Getting ready for the revised Early Years Foundation Stage framework

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Laser Learning, a Berkshire-based e-Learning company, is aware of the importance of keeping learning resources up to date in line with changes in legislation, guidance and best practice.

Laser short courses have been reviewed and updated (where needed) to reflect the revised statutory Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework, which will be effective from 1 September 2021. The new Development Matters and Birth to Five Matters have also been updated or added to relevant courses.

Laser changed the documents and references in its childcare courses before September so early years practitioners have the summer to familiarise themselves with the new guidance, and nursery leaders and managers can start planning how to implement any necessary changes for the 2021-2022 academic year and beyond.

To view the short courses provided by Laser Learning, click here.

A summary of changes to the framework

Early Learning Goals (ELGs)
The Prime and Specific areas of the EYFS stay the same, but ELGs have been changed to make them clearer and more specific.

Educational programmes
Changes have been made to the wording in the educational programmes, they are longer, go into more depth and contain examples of activities that practitioners can do with children. There is a new focus on early language and extending vocabulary across all seven areas of learning and development.

Safeguarding and welfare section
There is a new requirement to promote the good oral health of children.

Age 2 progress check
This is the only statutory assessment that practitioners working with pre-reception children will need to carry out.

Assessment at the end of the EYFS (the EYFS Profile)
The ‘exceeding’ judgement has been removed from EYFS Profile criteria. The statutory duty for Local Authorities to moderate Early Years Foundation Stage Profile data in 25% of local schools each year has been removed. Schools will still be required to submit the EYFS Profile data to their local authority, and this data will still be collected nationally.

Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA)
This has been launched at the same time as the revised EYFS framework. The Department for Education describes RBA as ‘a new way of measuring the progress primary schools make with their pupils’ and it will become statutory from September 2021. Read more here.

Early Education (the British Association for Early Childhood Education) has produced a really useful annotated version of the Framework that Early Adopter schools have been using, highlighting the changes from the previous version.

Development Matters

The non-statutory curriculum guidance ‘Development Matters’ has also been republished, and has been backed by the UK Government. Many practitioners may remember an earlier version of this document, published in 2012. The main changes are:

It’s shorter, about two-thirds of the length of the previous version
There’s more room for professional judgement and practitioners are encouraged to use their knowledge and experience to track children’s progress
The age bands have been simplified from six, previously, down to three: ‘Birth to 3’, ‘3 and 4-year-olds’, ‘Children in reception’

Birth to 5 Matters

‘Birth to 5 Matters’, an alternative non-statutory guidance has been updated to reflect recent research, meet the needs of practitioners and children today, respond to current issues in society, and lay a strong foundation for the future.

This document was developed by the Early Years Coalition and can be found here.

Further Supporting Information

In the Podcast episode below, Laser is joined by Janet King, Sector Manager for Education and Childcare at NCFE CACHE, to talk about the revised Early Years Foundation Stage framework, which is effective from 1 September 2021.