Julie is an excellent writer, leading her reader through the difficult arguments about what really matters in our work with young children. She explores the tensions around the different 'drivers' in Foundation Stage and Key Stage One teaching with sensitivity but with the same clear vision she shows in her earlier books. This is an important book for students, lecturers and teachers - and a must for heads and subject co-ordinators.
Nick Swarbrick, Westminster Institute of Education, Oxford Brookes University, UK

Your common-sense, authoritative, warm and inspirational words...remind me beyond all doubt of why I went into teaching.
Key Stage 1 teacher

Julie Fisher's newest contribution to the debate on transitions in England is written in her usual clear and accessible style, and with the breadth and confidence which all readers have come to expect of her.
Liz Brooker, Institute of Education, University of London, UK

This practical book offers a series of strategies for promoting learning that meets the needs and interests of Key Stage 1 pupils, ensuring that the move from the Early Years Foundation Stage to Key Stage 1 is a positive one.

It includes:

• Descriptions and case studies of good practice that stem from established principles of learning and teaching
• Reflective practice prompts at the end of each chapter

Julie Fisher considers recent evidence about how children learn and questions whether current practice in Key Stage 1 optimises these ways of learning. Challenging the reliance on teacher-directed activity, she asks whether introducing more child-initiated learning could offer children a more appropriate balance of learning opportunities.

Key issues include:

• The place of play in Key Stage 1
• Organising the learning day to include child-initiated activity
• Observation and assessment
• Planning
• The role of the teacher

This essential book is indispensable reading for students and practitioners in both the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1.