Nursery Management: Embedding the revised EYFS - What matters

Lorna Wigley, M.A.Ed., head of Quality and Training, Childbase Partnership

One of the only positives to come out of the pandemic was the time it provided us to start early on the process of changing our curriculum and looking at the best ways to embed it and ensure our frontline colleagues were confident in delivering it.

At Childbase, we wrote our own bespoke curriculum, moving away from the non-statutory Development Matters or the Birth to Five framework. The curriculum is the heart of everything we do. We set the pathway for the children to learn. The thinking is undertaken before children arrive at nursery – we plan ahead for what children need to learn (developmental milestones) and how we are going to support them in doing this through their individual interests and teachable moments throughout the day.

We organised webinars for parents – we had over 500 parents join – explaining the changes we were making and why. Feedback from these was amazing and parental involvement and enthusiasm has been a further support to colleagues in not only adjusting but delivering on the changes.

Sherlene Jeffrey, manager of the Outstanding Pembury LEYF Nursery, Hackney, east London

Our nursery was inspected on 14 September, so just as the EYFS changes came in. I was ready, though; I watched the Ofsted podcast that explains the changes you need to make, plus I read all the information on the changes in Nursery World, etc. As the revised version includes the promotion of good oral health, I made sure all my staff were trained up as oral health specialists – even our babies are having their teeth brushed.

There is a bigger emphasis now on closing the attainment gap and also pre-Reception literacy, and I’ve really tapped into each individual child’s interests to make sure everyone is getting as many stimulating development opportunities as possible. This includes Helicopter Time – where a child sits with a teacher and tells them their own story, then during circle time, the teacher re-tells it to the rest of the group, who act it out. This is not just good for listening and re-telling skills, but a great way to boost empowerment – children’s own stories are being shared and they are being really listened to. This not only extends vocabulary, but encourages powerful, confident speakers.

Having a great team around me has been key; that’s every single staff member. I had the inspector meet our chef, he’s a big part of our team.

Jennifer Neville, manager of the Outstanding Grasshoppers Day Nursery in St. Albans, Hertfordshire

The move of self-care to personal, social and emotional development allows us to teach our children not only hygiene and the physical ability to care for themselves but to open up the understanding that we need to be taught to love ourselves as individuals and to care for ourselves in a more holistic way – that includes being aware of our ever-changing mental health.

A real emphasis that the new EYFS and Covid has sparked in our nursery is the importance of strong attachments, not just between children and their key person but within all members of the team within the room, to provide every child with a secure and stimulating environment at all times.

We have introduced ‘Match Meetings’ – which are being rolled out company-wide – to give room teams the time to communicate with each other about their key children and bounce ideas around on how best to further support all children. Importantly these focused meetings are the perfect opportunity for colleagues to share observations which may not be possible during busy times.

Ailsa Chapman, deputy head of Lower School at Cypress Primary School, Pegasus Academy Trust

As a nursery manager, I would stress that practitioners should not worry about the revised EYFS and instead embrace the changes which simply promote improved outcomes for children; strengthening their language development and, crucially, reducing the workload in terms of paperwork.

While the headings for the seven areas of Learning and Development have remained the same and are still divided into Prime and Specific areas, the content has changed. There is a huge emphasis on speech and language and literacy skills throughout, especially the acquisition of vocabulary. The most important thing that practitioners can do to support children with this is to spend quality time speaking and listening to them, while modelling new vocabulary and how conversations work.

So, free your staff up to spend time with the children without the burden of endless observations. Good practitioners will know their children well; trust them to do this. Don’t over-complicate things that are supposed to be straightforward!