Nursery World - EYFS review prioritises how children learn

How, rather than what, children learn should be given greater emphasis under a revised early years framework, the EYFS review has recommended.

Dame Clare Tickell states, 'I recommend that playing and exploring, active learning, and creating and thinking critically are highlighted in the EYFS as three characteristics of effective teaching and learning.'

The characteristics, she proposes, should also be added to a revised EYFS Profile.

While acknowledging that these are already 'implicit' in the current framework, Dame Clare goes on to say, 'I believe the EYFS would be a better product if these were made explicit. They are lifelong characteristics which need to be fostered and developed during the early years, as they are critical for building children's capacity for future learning.

A renewed emphasis on these characteristics will, she adds, 'encourage the spread of excellent practice', alongside other recommendations to realign the areas of learning and to cut the number of early learning goals from 69 to 17.

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