In 2017 the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of the much misunderstood and maligned Plowden Report went unnoticed -- a pity for those sharing progressive values, needed much more now than in the 1960s. In this article the author argues that the spirit of the report and its underlying values need restating in the current climate.

The Ofsted report Bold Beginnings was met with virulent opposition from the early years community. It tried to foreclose, rather than open up, debate about the Reception year; its wording was particularly incendiary. Almost a year on, straws in the wind suggest that the community's reaction was justified and that a battle for the soul of Reception…

In December 2017, a highly critical report entitled Bald Beginnings was prepared by the early years association TACTYC in response to Bold Beginnings, Ofsted's latest (2017) bulletin on early years practice. In a subsequent meeting with early years leaders, Ofsted proposed that Bold Beginnings should be seen as one component in a set of…

The Ofsted report entitled Bold Beginnings: the Reception curriculum in a sample of good and outstanding primary schools is part of a research programme aimed at reviewing the primary curriculum and its implementation. Although the report highlights the 'uniqueness' of the Reception year, it also undermines the principles of Early Years Foundation…

The 'school-readiness' agenda is becoming increasingly dominant in recent policy discourse, and this article explores how the Bold Beginnings report builds on this agenda. By focusing on the curricular gap between the end of Reception and Year 1, and on the importance of mathematical and literacy outcomes, it is argued that Bold Beginnings clearly…

In November 2017, Ofsted published Bold Beginnings, a report on its findings about teaching in the Reception year. Like very many practitioners in the early years, the author of this article believes this report to be of concern, as the recommendations it proposes would be so damaging for the early education of young children. She believes its…

In November 2015 the House of Commons Education Committee launched an enquiry into the purpose and quality of education in England. Among the written submissions was one from this author on behalf of the Cambridge Primary Review Trust. At the request of "FORUM" an edited version appears in the journal. The submission's centrepiece was…

This article offers a critique of Ofsted's Bold Beginnings report based on the author's own experience as an early years practitioner. It draws attention to the growing 'readiness' agenda of the Department for Education (DfE) and to its focus on a primarily transmission-based model of teaching. It reaffirms the necessity of an approach to the…

The author provides notes on the historical context and membership of the consultative committees chaired by Sir W. H. Hadow, summarises each of the six reports produced between 1923 and 1933, and assesses the extent to which they informed the development of education in England, noting that the Plowden Committee felt compelled to reiterate many…

In the light of some of the aspirations for education expressed in the Plowden Report, this short piece considers the experiences of teachers in a "progressive" English independent school. There is a particular focus on what might loosely be termed job satisfaction. It is suggested that, whilst these teachers enjoy their work, they have…

The author reflects on the way that the Plowden Report is represented in the historical record. Simple narratives of education policy are inadequate to capture the Report's significance in a decade of cultural turmoil, and the professional contention that it generated. Historical accounts will vary according to the viewpoint of the historian, and…