New national curriculum for the under fives - is this true?

[gizmo]

or is The Times getting its facts wrong?

They want 3/4 year olds to write sentences with simple punctation, interpret phonics and use some simple formal maths ideas. With no 'opt-out' for any nursery or pre-school. So Steiner Schools/nurseries/Montessori etc will have no option but to teach skills which are (as far as I can see) probably not age appropriate for the vast majority of 3/4 year olds.

I really cannot believe this - I shall have to go and google what they are proposing. But if they are, how the hell do we stop them?

lazylou - it could work if as you say "areas were set up in a planned and purposeful way to meet the childrens' needs and interests" but what is likely to happen under this framework is activity designed by adults to create outcomes that the adults think the children should be achieving. This is not only adult-centric teaching rather than child-initiated learning, but it is a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of free, truly creative play.

Other European countries, Scandinavia in particular, are way ahead in that they acknowledge that optimum learning for young children is through play. The children do not start school (as we know it) and all the associated pressures until they are 6 or 7 years old. They are allowed the opportunity to play, have fun, develop their imagination and just be children. They enjoy the experience of natural learning, rather than the goal orientated system here which can damage self-esteem implemented at a very young age.

Planned, purposeful play is not the same as free play and they can't become one and the same thing. In the first one the adult has decided the outcome before they start and will be judging the child against the outcome they expect; the child may want to go in a completely different direction. All freedom and spontaneity will disappear. It may be alright in the reception classroom but it is harmful to the under fives who should be free to explore and develop at their own pace and not be expected to meet government targets from birth. The main danger, in my opinion, is that those working with the early years will be so bogged down with making observations and ticking boxes that they will not be able to provide the environment necessary for the child to thrive.

AbbeyA - hello! What you say is true of course, and this is why I say the main focus of the EYFS is open to misinterpretation and needs reconsidering and refining. However, all assessment should start with the child from observations and the environment planned accordingly. Observation of spontaneous learning as well as planned outcomes, particularly from narratives, during planned or unplanned activity has always been how the good practitioner works and is in fact discussed in the EYFS framework.

The problem will lie in interpretation, and even from local authority support. The focus will then turn to target driven outcomes in which decontextualised formal learning methods are employed, especially in synthetic phonics as one example, in order to achieve a good place in local and national league table statistics. This is no longer about the child.

You start with observing the child and planning the environment according to their needs but if you are going to have to make records of it all it is going to inhibit interacting with the child.I think that you can only do a good child observation if you are an extra person, purely there to observe. I can't run the activity,respond to the child and record observations, neither can I remember enough afterwards to be very accurate. I agree, JanetU that the problem will lie in the interpretation and sadly those involved with child care will have to meet the targets to be considered 'good'.The poor child gets lost in all this.

Lazylou by the very definition of the words "planned" and "spontaneous" they can not become one and the same thing. Or are we to plan to be spontaneous at half past two on a Tuesday which sadly is what I see in some classrooms already.
I am a teacher with many, many years experience, and am implementing EYFS in my classroom without any difficulty (with school aged children) BUT I would not be happy if my pre school aged child had to follow a statutory curriculum.

"Toddlers should be able to "rub a rusk around their feeding tray" to show that they are interested in making marks.

More controversially they will have to show they "enjoy babbling". "

I would also say a problem with EYFS for teachers is the ratio of 1 teacher -30 children in reception classes if the government is serious about providing good quality learning experiences for our youngest children they need to reconsider staffing levels. Both Wales and Scotland have both recognised the need for more adults in early years settings. Wales have plans for a 1 teacher - 8 children ratio in nursery and reception and 1 -15 in Key Stage 1 so why is England sticking to 1-30?

I am a childminder so my views are not really about 'education' more about learning

I have a group of children (up to 9 at a time) which currently range from 4 months to nearly 4

We do very little planned plan, the children choose their toys (from cupboards with pictures on). The older children tend to instigate the play and the younger children follow and adapt this play to their own level. Occasionally we get out something that has not been played with for a few weeks and sometimes it gets played with & sometimes ignored.

The children in our care may not be educated but they are well-spoken with excellent vocabularies. They have nice manners and are starting to develop a sense of morals and right and wrong. They don't always play traditionally with the toys and can entertain themselves for hours.

We (the staff) tend to protect and provide information for the children rather than 'educate' them

I got an Outstanding from OFSTED at my last inspection - but dread my next one, surely the children & their knowledge, happiness and health are far more important than a written risk assessment and regular written observations.

And I'm sure the parents feel the same Katy.

Have signed the petition. Don't like it at all for pre-school settings

Katy as a reception teacher the skills and attributes you mention are far more useful to me than children who are already "fed up" with learning.

You sound just the sort of childminder that I would have wanted for my children,Katy. It will be a retrograde step if you have to decide on your learning objective at the start of the day and make assessments. It seems a pointless exercise to me because no one will have time to read any of it and a teacher will want to make their own assessment when they get the child.
I think that things went wrong when Playgroups had to rebrand themselves as Pre-schools.
The whole thing seems controversial to me, children are so different. Some babble, some don't. My cousin's son didn't say anything until he was 5 and then spoke in whole sentences and there was no stopping him! I could go on and on with similar examples.

