Early Years Foundation Stage
Encyclopedia
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is a term defined in Section 39 of the British government's Childcare Act 2006
. The EYFS comprises a set of Welfare Requirements and a set of Learning and Development Requirements, which must be followed by providers of care for children below 5 years old – the age of compulsory education in the United Kingdom. The Welfare and Learning and Development requirements are not specified in the Act but in separate Orders
The legislation took effect from September 2008. The Welfare requirements apply to the whole of the UK, but the Learning and Development requirements apply only in England.
All childcare providers, including childminders, nurseries, kindergartens and pre-school classes, are obliged to register under the Childcare Act in order to operate legally. To become and remain registered they must comply with the Welfare requirements, and with the L&D requirements for settings in England (except where exempted).
The Learning and Development requirements (applicable in England only) are unusual in principle in imposing compulsory educational targets
There are similar levels of requirements for numeracy.
There is a body of professional opinion that attempting to push under-5s into early literacy is ineffective or even counterproductive, possibly even producing reading difficulties in some children through the experience of early failure, and other problems including ADHD. It is reported that schools in Scandinavian and other countries, and Steiner schools, where children start school at 6 or 7 years old, produce better academic results.
Apart from the question of whether the L&D targets are appropriate for the age group, there is controversy over the prescriptive nature of the curriculum, burdensome nature of the assessments of children they demand and stress inflicted upon young children by the curriculum and assessment (as with SATs
to which older children are subjected).
The circumstances under which exemptions may be granted are to be stipulated in the Early Years Foundation Stage (Exemptions from Learning and Development Requirements) Order, which as of 20 June 2008 had not yet been laid before Parliament
.
conducted a consultation on the EYFS Learning and Development Exemptions, between 1 March and 24 May 2007. Respondents were invited to give their views on the circumstances accepted as possible grounds for exemption and the process by which exemptions could be obtained.
The proposed circumstances were:
The DCSF response to the consultation considered the first and third circumstances only:
The campaign was launched on 30 November 2007 with an open letter
published in the Times Educational Supplement
. Signatories included Tim Brighouse, Margaret Edgington, Dr Richard House, Dr Penelope Leach
and Sue Palmer
. The letter and petition express concern at the "harm likely to be done to young children due to the framework’s contestable assumptions and unintended consequences" and calls for an "independent review of the compulsory Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) policy framework, and [reduction of] the status of its learning and development requirements to ‘professional guidelines’". An Early Day Motion
– No. 1031 – expresses similar claims and calls.
The Steiner-Waldorf Schools Fellowship (SWSF) has also been lobbying the DCSF, and latterly co-ordinating a campaign of parents at Steiner kindergartens and schools writing to their MPs about the issue.
Childcare Act 2006
The Childcare Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.-Summary:The Act defines new duties for Local Authorities with respect to:*improving the Every Child Matters outcomes for pre-school children*childcare for working parents...
. The EYFS comprises a set of Welfare Requirements and a set of Learning and Development Requirements, which must be followed by providers of care for children below 5 years old – the age of compulsory education in the United Kingdom. The Welfare and Learning and Development requirements are not specified in the Act but in separate Orders
Statutory Instrument
A Statutory Instrument is the principal form in which delegated or secondary legislation is made in Great Britain.Statutory Instruments are governed by the Statutory Instruments Act 1946. They replaced Statutory Rules and Orders, made under the Rules Publication Act 1893, in 1948.Most delegated...
The legislation took effect from September 2008. The Welfare requirements apply to the whole of the UK, but the Learning and Development requirements apply only in England.
All childcare providers, including childminders, nurseries, kindergartens and pre-school classes, are obliged to register under the Childcare Act in order to operate legally. To become and remain registered they must comply with the Welfare requirements, and with the L&D requirements for settings in England (except where exempted).
The Learning and Development requirements (applicable in England only) are unusual in principle in imposing compulsory educational targets
- for children below the age of compulsory education, and
- on providers outside the state system and not receiving state funding.
Learning and Development requirements controversy
The L&D targets are controversial in not being generally accepted by experts in child development and education as being appropriate for this age group. They include literacy requirements that 5 year olds should:- readily use written language in their play and learning
- use phonic knowledge to write simple regular words and make phonetically plausible attempts at more complex words
- show an understanding of how information can be found in non-fiction texts to answer questions about where, who, why and how
- begin to form simple sentences, sometimes using punctuation
There are similar levels of requirements for numeracy.
