Government sets out reform of early learning and children’s centres

A new, slimmed down early years curriculum for 0-5s, more focused on making sure children start school ready and able to learn, will be introduced next year under changes set out by Children’s Minister Sarah Teather.

Responding to the Tickell Review of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), the new framework radically reduces the number of early learning goals from 69 to 17. It also focuses on three prime areas of learning critical to making sure children have the foundations for school, and introduces a progress check for every 2 year old in early education so parents and professionals can be confident children are developing well.

As part of wider reforms to Sure Start children’s centres and early learning, the Government is looking at ways to get parents and communities more involved in running children’s centres. New plans to be consulted on will also make it easier for parents to plan and balance their working lives by making the free entitlement to 15 hours of early learning and childcare more flexible.

In addition, the Government has made £3million available this year for up to 30 local areas to trial payment by results in children’s centres. Local areas will be rewarded on how well they narrow the gap in child development, raise attainment at the end of the Foundation years and improve family health and wellbeing

The key proposals outlined include:

- A new focus on three prime areas of learning in the EYFS so children are ready and able to learn at school. These areas are: personal, social and emotional development, physical development and communication and language.

- A slimmed down EYFS, cutting the number of learning goals from 69-17. The learning goals will be more closely aligned with Key Stage1 to smooth the transition from reception class to Year 1.

- Assessment at age 5 will remain but instead of the current complicated scale point assessment children will be judged against 17 learning goals.

- A new check for every 2 year old in pre-school settings to pick up early any problems in a child’s development or special educational needs. Going further than Tickell’s recommendation, the Government will require all early years settings to provide this information to parents.

- New plans, to be consulted on in the autumn, to enable parents to access their free entitlement hours from 7am-7pm, and take the full 15 hours over two days rather than a minimum of 3 days.

- A new core purpose for children’s centres which clearly sets out the types of services that should be universal and those which should be targeted at the most needy families.

- Exploring how governing bodies and co-operative approaches could be more widely used in the running of children’s centres to give professionals, parents and communities more control over how their local children’s centre is run.

- New requirement on all local authorities to publish data on how much they are spending on children’s centres in their area to improve local accountability.

In response to the announcement, Children’s Minister Sarah Teather said:
“The first five years of a child’s life, the Foundation Years, are absolutely critical. We want a system where every child can thrive, regardless of their social background. If we are to tackle the attainment gap and raise life chances, we must start in the earliest years.

“We know experiences in these first years have the biggest impact on how a child’s brain develops. It’s when children grasp the fundamental skills needed to do well at school and develop as happy, confident individuals. That’s why I am today setting out a much slimmer, easier to understand early years curriculum. It will give professionals more freedom in how they work with children, and will involve parents more in their child’s learning. Fundamentally, it will make sure we are preparing our children for the challenges of school and beyond. This isn’t just about making sure they can hold a pencil, children need the resilience, confidence and personal skills to be able to learn.

“Children’s centres are where much of this work takes place. We want them to be places where communities come together, parents can support each other and children can develop. That’s why we are looking at how to give parents more say in the running of their local children’s centre. This could be through governing bodies, or a co-operative approach where parents are involved in day to day decisions. We are also providing £3m this year for up to 30 new pilots where local councils will be paid for the results they achieve.

“Finally, we want to make sure parents get the help and support they need to bring up their children and balance work and family life. Proposed changes to the free entitlement hours will help make sure more children can benefit from early education and parents can juggle their working hours more effectively.”

Dame Clare Tickell published her independent review of the Early Years Foundation Stage in March this year. The Government agrees with Tickell that the current system is overly bureaucratic, repetitive and not as parent friendly as it should be. The revised framework is published today on the Department’s website for consultation.

