The Early Years Foundation Stage 2021

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), which covers provision from birth to five years, is being reformed and there is a new EYFS framework that all schools and settings will have to follow from September 2021. These national changes have been made to better support all young children’s learning and development. It is also the aim that the new framework will better prepare children for the transition into key stage 1.

There are some elements of the EYFS that have not significantly changed and some that have. Below are some of the key points from the new EYFS reforms that include relevant changes which parents, carers and children may notice or experience.

• Staff will be spending less time on large amounts of written observations and assessments for evidence collection. This means they can spend more time supporting and engaging with the children and their learning and development needs.
• Children will no longer be assessed against statements from an age band category. Instead, staff will use their experience and knowledge to monitor if a child’s learning and development is on track for their age.
• The early learning goals at the end of reception have been changed to become more clear and easier to understand. Staff will use their judgements to assess if the children have met these goals at the end of the EYFS and inform parents and carers.
• There is an emphasis on improving children’s language and vocabulary through increasing opportunities for conversations, reading of a wide range of books and holding discussions around activities in other areas of learning.
• Literacy and numeracy skills focused on in the EYFS have been adapted to better match up with the national curriculum that starts in year 1.
• There is no longer an exceeding judgement at the end of reception. Children will instead be challenged to have a greater depth and understanding of ideas.
• Safeguarding and welfare of children is still a priority, with the added mention of teaching children about the importance of good oral health and how to keep teeth clean and healthy.

How could you help learning and development at home to support the new EYFS reforms?

• Read stories daily to your child and use them as an opportunity to talk about the characters and events in the story. You could also discuss some of the details children have spotted in the pictures, such as the character’s facial expressions.
• Have lots of conversations with your child throughout the day. Try and increase their vocabulary by using a wide range of vocabulary.
• Practise counting with your child and looking at small groups of items. Explore what happens to numbers when you put these small groups of items together, or split a larger group into two smaller groups.
• Support your child’s early reading by practising phonic skills, such as recognising letter sounds and blending them together to read words. Also, support your child with their writing by checking they are forming their letters in the correct way and holding a pencil properly.
• Encourage your child to make healthy food and drink choices, especially related to sugar content and how this can affect teeth. Also, support your child to properly brush their teeth at least twice a day at home.
• Plan activities that allow your child to be active and develop their strength through large body movements as well as smaller, more precise movements.

We have evaluated our planning and Learning Journeys and will be piloting our new programmes this term. If any family has any questions or would like more information on our new processes please let me know.

Early Years Foundation Stage (September 2021) and Development Matters (03/21)

Poppies Nursery embrace the EYFS (September 21) and Development Matters (March 2021), to provide broad, rich learning opportunities throughout our environment. We value the outdoor environment and have an open-door policy whereby children may choose where they wish to spend much of their time throughout their session or day with us. We use a combination of child initiated and staff initiated activities, the latter to predominantly support each child’s Cultural Capital and also to ensure the opportunities our children experience include all areas of learning.

• The development of children’s spoken language underpins all seven areas of learning and development. Children’s back-and-forth interactions from an early age form the foundations for language and cognitive development. The number and quality of the conversations they have with adults and peers throughout the day in a language-rich environment is crucial. By commenting on what children are interested in or doing, and echoing back what they say with new vocabulary added, practitioners will build children’s language effectively.
• Reading frequently to children, and engaging them actively in stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems, and then providing them with extensive opportunities to use and embed new words in a range of contexts, will give children the opportunity to thrive. Through conversation, storytelling and role play, where children share their ideas with support and modelling from their teacher, and sensitive questioning that invites them to elaborate, children become comfortable using a rich range of vocabulary and language structures. We run a reading challenge whereby families regularly share their reading matter with us, receiving the gift of a new book at the end of each term. We also operate a lending library to promote a love of books. Book cases and book boxes are present throughout the indoor and outdoor environments to ensure children have extensive opportunities wherever they are playing!
• Speaking more than one language has lots of advantages for children. It is the norm in many countries around the world. Children will learn English from a strong foundation in their home language. It is important to encourage families to use their home language for linguistic as well as cultural reasons. Children learning English will typically go through a quiet phase when they do not say very much and may then use words in both languages in the same sentence. Families share the language they speak at home, and we learn a few key words and celebrate multilingualism in our setting.
• playing and exploring – children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’
• active learning – children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements
• creating and thinking critically – children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things

English as an additional language

• Speaking more than one language has lots of advantages for children. It is the norm in many countries around the world. Children will learn English from a strong foundation in their home language. It is important to encourage families to use their home language for linguistic as well as cultural reasons. Children learning English will typically go through a quiet phase when they do not say very much and may then use words in both languages in the same sentence. Families share the language they speak at home, and we learn a few key words and celebrate multilingualism in our setting.