There is a body of professional opinion that attempting to push under-5s into early literacy is ineffective or even counterproductive, possibly even producing reading difficulties in some children through the experience of early failure, and other problems including ADHD. It is reported that schools in Scandinavian and other countries, and Steiner schools, where children start school at 6 or 7 years old, produce better academic results.
Apart from the question of whether the L&D targets are appropriate for the age group, there is controversy over the prescriptive nature of the curriculum, burdensome nature of the assessments of children they demand and stress inflicted upon young children by the curriculum and assessment (as with SATs
National Curriculum assessment
National Curriculum assessments are a series of educational assessments, colloquially known as Sats or SATs, used to assess the attainment of children attending maintained schools in England...
to which older children are subjected).
Exemptions
The Childcare Act makes provision for exemptions from the Learning and development requirements for- settings, under section 46(1)
- children individually, under section 46(2)
The circumstances under which exemptions may be granted are to be stipulated in the Early Years Foundation Stage (Exemptions from Learning and Development Requirements) Order, which as of 20 June 2008 had not yet been laid before Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
.
Consultation
The Department for Children, Schools and FamiliesDepartment for Children, Schools and Families
The Department for Children, Schools and Families was a department of the UK government, between 2007 and 2010, responsible for issues affecting people in England up to the age of 19, including child protection and education...
conducted a consultation on the EYFS Learning and Development Exemptions, between 1 March and 24 May 2007. Respondents were invited to give their views on the circumstances accepted as possible grounds for exemption and the process by which exemptions could be obtained.
The proposed circumstances were:
The DCSF response to the consultation considered the first and third circumstances only:
"Flexibility" of EYFS
In the consultation document, response form and their consultation response the DCSF asserts that "the EYFS is sufficiently flexible to accommodate a range of early years approaches".Campaigns against EYFS
Despite the government's claims for the benefits and flexibility of the EYFS many educators and childcare experts have expressed concern about the impact of the EYFS and called for changes to it.OpenEYE
The OpenEYE campaign gives as reason for its formation:The campaign was launched on 30 November 2007 with an open letter
Open letter
An open letter is a letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally....
published in the Times Educational Supplement
Times Educational Supplement
The Times Educational Supplement is a weekly UK publication aimed primarily at school teachers in the UK. It was first published in 1910 as a pull-out supplement in The Times newspaper. Such was its popularity that in 1914, the supplement became a separate publication selling for 1 penny.The TES...
. Signatories included Tim Brighouse, Margaret Edgington, Dr Richard House, Dr Penelope Leach
Penelope Leach
Dr. Penelope J. Leach is a British psychologist who writes extensively on parenting issues from a child development perspective....
and Sue Palmer
Sue Palmer
Sue Palmer is a former primary headteacher in the Scottish Borders and is an independent writer and consultant on primary education, particularly literacy...
. The letter and petition express concern at the "harm likely to be done to young children due to the framework’s contestable assumptions and unintended consequences" and calls for an "independent review of the compulsory Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) policy framework, and [reduction of] the status of its learning and development requirements to ‘professional guidelines’". An Early Day Motion
Early day motion
An Early Day Motion , in the Westminster system, is a motion, expressed as a single sentence, tabled by Members of Parliament for debate "on an early day" . Controversial EDMs are not signed by Government Ministers, PPS or the Speaker of the House of Commons and very few are debated on the floor...
– No. 1031 – expresses similar claims and calls.
Save Steiner Schools
Steiner-Waldorf schools, kindergartens and representatives have been particularly concerned about the impact of the EYFS and have been campaigning against it. A group of parents of children at Wynstones Steiner-Waldorf school's kindergarten set up the Save Steiner Schools campaign "to provide a focus for campaigning to stop the UK government forcing all Steiner Waldorf and other kindergartens and nurseries to implement the Early Years Foundation Stage requirements."The Steiner-Waldorf Schools Fellowship (SWSF) has also been lobbying the DCSF, and latterly co-ordinating a campaign of parents at Steiner kindergartens and schools writing to their MPs about the issue.