Reviewing the Early Years Foundation Stage education strategy

So here we are again with another government's recognition and commitment to the importance of children's learning in the first five years writes Faye Stanley.

Just as practitioners receive training and guidance on one initiative, they are now going to have to take on board another.

Every year, there are various missives from Ministries, which regularly change their name, and quangos, which have now been abandoned.

First we had 'Desirable Outcomes' (PDF), which was inevitably a 'top down' model of the National Curriculum and was generally welcomed by practitioners, as for the first time the age range from three to five years had been acknowledged as a stage of learning in its own right.

We then proceeded to have 'Birth to Three Matters',which flashed before our very eyes, and then more recently the Early Years Foundation Stage, which is now again up for review.

Ministers are concerned that the Early Years Foundation Stage framework is currently too rigid and puts too many burdens on the Early Years workforce, which has led to some of the workforce saying they are spending less time with children and more time ticking boxes.

The Government has asked Dame Clare Tickell, a children and families expert and Chief Executive of Action for Children, to make sure the standards that support young children's learning are based on the best and latest research on children's development.

She has said that "it is important that professionals in the early years sector have the time to tackle the important issues – helping children from poorer backgrounds, and those with special needs, as well as giving all children a fun and stimulating learning experience.

"I hope to find a way forward that supports the different approaches to learning and development, so that we have some of the best early years standards in the world."

I agree and I have seen some fantastic and really inspiring practice in several early years' settings recently, but to make a real difference we have to ensure that is followed through until children are five and six and think about preparing our environment and our pedagogy rather than the children.

Indeed this review should question whether it is necessary for children's profile scores at the end of the Foundation Stage to be reported to Local Authorities and put out into the public domain?

Moreover, is this not another quest for looking at where children will be in year six, rather than where they are now?

The review of the Early Years Foundation Stage will cover four main areas:

• Scope of regulation – whether there should be one single framework for all Early Years providers.

• Learning and development – looking at the latest evidence about children’s development and what is needed to give them the best start at school.

• Assessment – whether young children’s development should be formally assessed at a certain age, and what this should cover.

• Welfare – the minimum standards to keep children safe and support their healthy development.

The early years workforce is at risk of declining due to University tuition fees rising, the increased pressure on practitioners and a parental culture which is more questioning of their child's education, as well as decrease in budgets to Local Authorities.

Dame Clare will provide a final report in spring 2011. The Government will then consult on any proposed changes before they take effect from September 2012. (Dfe, 2011)

Some reflections and things to consider:

• What should the Early Years Foundation Stage look like?

• Should we have a framework for children aged birth to five at all?

• What are your experiences of working with the Early Years Foundation Stage?

• How has the EYFS impacted upon your setting?

• What do you feel about Dame Tickell’s announcement this week about slimming the stepping stones and early learning goals down?

Let's hope that the EYFS review outcomes proceeds to give children the best possible start in life by providing them with firm foundations through high quality provision.