The wrong beginnings: A response to the recent Ofsted report, ‘Bold Beginnings’

At the end of November 2017, Ofsted, under its new Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman, issued a report on practice in Reception classrooms. The report, titled ‘Bold Beginnings’ has marked a sudden and surprising shift in Ofsted’s views on the nature of good practice in early childhood education. In consequence, it has sparked widespread controversy and condemnation, with many early years teachers, Headteachers and researchers criticising the report for its uncritical support for current government dogma and its ignorance of the wealth of scientific evidence on learning in young children. These responses from the early years community included a damning response from TACTYC, the Association for Professional Development in Early Years entitled ‘Bald Beginnings’ .In this article we want to set out some of the scientific evidence which causes concern in relation to the direction of travel of recent government early years policy, and specifically that stated and implied in this Ofsted report.