Key Takeaways
- So it’s important to understand the 4 guiding principles, as they highlight the uniqueness of every child, the significance of positive relationships and enabling environments and individual rates of development. By honing in on these tenets you can craft a more impactful and caring learning environment for kids.
- The framework is based on seven areas of learning and development, which include prime areas such as Communication and Language, Physical Development and Personal, Social and Emotional Development and specific areas such as Literacy and Mathematics. These areas are intended to interconnect and support children’s development in a holistic way.
- Learning goals represent what children are expected to achieve by the end of the Reception year, across all seven areas of learning and development. These goals assist practitioners in planning and evaluating children’s development, making sure they’re headed toward KS1.
- The characteristics of effective teaching and learning – Playing and Exploring, Active Learning and Creating and Thinking Critically – underpin all learning and development. Promoting these traits supports kids to be driven, efficient students.
- For Dubai parents, it’s essential to know how nurseries customize the EYFS framework and blend in local culture and language. KHDA regulate the implementation to achieve very high-quality schooling, so seek environments which emphasize culture and develop languages.
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework establishes requirements for learning, development and care of children from birth to 5 years old in England. This framework ensures quality early education consistently.
It addresses 7 different areas – personal, social and emotional development, communication and language, physical development, literacy, mathematics, understanding the world, and expressive arts and design.
Demystifying the EYFS framework for parents and educators is essential to help them understand its significance and implementation.
What is the EYFS Framework?
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework is a statutory framework that establishes standards for the learning, development, and care of children aged from birth to 5 years. It’s the framework for early years education here, giving our little ones the best possible start in their early years provider settings. This framework is essential for ensuring that all children receive quality childcare and education.
EYFS: What is the EYFS Framework? It seeks to offer a safe foundation through planned learning opportunities and confident teaching. Consider it the master plan for designing spaces where kids flourish, meeting the requirements set forth by the statutory EYFS framework.
Partnership working between early years practitioners, parents, and carers is strongly emphasized in the EYFS framework. This partnership is crucial; it is about all of you being in sync and collaborating to help the child grow. It promotes equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practices for all children in early years settings, aligning with the new regulations that support inclusive education.
The EYFS framework outlines early years learning and development requirements that EYFS providers must follow, including safeguarding, learning and development, and children’s welfare before age five. These guidelines are pivotal for maintaining high standards in early years provision.
1. The Guiding Principles
The EYFS principles embrace that each kid is a unique little person who is always learning and can be resilient, capable, confident, and self-assured. It’s about viewing every child as an individual with unique ability.
Positive relationships are key, showing our children how to be strong and independent and how to respect others. These relationships develop a child’s confidence and competence in the world.
Children learn best in enabling environments, where their experiences are responsive to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between practitioners and parents. For example, what if you had a classroom built around your child’s curiosity, where teachers and parents collaborate to customize the learning experience?
Every child is unique and has their own rate of development and learning. The EYFS framework applies to the learning and care of all children in early years settings, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
2. The Prime Areas
Communication and Language is another prime area, concentrating on providing children with opportunities to encounter a rich language environment. This might include reading out loud, telling stories and promoting discussion.
Physical Development includes offering young children opportunities to be active and interactive, and to develop their co-ordination, control and movement. I’m thinking outdoor play, dance and any kind of physical literacy activities.
PSED supports children to develop a positive sense of themselves, and others, and to form positive relationships. These prime areas are the foundations for children’s success and future learning. It defines seven areas of learning and development that should inform early education curricula.
3. The Specific Areas
Literacy – supporting children to connect sounds and letters and start to read and write. This encompasses phonics, early reading and creative writing.
Mathematics – gives children opportunities to develop and improve their counting, reasoning and numeracy skills. Activities such as counting games, measuring and shape hunts.
Understanding the World helps children to develop an understanding of their physical world and community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment.
Expressive Arts and Design allows children to investigate and experiment with media and material in addition to offering opportunities and support to share their thoughts, ideas and feelings through art, music, movement, dance, role-play and design and technology.
4. The Learning Goals
The EYFS framework emphasizes the importance of creating an inclusive environment where all children can thrive. Regular assessments play a crucial role in the Early Years Foundation Stage, enabling early years practitioners to identify areas that require modification or enhancement. These assessments are vital for meeting the new regulations and standards document set by the government.
