Last week I attended the Nursery World Virtual Event, The Future of the EYFS, and listened to Julian Grenier as he provided an excellent overview of current early years practice and carefully explained why the EYFS reforms have taken place. The EPPE Project (Sylva et al, 2004: Chapter 4) identified the importance of a form of interaction between children and adults, that they call ‘sustained shared thinking’ in promoting children’s learning and development which is now as part of the EYFS. On the other hand working in partnership with parents is essential as it helps all children to achieve their full potential. As stated in The Times (2008), “The EYFS is about responding to the individuality of each child, in the context of loving and secure relationships and creating a stimulating and enabling environment that will promote age – appropriate experiences for learning and development”. Furthermore, Nurse A.D (2007:73) states that “Children can be said to prefer to learn through the enactive mode as their ability to represent images and use symbols is less well developed”. In this Bruner agreed with Piaget that active, first – hand experiences are an appropriate way to present new knowledge to young children. The EYFS Statutory Framework obliges practitioners to provide experiences which are based on children’s interests. Sometimes the children have interests that we feel uncomfortable with. As professionals we need to be able to identify what this is for each of us and then find ways of feeling more comfortable with it. Islington Council’s Engaging Boys leaflet may be helpful to read. The Vivienne Gussin Paley quote below is a timely reminder.

The Early Years Curriculum brings together a range of curriculum models from across the world, providing in-depth discussion on key issues and theories, and enabling readers to consider each approach to children's learning within an international context. It encourages readers to explore different ways of understanding the curriculum, and to develop a critical understanding of the key issues that shape the way a curriculum is designed. From an adult’s point of view it might seem crazy that a child will just not eat, that they need to be cajoled into eating, that they might have fears and worries that affect them. In the early years, you are often in a position where you are feeding children. How do you cope when you have a fussy or anxious eater? In your setting, is the recording of progress a barrier to effective adult interaction and the building of positive relationships?Passionate Headteacher | Early Years Specialist | Wellbeing and Mental Health Champion | Lead Facilitator for Anti-Racist School Culture Transformation | Primary and Secondary Experienced | Proud father Lastly the authors stipulate that despite the ambitions of the EYFS, childminders have not been able to see the practical effect of this. It could be argued that there is too much paperwork involved for them within the EYFS. However there is evidence that most childminders have developed knowledge and understanding of how to put the EYFS into practice and use it to identify, plan and provide foe individual children’s needs in their care. On the other hand many childminders have given up their jobs due to this and others who are thinking of this. On one forum a childminder writes her views on the EYFS Curriculum and how she feels about it which can be accessed on Child development: why it's important to think carefully about child development and get beyond 'levels' and 'drop-down menus' If you're coming to Coles by car, why not take advantage of the 2 hours free parking at Sainsbury's Pioneer Square - just follow the signs for Pioneer Square as you drive into Bicester and park in the multi-storey car park above the supermarket. Come down the travelators, exit Sainsbury's, turn right and follow the pedestrianised walkway to Crown Walk and turn right - and Coles will be right in front of you. You don't need to shop in Sainsbury's to get the free parking! Where to Find Us There is a huge and growing gap between disadvantaged children and all others at the end of the EYFS. This is a longstanding problem: England is a country where how well you do in education is strongly associated with how well-off your parents are.That's very different from countries likeCanada , where half my family are from.

Effective assessment practice is based on key principles, knowledgeable adults and the right systems and routines. If we don’t have a clear vision for EYFS assessment within our school or setting then practice can become weighed down by the burden of too many unnecessary written observations and captured images. If we’re not careful, this information gathering process can take place at the expense of effective adult interaction. If, as the EYFS statutory guidance states: “the number and quality of conversations…language rich environment underpins children’s learning” then it would be ironic if the recording of progress became a barrier to progress. Developing skills in communication and language impacts on a child’s holistic development. Children are able to express themselves, share their ideas, talk about their experiences, make friends, access play and learning opportunities, make sense of the world and influence our curriculum and planning. We are paving the way for later literacy development, enabling them to understand instructions, ask questions and become independent, curious learners. So, hopefully you’re all set. You’ve attended the training on the new EYFS framework, you’ve read the documentation, followed the many online debates and now, finally you’re ready to put the framework into practice- your practice. You can look for evidence of what works in the Early Intervention Foundation’s report, Teaching, pedagogy and practice in early years childcare: An evidence review or on the Education Endowment Foundation’s Early Years Toolkit . The evidence suggests that a successful programme will run over a whole year, or the majority of the year. Each practitioner will engage in at least 20 hours of training in total. Those 20 hours might include a whole-staff session, self-study and online learning, discussion, mentoring or coaching, and peer support. There isn’t any evidence that sending staff to one-off training events and asking them to share their learning with the wider team is effective in improving quality, although it might support an individual’s professional development.The revised EYFS (2021) has put a much greater emphasis on the curriculum, with its more detailed Educational Programmes outlining the sorts of experiences and activities which we should offer to children.

The ShREC approach – four evidence informed strategies to promote high quality interactions with young children The Department for Education explainsthat ‘Children are defined as having reached a Good Level of Development (GLD) at the end of the EYFS if they have achieved the expected level for the ELGs in the prime areas of learning and the specific areas of mathematics and literacy. This helps teachers and parents to understand broadly what a child can do in relation to national expectations.’ Early years workers, together with families, lay the foundations for young children's futures. Young Children and Racial Justice provides a comprehensive approach to the issues facing all early years workers in exploring with young children what it means to enjoy living in our multicultural society.It offers a framework for good practice for everyone working in the early years sector. Designed for use in professional development, with case studies, references and accessible articles, this book gives practitioners the tools and knowledge to implement race equality policies and action plans. Dr Julian Grenier CBE is the headteacher of Sheringham Nursery School and Children's Centre. He was the lead writer of Development Matters (2021).This book offers a step-by-step guide to implementing a play-based curriculum in Year 1 while fully achieving the National Curriculum objectives. The authors explore the key barriers and common pitfalls that often arise around this crucial transition, and show teachers how to successfully lead children from the Reception stage through Year 1 and to the subject-based teaching beyond. Providing practical advice and guidance for busy teachers, the authors clearly and concisely illustrate their methods with theory, personal stories and colourful photographs from transitional stories they have been a part of. Let Me Be Five shows teachers how to plan the curriculum in a way that builds on children’s experiences in the Early Years Foundation Stage and gives them meaningful contexts for learning. Including real-life case studies and views from parents and teachers, this book will give you the knowledge and confidence to plan a play-based curriculum, based on children’s interests and developmental needs that will enable every learner to thrive.