Just over a month ago, Dr Sue Allingham, Sue Cowley and Ruth Swailes called upon Oak National Academy, which provides online teaching resources, to update its website to accurately reflect the EYFS areas of learning.
The trio said they had repeatedly asked Oak National Academy, which is partly funded by the Department for Education (DfE), to amend its website.
At the time, the EYFS section of the Oak National Academy website listed an incorrect set of ‘subjects’ – literacy, maths, music, RSHE (PSHE) and understanding the world.
At the end of September, Oak National Academy told Nursery World that ‘due to technical reasons with the website platform design, it could not easily change categories and terms on its website.’
However, it was ‘reaching out’ to early years experts to support it to ‘update its product’.
Oak National Academy has now changed its website so the EYFS section refers to ‘areas of learning’ instead of ‘subjects’, and replaced ‘music’ with ‘expressive arts and design’ and ‘RSHE’ with ‘PSED’. All the curriculum documents have also been updated.
However, the site only features five of the seven areas of learning, leaving out communication and language, as well as physical development.
Oak National Academy said, ‘In line with the EYFS, we have listed the four specific areas of learning [prime areas] and decided to add an additional prime area – PSED [on the website] – because of the pandemic and needs that arose from it. Content for the remaining two prime areas are covered.’
While early years experts Dr Allingham, Cowley and Swailes agreed it was a ‘step in the right direction’, they collectively questioned why the Academy hasn’t included all the areas of learning.
'Hopefully this is a temporary step?'
Swailes said, ‘Why not cover all seven areas and the characteristics? Why have they chosen to miss out two crucial prime areas, one of which the DfE actually states “underpins all other areas of learning”’.
Dr Allingham said, ‘I agree that PSED has suffered, for us all over the last few years, but so have physical development and speaking and listening. Are they [Oak National Academy] simply avoiding these because they would be difficult to do online? But then supporting PSED wouldn’t be easy?’
Cowley added, ‘It's a step in the right direction that Oak has finally changed their "subject" headings to reflect some of the areas of learning, but hopefully this is only a temporary step and they will update their website to reflect all seven areas of learning in the very near future.'
The spokesperson for Oak National Academy confirmed to Nursery World that the changes are ‘permanent’ and the only ones they will be making for the time-being.
They went on to state, ‘We have made a series of changes to our EYFS materials. During the pandemic we tried to make our resources accessible for parents. Quite rightly, with the pandemic behind us, the sector asked for them to present the materials the way they are used by teachers and in line with the EYFS framework.’
The Academy has published a linked blog from its primary curriculum design lead, Katie Marl, to explain the changes.