By adhering to the EYFS framework, providers can ensure they are effectively supporting children’s development through appropriate procedures and policies. This commitment to continuous improvement helps create opportunities for all children, fostering a supportive learning environment that aligns with the latest early years reforms.
5. The Characteristics
Playing and Exploring – children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’.
Active Learning is when children are involved and keep on trying if they experience difficulties, and enjoy their successes.
Creating and Thinking Critically is when children have their own ideas and develop them, make links between ideas and develop strategies for doing things.
These characteristics support all learning and development, supporting children to be effective and motivated learners. It’s intended to brief parents about the child’s progress towards the early learning goals and assist the transition to Year 1.
In the framework, early years educators, health visitors and parents all contribute their knowledge and understanding of the child to give a full picture of their development.
The EYFS framework has changed, with more emphasis around communication and language development, literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and expressive arts and design in the seven areas of learning.
The EYFS framework ignites a foundation for future academic success by establishing these crucial early building blocks.
EYFS in a Dubai Nursery
It’s all about the holistic development of young kids. Nurseries adhere closely to the EYFS to guarantee that they are educating children in a way that addresses their individual requirements. This framework utilizes play-based learning to support children in constructing a solid foundation for their future academics while having fun doing it!
In Dubai, EYFS nurseries typically cater for children from 45 days through to 5 years old, encompassing their early years education. Among the key learning areas under the EYFS curriculum are Communication and Language, Personal, Social, and Emotional Development, and Expressive Arts and Design.
Cultural Adaptation
Dubai nurseries modify the EYFS framework to incorporate local culture, values and traditions. For instance, they may incorporate Emirati culture in stories, songs and games. Practitioners employ culture-appropriate resources and activities to engage children and help them connect with their heritage.
This might involve dressing up in Emirati clothes for a play or sampling the local cuisine. Cultural celebrations and festivals, like Eid and National Day, are interwoven into the curriculum. These events provide children with rich learning opportunities.
Nurseries could arrange for special activities like traditional dances, storytelling or craft work related to the celebrations. Incorporating these cultural elements, nurseries ensure the EYFS framework is both relevant and meaningful for children in Dubai, grounding their learning to their daily lives and cultural identities.
Language Integration
Dubai nurseries incorporate Arabic into EYFS. The practitioners introduce bilingual resources and activities that support children’s language development. For instance, they may read stories in both English and Arabic or use flashcards containing words from both languages, which really exposes the children to different cultures and languages.
Language integration sets kids up for success in Dubai’s multilingual landscape. A lot of families in Dubai are bilingual themselves, so it’s awesome that the children can communicate in English and Arabic. By introducing language at a young age, nurseries assist children in becoming confident and articulate communicators.
KHDA Oversight
The KHDA meanwhile ensures nurseries adhere to guidelines and offer quality education. Here’s a breakdown of KHDA’s key roles:
Role | Responsibility |
|---|---|
Inspections | Regularly inspects nurseries to assess the quality of education and compliance with EYFS standards. |
Guidance | Provides nurseries with guidance and support to improve their educational practices and meet regulatory requirements. |
Training | Offers training programs for teachers and staff to enhance their skills and knowledge of the EYFS framework. |
Parent Engagement | Encourages nurseries to involve parents in their children’s learning and development. |
Quality Assurance | Ensures that nurseries maintain high standards of education and care for all children. |
The KHDA offers guidance and support to nurseries to enable them to enhance their teaching. A number of nurseries in Dubai are electronically tracking, tabulating and reporting on children’s progress. This allows them to monitor children’s progress and adjust their instruction accordingly.
Now back to EYFS nursery, which follow EYFS rules prioritize training their staff. This ensures that teachers are prepared to deliver quality education and care.
A Parent’s Guide to EYFS
The EYFS framework sets the standards for learning, development, and care for children from birth to age 5. It’s a statutory framework in England, but its principles are beautifully illuminating for early childhood education universally. In plain English, the early years provider must follow the EYFS to direct the way nurseries, preschools, and childminders nurture your child’s development.
Parents can access guidance on the EYFS to understand the expectations and qualification requirements for their child’s early years education. Built upon four guiding principles, the EYFS framework emphasizes that every child is a unique individual who learns to be strong and independent through positive relationships, develops well in enabling environments, and recognizes that children learn in different ways and at different rates.
