EYFS—The Early Years Foundation Stage is responsible for setting standards related to the development and learning of all children from their birth to when they’re 5 years old.
As a result, all Ofsted-registered early providers and schools offering early years education are required to abide by the guidelines provided by EYFS, including:
- School reception classes
- Child-minders
- Nurseries
- Pre-schools
- School reception classes
The framework provided by EYFS is meant to offer a unified approach to early care and learning.
EYFS—What Is It?
The Early Years Foundation Stage refers to a framework by the UK government that explicitly sets the development and welfare goals for children from birth to their 5th birthday.
For parents whose children have been placed under any type of childcare beyond their own, for example Reception year at school, Nanny, Pre-school, Child-minder, and Nursery this framework will be used in tracking and monitoring their progress.
Parents can also take child tracking and monitoring to a higher level by using the EYFS tracker.
It’s a reliable online tool that they can use as a learning journal. The data collected by the observers is shared with the parents making it possible for them to see how their children are doing at school.
The following are the basic learning goals provided by the EYFS framework.
1. Specific Learning and Development Areas
- Expressive arts and design: This is classified into:
- Being imaginative – all about using what they have studied to represent their own thoughts and ideas.
- Using materials and media to explore – They get to sing songs, dance and make music of their own.
- Literacy: includes reading and writing
- Understanding the world: Here, the kids get to learn about technology, the world, and other people and their communities.
- Mathematics: This is classified into:
- Numbers: They get to count reliably from one to twenty. They also get to solve problems such as sharing, halving, and doubling.
- Measures, pace, and shape: The purpose of this step is to enable them to describe, create, and recognize.
2. Prime Learning and Development Areas
These are classified into 3 groupings as follows
- Personal, social, and emotional development: Children get to learn self-awareness and self-confidence, how to behave and manage their feelings, and the importance of making relationships.
- Communication and language: The purpose of this category is to teach the kids how to listen and pay attention. In the course of their studies, they will also tackle understanding by getting to answer ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions. Lastly, they will be taken through how to properly express themselves by paying attention to their listeners’ needs.
- Physical development: It covers everything to do health and self-care, moving and handling. By the end of this stage, they should have learned how to show control in all types of settings and the need to exercise a good diet.
Conclusion
Understanding your legal duty as a childcare provider makes it easier for you to follow the EYFS framework to the latter. As seen above, the framework is comprehensive as it seeks to tackle all childcare aspects, taking time to confirm that no category is marginalized.
Disclosure: this is a collaborative post