The Children's Act 2006 describes how the new regulatory framework for childcare providers, the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), should be implemented in order to improve outcomes for children's learning and development.
This newly published guidance for birth to five years old explains what childcare providers are expected to do and gives advice about how they should do it. It incorporates three previous guidance documents: the National Standards for Daycare, the Birth to Three Matters framework and the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage.
Overall, the new document comprises four sections:
- the statutory framework
- principles into practice cards
- practice guidance for the EYFS
- a CD-ROM.
The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) introduced the framework in May 2007 and it expects local authorities to disseminate best practice over the next year. They should give support and training to all staff working with children under five years old so that practitioners feel sufficiently informed and prepared to operate the new framework by September 2008.
- The CD-ROM for the EYFS is an active tool that identifies what the new guidance contains and how childcare practitioners can put it successfully into practice. It features a series of short video clips of children playing and adults interacting with them, which highlights how the EYFS can be interpreted effectively and, most importantly, how practitioners can work positively to improve outcomes for children's learning.
Practitioners should see the CD-ROM as a useful support which helps them become familiar with every part of the guidance and understand how research affects expectations for children's development and achievement.
A particular benefit of the CD-ROM is that it provides the whole guidance in an alternative format, informing practitioners through moving pictures and sound how they should behave and respond to children in a variety of contexts.
HOW THE CD-ROM WORKS
The CD-ROM replicates the designs used throughout the document and brings them to life in a way that highlights the contents. For example, drop-down boxes appear below significant titles to explain the context and theory with which to develop good practice. Video clips accompany a great many of the statements and are activated by a simple double-click on the mouse.
Practitioners learn to navigate round the document by clicking on the subjects that particularly interest them and relate especially to their individual area of work.
HOW IT CAN BE USED
The CD-ROM can be used as a tool to refresh your memory about a certain aspect of the programme, such as the subjects of the themes and principles, as well as the commitments that they each contain.
These are demonstrated with static reproductions of the information that appears in the statutory guidance. However, as these statements can be seen on the screen in isolation, practitioners should find them easier to absorb, relate to and remember. So, the on-screen information may be more accessible to many practitioners than that found in the printed booklet, although this will ultimately depend on the learning needs of the individual practitioners who use it.
EXAMPLES OF GOOD PRACTICE
The CD-ROM emphasises the holistic nature of the EYFS by linking the separate parts of the document and illustrating through the video clips how the programme should be implemented. This should lead to better support for children's learning and development in the classroom.
It is hoped that the featured contexts and resources, reinforced by the focused intervention of adults, will inspire practitioners to be both adventurous and creative in their approach to the guidance. They should also become more self-aware of the impact they have on the children they care for.
Bringing the EYFS to life through the video clips is, therefore, both useful and reassuring for practitioners. This approach gives credence to the principle that early years services which are expressly child-centred and stimulating should offer the best practice in line with the expectations of the new guidance.
Navigating through the CD-ROM, practitioners should become familiar with the video clips which, in turn, will support their developing practice. Also the material should be discussed among colleagues at staff meetings and training sessions.
1. ASSESSMENT AND PLANNING
These two video clips, within the enabling environments section, illustrate various ways of making notes about children's reactions to events and activities, and demonstrate how adults and carers can compile simple but effective documentation on children's progress across the six areas of learning and development.
In the video section on recording, the adult observes the children's skills and reactions while they play creatively and makes very brief comments about these on 'post-it' notes. This system of noting does not prevent the adult from actively working with the children and intervening to support their learning.
The children are clearly familiar with adults around them making such observations, so the process does not inhibit either their enjoyment or their concentration levels.
In the video on planning, two adults are seen exploring the profiles, or records of progress and achievement, of children and discussing what they will need to do to extend the children's development and skills. The emphasis of the conversation is placed on building upon success and celebrating the positive aspects that are illustrated in the records in the form of photographs of children's development that are accompanied by dated written comments about them.
This video makes explicit the importance of sharing information with colleagues and developing an agreed strategy on how to proceed in a co-ordinated way. Such a focus on the ability of 'key workers' to share good practice and monitor and evaluate children's learning and development is an essential and vital element of the new guidance.
