EYFS REFORMS LEARN, EXPLORE AND DEBATE

REGIONAL EVENTSJanuary 2020

Department for Education

Parents’ environments are saturated with positive messaging to raise awareness and promote behaviour change

Face-to-face support, intensive where needed, is available to parents and children who need help to make and sustain change

Meeting our ambitions for children’s early language and literacy outcomes demands a relentless focus throughout a child’s early years

A child’s early language and literacy outcomes

are determined by

What happens at home (including the HLE)

The support the child and family receives from local

services

The quality and duration of their early education

Children experience high quality early education that pushes them to achieve

And public, private and third sector leaders, services and communities work collectively towards this objective with purpose, coherence and ambition

To drive the change we want to see, we must ensure that in every place

THE HOME LOCAL SERVICES EARLY YEARS SETTINGS

Early Social Mobility programme – progress to date

Campaign launched – first wave of activity over the summer, second planned for spring

Educational apps quality marked by independent education panel

Over 1000 Health Visitors trained in speech, language & communication needs

22 Early Years speech and language local authorities peer reviews conducted by > 150 trained peers

Programme delivery underway across 51 LAs

Consultation on EYFS reforms launched in October 2019

34 schools designation ‘English Hubs’ supporting 85 schools in their regions

Home Learning Environment trials:- Tips By Text - BIT- Level 4 Group Triple P – Triple P- The Real Programme - NCB- Parent Lives + - Family Lives

Early years professional development trials:- Manor Park Talks – Sheringham Nursery School- The Hanen programme – Communicate SLT- Early Years Toolbox – Action for Children- Reception Jigsaw – White Rose Maths- Maths Champions - NDNA

Our delivery partners:

Speech, language & communication assessment tool being developed and tested by Newcastle Universty

https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/projects-and-evaluation/projects/

www.hungrylittleminds.campaign.gov.uk

VCS projects underway to support delivery

Building the evidence base:

EYFS reforms: Context and update

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Two key objectives: reducing teacher workload and improving outcomes-particularly in early language for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

• Revising the Early Learning Goals so that they:

- Focus on strengthening language and vocabulary development

- Strengthen literacy and numeracy outcomes at the end of reception year

- Better prepare children for Key Stage 1 – by better aligning with Year 1

- Are based on the latest evidence in childhood development – and the strongest predictors of future attainment

- Are clearer for teachers to interpret – making the EYFSP assessment more straightforward

• Streamlining assessment guidance and reviewing the moderation process to:

- Reduce teacher workload and strongly encourage teachers to use their professional judgement and reduce reliance on recording unnecessary evidence

- Make clear that the ELGs are not the curriculum – they are an end point measure of what a child should be demonstrating by the end of the EYFS.

• The draft revised ELGs and EYFSP handbook were piloted in 24 schools during academic year 2018/19.

• The EEF and NatCen published their findings from the evaluation of the pilot in October 2019.

• A full public consultation on our EYFS proposals on the ELGs, educational programmes and assessment process was launched on 24 October 2019 and closes on 31 January 2020.

• Statutory roll out of the reforms are expected in AY 2021/22, with plans for voluntary opt-in for AY 2020/21.

EYFS: quick recap

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The EYFS statutory framework is mandatory in all early years settings. It sets the standards that schools and early years providers must meet to ensure that children are taught and develop well and are kept healthy and safe in all early years settings from birth to age 5.

The EYFS was first introduced in 2008. In 2012, following an independent review of evidence and practice (the Tickell Report, 20116), the learning and development requirements were revised to create three prime areas of learning and four specific areas of learning, rather than the previous six areas of learning. It also introduced three characteristics of effective teaching and learning.

Sections 1 and 2 of the EYFS framework set out the learning and development and assessment requirements and include the educational programmes early years providers are required to follow across the seven areas of learning7. All early years practitioners and teachers are required to pursue rich daily activities in supporting each child’s educational development under these areas.

The EYFS framework does not prescribe a particular teaching approach. It recognises that effective teaching in the early years requires skilled use of a teaching practice repertoire which responds appropriately to the age and needs of the children being taught. In recognition of this, the revised EYFS framework will include the definition of teaching currently included in Ofsted’s Early Years Inspection Handbook.

EYFS reforms Pilot evaluation findings

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• The draft revised ELGs and EYFSP handbook were piloted in 24 schools during the academic year of 2018/19.

• The pilot was led by the Education Endowment Foundation in partnership with Natcenand Action for Children. It began in September 2018 and concluded in July 2019.

• The key aim of the pilot was to test the deliverability of the new ELGs and the overall EYFSP assessment process.

• The pilot included testing of the revised set of Early Learning Goals and educational programmes, and a revised approach to assessment and moderation.

• Pilot schools were purposively selected from a randomly generated sample with a mix of characteristics including ;

- location

- number of pupils

- percentage of children eligible for free school meals

- Ofsted rating

Key Evaluation Findings

• Participants viewed the revised ELGs positively overall, they also made practical suggestions about improving the revised ELGs.

