EYFS consultation proposals don't go far enough

Launched last week, the consultation follows an evaluation of a pilot of the proposed revised EYFS, which 24 schools participated in.

• Consultation on revised EYFS launches
• Proposed EYFS changes 'not supported by evidence'

Changes have been made across the areas of learning, for example:

• Communication and language: now has an increased emphasis on regular conversations, contingent talk and sensitive questioning
• Personal, social and emotional development: has moved higher up the list to come after communication and language, instead of after physical development. Its goals now incorporate more elements linked to self-regulation
• Expressive arts and design: the Performing ELG from the pilot has been renamed Being Imaginative and Expressive
• Mathematics: now mentions encouraging children’s curiosity about number, shape, space and measure but these are still not covered in the goals
• Understanding the world: the Government explains its decision to omit Information Technology from the goals, saying it has  ‘little value as an end-point measure in itself’.

To help you make comparisons between the pilot and consultation versions of the EYFS, Nursery World has created a before-and-after guide which you can download below. Included are the educational programmes, ELGs and the Government's rationale for the changes.

Download the guide here

Early years adviser and consultant Jan Dubiel has urged early years practitioners to respond to the consultation in an informed way.

‘It is a really good time to review the national statutory frameworks. The last time was in 2011, and what we understand about learning and pedagogy has changed quite considerably since then. The EYFS does need to be revised to reflect that, but people need to be really honest in the consultation, clear about what they agree and disagree with, and aware that some things are open to interpretation.

‘It’s about making sure people understand what the consultation is, what it means and how it does and doesn’t affect them.’

Early years consultant, trainer and author Helen Moylett, warned that while some proposed changes to the revised EYFS were positive, improvements could still be made.

‘A pilot with 23 reception classes is not a secure base for a consultation on the future of the EYFS birth to five,’ she commented. 

‘There have been some improvements since the Department for Education’s first draft but there is still a long way to go!’

Dr Helen Edwards, founder of Tapestry and a former Ofsted inspector, told Nursery World, ‘The proposed ELGs are a step in the right direction from the ones used in the pilot, but don't go far enough.

‘The proposed ELG for listening, now includes “attention" and "understanding”, which is an improvement. But maintaining attention in an activity is very different – it's not just about paying attention to someone with whom you are having a conversation (which appears in this ELG and also the self-regulation one). Maintaining attention is crucial for children to get to that deep level of learning and absorption in what they're doing.

‘It’s good that the past, present and future tenses have returned in the ELG in speaking – it made no sense to remove them, while still requiring children to learn about the past in the Understanding the World ELG.

‘I'm very concerned about the word "perform" in the Expressive Arts and Design ELG. Better to use “Join in with rhymes, songs and stories”. I'm a musician but I hate performing! The two don't have to go hand in hand.’

The consultation is available here https://consult.education.gov.uk/early-years-quality-outcomes/early-years-foundation-stage-reforms/consultation/intro/ and is open until 31 January 2020.