The suggested formats for collecting evidence featured in this video clip are most helpful to practitioners. For example, it emphasises how well photographs can be used to record key moments during a spell of children's expressive play to capture thoughtful engagement in activities, sensitive social interaction and acts leading to the acquisition of skills. It is hoped that such strong visual illustrations of useful and specific assessment of progress will convince early years practitioners to develop similar methods of recording in their own settings.
2. POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS
A video clip within the commitment on 'supporting learning' section shows a child walking confidently around a nursery class, taking digital photographs of other children who are busily engrossed in play. It is an exceptionally well-organised and attractive environment, set up mainly as a workshop, with a range of stimulating experiences for children to access and enjoy.
The child knows how to operate the equipment and proudly exhibits her skills to her friends, while any intervention by the adult appears positively encouraging as the child reviews the photos she has taken previously. They discuss intelligently how effectively she has recorded the events that occurred both indoors and outside.
The fact that a camera crew is also present making the video is an encouragement for the children to imitate the technicians and the images that they videotape. This particular video clip demonstrates clearly how very young children can be empowered to use technology in creative and educational ways.
3. PLAY AND EXPLORATION
This video sequence, within the learning and development strand, shows babies of 12 to 18 months enjoying one of the messiest forms of play - they dip themselves in cornflour and water mixtures and spread the paint on large pieces of paper. The adult with them is consciously supportive and uses both body language and verbal encouragement to make the experience interesting and creative.
The babies experiment by using their whole bodies, which become thoroughly covered in the cornflour and paint mixtures. Within the context of daycare this is a powerful message that needs to be shared with staff so that they learn and fully accept that it is all right to offer even the youngest children the opportunity to get covered in paint.
Developing a good partnership with parents is also critical so that the benefits of creative play can be properly explained to them. It is also important to make sure that the risks associated with this sort of play regarding children's health and safety are taken into account and that provision is made for children to be washed and changed as required after the play session is completed.
The auditing tool - KEEP
KEEP, or Key Elements of Effective Practice, is the auditing tool recommended for use with the new EYFS guidance. As it is referred to frequently in the CD-ROM, it is important for practitioners to possess a thorough working knowledge of how it can be used to review their practice in delivering their childcare service.
KEEP was published in 2005 by the Department for Education and Skills and can be obtained by contacting the DfES publishers and distributors on 0845 60 222 60. This document was orginally developed as a response to a set of ealy years education research papers that were commissioned and published by the DfES over recent years and which are avaliable on the www.surestart.gov.uk/ensuringquality/research/earlyyears site. They are:
- REPEY - Research into Effective Pedagogy in the Early Years
- EPPE - Effective Provision of Pre-school Education
- SPEEL - Study of Pedagogical Effectiveness in Early Learning.
Essentially, the research papers focused on observing children and adults working in a range of childcare settings and analysed how the behaviour, language and acquisition of skills made an impact on children's progress and development.
These research documents identified that some elements of best practice in the early years could be achieved by setting clear expectations for adult interaction and delivery. Many of the recommendations derived from the research appear in KEEP and its aim is to encourage leaders of early years education and childcare to monitor their own behaviour and performance with children and parents against this self-reflective tool.
THE MAIN PRINCIPLES FOR KEY ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE PRACTICE
- Effective practice in the early years requires committed, enthusiastic and reflective practitioners with a breadth of knowledge, skills and understanding.
- Practitioners need to develop, demonstrate and continuously improve their understanding of the individual child and the diverse ways in which children develop and learn.
- On-going training for practitioners should constantly improve practice in meeting all children's needs, learning styles and interests.
- Practitioners should demonstrate and continuously improve their work with parents, carers and the wider community.
- Practitioners should support children's development in all areas of learning.
- They should improve and perfect skills to work with other professionals within and beyond the setting.
- They should strive to improve relationships with children and adults in ways which are positive, sensitive and non-judgmental.
