The revised Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) consultation document has been published, the sector has responded, and now everyone is waiting with bated breath to see if any further changes are on the horizon. Nursery chains are gearing up to roll out training in the New Year, after the DfE publishes its response to the consultation feedback in December.
The general mood is one of optimism and providers are confident about implementing the new framework for September 2012. The proposed prime areas have been well received, although there is some concern that there is little reference to development from birth to 24 months.
Bright Horizon's director of early years, Nicola Amies, sat on the expert panel for the EYFS review. She says, 'I'm not sensing any anxiety or big change. It's not that different to what we are currently delivering. The biggest change is the seven areas of learning - the prime areas and the specific areas - and how that will play out for staff.
'The other areas are the two-year-old assessments and the requirement for staff supervision, which for some may be a significant change.'
The chains are looking at different approaches to training their staff on the revised EYFS. Some plan to go down the same training routes as they did when embedding the current framework, using in-house resources. Others are linking up with higher education providers to devise bespoke courses. Cutbacks in training and adviser roles means that providers can no longer rely on local authorities for support or training.
Bright Horizons has an in-house early years team that will support the roll-out of the revised EYFS to staff. Some staff will also access local authority training, where it is available, in the 60 councils that they work with across England.
Nicola Amies says, 'We will review what was successful with the current EYFS implementation programme and use that as a basis for the roll-out plan. Activities will include communication with staff and parents about the reasons behind the changes and what the revisions will mean to them.
'We will then develop and pilot training with a small number of nursery teams before we roll out to the whole group.'
Teaming up
Busy Bees has a team of quality advisers who work in partnership with 66 local authorities across England. Childcare curriculum manager Lisa Snell says that as well as accessing local authority training, the chain will be developing an EYFS training programme that focuses on the three prime areas of learning. 'Our in-house training team, which worked with us on the current EYFS launch, will embed the three prime areas and the other four will come through naturally during the training.'
The Early Years Childcare chain in Hove, Sussex, has teamed up with a local college that delivers NVQ Level 2 and Level 3 training to interpret the revised EYFS and create a bespoke training programme for them.
Business development manager Adeline Garman says that it's important that providers seek out training where it's not available through their local authority. 'It depends on the skills of your in-house team to identify where the gaps are. It's no use just looking for something that's cost-effective, because it may be slightly off-the-mark in terms of what you want and need.'
Foundations for Learning, a chain of six nurseries based in Lancashire and London, is confident that it can roll out in-house training using key members to cascade the information down the company. Area manager Mel Blades says, 'It's about daily support and empowerment. We have a curriculum co-ordinator who will devise a training programme and we can move staff into another room for a day to observe the revised EYFS in practice and do our training that way. We also have weekly team meetings where practitioners can express any concerns and areas they are struggling with.'
Less paperwork
One of the proposed changes in the EYFS is to cut down on bureaucracy, in terms of both reducing the early learning goals and simplifying risk assessments.
'If this goes ahead, it will change day-to-day practice for staff,' says Ms Amies. 'If you are working in a baby room, you have sleep charts, nappy change charts, outing charts, garden checks, observation, assessment, planning, feeding charts, feedback for parents sheets - there is a lot of paperwork that takes you away from the focus of your work, which is providing high-quality care and education for children.
'Where paperwork is essential, such as risk assessments, it's important that all understand the purpose and value of the paperwork required.'
However, she says there has been an increase in the requirements from some local authorities for onerous paper work and complex tracking procedures, as well as pressure for written evidence from Ofsted. 'We are waiting to see what Ofsted are going to look for as evidence of high-quality observation, assessment and planning.'
But Lisa Snell at Busy Bees is concerned that a slimmed-down version of the EYFS could result in children getting a sub-standard level of service and care. 'Our practitioners are not driving and championing the change for a reduction in paperwork. It's embedded into their planning and they've told us that they have really got to know their key children through planning for the individual child rather than the group.'
Early Years Childcare would like to see the EYFS scaled back even further. Adeline Garman explains, 'Some of our staff are amazing childcarers, but there's still too much paperwork. We'd like to see our childcarers freed up to spend more time practising great childcare.'
Worrying elements
The current EYFS was launched with a host of supporting documents - the Principles into Practice cards, CDs and online resources. Now, the message from the DfE seems to indicate that there will be little, if any, supporting documents - not to mention the loss of the National Strategies team - to accompany the revised EYFS framework.
Busy Bees and Bright Horizons are concerned about the lack of guidance, particularly in regard to children under two. 'In the current EYFS we've got effective practice, but there's nothing in the proposals for newly qualified staff who need guidance at the beginning,' says Lisa Snell.
Another area some practitioners are anxious about is the two-year-old assessments, says Nicola Amies. 'Now that the aim is to share it with health visitors, practitioners are viewing it as a professional assessment. Again, it's about training staff and using change management techniques to help them get over their fears.'
There is also some consternation over the emphasis on 'ready for school', which many nursery managers agree needs to be clearly defined.
Watch and wait
Providers are exercising caution and not acting on any of the proposed changes until they are clear what the EYFS requirements will be. They are also being realistic about the scale of the changes, which are not being viewed as major. There is even a sense of excitement from some chains about moving the EYFS on to the next level.
Ms Amies concludes, 'If managed well, the proposed requirement changes to the areas of learning, for supervision and the two-year-old assessments, should be seen as opportunities, to reflect on and enhance practice rather than a change that causes anxiety.'
However, she adds, 'We will not be making any firm plans just yet.'
TRAINING: WHAT TO CONSIDER
'National reviews of what happens in the early years will come and go, but the key elements that underpin effective practice will remain constant,' says Jan Dubiel of Early Excellence, who has trained over a thousand practitioners, managers and headteachers on the likely implications of the EYFS review. 'Keep true to your principles and what you know works for the children in your settings; don't start with how to implement what a document says, but think about how the document supports what you know and understand about how children learn and develop.'
When considering the training and development needs of staff, he advises to ensure the following:
- The trainer has significant early years experience and recognised expertise in the area
- You plan sufficient time to develop an action plan that addresses the issues raised by the review and any training you attend. The time between the publication of the final document and its statutory implementation is likely to be short.
Early Excellence's training programme, 'A new landscape? Implications of the EYFS review' explores the proposed content of the review and the likely impact that this will have on everyday practice. Visit www.earlyexcellence.com.
