I was hopeful. Hopeful that the Department for Education would return to EYFS guidance with two distinct parts: a section outlining the principles of best practice, followed by developmental guidelines – as in the original Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage (2000). It was not to be.
What we have in the revised Development Mattersis a summary of seven key features of effective practice and extensive tables outlining pathways of children’s development and how to support their learning.
For a long time now the DfE has tried to reduce the amount of guidance it provides, but with brevity can come a lack of clarity and confusion. Take, for example, its ‘cutting’ of the Early Learning Goals from 69 to 17. In this instance, with Development Matters, the bullet points within each of the features of effective practice lack any real depth and cohesion.
As for the rest of the document, I welcome its broader view of the areas of learning and the fact the ELGs are nowhere to be seen!
The message from Government is it wants practitioners to focus more on curriculum and pedagogy and less on evidence-gathering of children’s progress. The challenge for settings will be to develop provision that is underpinned by the principles of best practice. Some have already started their journey (see ‘Goals of our own’, pages 20-21).
Guidance, long or short, will not be enough for many settings. They will need more advice. Dr Julian Grenier, who led on the revised Development Matters, will be writing a series for Nursery World on the features of effective practice and is publishing a free-to-download practice document this month, while a coalition of early years organisations, deeply unhappy with the revised framework, is planning its own guidance document.
More importantly, settings will need to turn their attention to CPD as September 2021 approaches (see our new CPD series, pages 42-43). This is a huge ask at a time when the future of many settings hangs in the balance.
Hopefully, settings will be able to take advantage of the online training revolution to access high-quality support that is affordable or free. This autumn, Nursery Worldis launching its own training videos, starting with the four themes of the EYFS, and we hope you’ll find them an invaluable resource.