Delivering the EYFS
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets standards for the learning, development and care of children from birth to 5 years old. All schools and Ofsted-registered early years providers must follow the EYFS, including childminders, preschools, nurseries and school reception classes.
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework supports an integrated approach to early learning and care. It gives all professionals a set of common principles and commitments to deliver quality early education and childcare experiences to all
EYFS - Early Years Foundation Stage
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets standards for the learning, development and care of children from birth to 5 years old. All schools and Ofsted-registered early years providers must follow the EYFS, including childminders, preschools, nurseries and school reception classes.
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework supports an integrated approach to early learning and care. It gives all professionals a set of common principles and commitments to deliver quality early education and childcare experiences to all
*NEW FOR 2024*
New for October 2024
Help for early years providers : Support for practitioners (education.gov.uk)
Help for early years providers : Areas of learning (education.gov.uk)
Help for early years providers : Health and wellbeing (education.gov.uk)
Added July 2024
In collaboration with the London Early Years Foundation and Anaphylaxis UK, DfE has added new nutrition content and videos to Help for Early Years Providers site to help you fulfil the requirement to provide healthy, balanced, and nutritious food for the children in your care.
Establishing healthy eating habits at a young age is important for long-term health. As early years practitioners you can help set solid foundations for children’s future health by providing them with nutritious food in your settings.
Alongside this new content, the site has been redesigned to include more images and to be easier to navigate.
Head to the Health and Wellbeing section to see the new content and explore the new and improved site across all sections.
Help for early years providers : Nutrition (education.gov.uk)
Revised EYFS from 4th January 2024
Statutory Framework for Early Years click the link Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Group and school based provders click the link EYFS statutory framework for group and school based providers (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Childminders click the link EYFS statutory framework for childminders (publishing.service.gov.uk)
For a summary
Summary of changes for childminders (applies from 4 January 2024) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
In this section you can find useful materials//documents/toolkits/literature that will help, support and guide the implementation and devlivery of the EYFS
DfE have recently launched a new service, packed with resources and practical support, aimed at helping childminders, nursery leaders and pre-school practitioners get ready for the changes in September
The Learn - Explore - Debate events, hosted by Foundation Years in March 2021, which focused on the revised EYFS and had sessions on reducing unnecessary workload and self-regulation in the early years. The recordings and case studies from the events can be found here
please view the video below for guidance on implementing the revised EYFS Reforms 2021
https://youtu.be/h1YrlYBzHp8?list=PLtzrKMTdN0cbTUGv6Q4dgaxVbKcH21_y6
You can also check out the DfE's online service 'Help for early years providers', which has been developed with sector experts and is packed with resources and practical support for childminders, nursery leaders and pre-school practitioners
The DfE has published two renewed documents in line with the EYFS reforms, which can be found on the Foundation Years website.
'What to expect in the EYFS: a guide for parents', produced by Sheringham Nursery School and Children's Centre, is designed to guide parents through what to expect with their child's development.
'A Celebratory Approach to Working with Children with SEND', produced by Pen Green Children's Centre, is designed to help practitioners support children who require additional help or children with SEND
• new videos have been added to the understanding the world pages
• a new SEND resource has been added to the service
• the food safety resource has been updated to include links to new choking hazard posters from the Food Standards Agency.
To access Help for Early Years Providers please follow this link:
https://help-for-early-years-providers.education.gov.uk
NEW! JANUARY 2022!
The latest news, policy and resources for early years professionals
Case studies on implementing the EYFS
The DfE has published a small suite of videos on GOV.UK, with messages from DfE, Ofsted and early adopter schools on their experiences in delivering the EYFS reforms.
Susie Owen, Director of Early Years and Childcare (DfE) and Phil Minns, Specialist Adviser, Early Years and Primary (Ofsted) provide a summary of the reforms and the new expectations for early years curriculum and assessment
You can also find an set of slides to accompany the vodcast here
New EYFS resources - Help for Early Years Providers
- videos are now available on the three Literacy resource pages: https://help-for-early-years-providers.education.gov.uk/literacy?utm_source=eyfs&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alert
- a new vodcast about the use of the online service is available from the National Children’s Bureau: https://foundationyears.org.uk/2021/12/new-vodcast-on-the-help-for-early-years-providers-online-resource/
- To access Help for Early Years Providers please follow this link:
https://help-for-early-years-providers.education.gov.uk?utm_source=eyfs&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alert
NEW! FEBRUARY 2022!
New literacy videos on the 'Help for Early Years Providers' online service
New videos on the three literacy resources on the DfE's 'Help for Early Years Providers' online service have now been made available to view. The videos, focusing on reading comprehension, exploring words and writing, complete a suite of videos made available for all areas of learning.
