What is the EYFS?

What is the EYFS? The early years foundation stage.  It’s probably the most important document you need to familiarise yourself with if you work in childcare and educate young children under 5.

The Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets the standards for promoting the learning, development and safety of children from birth to five years in Ofsted registered settings. The EYFS lays down the legal requirements that early years providers must meet, including:

• learning and development requirements: specific areas of learning and development which should shape the activities and experiences you offer
• assessment requirements: how you measure children’s progress and feedback to parents or carers
• safeguarding and welfare requirements: what you must do to keep children safe and promote their welfare

So, that’s a brief synopsis.

But, we will be going into more detail about What the EYfS and how it effects your children.  But first welcome to the channel:

Intro Vid

Welcome to the channel open a nursery, with myself Curtly Ania, where I teach you to run grow and open your own childcare.

As you should already know, today we’re going over What is the EYFS.

EYFS, short for Early Years Foundation Stage, is a series of guidelines on the learning and development of children up to five years old.

EYFS applies to England. Scotland has the early years Curriculum for Excellence, Wales has Foundation Phase and Northern Ireland has Curricular Guidance for Pre-School Education.

In England, these guidelines are set by the government and it is mandatory that all paid nurseries and childminders follow EYFS standards. Schools also follow EYFS when a child is in Reception class, before moving onto Key Stage 1 in Year 1.

As this is the first stage in a child’s development, most learning targets are met through games and activities. Each child’s progress is tested by observation from an early years practitioner or health visitor when they are aged two, three and five.

The EYFS Statutory Framework covers three key areas. 

1. The learning and development requirements
2. Assessment
3. And the safeguarding and welfare requirements

Firstly, we’ll go over the learning and development requirements.

This is essentially the curriculum for under 5s.

This is separated into 7 areas of learning.  The EYFS sets specific goals for each area of learning.

The seven areas of learning are also split into two areas.

The 3 prime areas which are:

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

and the 4 specific areas:

• Mathematics
• Literacy
• Understanding of the World and
• Expressive Art and Design

Each section is then further broken down into different areas.

With personal social and emotional development this refers to the ways in which young children develop their sense of self, form relationships with others, and regulate their emotions and behaviour.

This involves:

• Managing feelings and behaviour: where children learn to recognise their own and others’ feelings and how best to respond to them, and learning how to follow instructions and control their impulses and behaviour.
• Self-confidence and self-awareness: teaching children to build independence and perseverance, understanding right and wrong and that rules are there for a reason, as well as learning about personal hygiene and healthy habits.
• Making relationships: learning to cooperate with others and be sensitive to each other’s

Activities to support learning in this area include:

• Practising sharing and taking turns
• Following instructions and rules and understanding why
• Exploring their own needs, interests and feelings
• Learning about and respecting each other’s differences
• Practising independence and self-care
• needs, to form positive relationships and friendships

The second prime area is communication and language which refers to the ways in which young children develop their abilities to communicate and understand language, both verbal and non-verbal.

This involves:

• Listening and attention: where children learn to listen attentively to what others are saying and to respond appropriately. They also learn to concentrate and focus on particular tasks.
• Understanding – where they also develop their abilities to understand both spoken and non-verbal communication. They learn to understand and follow instructions, and to respond to questions and requests appropriately.
• Speaking – where children learn to communicate their ideas, thoughts, and feelings using a range of vocabulary and sentence structures. They also develop their ability to express themselves fluently and accurately.

Activities to support learning:

• Roleplay
• Listening to others sharing experiences and opinions
• Listening to stories
• Using descriptive language to express themselves or tell a story
• Learning new words to expand their vocabulary

The final prime area is physical development.  This is where young children develop their gross and fine motor skills, and learn to move and use their bodies effectively.

It involves:

• Moving and Handling – where they develop their gross motor skills, such as crawling, walking, and running, as well as their fine motor skills, such as using scissors and pencils. They also learn to handle objects and tools effectively, such as throwing and catching balls.

and

• Health and Self-care – Learning about healthy habits, such as washing their hands and brushing their teeth. As well as developing their abilities to take care of themselves, such as dressing and feeding themselves.

Activities to support this area include

• Games that involve running, jumping, throwing and catching
• Using equipment such as climbing frames
• Older children might also discuss healthy living and how they feel after exercise
• Drawing, colouring, painting and crafts
• Eating independently using cutlery

Moving onto the specific areas, starting with mathematics, which is all about numbers, problem solving and critical thinking.

Here children will be looking at:

• Numbers: we will be helping children to gain an understanding of numbers and counting, and learning about mathematical symbols and concepts like addition, subtraction, and multiplication.

As well as looking at:

• Space, Shape, and Measure – where children will develop these concepts and learn to use mathematical language and concepts to describe and compare objects and quantities. They also learn about time and money, and how to measure and estimate lengths, weights, and volumes.