The characteristics of effective teaching and learning

In planning and guiding what children learn, we also reflect on the different rates at which children are developing and adjust our practice appropriately. Three characteristics of effective teaching and learning are:

The areas of learning and development

There are seven areas of learning and development that must shape educational programmes in early years settings. All areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected.

Three areas are particularly important for building a foundation for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, forming relationships and thriving.

These are the prime areas:

• communication and language
• physical development
• personal, social and emotional development

Providers must also support children in four specific areas, through which the three prime areas are strengthened and applied. The specific areas are:

• literacy
• mathematics
• understanding the world
• expressive arts and design

Educational Programmes

Educational programmes must involve activities and experiences for children, as set out under each of the areas of learning.

Communication and Language

The development of children’s spoken language underpins all seven areas of learning and development. Children’s back-and-forth interactions from an early age form the foundations for language and cognitive development. The number and quality of the conversations they have with adults and peers throughout the day in a language-rich environment is crucial. By commenting on what children are interested in or doing, and echoing back what they say with new vocabulary added, practitioners will build children's language effectively. Reading frequently to children, and engaging them actively in stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems, and then providing them with extensive opportunities to use and embed new words in a range of contexts, will give children the opportunity to thrive. Through conversation, story-telling and role play, where children share their ideas with support and modelling from their teacher, and sensitive questioning that invites them to elaborate, children become comfortable using a rich range of vocabulary and language structures.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Children’s personal, social and emotional development (PSED) is crucial for children to lead healthy and happy lives, and is fundamental to their cognitive development. Underpinning their personal development are the important attachments that shape their social world. Strong, warm and supportive relationships with adults enable children to learn how to understand their own feelings and those of others. Children should be supported to manage emotions, develop a positive sense of self, set themselves simple goals, have confidence in their own abilities, to persist and wait for what they want and direct attention as necessary. Through adult modelling and guidance, they will learn how to look after their bodies, including healthy eating, and manage personal needs independently. Through supported interaction with other children, they learn how to make good friendships, co-operate and resolve conflicts peaceably. These attributes will provide a secure platform from which children can achieve at school and in later life.

Physical Development

Physical activity is vital in children’s all-round development, enabling them to pursue happy, healthy and active lives7. Gross and fine motor experiences develop incrementally throughout early childhood, starting with sensory explorations and the development of a child’s strength, co-ordination and positional awareness through tummy time, crawling and play movement with both objects and adults. By creating games and providing opportunities for play both indoors and outdoors, adults can support children to develop their core strength, stability, balance, spatial awareness, co-ordination and agility. Gross motor skills provide the foundation for developing healthy bodies and social and emotional well-being. Fine motor control and precision helps with hand-eye co-ordination, which is later linked to early literacy. Repeated and varied opportunities to explore and play with small world activities, puzzles, arts and crafts and the practice of using small tools, with feedback and support from adults, allow children to develop proficiency, control and confidence.

Literacy

It is crucial for children to develop a life-long love of reading. Reading consists of two dimensions: language comprehension and word reading. Language comprehension (necessary for both reading and writing) starts from birth. It only develops when adults talk with children about the world around them and the books (stories and non-fiction) they read with them, and enjoy rhymes, poems and songs together. Skilled word reading, taught later, involves both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the speedy recognition of familiar printed words. Writing involves transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech, before writing).

Mathematics

Developing a strong grounding in number is essential so that all children develop the necessary building blocks to excel mathematically. Children should be able to count confidently, develop a deep understanding of the numbers to 10, the relationships between them and the patterns within those numbers. By providing frequent and varied opportunities to build and apply this understanding - such as using manipulatives, including small pebbles and tens frames for organising counting - children will develop a secure base of knowledge and vocabulary from which mastery of mathematics is built. In addition, it is important that the curriculum includes rich opportunities for children to develop their spatial reasoning skills across all areas of mathematics including shape, space and measures. It is important that children develop positive attitudes and interests in mathematics, look for patterns and relationships, spot connections, ‘have a go’, talk to adults and peers about what they notice and not be afraid to make mistakes.

Understanding the World

Understanding the world involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community. The frequency and range of children’s personal experiences increases their knowledge and sense of the world around them – from visiting parks, libraries and museums to meeting important members of society such as police officers, nurses and firefighters. In addition, listening to a broad selection of stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems will foster their understanding of our culturally, socially, technologically and ecologically diverse world. As well as building important knowledge, this extends their familiarity with words that support understanding across domains. Enriching and widening children’s vocabulary will support later reading comprehension.

