My answer is: 'No, but you do need to know what they mean and how they are inspected by Ofsted.
Let's look at the history first...
**The EYFS 2017 / 2020 talks about the 'educational programme' - this is statutory and must be part of what we do. It covers the information we must include in our curriculum.
**The Development Matters 2012 guidance is a child development guide - not a tick list, just an example of things the child might be doing or saying at different ages. It will soon be archived along with Early Years Outcomes 2013 and the 'What to expect, when?' parent guidance because it doesn't reflect current DfE / Ofsted thinking.
**The Development Matters 2020 guidance is a curriculum starting point - not an end point 'here's your curriculum get on and do it' but a starting point to make us think about the sorts of things we need to cover at different ages (0-3 and 3-4).
For more information about Development Matters 2020, you might find it useful to watch this free video - https://www.childcare.co.uk/childminders/development-matters.
Prioritise children's individual learning needs
Of course, the child's individual learning needs will always come first - with a curriculum overview in place, we can then look at what the child needs and adapt it for them.
Ofsted, in their early years inspection handbook (2019), talk about intent, implementation and impact and this is the only place the 3 I's (as they have come to be known) are mentioned. It's important we know these terms because they link through the educational programmes of the EYFS and inspection expectations:
**Intent = what you intend to do - your plan
**Implementation = how you do it - your doing - your day-to-day practice...
**Your impact = Ofsted talk about children 'knowing and remembering more'. It's your assessment of how successful your plan and doing was...
During inspection
You don't need to use the terms, but you do need to know what Ofsted are asking you during inspection when they talk about: plan, do, review ... intent, implementation, impact ... teaching, pedagogy, practice, assessment etc ...
The important thing to remember is that you are doing this all the time - it's nothing new - it's just a re-wording of our normal practice. We've always had a curriculum - an overview plan of what we want the children to learn ... we've always assessed how they are getting on - whether they are 'learning and remembering more' (Ofsted).
Documentation expectations
The other thing we need to look at when answering this question is the documentation expectations.
Ofsted have done a lot of myth busting on this subject, making it clear that they do not expect us to record unnecessary information - tick lists - fill in charts. If the child is engaging with the curriculum, they will be making good progress / on track.
If the child is not engaging with the curriculum then we will need to re-visit our intent, implementation and impact and see what we need to change or what more we need to do to support them - as we always have done - nothing new here!
I talk about these types of things in my FREE webinars - they are free for everyone to watch on a Tuesday night - www.childcare.co.uk/webinars
Childcare.co.uk gold members can watch again here - www.childcare.co.uk/webinarplayer
Links:
EYFS 2017 - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/596629/EYFS_STATUTORY_FRAMEWORK_2017.pdf
EYFS 2020 - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/896810/EYFS_Early_Adopter_Framework.pdf
DM2012 - https://www.foundationyears.org.uk/files/2012/03/Development-Matters-FINAL-PRINT-AMENDED.pdf
Development Matters 2020 - non-statutory but carries the DfE logo - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/914443/Development_Matters_-_Non-statutory_curriculum_guidance_for_the_early_years_foundation_stage__1_.pdf
Ofsted early years inspection handbook - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-inspection-handbook-eif