The foundation Stage 2. Common features of good practice 3. Areas of learning and early learning goals 1. The foundation stage begins when children reach the age of three.
Many children first attend some form of pre-school or nursery soon after their third birthday.
All settings which receive nursery education grant funding are required to offer high quality provision. Most children are expected to achieve the early learning goals by the end of the foundation stage. Practitioners should plan a curriculum which helps children make good progress towards and, where appropriate , beyond these goals. The last year of the foundation stage is often described ad the reception year, since most children are admitted to the reception class of a primary school at some point during that year. The introduction of the foundation of the foundation stage does not change the point at which attendance at school is compulsory, which is the beginning of the term after a child's fifth birthday.