Expressive Arts and Design

The development of children’s artistic and cultural awareness supports their imagination and creativity. It is important that children have regular opportunities to engage with the arts, enabling them to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials. The quality and variety of what children see, hear and participate in is crucial for developing their understanding, self-expression, vocabulary and ability to communicate through the arts. The frequency, repetition and depth of their experiences are fundamental to their progress in interpreting and appreciating what they hear, respond to and observe.

Development Matters

Seven key features of effective practice.

1. The best for every child

• All children deserve to have an equal chance of success.
• High-quality early education is good for all children. It is especially important for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
• When they start school, children from disadvantaged backgrounds are, on average, 4 months behind their peers. We need to do more to narrow that gap.
• Children who have lived through difficult experiences can begin
  to grow stronger when they experience high quality early education and care.
• High-quality early education and care is inclusive. Children’s special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are identified quickly. All children promptly receive any extra help they need, so they
  can progress well in their learning.

2. High-quality care

• The child’s experience must always be central to the thinking of every practitioner.
• Babies, toddlers and young children thrive when they are loved and well cared for.
• High-quality care is consistent. Every practitioner needs to enjoy spending time with young children.
• Effective practitioners are responsive to children and babies. They notice when a baby looks towards them and gurgles and respond with pleasure.
• Practitioners understand that toddlers are learning to be independent, so they will sometimes get frustrated.
• Practitioners know that starting school, and all the other transitions in the early years, are big steps for small children.

3. The curriculum: what we want children to learn

• The curriculum is a top-level plan of everything the early years setting wants the children to learn.
• Planning to help every child to develop their language is vital.
• The curriculum needs to be ambitious. Careful sequencing will help children to build their learning over time.
• Young children’s learning is often driven by their interests. Plans need to be flexible.
• Babies and young children do not develop in a fixed way. Their development is like a spider’s web with many strands, not a straight line.
• Depth in early learning is much more important than covering lots of things in a superficial way.

4. Pedagogy: helping children to learn

• Children are powerful learners. Every child can make progress in their learning, with the right help.
• Effective pedagogy is a mix of different approaches. Children learn through play, by adults modelling, by observing each other, and through guided learning and direct teaching.
• Practitioners carefully organise enabling environments for high-quality play. Sometimes, they make time and space available for children to invent their own play. Sometimes, they join in to sensitively support and extend children’s learning.
• Children in the early years also learn through group work, when practitioners guide their learning.
• Older children need more of this guided learning.
• A well-planned learning environment, indoors and outside, is an important aspect of pedagogy.

5. Assessment: checking what children have learnt

• Assessment is about noticing what children can do and what they know. It is not about lots of data and evidence.
• Effective assessment requires practitioners to understand child development. Practitioners also need to be clear about what they

want children to know and be able to do.

• Accurate assessment can highlight whether a child has a special educational need and needs extra help.
• Before assessing children, it’s a good idea to think about whether the assessments will be useful.
• Assessment should not take practitioners away from the children for long periods of time.

6. Self-regulation and executive function

Executive function includes the child’s ability to:

• – hold information in mind
• – focus their attention
• – think flexibly
• – inhibit impulsive behaviour.

These abilities contribute to the child’s growing ability to self-regulate:

• – concentrate their thinking
• – plan what to do next
• – monitor what they are doing and adapt
• – regulate strong feelings
• – be patient for what they want
• – bounce back when things get difficult.

Language development is central to self-regulation: children use language to guide their actions and plans.

Pretend play gives many opportunities for children to focus their thinking, persist and plan ahead.

7. Partnership with parents

• It is important for parents and early years settings to have a strong and respectful partnership. This sets the scene for children to thrive in the early years.
• This includes listening regularly to parents and giving parents clear information about their children’s progress.
• The help that parents give their children at home has a very significant impact on their learning.
• Some children get much less support for their learning at home than others. By knowing and understanding all the children and their families, settings can offer extra help to those who need it most.
• It is important to encourage all parents to chat, play and read with their children.

We use the Development Matters descriptors for child development to ensure our observations are accurate, and also to support children appropriately on their learning journey.

More information can be found on:

• Early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework
• Development Matters.gov.uk

In Summary

Play helps children learn and develop through ‘doing and talking’, which theory has shown to be the means by which they think. We use the EYFS as a guide to ensure we are providing a range of play activities which help children progress in a secure and happy environment. Children decide how they will use activities, with adult help, support and encouragement when required.

We encourage parents to share comments and any information conducive to the well being of their child, as we may then promote the child's security, self-value and confidence, all of which enable a child to access the activities on offer. Staff praise and share children's accomplishments within the group and with parents, and similarly share concerns. Children's developmental records are available at any time for parent's perusal and contribution.

We hope you and your child enjoy your time at ‘Poppies’. Please see staff if you have any comments, questions or suggestions we may incorporate into ‘Poppies Life’.