Evidence shows that making a difference to children’s achievement in the early years is critical. Pupils who start off in the bottom 20 per cent of attainment at the EYFS profile aged 5 are six times more likely to be in the bottom 20per cent at KS1. Feinstein’s research shows that parental interest in their child’s education has four times more influence on attainment by age 16 than socio-economic background. The new framework will free up professionals to spend more time working with children and helping them to develop and the new 2 year old check will ensure parents are properly engaged in their child’s development.

Do you welcome the changes to the early years curriculum? Do you have any concerns? Join the discussion below by leaving your comments.

National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) has announced that initial research with its nursery members has revealed that the majority do not wish to see large-scale change with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). However, one of the key areas that nurseries have said needs addressing is the level of red-tape under the framework.

NDNA has conducted research with a focussed group of nurseries in England who represented a total of over 400 settings to gather initial feedback following the announcement of the review. This will be supported by national consultation events on 29 September in Leeds and 30 September in London so that members can attend to debate the review and feed into NDNA’s response on behalf of the sector. However, this initial research exercise has revealed a high level of support for the EYFS, with 83% saying that they felt that the EYFS supported children to get the best start. NDNA has already shared some of these initial findings with those leading the review prior to submitting a full response.

Most shared that they felt that the EYFS was a good tool that supported them to deliver high-quality care and early learning for children. Top priorities included looking at how to reduce red-tape and administration but avoiding any wide-scale changes.

Purnima Tanuku, Chief Executive of NDNA comments: “Although this is early research, it does reflect the overall mood of the sector which is keen to ensure that the success of the EYFS is maintained. However, nurseries would also like to explore ways that some of the administration around the framework can be reduced. Most of our members shared that it had been very successful for them, and were keen to continue with it. Of course, there are some identified issues, especially around administration and reporting and the review is also an opportunity to make the EYFS work better for children, families and providers. It is vital that the sector has a strong voice and government receives the widest possible range of views and we would urge all nurseries both to submit their own responses and share their views with NDNA. We are receiving clear signals about the positives of the EYFS, and recommend government focuses on refining and improving the EYFS rather than introducing radical change.”

Key results from the research include:

• Over four in five (83%) felt that the EYFS was effective in supporting children to get the best start
• 79% felt that it offered an inclusive approach
• 79% felt that all providers should be required to follow the same standards, indicating the wide support for a single framework

The majority commented that assessment of children was critical for early intervention, and that the EYFS allowed practitioners to plan for next steps.

The volume of paperwork, both in terms of reporting for transition to school and to the local authority, was the biggest concern of NDNA member nurseries.

Source: NDNA

What are your thoughts on the EYFS? Can you suggest anything that you would like to see changed or reviewed? Drop your comments below to join the discussion!

Practitioners using the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) often find assessing children’s communication, language and literacy levels a cause of “tension and frustration”.

A study commissioned by the former Department for Children, Schools and Families and published under the current government, found that among practitioners, there was “criticism of the levels required” by the communication, language and literacy, problem solving, and reasoning and numeracy goals.

But the Practitioners’ Experience of EYFS concluded that the framework does receive high levels of support from all practitioner groups.

The study stated: “Practitioners from different groups in the sector report very different experiences of assessing children. The tensions and pressures that assessment can create, understandably intensify as children approach the end of the foundation stage.

“For many of those working with the youngest children, assessment is clearly a pleasure and an integral part of their daily experience; for some of those working with the oldest children, the engagement with external expectations and requirements is reported to be overwhelmingly demanding.”

While head teachers in primary school generally supported the benefits of the EYFS framework, the report found that some felt the level of assessment is “not yet right”.

Dame Clare Tickell, chief executive of charity Action for Children, launched a consultation a month ago as part of her independent review of the EYFS.

She is examining whether there is a need for everyone to follow the same curriculum for under-fives and will also address ministerial concerns that the EYFS puts too many bureaucratic burdens on childcare providers.

Anand Shukla, business director at the childcare charity Daycare Trust, said: “The Department for Education research shows increasing numbers of providers support the EYFS.

“We acknowledge many providers find the EYFS profile a long and unwieldy assessment tool and the Tickell review provides an opportunity to improve early years assessment.

