Evidence submitted for the consultation, which closed on 30 September, will feed into the independent review of the EYFS being led by Dame Clare Tickell.
The National Childminding Association outlined concerns that any move to a lighter-touch framework would be detrimental to the childminding profession, the early years sector and to children's development.
Most childminders want to keep the EYFS
Joint chief executives Catherine Farrell and Liz Bayram (pictured right) said, 'The overwhelming message from our members is that they want the framework to stay.'
They said the EYFS has also led to a 'huge improvement' in childminders' practice, with 68 per cent of childminders achieving good or outstanding grades in their Ofsted inspections since it was introduced two years ago.
However, many registered childminders did feel they needed clearer guidance about paperwork. The NCMA said, 'Recognition of different interpretations and evidence gathering, as well as ensuring consistency between inspectors, needs to be considered as part of the review of the EYFS.'
The Pre-School Learning Alliance found that while the vast majority of members were supportive of the EYFS, some had also raised concerns about too much paperwork and the need to cut down on administration.
Acting chief executive Neil Leitch said, 'I don't speak to anyone who says get rid of the EYFS. The vast majority of our members have said leave it alone. But if there are elements that are burdensome, then it's good to get rid of them.
'The EYFS needs some form of order and does need a framework. Our members would say stick with the framework and look at what we can do to reduce the administrative burdens that have no impact on the child.'
He added that practitioners had said that they were not sure that schools 'took much notice' of observations recording children's progress and that they were 'sometimes at a loss as to what happens to this when a child hits reception'.
The National Day Nurseries Association hosted two events in Birmingham and London to consult its members about their views on the EYFS.
Claire Schofield, director of membership, policy and communications at the National Day Nurseries Association, said this revealed that 'the majority value the EYFS but would welcome ways to reduce administration'.
She added, 'They raised some interesting points around assessment of children, and highlighted the importance of looking at the primary provision a child attends being responsible for this. For example, nurseries raised instances where a child might attend their out-of-school club or holiday club but they still needed to provide a report. Settings were also keen to explore ways in which assessment would be better used by schools and other agencies and gave a strong message regarding the importance of consistent standards for all providers. NDNA is submitting a response that overall will stress the importance of refining rather than overhauling the EYFS.'
In a joint response to the review, Jane Lane, advocate worker for racial equality in the early years and Herman Ouseley, a life peer and former chief executive of the Commission for Racial Equality, said it was vital to maintain, and even extend, the equality aspects of the EYFS as statutory for all providers.
'This is in order to ensure that all children, wherever they are educated and cared for in the early years, are prepared and provided with opportunities to learn to accept one another as equal and valued members of society,' they said.
'Spending time with children more important than paperwork'
Gill Hunton, manager and lead practitioner at Osmotherley Pre-School in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, said, 'My team are in favour of the EYFS. However, we all agree that there is a lot of paperwork. We all respect and understand the need for monitoring development and providing evidence that supports learning, but spending time with children, getting to know them and their families and carers, has to come first. The EYFS emphasises that close working between practitioners and parents is vital, but establishing relationships also takes time and time is a very precious commodity.'
The pre-school offers sessional care for 38 weeks of the year. It works closely with the primary school and both Ms Hunton and the school's Foundation/KS1 teacher recently qualified as forest school leaders.
Ms Hunton said, 'Finances dictate how much we can pay our staff and how many hours we can employ them for, and sometimes paperwork has to take a back seat. I am fortunate to lead a team that is dedicated and flexible and in a position to complete paperwork in their own time. Without this dedication and flexibility we would struggle.'
She said practitioners should be valued for their knowledge and experience. 'The whole of the foundation stage spans a long period of time and, as we all know, one size does not fit all. This is where practitioner experience, knowledge and interpretation of the EYFS comes into being. This should apply to each and every setting where location, communities and diversity have major influences.
'Doing the job we do is a vocation and practitioners need to be trusted to make judgements and develop their interpretations while being offered opportunities to feed into reviews. At the same time, we are consolidating and building on what we are currently still being told to do.'
'EYFS reassures parents'
Joan Parr has been working as a registered childminder since 1991. She cares for four children under five and one now in reception. She said, 'I'm happy to keep the EYFS. I don't want to see it scrapped. It does give us more professional standing.
'I like the guidelines. They help parents to understand children's milestones and what they should be achieving at different stages.
'I think it's very good because it gives us guidelines for children's development.' She said she had used the EYFS to reassure parents who were concerned about their child's development.
But she did say that the EYFS had led to more paperwork for childminders. 'I know childminders who have given up because of the paperwork.'
Documenting children's progress should be less formal and more tailored for childminders who do not have the same resources as nurseries and pre-schools to cope with it, she said.
'Parents love photographs of children with a comment by the side. But I don't think they really want us to write that their child managed to stack cups on their own today. The relationship between a childminder and a parent is more informal than it would be at nursery. Parents ask, "Why do you need to write it down when you can tell us?"
'I don't think childminders should be excluded from the EYFS, but how we present it should change.
'If you're just starting out (as a childminder) you can take it on board because it's all you know, but if you've been a childminder a long time, you're used to talking to parents and not having to write everything down.
'It's now more formalised. You have to write everything down, why they're doing an activity, what the child can hope to achieve - for example, even if a child is playing with a toy garage. They want more in-depth observations rather than general discussion.'
Regarding observations, she said, 'I struggle to find time. The digital camera goes everywhere with me, but it's a case of finding the time to write it up.' She said she found that 'having a chat with a parent' was more beneficial than writing down detailed observations.
'The real problem is people don't totally understand what is expected of them. Different Ofsted inspectors expect different things.'
