Speaking to Nursery World in advance of her keynote speech at the Early Years and Primary Teaching exhibition in Manchester last weekend, Lesley Staggs said there was no ten-year vision built into the EYFS.
She praised the 'aspirational' and 'excellent' guidance which she said had good continuity with Birth to Three Matters and the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage.
But she criticised the way in which the final EYFS had been divided into statutory requirements and practice guidance and resources, rather than one coherent document.
'I think there's some brilliant guidance and the principles are excellent, but there's a huge danger in separating the statutory framework from the guidance,' said Ms Staggs.
Separating what she described as the 'how' of the EYFS - the practice guidance and resources - from the 'what' or the statutory framework, could lead to confusion among heads and practitioners, she said. 'People can choose to ignore the guidance.'
She also criticised the existence of separate guidance for literacy and numeracy, including Letters and Sounds, the new phonics document.
She said she felt that the Government had not moved on from ten years ago, in terms of the welfare requirements in the EYFS, and low expectations in terms of ratios and qualifications. She was also disappointed that outdoor play was still viewed as optional.
'The aspirations and the principles in the EYFS, I sign up to 100 per cent,' she said. 'Given that we're supposed to have a ten-year strategy, we need clear steps to get there.
'When the ten-year strategy came out, it was so positive. But what we should have said is "this is where our costed commitment is, for x number of places and qualifications".'
Ms Staggs said she was concerned about the qualification levels of the whole workforce, not just those leading on the EYFS.
In the light of the findings of the EPPE research about the importance of highly qualified staff, she said there should be a graduate-level practitioner working alongside each group of children within an early years setting, not just leading it.
'We need more opportunities for the current workforce to develop skills and initial training to get the quality we need. It's about people who are working on a day-to-day basis. I'm not knocking the guidance, but it can only be as good as the people delivering it. We need really in-depth knowledge and understanding.'
Ms Staggs said that she wanted the Government to move away from targets and the pressure surrounding them.
'I would like us to move away from strategies - a focus on creating places and getting children's centres up and running. We need to think about quality embedded in.'