“We need much better feedback to parents too, and the single end of EYFS profile could be replaced with a short and accessible annual report to them.”

Have you seen the top tips for teaching children to talk video that we found? Watch it here. How do you assess the development of children’s skills in your setting? Do you think this issue needs to be addressed? Drop your comments below to join the debate!

Source: CYPNow

The Code of Practice on the free entitlement to nursery education will be implemented from September, the Government has confirmed, despite pre-election promises by the Conservatives to suspend it.

The news will come as a blow to some nursery owners who were hoping the Tories would fulfil their pledge to postpone the Code and allow settings to charge top-up fees.

A Government spokesperson said, ‘The new Code of Practice will come into force in September, to ensure that local authorities are working to a clear common framework in implementing the extension to 15 hours. However, we will be looking to streamline this guidance next year.’

When asked about top-up fees, the spokesperson said that primary legislation required local authorities to secure nursery education free of charge.

The Government also announced that the Early Years Single Funding Formula is to be made statutory from April, but a requirement has been added that all local formulas must include a deprivation supplement, which may eventually become a Pupil Premium for the early years.

A consultation on the best way to operate a Pupil Premium for school-aged children, including what deprivation indicator should be used, was launched on Monday by education secretary Michael Gove and children’s minister Sarah Teather. The Pupil Premium is aimed at helping children from disadvantaged backgrounds to improve their school performance.

The consultation also asks whether the policy of funding at least 90 per cent of a local authority’s three-year-old population should be changed to one based on actual take-up of free entitlement places.

A Government spokesperson said, ‘We think it is right that funding should based on actual numbers of pupils and so we are consulting on this issue.’

The National Day Nurseries Association stressed that local authorities would need to have an effective formula in place before April 2011, as there was still a lot of uncertainty around funding, with many nurseries reporting that funding for the free entitlement was not at a sustainable level.

Chief executive Purnima Tanuku said, ‘While it is fantastic that parents have access to the free entitlement, it is not free to a large proportion of nurseries who have to subsidise the cost of delivery and it can be a direct threat to their sustainability. Sixty per cent of providers report that funding for free sessions does not cover their costs.’

Anne Longfield, chief executive of 4Children, said, ‘Providers in all sectors of childcare provision will welcome the certainty afforded by today’s announcement that the coalition government will press ahead with the Early Years Single Funding Formula from April. 4Children has always supported the principle of transparency and consistency in early years funding.

‘What is really important is that children and families have access to high-quality, affordable early education and care. We believe that in the longer term, a single funding formula will support this aim.’

To help nurseries across the UK adjust to the free entitlement changes in September easier, we are currently running a promotion for our Abacus nursery management software.

How is your childcare setting adapting to the free entitlement changes? Do you feel there is enough funding available to cover the cost of provision? Start a discussion below, by sharing your thoughts and ideas about the issues nurseries face with free entitlement changes.

Source: Socato

Surrey County Council is on course to bolster the number of men it employs in its nurseries, according to the latest figures.

The council’s campaign to improve the “gender imbalance” in the sector has attracted 3,000 visitors to a dedicated childcare jobs website aimed at men.

Of these, 100 calls from men interested in working in nurseries have been received and 37 men have attended an information session on working in the childcare sector.

Across the UK just two per cent of childcare staff are men. Surrey’s proportion is already slightly higher at 3.5 per cent.

Mary Angell, the council’s cabinet member for children and families, said: “As far as we know, this campaign is the only one of its kind in the UK. We are keen to ensure Surrey’s children have positive male role models from an early age, and working with children is both a challenging and rewarding career choice.”

The campaign has also included a series of roadshows in shopping centres in Woking and Camberley. At these a further 47 men asked for more information about a career in childcare.

Are you a male working in childcare? Do you feel that you are treated any differently compared to co-workers? Join the discussion below by leaving your comments and thoughts!