Nursery World - To the point - What matters most

If new practitioners are trained in a new qualification that doesn't even mention play, will they be the informed professionals that children deserve?

Not so many years ago, there was no EYFS. In fact, there was no curriculum guidance for the Foundation Stage, Birth to Three Matters, or even the earlier Desirable Outcomes. In those years I sometimes described the core of what I strived to offer children as a 'play and talk curriculum'. And though we now have a national framework, I would still be fairly happy to sum up an effective approach under that description.

Frameworks come and go, but what matters most to children and what will help them to learn and develop remains a steady undercurrent. So does it matter that the current Government plans to tinker with the EYFS? Part of this urge for change comes from wanting more available, cheaper childcare. I believe it does matter, if it comes to removing quality requirements such as enough space to run and play.

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