The Daily Mail's front-page headline said, 'Toddlers taught to speak by state diktat'. Other national newspapers implied that the Government had devised a 'national curriculum for toddlers' where three-year-olds would have basic instruction in English and maths.
Children's minister Beverly Hughes announced last week that the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) would 'support the delivery' of quality integrated education and care for every child attending a day nursery or in the care of a childminder from birth until the point when they begin Key Stage 1.
Early years experts, some of whom have been involved in developing the new framework, dismissed suggestions that a 'curriculum' for nought-to-fives might curtail childhood by replacing play with more structured activities.
But some experts admitted that they were awaiting further details in the consultation next summer for final reassurance that best practice was being promoted.
Early years consultant Jennie Lindon said, 'While I have every confidence in Lesley Staggs and her team (employed by the Government to develop the framework), it concerns me that the language used in some media reports may suggest a possible hijacking by people who don't understand what early years is all about.
'I am also concerned about taking the phrase Early Years Foundation Stage.
It raises the risk that the current Foundation Stage is being stretched to fit very young children,' she added.
Steve Alexander, chief executive of the Pre-School Learning Alliance, said, 'The tabloid press got hold of the wrong end of the stick. It was misleading and the fear factor was not necessary.
'I think the Government's intention is honourable. In a broader sense, it was accepted that the Government, with its spotlight on "education, education, education", might convert to look at scholastic attainment. But reports in the press seem to have lost Lesley Staggs' message about a framework that combines care, education and play. Of course, we wait to see the detail.'
Lesley Staggs, national director of the Foundation Stage, has been holding meetings with practitioners and heads of centres to canvass opinion on the new framework. Responding to media reports, she said, 'Possibly they haven't looked back at the ten-year strategy, which clearly sets out the aim of this framework, which is about combining care, learning and development with a play-based approach.
'It's important to remember this is about bringing together existing documents -the Birth to Three Matters framework and the Foundation Stage.
Birth to Three is in no way prescriptive - it's about environment, experiences and people.'
Ms Staggs added that mixed messages might have come from some of the language used. 'We need to define what we mean by certain terms. When people think "national curriculum", they think prescriptive and formal. I understand why they might feel nervous that the EYFS might be downward pressure, in the same way that the Foundation Stage was first viewed.'
But she said that instead, the EYFS was about 'creating a streamlined framework for working with children from birth to five'.
Ms Staggs added that assessment would be observation-based. 'There's nothing as far as I'm concerned that would be about encouraging people to tick lists. The assessment will be making sure that we know what the next steps are and, in terms of continuity, to ensure that good information flows through settings -information that is relevant to each particular child.'
* See 'In my view', p35
