The revised EYFS has been published and the statutory framework is available here. This covers the learning and development requirements, assessment, and the safeguarding and welfare requirements. The framework is mandatory for all early years providers from September 1st 2012. Sarah Teather stated:

"The EYFS sets out the standards that early years providers must meet. It has improved quality across the early years sector, but some aspects of the 2008 framework have proved overly bureaucratic and burdensome. The reformed EYFS, which builds on the independent advice of Dame Clare Tickell, will reduce paperwork and bureaucracy for professionals and enable them to focus more strongly on the areas of learning most essential for children’s healthy development. It will also simplify assessment at age five, reducing the early learning goals from 69 to 17, and provide for earlier intervention for children who need extra help.

When we published our response to the main EYFS consultation on 20 December 2011, we launched a further one-month consultation on new learning and development requirements (as required by the Childcare Act 2006). The responses to this additional consultation were broadly positive and I have made no significant changes to the framework as a result."

Discuss the new EYFS at the FSF, via this discussion topic.

New Local Authority Members. We're delighted to inform you that Rochdale LA have joined the FSF Local Authority subscription scheme. Lincolnshire and Cornwall have renewed for a second year and Kingston Upon Thames, Kent and Manchester are renewing for the third year. A special welcome back for Guernsey, Reading, Norfolk, Windsor & Maidenhead, Wigan, Portsmouth City, Cumbria, Darlington and Herefordshire who have just renewed for a 4th year. We are especially pleased that Wandsworth, LB of Barnet, Brent, Northamptonshire, Brighton and Hove, Southampton, Northumberland, Leicestershire, Derbyshire and LB of Richmond have just renewed for a 5th Year; and a great big welcome back to Leicestershire, East Sussex, Worcestershire, Hartlepool, NE Lincs, Sandwell, renewing for the 6th year! Lastly welcome back to your friends in Suffolk, Hampshire, Birmingham and Bracknell Forest renewing for the 7th year, great to have you back again. If you work in any of these authorities and would like to take out a free subscription, please click here. Current members from these authorities need do nothing: their account subscriptions will automatically be renewed. To find out more about the LA subscription scheme please feel free to contact us by email.

New May 5th, 2012

Nature Deficit Disorder

Have you heard of the phrase ‘Nature deficit disorder’? Just recently there have been lots of reports, book releases, news articles, and interviews on TV and radio about the need to reconnect children to nature. Many of our children’s lives are well organised by well intentioned parents going from one adult led activity to the next e.g. school to football to drama class to ballet where they often don’t need to do much creative thinking for themselves. They live an over-scheduled, over-organised childhood. Here, Helen Irving shares with us a summary of recent reports on the subject of children's lack of engagement with nature.

New May 3rd, 2012

Early years settings and social media

In the last few years the use of social media has grown rapidly. It is now estimated that 65% of all adult Internet users access some form of social networking site. The most well known of the social networking sites are Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter. Written by Kathy Brodie, this article gives a brief explanation of the uses for each of the different sites and their unique qualities. There is a discussion about the benefits of using social media for nurseries and practitioners, and also the pitfalls we should be mindful of. It is concluded with some recommendations for good practice.

New Apr 27th, 2012

Festivals: Buddhist Festival of Wesak

The festival of Wesak, or Buddha Day, takes place near the full moon in May, and this year it falls on 5th May. For Mahayana Buddhists it is a celebration of the birth of Buddha and for Theravada Buddhists this day marks the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha. It is the most important festival in the Buddhist calendar. Here, Juliet Mickelburgh outlines the main stories associated with Wesak and suggests lots of wonderful activities you can offer your children.

New Apr 27th, 2012

Twenty top tips for helping to develop self-discipline for positive behaviour management in young children

With increasing numbers of children being diagnosed with special educational needs such as ADHD and autism, managing challenging behaviour in a positive way is a challenge most practitioners face in their settings on a daily basis. As practitioners we need to help children develop an awareness, knowledge and understanding of what is expected of them and how to behave acceptably and appropriately towards other people in a variety of situations. Martine Horvath has put together some top tips for you to support children in developing their own self-discipline and self regulating coping skills for life.

Featured article: Building an accurate picture: Evidencing the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile and the moderation process.

Practitioners can be unsure about what they need to produce when a moderation dialogue is arranged. The purpose of moderation is to “ensure practitioner judgements are based on assessments of children consistent with nationally agreed exemplification and that attainment of individual scale points is a reliable, accurate and secure process” (EYFSP handbook 2008 p18). The primary focus of a moderation dialogue therefore is on exploring which scale points a child has achieved and asking ourselves, “is this what I generally expect from this child and how do I know that it is ?”

Over time we build a portfolio of both planned observations and spontaneous outcomes – those moments when we go “wow!” and reach for the note pad. However there are many other ways that children’s responses and outcomes can be captured including:

Annotations on plans
Photos or video clips
Independent work samples demonstrating application of skills
Conversations – tapes/notes
Notes about children’s responses during supported activities
Learning journey records detailing the progress of activities
Information from family members or other adults connected to the child.

It is important that anything we collect tells us something about the child, so it adds to the body of knowledge that we have about them. What we record is as crucial as how we record it.

(Read more) (Guests can access this article)

Featured article: Inclusion in the Early Years Foundation Stage

The principle of inclusive education has dominated educational policy for nearly two decades and under the previous Labour administration inclusion was a key policy imperative. It was embedded within the Every Child Matters agenda (HMSO, 2003) and is central to the Early Years Foundation Stage framework (DfES, 2007 and DfE 2012). This article takes the stance that inclusion is a broad concept which applies to all learners. Jonathan Glazzard, from the University of Huddersfield, argues that inclusion needs a proactive response and that settings should actively take steps to increase the participation of all children.

The Equality Act (2010) brings together previous legislation on equality under one umbrella. The legislation identifies nine characteristics which are protected from discrimination of any form. Thus, discrimination on the grounds of disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race (ethnicity), religion or belief, sexual orientation, sex (gender) and age is unlawful and all settings must take positive action to protect groups and individuals from discrimination. In relation to early years settings managers must consider this legislation both as an employer and as a service provider. It is important for ensure that the physical environment, admissions and curriculum policies ensure equality of opportunity. Additionally, staff need to reflect on their own attitudes and prejudices towards individual and groups. This includes the way that they interact and communicate with parents and carers and the way that they treat colleagues. Practitioners must ensure that all children are given equal opportunities to participate in education and to achieve their full potential and make the necessary adjustments necessary to break down barriers to learning. All aspects of the provision should be reviewed in relation to the Equality Act to ensure that provision is free from both direct and indirect discrimination.

(Read more) (Subscribing members article)