At the Forge Trust we recognise the vital importance of a child’s primary education in learning the skills, attitudes and dispositions that are so crucial to leading a happy and fulfilling life. This is an enormous responsibility that we take seriously from the moment a child arrives at a Forge Academy.
Research has shown that during the first years of life the brain develops rapidly, forging connections at an incredible rate. This is crucial not only for language development but also for physical development and for personal, social and emotional development. Crucial areas that lay the foundations for later learning and literacy.
At Forge, our emphasis on Getting it Right Early means that we genuinely value Early Years education and seek to develop emotionally warm settings, that provide rich learning environments with a balance between experiential learning and adult support and challenge.
We understand that children’s first experiences of school can play a part in setting the tone for how they come to see education in later years. Warm welcoming adults who understand the importance of developing caring relationships have a crucial role to play across the primary years. Our experience of talking to parents shows that those who recount negative schooling experiences may still face some difficulties in engaging with educators on their child’s behalf. We aim to break this cycle.
We also understand the importance of the Early Years in helping provide increased equality of opportunity. If language rich environments characterised by high quality personalised interactions help all children, then this is particularly the case for those who face some disadvantage or challenge.
There is strong evidence that getting communication and interaction right early, helps children acquire skills essential for later reading. Skills that can help pupils avoid some of the pitfalls associated with learning to read later than peers such as lower self-esteem and disengagement. A further strand of our approach is our prioritisation of early reading with an emphasis on high quality phonics teaching and reading for pleasure across the Trust.
At Forge we aim to embed the Getting it Right Early approach across our academies. We challenge each setting to consider how else it can act proactively such as in approaches to transition, to using assessment to identify when barriers need to be overcome or learning extended, through to supporting staff development, or in building relationships with parents.
At Forge Getting it Right Early is a key principle in our vision for improvement.