Julian Grenier, head of Sheringham Nursery School, has been commissioned by the Department for Education (DfE) a team which is updating the non-statutory Development Matters (DM) guidance. He released some information about the revised guidance during an Ofsted Big Conversation national webinar meeting on 24.7.2020.
Why is DM being changed?
DfE state the main aim is to reduce workload - the excessive collecting and analysing of data. The focus will be on using our professional judgement rather than using Development Matters as an assessment tick list. However, I note that as the educational programmes and Early Learning Goals have all been changed, Development Matters was the natural next step for an update.
What will happen to Early Years Outcomes and 'What to expect, when?'
This question was not answered but I imagine they will be obsolete.
Who has been involved?
Grenier released a list of those involved in the update and said childminders were included. I was not asked to comment on the changes and Childcare.co.uk, the leading childminder organisation in England, was not approached either. I do not know any other childminders who were asked to get involved in the changes.
Is it an assessment tool or a curriculum?
The revised Development Matters should be used as a starting point for the curriculum. It will link to the revised educational programmes in the EYFS 2021. The EYFS 2021 will state, in requirement 1.6, that ‘Educational programmes must involve activities and experiences for children, as set out under each of the areas of learning.’
How long will it be?
Grenier says it will be much shorter than the current version (2/3 the length).
Will it have a new name?
This question was not answered.
Will the age ranges be the same?
No, they will change – Grenier says that it will be set out in 3 sections -
- Birth to three
- Preschool 3 to 4
- Reception year specific guidance**
**Gill Jones, deputy director of early education at Ofsted, clearly stated in the comments on the webinar that childminders will not be inspected on their reception curriculum.
How will it be set out?
We don't know exactly yet, but Grenier stated that it will set out key development milestones in the prime areas.
What will be included?
Again, we haven't seen it yet and the changes have been shrouded in secrecy. However, Grenier did say that the following themes would be highlighted –
**The best for every child
**High quality care experiences
**The curriculum – what we want children to learn
**Our pedagogy – he said that children need ‘the right help’ to learn
**Assessment – noticing what children know and can do
**Partnership with parents
**Quality practitioner training
What will change?
All the aspects linked to the areas of learning will presumably have to be changed to align with the new educational programmes and early learning gaols in the EYFS 2021.
Some changes mentioned in the webinar include -
**Reducing / narrowing the gap in vocabulary and communication
**Self-regulation and executive function (PSED)
**Maths will involve the things children need to understand before they can learn to count
**No ‘next steps’ focus on moving children from one age-band to the next – but emphasis on children consolidating a deep understanding of the curriculum.
How does the curriculum link to the early learning goals?
Grenier explained –
**Curriculum – must be organised, sequenced and ambitious to meet the needs of the children
**Early learning goals – allow reception teachers to do a quicker assessment in the summer term
There has been a lot of concern amongst professionals (see the Early Education campaign aginst the changes) that there will be, by necessity, a top-down approach to the early years curriculum, led by the early learning goals. Grenier said we should not work backwards but build on children’s experiences from observations ... it will be interesting to see how reception teachers respond if we don’t ‘prepare children for school’ because we have ignored the revised early learning goals!
What will Ofsted inspect?
Ofsted will continue to use the Early Years Inspection handbook (Sept 2019) and inspect our –
- Intent - curriculum – what we want children to learn
- Implementation - teaching – pedagogy
- Impact - do children know and remember more? What can they do now that they couldn’t do previously?
When is it due to be released?
Pending Department for Education approval, it is expected to be published in September.
Webinar training ...
Childcare.co.uk webinars will be presented to support everyone with the revised educational programmes and early learning goals – and with the Development Matters guidance when it comes available. Keep an eye on the list of webinars here - www.childcare.co.uk/webinars.
If you have any questions, please ask me.
Sarah | Knutsford Childminding