The consultation, 'Inspection 2012: Proposals for Inspection Arrangements for Maintained Schools and Academies from January 2012', which closes on 20 May, proposes combining EYFS judgements with the overall effectiveness of a school as part of its new school inspection framework, effective from 2012.
This will mean that rather than giving a separate grade for the overall effectiveness of the EYFS, the early years curriculum will be grouped with the rest of the school to create a single judgement within four key areas of teaching, behaviour, leadership and achievement.
Ofsted said 'The new school inspection framework will mean that schools are judged on a smaller number of core aspects than before, but in greater depth.
'The changes will result in more streamlined inspections, with fewer judgements and grades, leading to sharper reports on the quality of education provided by schools and the most important aspects of their performance.'
Trisha Maynard, chair of TACYTC, said, 'The slimmed down inspection framework is concerning and inappropriate for the foundation stage, and seems to go against all of Clare Tickell's recommendations in the EYFS Review. The four key areas that the whole school are to be judged on are a narrow interpretation of the EYFS, which is a play-based approach to learning.
'There also appears to be a shift from a focus on learning and the child as an active learner to teaching, which rings alarm bells as we appear to be shifting towards the old Conservative agenda that focused on formal education.'
