Analysis: Early years foundation stage - Childminders prepare to deliver framework

All childminders will be expected to start delivering the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) from September 2008 and, while there may be some anxiety, there is also relief that Birth to Three Matters and the Foundation Stage are being brought together into a single birth-to-five framework.

Lynne Taylor, national development manager for the National Childminding Association (NCMA), says, 'The message we want to get across is that the EYFS builds on existing good practice, and I am sure childminders will be up to delivering it. The crucial point is to make sure that everybody is able to get the information and training prior to its implementation.'

She acknowledges that childminders who are not accredited and part of a Children Come First network may be less familiar with the curriculum guidance for the Foundation Stage because they have not been delivering early years education sessions. The NCMA says that the number of childminders in networks is growing, with 361 networks now in England Wales.

Ofsted has been conducting a series of pilots covering early years settings and childminders (see box), but the final shape of the inspection framework for the EYFS will not be published until next spring.

Meanwhile the NCMA, with funding from the Children's Workforce Development Council, has been holding workshops raising awareness about the EYFS, and other courses are planned on observation and key elements of practice.

The NCMA is publishing a guide, entitled Active Learning, this month, which Lynne Taylor says 'looks at the six areas of learning and how everyday activities can build towards meeting those outcomes for children'.

She says it is vital that EYFS training is 'cascaded at times suitable for childminders to attend, with trainers who understand about home-based childcare'. Childminders should not be treated as 'mini-nurseries'.

Training for all

The roll-out of training is clearly gathering pace. Elaine Warner, childcare development officer for childminding in Cheltenham, says that of around 660 registered childminders in Gloucestershire, 515 (77 per cent) have either attended or booked to attend EYFS briefing events 'tailored specifically for childminders'. She adds that the response to the briefings from childminders has been 'extremely positive'.

Ms Warner says, 'Our aim is to ensure that all childminders are prepared for the changeover in September 2008. We are working with our Workforce Development team to plan further support. Initially, support will be targeted on those childminders who are due their Ofsted inspections soonest, from September 2008, and then rolled out to everyone.

'We work in close partnership with the National Childminding Association, and look forward to any resources that they develop to support childminders with the EYFS.

'It is excellent that childminders are to be seen in the same light as all other childcare and early education practitioners. The Childminding Team are already working in close partnership with the first- and second-phase children's centres to engage with and support the childminding community and are looking forward to continuing this work with the third-phase centres as they come on line.'

Doing observations

But Tunja Stone, of the Leighton Buzzard Childminding Association, a support group for childminders in that area of Bedfordshire, fears that some childminders may be 'scared off' by the EYFS and give up minding.

She says that 'twilight' courses run by the NCMA on Birth to Three and, particularly, the observation requirements in the EYFS will be vital, 'because observation is the major hurdle for childminders'.

She adds, 'Most childminders who are not in networks or accredited have probably not been doing observations, but they will have been observing, as they will have filled in daily diaries.'

Ms Stone is preparing the second edition of a book she wrote in collaboration with her daughter, Registered Childminding - the Secrets of Success, to include advice about observation in the EYFS and how to make portfolios for children.

She believes the EYFS pack is 'very prescriptive, mostly common sense, and if they thinned it down a bit it would be less daunting'. But while she reckons that childminders will need time to absorb the implications of the EYFS, she is in no doubt about its long-term merits. She says, 'When they bring Birth to Three and the Foundation Stage together, it will be like someone has taken a great wooden spoon and stirred it up. In the long run, once you have sorted out all the paperwork, the EYFS will be easier and quicker.'

Case study piloting the EYFS inspection

Childminders have nothing to fear when they are inspected under the new Early Years Foundation Stage as long as they prepare carefully by looking at the requirements spelled out in the EYFS pack that they have received from Sure Start.

That is the view of Chester childminder and NCMA member Sue Davies (pictured), who was chosen by Ofsted to take part in a pilot for the EYFS inspection after receiving an overall 'outstanding' grading from her previous inspection.

She explains, 'If childminders are coming up for their EYFS inspection they need to have looked at the pack they have been given. One side of it involves the welfare requirements they are expected to know and meet, the other is the learning and development requirements, from birth to five years old.'

Sue says she found it useful to type out the welfare requirements on the left side of some A4 paper and then on the right side, explain how she met each requirement, attaching any evidence. For example, if the requirement was relevant to 'Safeguarding', she attached her 'Safeguarding Policy'.

'You need to look very carefully at each requirement and make sure you have covered each one. This was something that came out clearly in my inspection. Having the evidence all together in one file meant that the inspector did not have to ask me to go looking for anything.

'Registering as a food business with the local council and having an inspection visit from their Food Safety Officer helped me to show how I meet some of the welfare requirements, such as health and safety, food preparation and healthy eating.'

On the learning and development side, Sue says, 'The principal difference I found is that instead of planning adult-led activities, sometimes well in advance, I now look carefully at the children in my care, consider their needs, their interests, and their stages of development, and use all this information to help plan play and learning experiences, involving the children in the planning. I provide more opportunities for child-led play.

'When I am observing a child, I make a note of what that child is doing, what their interests are, what their stage of development is and what I can do to plan for the next stage.'

Sue was given one recommendation from the Ofsted inspector - to increase opportunities for parents and carers to contribute to their child's progress report.

'Parental involvement in recording a child's progress is important, as research increasingly shows that when parents are involved with their child's education, children do better. Parents are able to provide important information on changes in their child's development which they have observed at home.'

Sue says the inspection was 'very fair and very thorough'. She has no doubts about the merits of bringing Birth to Three Matters and the Foundation Stage into a single framework. 'It is so much easier to monitor how a child is progressing towards achieving the early learning goals.'

Further information:

- NCMA: visit www.ncma.org.uk

- Registered Childminding - the Secrets of Success by Tunja and Tamsin Stone: visit www.childminding-success.co.uk.