News
Government to review Early Years Foundation Stage framework
8 Jul 2010
Children’s minister Sarah Teather has announced a review of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework. The EYFS framework sets learning and welfare standards for children from birth to five.
Dame Clare Tickell, Chief Executive of Action for Children, will be leading the review. The review will cover four areas:
- Learning and development: looking at the latest and best research about children’s development and what is needed to give them the best start for school.
- Scope of regulation: whether there should be one single framework for all early years providers.
- Welfare: what minimum standards are needed to keep children safe and support their development.
- Assessment: whether young children’s development should be formally assessed at a certain age and what that assessment should cover.
The Government has ordered this review because they want to ensure that the focus is on getting children ready for school and raising results for those from the poorest homes. They also fear that the current EYFS framework is too rigid leading to a “tick-box” approach which means childcare practitioners pend more time on paperwork and less time with children.
Response from the early years sector has been mixed with Nursery World reporting that after two years of being in place some practitioners feel EYFS should stay while others feel the red tape surrounding it needs to be cut.
For more information on the review see the Department for Education website.
