📋 Show Notes Episode 4 – Building Strong Foundations in Pre-Reception: How Young Children Grow and Learn

In this episode, Rachael explores what high-quality early-years provision looks like for children aged two to four. She unpacks how talk, relationships, and routines combine to create the strongest possible foundations for learning.

Key discussion points

• Why the two-to-four window is critical for brain development.

• How Development Matters supports but doesn’t replace curriculum design.

• The role of adult interaction as a form of teaching.

• Building executive function and self-regulation through play. • Practical examples of language-rich routines.

• Why nursery practice should remain play-based, not a mini-Reception.

• How to observe and evaluate talk for impact.

Premium Member Resource:

👉 The Language of Interaction: A Practical Framework for High-Quality Talk in Nursery and Pre-Reception

Includes strategies and reflection tools to support leadership, coaching, and everyday pedagogy.

Sign up to the Premium Members' Hub to access this resource and all resources for the previous 16 podcast episodes: https://the-leadership-lens.mykajabi.com/premium-membership

Links mentioned

• EYFS Framework (2025)

• Development Matters (2023)

• Birth to 5 Matters (2023)

• Ofsted Early Years Research Review (2023)

• EEF Preparing for Literacy (2021)