Opinion: Letters

The 'Opinion' spread in the 4 September Nursery World sums up neatly some key frustrations around the EYFS. Liz Roberts' Editor's View rightly takes issue with cheap-shot headlines like the 'nappy curriculum' and journalists who show ignorance of earlier guidance and unwillingness to read the current guidance accurately.

Beverley Hughes (The Minister's View) says the Profile at the end of the EYFS is the only required, written record. Then Nicola Williams' letter describes an imposition of 'planning' focused on more adult-initiated activities and written predictions for helpful adult behaviour. Who knows what will genuinely interest and engage babies and young children next week? This level of pre-packaging children's experiences is certainly not required by the EYFS. Paper-heavy planning and observation were serious and unnecessary problems for some practitioners in the Foundation Stage and Birth to Three Matters. It is depressing that, in some places, the EYFS is being used to make matters worse for practitioners, and children, rather than better.

Jennie Lindon, early years consultant, London

- Letter of the Week wins £30 worth of books.

PULL THE OTHER ONE

We waited for a torrent of outraged hilarity in response to Beverley Hughes' column (4 September), but we suppose everyone is still helplessly rolling about on the floor.

The EYFS is prescriptive. To take an example at random from the Statutory Framework document, 'Children should understand what is right, what is wrong and why.' Yes, that is a prescriptive, legally enforceable command.

Beverley, we would like you to send us a signed document repeating your claim that 'the only written record that is required is the EYFS Profile completed at the end of the EYFS' and explaining how we can fulfil our statutory legal requirement for organisation, again taken at random, 'Providers must undertake sensitive observational assessment in order to plan to meet young children's individual needs.' How can we do this without any written record?

You say the 'mantra of any universal service must be quality and consistency', but you forget that for much of the schools provision it is also choice. Give us choice and give us a break.

Dave and Annie Wickens, Childspace Childminders, Balham, London

FOR THE RECORD

In her first monthly column, Beverley Hughes wrote,'The only written record that is required is the EYFS Profile completed at the end of the EYFS.' Either she is being disingenuous or she has been inefficiently briefed.

I own and run a small group of pre-schools. Despite strong misgivings about the EYFS, we started working according to it two years ago. At our most recent Ofsted inspection, last term, we were judged outstanding in all areas.

We have personal, direct experience of the vast amount of record-keeping the EYFS requires. Contrary to what Ms Hughes says, the EYFS Profile is merely a summary document. All the statements in it must be backed up by evidence, ie written records. Our EYFS Profiles were audited by our local authority with commendable thoroughness. They asked us to prove our judgments. Only because we keep extensive detailed written records on each child were we able to do that.

We and other settings have been told by external advisers that each development matter or early learning goal must be backed up by three pieces of evidence. There are 299 development matters and 70 early learning goals. That is 1,107 potential pieces of evidence per child. Most would be written records. Photographs and examples of work all need written annotation.

Ms Hughes could also look at the 'Planning for 3-4 Year Olds' document on her department's website (www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/eyfs/site/resource/index.htm). It suggests a quite enormous amount of written work.

Whatever its good intentions, the EYFS is over-bureaucratic and over-prescriptive. It is quite wrong of Ms Hughes to dismiss, so off-hand, what she calls 'a small number of vocal critics'.

Jennifer Silverton, principal, Ready Steady Go, London.

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