It highlights play-based learning and discovery, containing 17 Early Learning Goals that children should reach by age 5. The framework also puts a strong focus on children’s emotional health, aligning with the new EYFS statutory framework that promotes comprehensive childcare standards.
Observing Play
Observing play is a key method of assessment in the EYFS framework. Early years practitioners carefully watch children at play to understand their interests, strengths, and any areas where they might need extra support. This isn’t just casual observation; it’s a focused effort to understand how a child engages with the world around them.
They utilize these observations to customize learning to individual needs. For instance, if a child repeatedly returns to the blocks, the practitioner could bring in more advanced structures or challenges to push their learning in that domain. These observations guide planning and help make learning experiences relevant to the individual.
Parents can also discuss their child’s play at home, and bring these observations to practitioners. Observing an interest in animals in the child, for example, can help plan activities at the early years setting. Sharing these kinds of information builds a more holistic view of the child’s progress.
Supporting Learning
You can support your child’s learning at home by anchoring activities to the EYFS’s seven areas of learning. These encompass communication and language, physical development, personal, social and emotional development, literacy, mathematics, understanding the world, and expressive arts and design.
For communication and language, read aloud together, tell stories or chat about your day. For physical development, promote active play, like running, jumping and climbing. Painting, drawing and singing all enable your child to tap into their creative side.
Crafting a stimulating and supportive home world is important. That means exposing them to a wide range of materials and resources that promote discovery and exploration. Keep in mind, you can collaborate with practitioners to solidify learning and growth.
Progress Checks
The progress checks are a really key part to the EYFS. They evaluate children in the prime areas and identify areas where they might require extra help. An important milestone is the two year progress check.
These checks typically involve observations, assessments, and discussions with parents. They provide a snapshot of a child’s development and help identify any potential concerns early on. It’s reassuring to know that the EYFS framework is reviewed and updated regularly.
Parents are part of progress checks and receive feedback on their child’s development. This cooperative effort guarantees that all parties are united in their effort to back the child’s education and health. Parents might want to check out my EYFS Profile info.
The Statutory Framework Explained
The EYFS statutory framework is a legal document that all registered early years providers in England must comply with. It guarantees that every child, from birth up to five, has access to quality care and education. This statutory framework is broken out into core sections on safeguarding, welfare requirements and learning and development.
EYFS statutory framework explained compliance is key for all early years settings to provide an environment in which children thrive. There are two versions: one for childminders and another for group and school-based providers.
Safeguarding Rules
Safeguarding is the number one priority in EYFS, with an emphasis on child protection. Early years providers have a duty to safeguard children from maltreatment. This encompasses physical, emotional, sexual abuse and neglect.
To comply with these requirements, it’s important to implement robust child protection policies and procedures. Such policies need to be routinely reassessed and revised to align with contemporary standards and legislation. All staff receive comprehensive safeguarding training to know their role in protecting children.
The training must include how to identify abuse, how to report it and how to handle a child’s disclosure. In addition, the framework seeks to foster equality, diversity and inclusion in early years environments, making sure that every child, regardless of background or situation, is safeguarded and cared for.
For example, a nursery should employ a designated safeguarding lead (DSL). The DSL should be suitably trained and experienced to undertake this role. All staff are to be aware of the local safeguarding partnership and how to contact them if they have a concern about a child’s welfare.
Welfare Requirements
The welfare requirements in the early years foundation stage statutory framework address key areas such as health, safety, and nutrition. These regulations seek to provide a secure and nourishing setting in which kids can thrive. This includes ensuring that the grounds are safe and maintained, as well as offering healthy meals and snacks.
Staff qualifications and ratios play a crucial role in the welfare requirements. This statutory framework outlines the minimum qualification requirements that staff must hold to work in early years settings, including the ratios of staff to children. These ratios help ensure that children receive sufficient supervision and assistance.
Early years providers must support children’s welfare and development by offering an inspiring and caring environment. This encompasses advancing their physical, emotional, and social development. For instance, a nursery must have staff with up-to-date first aid certificates and appropriate staff-to-child ratios.
For example, a nursery needs to have staff with up-to-date first aid certificates and appropriate staff-to-child ratios. The premises must be organised and all potential risks are promptly dealt with. They provide children with nutritious meals and snacks.
