Continuous Provision and Planning
That which is provided daily as an essential part of effective practice which is made up of the
emotional and physical environments (including space and stimulating open-ended resources
indoors and outdoors) and routines.
It is linked to assessment of the current cohort to ensure it meets their developmental needs
and interests, which will include reviewing, and refreshing the provision and planning to extend
development and learning through challenges, enhancements and provocations.
Supportive and informed practitioners should play alongside the children, offering
encouragement, support and guidance in order to stimulate, model new learning, extend or
consolidate their development and learning. Adult led experiences can be delivered through
continuous provision.
What does outstanding quality continuous provision do?
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Provides continuity and security for children’s development and learning by taking
account of their needs and predictable interests;
Promotes confidence, independence, concentration, perseverance, thinking,
problem solving and creativity;
Enables children to practise and consolidate skills and knowledge as well as
developing new concepts;
Provides opportunities for development and learning across all areas of learning;
Promote children’s interactions and allow them to represent and communicate their
ideas in ways meaningful to them;
Allows children time and space to explore and investigate in depth, alongside their
peers and supportive knowledgeable adults.
Continuous provision should include carefully chosen, organised and open-ended quality
resources. These should always be available for the children to access independently with
opportunities for children to move and combine resources across areas.
Organised and accessible
Security and comfort
Continuous provision – planned experiences that are always available to the children – needs
to be constantly reviewed to monitor children’s interest and engagement levels in each area,
and refreshed in response to these observations. Are the resources beginning to look tired
and in need of attention, or are the challenges losing their edge? Although children need the
emotional security that a predictable and familiar environment brings, they will also need
new provocations to spark their thinking and generate new connections in their learning.
While the basic structure will remain the same, some of the resources will need to change to
reflect children’s developing knowledge, skills and understanding, if the provision is to
maintain their deep interest.
Finding and exploring young children’s fascinations: Strengthening the quality of gifted and
talented provision in the early years, National Strategies, 2010
Planning for continuous provision is not a list of resources to be ‘put out’. It should not be
‘train set’, ‘dinosaurs in sand’, ‘paper and pens’ or ‘numbers in water’ as these should
already be opportunities available for the children if they have appropriate access and
opportunities to combine resources.
Whilst key elements of continuous provision will remain the same, it is essential to observe
and assess children’s developmental and learning needs and plan additional experiences
and challenges within the continuous provision. These may be enhancements or
provocations.
Enhanced provision is adapting continuous provision indoors and outdoors by changing the
environment, resources or routines to stimulate and inspire children. An enhancement
could include a partial set up of an area to encourage exploration or presenting resources
creatively or in a new way.
What should an enhancement be?
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Following children’s interests and supporting their next steps;
Opportunity for children to re-visit and practise skills;
Interesting opportunity to extend their learning through play following an adult led
experience;
Child initiated independent play and exploration or supported by an adult.
Partial set up encouraging play and exploration
Following interests
Presenting resources creatively
Provocations are new exciting experiences to challenge and stimulate children’s further
development and learning. A provocation could be an interesting item, setting a problem to
be solved or a visit somewhere new.
Why plan provocations?
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Introduce new ideas and stimulate thinking;
Encourage creativity, problem solving and innovation;
Opportunity for children to discover new possibilities;
Develop new connections in their learning.
Discovering something new
Visitor to the setting
Questions for reflection:
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How do you create a learning environment inside and out that is rich in possibilities?
In what ways are children encouraged to be independent and take responsibility for
their environment?
How do you make sure that there are opportunities for every child to be inspired,
challenged and valued?
To what extent do you monitor children’s interests and engagement levels in each area
of the environment, and review and refresh in response to individual aptitudes,
interests and passions?
Finding and exploring young children’s fascinations: Strengthening the quality of gifted and
talented provision in the early years, National Strategies, 2010