What is the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)?
The EYFS, to be introduced in September 2008, is a framework that will cover all aspects of children's care and learning from birth to the August after a child's fifth birthday.
The new framework:
* forms part of Government policy to improve the life chances of all children regardless of their family circumstances
* takes as its starting point the five outcomes set out in Every Child Matters and the Children Act 2004 (be healthy; stay safe; enjoy and achieve; make a positive contribution; and achieve economic wellbeing) and
* brings together the Birth to Three Matters framework, the Foundation Stage, and elements of the National Standards for Under-Eights Daycare and Childminding.
Director of the Foundation Stage Ruth Pimentel says, 'Children's improved wellbeing is at the heart of the EYFS, which will support practitioners to plan care and learning that is right for each child at each stage of development. We now have the opportunity to look at care and education in the context of a continuous journey from birth.'
What will be its legal status?
The EYFS will have the same legal status as the current Foundation Stage, but will not form part of the National Curriculum.
It will be compulsory for all early years providers that have to register with Ofsted, as well as independent, maintained and non-maintained special schools offering provision for children in the year in which they turn five.
The current Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage, Birth to Three Matters framework and the National Standards for Under-Eights Daycare and Childminding will be repealed.
Packs containing the EYFS framework and supporting guidance will be distributed to childcare settings at the end of March 2007.
What does the EYFS framework contain?
The first consultation document - The Early Years Foundation Stage: consultation on a single quality framework for services to children from birth to five - was detailed, but badly received, with many in the sector objecting to its complexity and the rigid developmental grids that extended the six areas of learning backwards towards birth.
The revised document - The EYFS Statutory Framework - has been stripped down dramatically and outlines in the main:
* the learning and development requirements (the early learning goals, educational programmes and assessment arrangements), and
* the welfare requirements (the revised National Standards).
The extensive detail from the initial document will be incorporated in the non-statutory guidance.
What will the guidance contain?
The guidance will comprise:
* EYFS practice guidance, including principles, approach and learning and development grids
* EYFS resources, comprising a CD-Rom, poster and Principles into Practice cards and including examples of good practice.
The EYFS principles will be grouped into four themes:
* A Unique Child (to reflect the importance of planning around the individual child)
* Positive Relationships (to reflect the importance of establishing an effective key worker system and positive relations with children)
* Enabling Environments (to reflect the importance of planning around resources and the environment to promote a child's learning, rather than around schedules of adult-led activities)
* Learning and Development (to underline how important it is for practitioners to understand the huge developmental changes and learning processes that children experience in the first five years of their lives).
In addition to offering individualised learning, the EYFS goals are to:
* provide for equality of opportunity
* promote partnership working between parents and professionals
* improve quality and consistency, and
* lay a secure foundation for a child's future learning.
Will I have to change the way that I work?
The DfES early years team, local authority advisers and early years consultants are all keen to stress that the EYFS represents continuity with the principles, pedagogy and approach of the current frameworks.
'The message to settings is that the EYFS isn't about making changes, it's about bringing things together to create a more cohesive framework,' says Lesley Staggs, consultant and former director of the Foundation Stage.
'Early years practitioners are now very familiar with the Foundation Stage and, from my experience, local authorities have done a huge amount of work with their settings in introducing the Birth to Three Matters framework, so the EYFS shouldn't come as a huge surprise. The good practice they are based on is still there in EYFS. However, it will be a much bigger issue for settings that haven't been working according to the principles of Birth to Three Matters and the Foundation Stage.'
Ruth Pimentel says, 'Starting with the child is not a new way of working, but it is important to stress that each child has to be at the heart of the work that takes place in the EYFS.
'There is an emphasis on observing young children and ensuring that the results of those observations inform the planning for the next steps in each child's learning and development. There are tools on the CD-Rom to enable practitioners to do this effectively.'
The consultation documents make clear the extent to which settings will be expected to move away from topic-driven provision towards offering more child-initiated play within a responsive yet challenging environment planned around the developmental needs and interests of the individual child.
The EYFS statutory framework states: 'As parents do, providers should deliver individualised learning, development and care...Every child should be supported individually to make progress at their own pace' (page 4).
What training will be made available?
Local authorities will roll out training from April 2007. Ruth Pimentel explains, 'Much of the information in the EYFS will already be built into existing training, but there may need to be adaptation.
'The Primary National Strategy is producing a briefing pack for local authorities and key training providers to support them in disseminating key messages and briefing their practitioners. Work is also being undertaken to develop units of learning accredited at Level 3 in partnership with the Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC).'
The training will take a holistic approach - to reflect good practice - and will focus not on specific activities, but on what a day might be like for a child of a given age within an early years setting. Extra funding for training may be made available, but has yet to be announced.
How can I prepare for the EYFS?
The general advice is ensure that you receive the EYFS framework and guidance, keep in regular touch with your local authority about training and up to date with information they send.
Although the current framework documents will be repealed, many early years advisers are recommending that settings hold on to the existing guidance, particularly Birth to Three Matters, because its principles and approach will still be relevant. Advisers fear that some settings may struggle to interpret the developmental grids in the new guidance and lose sight of good practice, especially with the very young.
Will the EYFS be a success?
Ruth Pimentel is confident that the guidance materials will steer settings towards reflecting upon and improving their practice. She says, 'The range of resources that we have produced in consultation with others will be well received and support practitioners to reflect on their practice.'
However, there will be challenges. 'It is essential that the gains made in improving experiences and challenges for the birth to three age group are not lost in the process of introducing the new six areas of learning,' says one early years adviser.
'My advice to all childcare practitioners is to retain the best practice developed over the past few years and to have the confidence to absorb the changes in a calm and reflective way. The success of the new programme will depend greatly on the leadership and organisational skills of managers of childcare.'
Lesley Staggs feels that the success of the EYFS will depend on the quality of the training and Ofsted inspections. She says, 'However good the guidance, it needs well-trained practitioners to put it into practice.
Current plans don't go far enough to meet the sector's training needs. Good inspection also relies on effective training and experience. Ofsted inspectors have often endorsed practice that local authority advisers have said is unsatisfactory, and this undermines the work of local authorities.
'If Ofsted gives a setting a clean bill of health, it's virtually impossible for local authorities to change that provision. The DfES and Ofsted need to get grips with that one.'
More information
The consultation documents and responses can be viewed at www.dfes.gov.uk/consultations/
