We will have 2 main guidance documents to help us with the changes:
Birth to 5 Matters was written by the sector and the guidance takes its own directions from what the sector felt was right. For example, PSED is first while the EYFS 2021 puts Communication and language first... technology is included as a separate aspect while it is no longer in the EYFS 2021... Birth to 5 deals with the characteristics of learning in a different way to the EYFS 2021 and the new Development Matters; some of the aspects in Birth to 5 link with the early learning goals in the EYFS 2021 and others don’t; the experts who wrote Birth to 5 believe DfE have got both the change in definition of the learning characteristics and the definition of self-regulation wrong so their guidance corrects that but doesn’t align exactly with the EYFS 2021 as a result. There are other differences.
For more information on the thinking behind the different way of dealing with self-regulation, you might find this article by Dr Mine Conkbayir interesting –
https://eyfs.info/articles.html/personal-social-and-emotional-development/self-regulation-in-early-years-r283/.
However, this does not make Birth to 5 Matters a bad document. It simply makes it a very slightly more challenging one to use. We can still find all the information we need in the guidance to deliver a curriculum that will prepare children for school and life-long learning.
This interview with Nancy Stewart provides more insight into Birth to 5 Matters. It was recorded for childminders but it is relevant to all early years providers - https://www.childcare.co.uk/childminders/birth-to-5-matters.
The completely re-written Development Matters guidance is a curriculum starting point and nowhere near the Development Matters 2012 guidance we currently use. It does not include the early learning goals and we are told by DfE in various vodcasts on the Foundation Years website that we are not to use them or the aspects within them. So, for example, we won’t be expected to use Communication and Language with either the 3 current aspects – listening and attention / understanding / speaking or the 2 new aspects from EYFS 2021 – listening, attention and understanding / speaking. We don’t need to align what we do in the early years with the early learning goals.
This is one of the DfE vodcasts for your professional development - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF5gDIIFysg.
The Early Years Outcomes guidance will be out of date in September because it will not follow the new educational programmes in the EYFS 2021. Ofsted has also commented that they are aware they were the drivers for some of the excessive paperwork expectations – and Early Years Outcomes certainly led to that when Ofsted originally announced in 2013 that it was their tracker of choice. We should be happy to see that document archived as part of the DfE and Ofsted paperwork myth busting campaign.
What we will have, very shortly when it’s finished BETA testing, is a new website for early years providers. The website gives us information on some new ‘areas’ within the 7 areas of learning – these are the new areas I trained on last night in my webinar 'Introduction to the educational programmes of the EYFS 2021' which will be available to watch again for Childcare.co.uk members shortly - www.childcare.co.uk/webinarplayer.
For example, in my webinar training I talked about Communication and Language in 3 areas – interactions / exploring language / listening and understanding. I have seen these new areas because I have been involved in the BETA testing but DfE are asking that the website is not widely shared until they have finished adding content. The writers of the new early years guidance website include the lead writer of Development Matters and Ofsted – the writers of the Birth to 5 Matters guidance have not, to my knowledge, been involved.
We must bear in mind that Development Matters and Birth to 5 Matters are non-statutory guidance. Development Matters is a DfE produced curriculum starting point, to be used alongside practitioner knowledge of child development and professional judgement about what the children need; Birth to 5 Matters is a by the sector, for the sector guidance based on the original Development Matters 2012 (Nancy Stewart was one of the original authors and the other author, Helen Moylett, has been involved in its production). We can use either – or neither – or both. They have their advantages and disadvantages – I will be training on a direct comparison between the 2 documents next week (18th May 2021 @ 7.30pm) – www.childcare.co.uk/webinars.
We have until Sept 1st to work out what we are doing and to get this right for our settings. I don’t think there is any rush to decide now what we do / don’t want to use. I will deliver a lot more training – as I am sure will others. There are some trainers who are very anti one guidance document or pro another. Personally, I don’t think that’s necessary – they both have value. I think we should go back to our core values – what do we want for the children? Where can we get the best information to help us achieve our values?
Chat soon, Sarah.