These principles are very much in line with those expressed in the Every Child Matters agenda and its central focus on improving outcomes for both children and parents. The idea behind the KEEP audit tool is that leaders and staff in institutional settings, and childminders, should evaluate their practice against the principles and create a detailed portfolio of evidence which shows that they are striving towards and maintaining the very highest standards of delivery.
This may seem like a weighty responsibility to shoulder, but it is a form of record keeping that makes clear what good practice should be judged by. It also has the beneficial effect of making practitioners more aware of what they should be doing to ensure and sustain high standards of delivery.
The KEEP document will inspire leaders of settings to become more focused on:
- The aims and objectives of their service and how these are efficiently shared with staff and used to evaluate and develop the programme for children and parents
- Their business plans and how they identify both the importance of financial sustainability and the support that is offered through improved resources and training
- The inclusive environment for which they are responsible and the way it promotes the health and safety of all children and adults
- Staff training and how it is planned, so that the knowledge and skills of staff enable them to understand and meet the expectations of the early years curriculum in all its breadth
- The way childcare information is stored and shared with staff and parents and how staff collect, interpret and use observations and assessments of children's learning to inform their planning of the environment and the experiences for extending learning
- Defining how the support offered by Area Special Needs Co-ordinators, early years advisory teachers and childcare development workers from the local authority is used to improve the skills, knowledge and expertise of staff
- Identifying how child groupings and the key worker system are operated to ensure that children's individual needs are assessed and met
- Making best use of the support offered by parents, professionals from other agencies and the wider community.
CONCLUSIONS FOR DELIVERING THE EYFS
The emphasis on the organisation and management of an early years service should inspire leaders to adopt a very pro-active role in determining how to recruit, train and support staff. It has become clear through recent research that best practice is most effectively promoted by an informed and capable workforce that has sufficient knowledge and understanding to support children's learning and development.
The EYFS seeks to combine evidence learned through current research on child development with the practical skills required by practitioners to implement the programme. It is based on the idea that adults who are praised for their contribution will continue to have high aspirations for themselves and their own career. This, in turn, will have a positive impact on the way they work with each other, as well as with children and parents.
Children benefit most from the company of relaxed and confident adults who draw them into interesting and stimulating experiences. In this way, children learn to make the most of simple and accessible resources, especially when they have the time to think about what they are doing and also when they are encouraged to develop expressive language to develop ideas and concepts.
The EYFS has several strengths that practitioners will learn to appreciate increasingly as they implement it with children.
- The document is holistic in the sense that each part of the guidance is inter-related to every other part, and the main principles are reinforced and mirrored in every aspect of practice and performance. This is reassuring for practitioners and will also help them grow familiar with the jargon used and the vision for early learning and support.
- The statutory guidance is clearly expressed and provides a checklist of recommended actions and behaviour that all practitioners should follow to ensure that they meet high standards of health and safety within an inclusive, secure and loving environment.
- The practice cards are user-friendly and make positive suggestions for observing and assessing children's knowledge and skills and for planning stimulating and challenging experiences to extend development.
- The practice guidance is a reference document for delivering the whole curriculum, with clear recommendations about what is suitable at each stage of children's growth and development.
- The CD-ROM provides all the above information in another format for those practitioners who want to access recent early years research and who value the stimulus of visual prompts about how to organise their classrooms and other environments for children.
The EYFS is a document that will translate comfortably into everyday practice with the positive support of local authorities across the country. It should be welcomed as both a regulatory guidance for the protection of children, and as best practice to improve the knowledge and understanding of the childcare workforce.
According to the latest research into the needs of babies and young children, it is only proper that practitioners should reflect deeply on the way they interact and support them. Particularly, in an age when children are exposed to so much ubiquitous electronic technology, it is easy to overlook the importance of their basic need for love and attention alongside the opportunity to communicate and express themselves.
The EYFS will undoubtedly make a profound impact on the outcomes for children's learning in the long term and should ensure that there is a continuity of expectation for practitioners working across the age range from birth to five years. This is a document with a clearly holistic approach which should improve the knowledge and skills of all practitioners as well as making it easier for them to observe, assess and plan effectively to meet children's individual abilities and needs. It should be given the careful attention it deserves.
