The 'Opinion' spread in the 4 September Nursery World sums up neatly some key frustrations around the EYFS. Liz Roberts' Editor's View rightly takes issue with cheap-shot headlines like the 'nappy curriculum' and journalists who show ignorance of earlier guidance and unwillingness to read the current guidance accurately.
Beverley Hughes (The Minister's View) says the Profile at the end of the EYFS is the only required, written record. Then Nicola Williams' letter describes an imposition of 'planning' focused on more adult-initiated activities and written predictions for helpful adult behaviour. Who knows what will genuinely interest and engage babies and young children next week? This level of pre-packaging children's experiences is certainly not required by the EYFS. Paper-heavy planning and observation were serious and unnecessary problems for some practitioners in the Foundation Stage and Birth to Three Matters. It is depressing that, in some places, the EYFS is being used to make matters worse for practitioners, and children, rather than better.
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