There has long been an uneasy relationship between two intimately tied areas of the EYFS – Communication and Language, and Literacy. Communication and Language (C&L) is not only an area of learning in its own right, separate from Literacy, but it is a Prime area. Yet, Literacy is sometimes put in prime position instead, with Ofsted’s Bold Beginningsgoing so far as to say that learning to read should be the core purpose of the Reception year.
So, perhaps it should come as no surprise that the Department for Education (DfE) has muddled the two areas together, and has given extra weight to Literacy at the expense of Communication and Language. While keeping 17 Early Learning Goals (ELGs) overall, the proposals rob Understanding from C&L, and place it as a third Literacy ELG called ‘Comprehension’, alongside Reading and Writing. Confusion reigns, which will do nothing toward what the DfE says is a central objective of the EYFS rewrite: to improve outcomes in language and literacy, particularly among disadvantaged children.
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