Nursery World - EYFS guidance: Effective practice, part 1

Kicking off a new series exploring the revised Development Matters guidance, Dr Julian Grenier looks at the first two key features of effective practice within the document: ‘The best for every child’ and ‘High quality care’

Diversity was a key part of the Fostering Effective Early Learning Study

The revised Development Matters is set out in two sections to convey a clear message: practitioners can use their professional judgement to decide how they organise care and learning for the children they work with.

Development Matters begins with seven key themes. Those themes summarise some of the important professional knowledge we need to have as practitioners. The themes can be used to guide managers and leaders in planning for professional development and quality improvement in settings. They can also be used on an individual basis by practitioners to help us build on our professional knowledge.

After the seven key themes come the tables which summarise some of the pathways of children’s development. Those tables exist as a backdrop. They provide guidance to help us develop an ambitious curriculum which is appropriate for the children we are working with.

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