Small Shoes, Big Expectations: The Reception Teacher’s Dilemma
Keeping curiosity alive under the weight of the curriculum
Prior to leaving teaching, I worked as a Reception teacher for over a decade. Reception is an incredible year group to work in, but it is also the most complicated! Throughout my time in this learning space, I constantly felt this moral pull between doing what I knew was right and doing what was expected of me.
Caught in the Crossfire
Reception is that strange space where you are not really part of the school and not fully part of the early years space either. Yet each realm has its own strong opinions about what good practice should look like — and sadly, these viewpoints often clash. As a result, the role of a Reception teacher is to constantly find the balance between the two approaches.
On one hand, you know that children learn best through play and child-led experiences with appropriate adult scaffolding. On the other hand, you know your children need to learn how to read, write, and complete mathematical calculations in order to be “school ready” and meet their ELGs.
Scheme, Scheme, Go Away — Don’t Come Back Another Day
When I first started teaching in Reception, schemes of learning barely existed, and if they did, you were actively encouraged not to rely on them too heavily. It was expected that you would get to know your children carefully, then make informed decisions about how to adapt your environment and curriculum to meet their developmental needs and plug gaps.
This, after all, is what good teaching is — early years or not! But somewhere along the way, the message changed. Now, schemes of learning have become the new normal, and if you’re not using them, some question whether you’re truly doing what’s best for your children.
For me, it started with phonics (Read Write Inc). Gone were the days of planning flexible reading sessions — now we taught formal phonics for a full hour at a time. Then came the maths programmes. And before you could say “no thank you,” in came the foundation subjects. Bit by bit, everything that made Reception still feel like part of the early years space was being chipped away, replaced by schemes and lengthy lessons, all in the name of making children “school ready.”
And if you got it wrong? Well, you were told you’d ruined their school journey and failed in your duty as a Reception teacher. The pressure was insane.
Evidence-Informed Practice
While being told we had to follow schemes of learning to prepare children for the rest of school, we were also under pressure to keep doing things “the early years way.”
We all know that children learn best through play-based experiences and high-quality interactions. Play in Reception, however, has looked different across the decades, and for some reason, people can’t seem to agree on what it should look like.
If you walked into a nursery and saw children playing, you wouldn’t bat an eyelid. But if you saw the same thing in a Reception classroom, the questions that followed could make your head spin:
Why are they “just” playing at this time in your timetable?
How are you ensuring the children are stretched and challenged?
What are your objectives for this play session?
Points to a child — “What are they working on and what are they learning?”
Why aren’t they playing with or talking about what you taught them in adult-led time?
At times it could feel shameful — people with no early years knowledge or background judging you for “just playing,” without recognising how essential it is for children’s wellbeing and development.
We Are in the EYFS!
The Reception year is one of the most special in a child’s life, and we must remember that only so much can be learnt in this short period. Children are not meant to be school ready — academically — from the start. It’s a slow process that needs to be planned carefully. That doesn’t mean removing play one term at a time.
Our children need to play — and given the amount of sit-down learning they now have to do, it’s more important than ever to give them downtime so they can regulate and relax.
So if you see a Reception teacher, offer them a cup of tea and a chat. You might be surprised at how many need it. They’re under enormous pressure to “fix” everything in such a short time.
If you’re a school leader, remember: Reception is not Key Stage One. They should be playing.