• Schools reported that their workload had reduced due to less expectation for assessment and evidence-gathering. Staff reported using this extra time to spend with children.

• The revised ELGs by themselves were not felt to be sufficient, teachers wanted supporting materials, such as exemplification and curriculum guidance.

• There were mixed views about whether children would be better prepared for key stage 1 and whether the new ELGs were more or less challenging than before. Follow-up research would be required to investigate this further.

• Teachers welcomed using their own judgement and felt empowered to do so. However, some felt that external moderation would still be important for ensuring consistency between schools, and for gaining alternative perspectives.

EYFS reforms: Consultation

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In Scope Out of Scope

• Prime and Specific Areas of Learning:- these terms will remain – as will the areas of learning sitting underneath. All the areas of learning are inter-connected and complement one another.

• Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning will remain central to the EYFS – no changes proposed

• Good Level of Development (GLD) metric

• The progress check at age 2 is not being consulted on.

• The reception baseline assessment is not in scope of this consultation.

• Educational Programmes

• Early Learning Goals

• EYFSP statutory LA moderation

• Exceeded judgement

• Promotion of oral health- proposal to include ‘promotion’ as part of wider safeguarding and welfare. To note- this is not a proposal for mandatory tooth brushing supervision

EYFS Reforms: L&D requirements

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• Proposed revisions to the educational programmes:- each programme has been re-written to provide detail on the kinds of activities practitioners and teachers can deliver in settings and classrooms to support day to day curriculum and practice.

• Communication and language has been threaded through all areas, given it underpins all seven areas of learning.

• Proposed revisions to the Early Learning Goals (ELGs):- includes more clarity and specificity to descriptors and key changes to:

• Communication and language: focus on oral language and vocabulary acquisition• PSED: new ELG on self-regulation and inclusion of self-care• Physical Development: focus on gross and fine motor skills• Literacy: new ELG on comprehension• Maths: focus on depth of number and understanding quantities and continue to focus on space, shapes

and measure through curriculum• Understanding the World: more defined descriptors as precursors to science, history and geography and

remove IT. • Expressive Arts and Design: clearer descriptors and emphasis on communication and language.

EYFS Reforms: Changes to assessment

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EYFSP moderation:• EYFSP assessments are currently externally moderated on a statutory basis by LAs 25% of schools. • While moderation is an important part of ensuring that the EYFSP produces trusted assessment outcomes,

practitioners have told us that the external moderation process can be burdensome.

• We are seeking views on the proposal to remove the statutory requirement for LAs to externally moderate EYFSP judgements. Schools would be expected to continue to moderate internally and with other settings to ensure consistency of judgements and that the EYFSP produces trusted assessment outcomes.

EYFSP judgement criteria:• We have heard from experts, practitioners and teachers that the exceeded descriptor is unhelpful in making consistent

and accurate judgements - there are inherent challenges in what level to pitch exceeded descriptors and that judging children as exceeded against descriptors generates additional unnecessary collection of evidence for internal and external moderation events.

• There is also broad consensus that our focus as practitioners and government should be on efforts to increase the number of children who achieve expected levels of development by the end of reception.

• We are seeking views on the proposal to remove the exceeded criteria from the EYFSP. Teachers will still be required to stretch more able children and support them to excel and provide a narrative for parents and the year 1 teacher.

EYFS Reforms: Non- statutory curriculum guidance

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Improve early years outcomes

Reducing Workload Burdens

Specific Reception Year guidance

In line with wider policy ambitions- to improve outcomes for disadvantaged children to narrow development gaps.

Re-casting the focus on curriculum rather than assessment and providing a foundation for helping teachers and practitioners to plan setting/classroom activities

Making reception year count – by supporting teachers with specific curriculum guidance to ensure all children have strong foundations to begin Year 1. This will be part of the overall guidance document covering the whole EYFS age-range.

Curriculum guidance is currently being developed through an update of the Development Matters non-statutory guidance - aims to focus practitioners and teachers on the importance of rich daily activities to improve outcomes and help reduce workload

Dr Julian Grenier is leading this work with us We aim to roll out the new curriculum guidance alongside the EYFS reforms

We have taken on board feedback from the pilot evaluation and will continue to engage with the sector, key experts and assess the responses from the consultation to ensure that these important reforms are delivered by a prepared early years workforce. We will:

Develop new exemplification guidance for the new ELGs, to support teachers in making consistent judgements at ‘expected’ level and ease the burden of moderation;

Develop new non-statutory curriculum guidance to support the workforce delivering rich daily activities to improve outcomes in early language development;

Support volunteer early adopter schools and local authorities – particularly in setting out a clear message of the rationale and nature of the changes and ensure the sector is prepared for national roll-out in AY 2021

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EYFS Reforms: Supporting implementation

Thank you

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