Editor's View - The EYFS review may be at odds with other educational policies
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
The early years sector seems to be feeling positive about Dame Clare Tickell's Early Years Foundation Stage review, with messages filtering out that there will be no wholesale change and that more emphasis will be put on personal, social and emotional development and speech and language skills.
Feeding into the review this week is Ofsted's survey 'The impact of the Early Years Foundation Stage'. This demonstrates how beneficial the EYFS has, on the whole, been for the sector. It finds that all types of providers can and do deliver the learning and development requirements of the EYFS well. It concludes that a combination of the implementation of the EYFS and inspection against its requirements has contributed to a rise in quality as poorer providers have left the sector.
The survey found providers positive about the EYFS, as it had made them more ambitious for themselves and the children and had given them a clearer idea of what they should be doing. There has been much coverage of the unhappiness of some childminders about aspects of the EYFS, yet Ofsted found that it was mainly those who were static as 'satisfactory' and who regarded themselves as carers rather than educators, who felt negative.
Most importantly, the survey observed children enjoying their time, free from over-formality and pressure.
Perhaps we shouldn't be over-optimistic about the future of early years education, however. Turn to our Analysis article to read about the fears of some of our most respected experts that whatever the EYFS Review has to say, the new political climate and the national curriculum shake-up means that formal methods, particularly for literacy, will be imposed at an ever-earlier age.