Assessment Mandates
Assessment within the EYFS statutory framework focuses on ongoing observation and assessment to track children’s progress. Practitioners use assessment to identify any areas where children may need additional support. This involves observing children as they play and learn, noting their strengths and areas for development.
The EYFS learning and development are split further into the seven areas of learning, early learning goals (ELG), and linked assessments. Engaging parents in the evaluation is crucial. Parents are wonderful sources of information about their child.
Practitioners should keep parents informed about their child’s development and consult them regularly about their child’s learning activities. The SEND Code of Practice makes sure that kids with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right assistance. Statutory guidance is provided to practitioners to back all intakes during the year.
Assessment informs planning and ensures that learning experiences are tailored to individual needs. By understanding each child’s unique strengths and areas for development, practitioners can plan activities and experiences that will help them to progress.
The framework provides a structured approach that helps early years providers deliver effective education and support children’s development comprehensively.
Beyond the Checklist
The EYFS is a great guide to early years education, as it aligns with the new EYFS statutory framework. Memorable early years experiences demand exceeding the checklist, fostering curiosity, resilience, and independence in young kids.
Fostering Curiosity
Encouraging curiosity is more than giving toys. Early years practitioners can foster a rich learning environment by providing open-ended resources such as loose parts, natural materials, and sensory inputs. Have your children dive in, research and experiment with these materials without predetermined conclusions.
For example, don’t hand a kid a ready-made puzzle, but rather a handful of wooden blocks, fabric scraps and buttons. Pose open-ended questions that inspire kids to problem-solve. If a kid asks you something, instead of answering it, ask him a question. I like the ‘I wonder what would happen if…?’ or ‘How could we find out?’ sort.
A good practitioner looks over a kid’s shoulder, observes what they’re interested and curious about, and then introduces resources and experiences that stretch their learning. By including play in our everyday lives, we offer the child a playground on which to experiment and learn.
A culture of curiosity breeds a life-long love of learning and sets kids up for success down the road. By prompting your kids to inquire, experiment, and test ideas, they’ll acquire a sense of critical thinking, problem solving skills, and a hunger for learning. This transcends a checklist mentality and instead emphasizes cultivating a child’s natural curiosity to learn and develop.
Building Resilience
The way to build resilience in young children is to help them build the emotional and mental strength to deal with challenges and setbacks. Early years practitioners can support children by building an environment where they are safe to take risks and make mistakes.
Tips for cultivating confidence and self-esteem consist of offering praise, emphasizing effort instead of accomplishment, and motivating children to take risks. Guide children to accept errors as part of the process. Practitioners can demonstrate resilience by relating their personal experiences with adversity.
It includes instructing kids in problem-solving and in handling their emotions. For instance, educate kids on recognizing their emotions, coping with them in constructive manners, and reaching out when required. Building the scaffolding gives kids the competence they crave to navigate through life.
By instilling resilience, practitioners assist children in becoming agents who can rebound from adversity, adapt to transformation and persist.
Nurturing Independence
Fostering independence in toddlers is about giving them the tools to take action, be decisive and accountable. Some practical ways to cultivate independence are having your children dress themselves, serve themselves food, and clean up their toys.
Build in choices for your kids during the day, for example, which activity to do or which book to read. Preschool environments can implement transparent evaluation processes and fund ongoing staff training to deliver exceptional learning.
Have children build upon their self-help skills, such as washing their hands, using the toilet, and putting on shoes. Cultivating autonomy develops robust students.
By providing kids with chances to feel empowered through choice, responsibility and self-help skills, they cultivate a sense of self-efficacy and belief in their own success.
The 2021 Reforms
The 2021 reforms represent a significant shift in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework. These changes, which took effect on September 1, 2021, aimed to streamline practices, reduce practitioner workload, and ultimately improve outcomes for children in early years settings. The reforms touched upon various aspects of the EYFS, from the learning goals to assessment methods and the guidance available to practitioners.
Understanding the motivation and impact of these changes is crucial for anyone working in early years education.
What Changed?