Activities to support learning include:

• Counting
• Identifying and drawing shapes
• Adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing using objects
• Learning about weights and measures

In the EYFS curriculum children are also taught literacy which involves enhancing their skills in reading, writing, and communicating effectively with others through language.

Activities to support this include:

• Singing nursery rhymes to explore rhymes and syllables
• Learning the alphabet and digraph sounds verbally
• Matching sounds with the letters of the alphabet
• Writing some letters, their names and other simple words

Understanding the world, another specific area of the EYFS is all about developing children’s understanding of different people, places and the environment and includes:

• People and Communities – learning about the people and communities around them, including their own families, cultural backgrounds, and social norms and values. They also learn about different occupations and roles, and about the diversity of people and communities in the world.
• The World – They develop their understanding of the physical world, including natural phenomena such as weather, plants, and animals. They also learn about the built environment, including homes, buildings, and infrastructure, and about the impact of human activity on the environment.
• And
• Technology – learning about and how to use different types of technology

Activities to support this include:

• Exploring their senses of sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch
• Learning about nature and seasons, often outdoor learning in a local park or woodland
• Looking at maps
• Exploring cultures, religion and cultural and religious festivals
• Practical experiments with science, such as seeing which objects float in a tub of water
• Using computers or other technology to begin children’s technical skills

The final area of learning is expressive art and design which is all about developing their creativity and imagination through diverse forms of artistic expression.

It involves:

• Exploring and using media and materials – Children enhance their skills to investigate and utilize various materials and resources, such as paint, clay, and digital media, to articulate their concepts and emotions.
• As well as…
• Being imaginative – By participating in imaginative activities like storytelling and role-playing, as well as crafting their own art forms and designs, children nurture their creativity and imagination.

Some activities you can do to support learning are:

• Painting, messy painting, drawing and crafts
• Making music and singing
• Dancing, independently and as a group
• Roleplaying known stories (such as fairy tales) and their own stories

How children learn is just as important as what children learn in the EYFS.  Which is why the EYFS also covers this via the characteristics of effective learning.

I have covered the COEL in a previous video which you can see on the screen and I will link in the description.  So, check that out if you want to learn more about it.  But, to put briefly characteristics of Effective Learning describe behaviours children use in order to learn.

The main characteristics of learning according to Early Years Foundation Stage are:

• Playing and exploring – this involves children investigating and experience things and ‘have a go.’
• Active learning – where 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.

The way a child engages with the environment and other people will help development and learning.

So, that’s the biggest area of the EYFS, the learning and development requirements.

The second area, the assessment requirements.

Assessment plays an important part in helping parents, carers and practitioners to recognise children’s progress, understand their needs, and to plan activities and support. Ongoing assessment (also known as formative assessment) is an integral part of the learning and development process. It involves practitioners knowing children’s level of achievement and interests, and then shaping teaching and learning experiences for each child reflecting that knowledge.

Assessments differ between each nursery or setting, and different places will assess at different periods.  For example some do theirs monthly, termly etc.

Though, there are some periods where assessments must take place. 

Generally, only one of these takes place whilst at nursery, which is the two-year progress check.  This places a legal requirement on childcare providers to undertake a review of all childen’s progress in the prime areas (so in communication and language, PSE and PD) between the ages of two and three and to share this with parents and any other relevant professionals.

The other two assessments will generally take place at school and occur within the first 6 weeks of starting reception and in the final term of which a child turns 5 years old.

The final area of the EYFS statutory framework is the safeguarding and welfare requirements.

This area guides early years providers on rules and guidance they must or should follow in order to keep children safe whilst at their nursery, childminders or other childcare provider.

It provides rules and guidance on a variety of topics like:

• Reporting incidences
• Hiring suitable people
• Child protection
• Staff qualifications and training
• Staff deployment and the key person approach
• Staff ratios
• Managing children’s behaviour

Plus, lots more all around keeping children safe.  If is a key part of the EYFS and an area that is always developing and adapting.  So, it is important that all people who work in early years are up-to-date with this.

I’ve covered the latest changes to the EYFS which came into force recently in the video linked in the description.

But, in summary The EYFS statutory framework emphasizes the importance of providing children with a stimulating and nurturing environment to support their learning and development. It recognizes that children develop at their own pace and in their own unique way, and that parents and caregivers play a crucial role in supporting their children’s learning and development.

So, that is the complete guide to the EYFS.

I hope you’ve found it useful.  If you did let me know in the comments, feel free to ask any questions there too.  And don’t forget to like the video you must have if you’ve got this far, and if you haven’t already make sure to subscribe, I post regular videos to help support you in your childcare career.

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So, God bless and I will see you on the next video.