Nursery World - The early adopter EYFS: What’s wrong and where do we go from here?

An outpouring of dismay across social media has met the publication of the revised Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework. Annette Rawstrone investigates why and what is to happen next

Is anybody listening? The sector feels its views on the EYFS have been ignored

The criticisms of the revised EYFS have continued to rumble on since its release, with sector professionals calling it ‘preposterous’ and ‘damaging’ and saying that they have not been listened to.

‘It’s hard to summarise what is wrong with this version,’ says early years consultant Nancy Stewart. ‘There are problems in every single area of learning and development which have been pointed out in detail to DfE from early in the process, but the issues have been ignored.

'They have also ignored the strong calls to strengthen emphasis on the Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning, and have instead downplayed these by removing the statutory requirement for Reception teachers to comment on these. A useful review of the EYFS would have made changes only where it would be an improvement, but the DfE is making wholesale changes for the worse to a highly regarded framework.’

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