These 2021 reforms introduced a few key changes to the EYFS framework. Here’s a breakdown of some of the most significant adjustments and their intended impacts:
Change | Impact |
|---|---|
New Early Learning Goals (ELGs) | The new ELGs provide a clearer and more concise summary of the knowledge, skills, and understanding children should have by the end of the reception year. The new framework focuses on the main factors that support child development at age 5. |
Removal of EYFS Profile (EYFSP) as a Statutory Assessment | This change reduces the administrative burden on practitioners, allowing them to focus more on supporting children’s learning and development. The reforms removed the use of professional judgment to mark progress against statements in the Birth to 5 Matters framework. |
Changes to Educational Programmes | The 2021 reforms introduced changes to the wording in the educational programs. The reforms maintained the 7 areas of learning and development, which are: communication and language, physical development, personal, social and emotional development, literacy, mathematics, understanding the world, and expressive arts and design. |
The revised ELGs are intended to be more precise and quantifiable compared to the earlier iteration. For example, rather than general statements about communication and language, the new ELGs describe specific skills like understanding instructions, having conversations, and articulating yourself.
The new framework has a more rigid structure, recommending each child receives 3 assessments per year. The removal of the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP) as a statutory assessment at age five represents a significant shift. Previously, practitioners were required to complete detailed profiles for each child, assessing their progress against a range of statements.
The new framework places greater emphasis on ongoing observation and assessment to inform teaching and learning. Alterations were brought to the direction and relief provided for early years practitioners. They sought to offer more clear and actionable guidance on how to deliver the EYFS framework.
Why the Change?
The thinking behind the 2021 reforms was multiple. A key motivator was to ease the workload for early years professionals. The government wanted to cut red tape and free up practitioners to dedicate more time to directly aid children’s learning and development.
The reforms were guided by research and consultation with early years experts. Results from these studies emphasized the requirement for a more targeted and empirical method to early years practice. Early years education is among the government’s shared aims, such as high quality early education and care is available to every child regardless of background.
The reforms underpin these ambitions through encouraging a more principled and impactful approach to early years practice. Evidence-based practice is one of the ten principles supporting the 2021 reforms. This asserts that early years practice should be evidence informed, not just tradition or anecdote based.
The Impact
The 2021 early years reforms could have a major impact on kids’ learning and growth. By targeting high-impact areas of learning and development and encouraging a more evidence-based approach to practice, these reforms could result in better outcomes for children. They could seriously affect how children learn and grow, necessitating that early years providers adapt their practices to align with the new framework.
Early years settings and practitioners may need to adapt their practices to align with the new framework. This may involve changes to assessment methods, curriculum planning, and teaching strategies, and ensure the best possible outcomes for children.
Minor changes were made to the statutory EYFS framework in 2023, complementing the significant changes introduced in 2021, which are crucial for maintaining high standards in early years provision.
Conclusion
With the EYFS framework as a strong base, early years education in Dubai is on a path to becoming world-class. It provides nurseries with a framework, and helps parents know what their children are learning. It transcends with an evolved pedagogy that centers on each child’s individual trajectory.
If you want to make the most of EYFS, examine what the framework provides. Get into the nitty gritty of the 2021 reforms! Discuss with your child’s educators frequently. Invite questions and share what you observe at home. When parents and educators join forces, kids get the best start.
So, wanna hear it as an aside… Check out the resources below and start a chat with your kid’s nursery today!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the EYFS Framework?
So the EYFS framework is a guide for nurseries and preschools. It establishes standards for learning and development and care of children from birth to 5 years in England, ensuring compliance with the latest frameworks and updates.
Is the EYFS Framework used in Dubai?
Indeed, a lot of early years providers in Dubai, particularly British ones, follow the statutory EYFS framework for their early years programs.
What are the main areas of learning in the EYFS?
The EYFS, or early years foundation stage statutory framework, focuses on seven key areas: communication and language, physical development, personal, social and emotional development, literacy, mathematics, understanding the world, and expressive arts and design.
What is the “Statutory Framework” in EYFS?
The Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage is the binding code all registered early years providers must adhere to. It describes the needs for learning, development, welfare and protection.
What changed in the 2021 EYFS Reforms?
The 2021 early years reforms aimed to reduce paperwork, allowing teachers to spend more time with children while focusing on language development and implementing a revised assessment process.
How can parents use the EYFS framework at home?
Parents can help by engaging in activities and games that support the early years foundation stage statutory framework, reading together, and encouraging creative expression.
What does “Beyond the Checklist” mean in EYFS?
Beyond the Checklist encourages early years providers to look beyond merely meeting the EYFS requirements. This buzzword motivates educators to focus on each child’s personal needs and interests, fostering a richer learning experience in line with the new EYFS statutory framework.
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