The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is one of the most successful educational frameworks for young children within the United Kingdom. Created in 2008, this system continues to be used by countless parents, teachers and caregivers. Of course, changes can and will occur from time to time. This is why it is important to point out that some modifications will be taking place in September 2021. Let us highlight a handful of these changes in order to appreciate what the future has to offer.
Educational Programmes
The good news is that all seven key areas of learning and development will remain the same. These include:
- Language and communication
- Physical development
- Social, emotional and personal development
- Maths
- Literacy
- Understanding the world
- Creative design and the arts
Having said these, some other areas are set to be modified. The two primary changes involve the wording associated with the programmes themselves. They now contain many more examples of activities that can be performed with children. There is also an increased focus upon the development of language and vocabulary at an early stage.
Safety and Welfare Changes
There will be a greater emphasis placed upon diet, oral health and why to avoid certain foods. This can also include suggestions of how to teach children about brushing their teeth and why sugary substances should not be eaten. However, no direct assessments of a child’s oral health are required. Parents can caregivers can instead use the Educater EYFS assessment tracker in order to better understand the health habits of a child.
Early Learning Goals
Some early learning goals (ELGs) have bene modified. The main intention is to make them clearer and easier to understand. It should also be noted that the seven Early Learning Goals (mentioned previously in this article) have now been worded in such a way as to stress childhood development at five years of age. In other words, the goals should now be used to assess a child at the end of the reception year as opposed to once he or she is in a pre-school setting.
Development Matters
The Development Matters programme is designed to track the progression of a child at various stages. This approach has now been slightly simplified. Namely, the number of age categories has been reduced from six to three:
- From zero to three years
- Between three and four years
- The reception phase
The theory is that this simplification will offer more chances for objective judgements to be made in regards to how a child is developing (as opposed to being somewhat restricted by numerous age bands).
Changes for the Better
We can now see that the changes to the current EYFS offer a number of hands-on benefits to parents and educators. Those who wish to learn more should visit the official government website, as the observations listed above are described in greater detail.
