What is Plan Do Review?

Plan Do Review is an intervention targeting the communication and language skills of children aged three to four. The programme combines structured ​“plan, do, review” sessions where children share ideas, engage in play, and reflect on their learning, supported by educators using conversation-enhancing techniques.

Who is leading this project?

The project is led by Wingate Community Nursery School; an outstanding school for over 27 years, whose practice is rooted in respect for children and their childhood. 

What will this project look like in your setting?

This programme provides practitioner professional development and facilitates the implementation of ​‘Plan, Do, Review’ sessions with small groups of children. By encouraging children to lead conversation and think critically, practitioners aim to teach active listening and meaningful response. This hopes to support an understanding of back-and-forth conversation, comprehension of ​‘how’ or ​‘why questions’, and the organisation of thoughts, ideas, feelings and events.

The programme begins with two half-days of online training for the two members of staff in each participating setting. Practitioners also receive: 

• 10 online coaching sessions spanning the 25 weeks of delivery
• A practitioner handbook, detailing the rationale and ​‘key ingredients’ of the approach 
  
• A weekly planning, delivery, and reflection log
• Online access to training slides, videos of practice, and planning examples. 

Early years setting practitioners deliver daily ​‘Plan, Do, Review’ sessions in small groups of 8 – 13 children: 

• During the ​‘plan’ sessions, children participate in a 15 – 20-minute group conversation surrounding their plans for play. They are supported to listen, respond meaningfully and support one another’s thinking. 
• During the ​‘do’ sessions, children enact these plans by playing for at least 60 minutes, using continuous provision resources whilst being supported by educators. 
• During the ​‘review’ sessions, children participate in a 10 – 15-minute group conversation about their play experiences, with the educator encouraging them to reflect on their learning and next steps. 

Plan, Do, Review is available for free to all participating settings.

Who can take part?

Maintained, school-based and PVI Early Years settings in England are eligible to participate if they:

• Are located in the North East of England (all local authorities), Cumbria or North Yorkshire.
• In the academic year 25/26, will have at least 10 children aged three to four years who attend at least 15 hours per week
• Agree to participate fully in the study, including having two setting staff trained, and completing the programme.
• Are not be currently participating in any other language-based programme being evaluated through EEF funding.

The Effective Provision of Pre-school Education (EPPE), a longitudinal study of children’s development, highlighted ​‘sustained shared thinking’ as a common approach in high quality early years settings. Further, the EEF Early Years Evidence Store found promising evidence surrounding the approach of ​‘teaching through collaborative talk’. The limited number of studies that examined the impact of this approach on children found a positive impact on communication and language. This pilot study aims to develop this existing body of evidence by assessing the impact of the Plan, Do, Review approach, which is based on collaborative talk and sustained shared thinking.

Plan, Do, Review was funded as an innovation project in the EEF’s Early-Stage Programme Development pipeline. The programme was delivered for 15 weeks to a mix of 5 maintained and private, voluntary and independent settings. The programme was well-received by practitioners, who reported growing confidence in their ability to implement the approach.

This pilot project will be independently evaluated by the University of Leeds, who will assess the feasibility, perceived impact and potential scalability of the Plan, Do, Review approach. These findings will be published in an evaluation report.