, says Julian Grenier

Too often, the information provided by the progress check is rarely considered by teachers in nursery or Reception classes, warns Julian Grenier, as he argues for change

Age-related assessment bands simply don’t work for children with SEND, says Julian Grenier: instead, we need to use a structured process of formative assessment