I wonder how many primary schools will sign up to be early adopters of the revised Early Learning Goals, and indeed revised EYFS, from this September, a year ahead of full implementation, following the DfE’s invitation.
It’s a tricky decision. On the one hand, any school putting their name forward doesn’t yet know what they will be taking on board, with final decisions resulting from the consultation (just closed as this issue of Nursery World is published) still some way off. And serious concerns remain about the likely revisions and their ramifications for young children.
On the other hand, there will be an understandable feeling of ‘better the devil you know…’. The chance to get to grips with major change in advance and have more time to adapt will be very tempting for many.
Results released from the small pilot run last year with 23 schools were not very conclusive. Teachers felt that workload was reduced as assessment and evidence-gathering requirements were less, but were not always sure that the changes would lead to children being better prepared for Key Stage 1.
But moving forward, no-one seems to be asking why nurseries, pre-schools and childminders are not being asked to take part in this early adoption. It’s almost as if there is a feeling that the planned revisions won’t make any difference for those educating younger children, even though the EYFS should be one seamless framework. Surely, no-one would say that what happens before Reception doesn’t matter!
And for pre-schools and nurseries based with schools, there is the prospect of two different systems operating on one site for a year.
Surely, it should be vitally important to try out and evaluate the revisions at all stages of the EYFS.