The service aims to support childminders and staff in Private, Voluntary and Independent (PVI) settings to understand and implement the revised Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) reforms.
As a reminder, we recently published a new vodcast about the online service. In this vodcast, Gill from the National Children’s Bureau (NCB) speaks to Sarah, Director of Daycare at St Martin’s Nursery in Solihull and Octavia (NCB) speaks to Caroline, an experienced childminder, about the service and how it can help providers as they get used to the EYFS reforms.
A set of slides have also been developed to accompany the vodcast, which you can use yourself or with staff in your setting. You can watch the vodcast and download the slides here
Development Matters - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
http://development-matters.org.uk/download/103/
https://www.birthto5matters.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Birthto5Matters-download.pdf
For additional support materials for implementing the Birth to Five Matters see here Birth To 5 Matters – Guidance by the sector, for the sector, additonal to this you may also wish to view this video https://youtu.be/pAsKhUY6yvA with an inerview with the project lead of the Birth to Five Matters Guidance
In this section you will find additioanal non statutory guidance documents available to download that you can use to help you meet the requirements of the EYFS
https://www.foundationyears.org.uk/files/2012/03/Early_Years_Outcomes.pdf
https://www.foundationyears.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/What-to-Expect-When-2018.pdf
From September 2021, the EYFS 3.44 has added the requirement to promote oral health of children attending your setting. The Revised Development Matters Document 2020 also supports this statament. Please below for some useful links that may provide you with additional support to implement this requiment
Child oral health: applying All Our Health - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Reducing Sugar | Cutting Out Sugar | Change4Life (www.nhs.uk)
The Foundation Years
On 16 May, Foundation Years published its latest vodcast exploring the benefits of outdoor learning in the early years.
Gill Holden, Principal Officer of the Early Childhood Unit at the National Children's Bureau (NCB), spoke to Jo Gordon and Jacqui McDermid, Early Years Consultants, Communication and Language Development Leads at the Lambeth Early Action Partnership (LEAP) and co-founders of the Natural Thinkers programme.
They discussed how to plan your curriculum to ensure that outdoor learning is effectively included, how to support and enthuse staff and families, and much more on how outdoor learning can benefit the youngest children. To access this vodcast please see here
New for May 2022!
New guidance on the progress check at age two
The Department for Education (DfE) has published new early years foundation stage (EYFS) guidance to provide support for early years practitioners when completing the progress check at age two
This non-statutory guidance will help all early years practitioners working with children between the ages of two and three to make an accurate assessment of a child’s development and work closely with parents and other professionals to put in place appropriate support and intervention where it is needed
The guidance informs, supports and offers suggestions that can help practitioners review children’s development across the three prime areas of learning. It does not replace the professional judgement of practitioners but aims to support it. The guidance is clear that you do not need to spend a long time away from the children to complete the progress check or carry out excessive tracking or evidence collection
The DfE has also published a vodcast to explain the new guidance to early years practitioners and a blog that highlights why the progress check is important now, more than ever as we support children to bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic
New for July 2022
Sensory food education is a fantastic way of helping children build a positive relationship with food and eating
One of the three prime areas of learning and development in the EYFS is Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED). A key part of this for children in your care is learning how to look after their bodies including through healthy eating
This brilliant article from TastEd shows how you can easily incorporate sensory food education into your early years setting
Updated for November 2022
Curriculum planning - Help for early years providers - GOV.UK (education.gov.uk)
Get alerts for new EYFS resources
Receive alerts regrading EYFS Resources by clicking on the link below
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New for March 2023
Early years child development training
This free, online training provides an overview of child development and gives practical advice for supporting the development of children in your early years setting. Click on the link below to find out more and to enrole
Early years child development training : Home page (education.gov.uk)
New for May 2023
Early years child development training
This free, online training provides an overview of child development and gives practical advice for supporting the development of children in your early years setting
Learn more and enrol on the course
Early years child development training : About training (education.gov.uk)
About this training course
Each training module on this site covers an important area of child development and has been written by early years experts, working with the Department for Education
Why should I take this training?
This training:
- is free for childminders and nurseries
- combines theory with practical tips and ideas to use in your setting
- includes opportunities to reflect on your practice
- reinforces your understanding through learning check questions and tests
- links to additional resources
- offers the opportunity to download certificates of completion
- has been developed by expert practitioners
EYFS Updates August 2023:
The revised EYFS can be found by clicking on the click Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage (publishing.service.gov.uk)
This version applies from 4th Spetember 2023
For now until the 4th September, please refer to the current version, which can be accessed by clicking on the link Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage (publishing.service.gov.uk)