How should I respond to the revised EYFS?

Here are some top tips from our author, Aaron Bradbury, when thinking about the new EYFS and what this means for your practice.

1. Continue your good practice and don't think that you need to replace it with a newfound way of doing things.
2. Keep doing what you are doing that works well and keeps children at the center of your practice.
3. Audit all the paperwork in your setting and ascertain who it is for and why. If it is just for Oftsed, just for parents, or just in case, then ditch it. Only produce what is necessary to inform children's progress.
4. The new EYFS is an opportunity to start with your ethos and values and continue to truly believe in Child Development.
5. Figure out what spending more time with the children looks like and how to make that time be to the benefit of children - co-constructing their learning journeys with them as active protagonists.
6. Commit to a child-centered curriculum that is mindful of the unique child. Measure with age-related development expectations in mind, while being ambitious for children in terms of expectations.
7. Utilise the expertise of the Non-statutory Guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage that is research and practice-informed on child development, such as the Birth to Five Matters Non-Statutory Guidance.

To find out more about the EYFS framework and for a handy reference copy, you might also be interested in:

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) 2021