Nurseries are stifling the ability of small boys to learn by forcing them to stay indoors and sit still for too long in class, according to a report today on preschool education.

Instead they must be allowed to play outside and encouraged to develop their imaginations and take the lead in lessons, school inspectors say.

Some boys are being left far behind girls as teachers fail to accommodate their different ways of learning.

Although most children aged 3 to 5 make good progress in class, Ofsted found that children were not speaking or listening properly in about a third of England’s early years settings. Bright children were frequently not stretched sufficiently.

Experts have long maintained that boys would be far better served by having more male teachers who understand the way they work. Instead, the achievement gap begins at preschool age and tends to grow wider throughout full-time education, with 59 per cent of first-class and upper-second degrees going to women.

The report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate comes weeks after a government study found that toddlers who sang songs and played number and letter games at home often became better readers at primary school than those who attended poor-quality nurseries.

At Westfield Farm, in Lincolnshire, Hannah Dring has recognised that boys learn far better when they are outside looking at tractors than when inside painting.

The private nursery, high-lighted by Ofsted as a model for others to follow, has a vegetable garden, a two-acre forest and a large garden for the eight preschool children.

Ms Dring said: “Boys don’t want to sit down, so when they’re outside — as they are most days — they’re learning but don’t realise it. They’re counting the wheels and lights on the tractors. If we go on nature walks, they’ll collect leaves and learn about shapes and colours, as well as trees.”

Some teachers recognise gender differences, but the inspectors said that not all classes for 3 to 5-year-olds were “aware enough of the impact of girls’ and boys’ different choices of play activity on their progress in other areas of learning”.

Girls were “much more likely to chatter to themselves and others while playing, whereas boys’ play was sometimes silent and frequently done in isolation”. Girls are also more likely to listen and share toys, while boys will run around shouting, but rarely develop their games through talking to each other. The inspectors also found that children in poorer areas who did not speak English as a first language failed to improve if left to “pick it up” on their own. When they received support, they improved.

Ofsted’s report coincides with increasing government concern about the gender gap at primary and secondary level. Last week official figures showed that boys achieved lower grades than girls, particularly in English.

Life lessons

According to government guidelines, a child aged 5 should be able to:

— Write his or her name

— Know the alphabet

— Go to the lavatory alone

— Sing simple songs

— Know that stories are read from left to right, top to bottom

— Count to ten

— Take turns, with adult help

— Hold a pencil and use it effectively

— Write to Father Christmas

— Understand the difference between right and wrong

Source: Department for Education and Skills

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