If you have concerns please sign the petition as parents it is important that the government see we want our children's differences recognised and celebrated not reduced to tick lists of development stages.

What is it with this government? Do they have to formalise and control every moment of our lives? Are children automatoms? Do they all grow up at the same speed?

"Formal 'schooling' should begin when a child is ready. No penalty should be attached to the 'late starter'; no significant advantage need be gained by starting earlier; readiness is all... Children should progress... in each learning area, as they become ready for it. No one should be taken to the next stage until he or she is well enough equipped to tackle it; no one should be held back because others have not yet covered the ground; date of birth or day of year should not be material: ripeness is all." (From Chance of a Lifetime by Jonathan Langdale and John Harrison - see www.wotnoschool.com for more)

The petition currently has 1100 signatures please take a look at the campaign issues
openeyecampaign.wordpress.com/

The numbers are creeping up (only 175 in the last 8 hours)but it needs a lot more to make an impact, I would urge people to look at the issues and sign.

A quick browse of EYFS shows 350 assessments (per child) www.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/eyfs/

My sister is an Early Years Training Co-ordinator. I am an infant teacher - although not worked for 3 years, since having children. Have emailed my sister to ask exactly what is going on here. I haven't heard of the changes. I'll let you know her viewpoint. And she is a VERY learn through play orientated believer.

turkEgyptlets I'm surprised you haven't heard about EYFS as it is something that has been "in production" for a number of years now.The government conducted a consultation last year (which myself and many other early years practitioners contributed to) but most if not all concerns were ignored and the EYFS was published this summer although it won't become statutory until September 2008.EYFS is a new curriculum which incorporates the current Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage and Birth to Three Matters.
As a reception teacher in a maintained school it will make little if any difference to me and my children (happystory there will be no more pressure on reception teachers in the area of literacy~ perhaps you are thinking of Letters and Sounds which was published at the same time ). It WILL however make a difference to childminders, pre schools, day nurseries and the independent sector who at present are not compelled to follow the Foundation Stage curriculum and it WILL reduce parents rights to choose the type of "care" their pre school age child receives.

I think that it is fine in the reception class, I am pleased that they have gone back to the importance of play, but I think that it is a straightjacket for those involved with the under fives. Unfortunately parents with small children, and no experience of child care,don't realise the implications of all the box ticking and are not signing the petition (it has only got to 1481 signatures). 0-5 was a time when children were free to experiment,learn about the world, how to get on with others and have fun, now they will be under the same restraints as school with testing, observations and measureable outcomes. A baby is going to be deemed failing if they don't babble in the prescribed way at the right time! I hate to think what would have been made of my son who didn't like getting his hands dirty-probably laid at my door as a repressive mother!

i meant i hadn't heard there would be dramatic changes as the Times reports, not hadn't heard about EYFS!

Sorry turksEgyptlets but as the Times reports it is a "Stealth curriculum". I for one glanced and thought well it's not really any different for my class; as I'm sure did many teachers and Early Years practitioners. It is only when you consider the document as a whole the implications become clear.

Have you had training with it mrz? i emailed my sister and this is what she says:

don't shoot me down just passing on a message!!

Birth to Three Matters and the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage are going and being amalgamated into one document - The Early Years Foundation Stage.
If interpreted wrong then yes it could read like a formal curriculumn.
We are already training people on this and focusing on the key messages - that it is a play based approach and that 'child initiated' is at the forefront. Something adults in England struggle with I think.
The bloody government - they love bringing new things out - but it only adds confusion! The whole thing has been out for consultation for the last couple of years! So people should have shouted harder I suppose.
It's not really that tragic though - as long as people get the right training and messages!

i think she doesn't realise people have been shouting harder..............

Have only just come back onto this thread and read back over it - this is what Sevenoaks said further down

"Finally, I am very surprised that pollypumpkin has not seen anything in it advocating formal academic teaching for the under 5's and I wonder whether she has read the 19 early learning literacy goals?"

Well, our children tend to leave us around 4 yrs... and as i understand it the goals are for the end of Reception year. I'm not saying I agree with them, just that in our school (Montessori) we have continued to fulfil our Montessori principles whilst at the same time fulfilling the EYFS principles. On the Montessori question, in answer to Sevenoaks can I please quote from the January 2008 issue of Montessori Internatioal Magazine:
"Will the EYFS require specialist early years settings such as Montessori or Steiner, to teach to a prescribed method and carry out testing?"
"NO - the EYFS does not prescribe any one teaching method, nor does it prescribe any kind of testing whatsoever..... all settings will have the same flexibility, using their own educational methods and philosophies, as they do under the current frame work. So No Testing. All Montessori practitioners are trained to observe, analyse and review what they know about individual children's learning. We make formative assessments, based for example, on observations, photograpsh, childrens drawings & craftwork, and we use them to inform everyday planning. Nothing will change in this respect."

Yes I've had training and have talked extensively with Margaret Edgington and Sue Palmer (who you will recognise as renowned experts in early years and literacy fields).

You may want to also check out
as they obviously do not see things as remaining the same when EYFS becomes legislation. "The Childcare Act 2006 has made the implementation of the Early Years Foundation Stage framework a legal requirement for all schools. This affects all children aged 0-5 but particularly those educated in a Steiner Waldorf kindergarten setting......."This website has been created by parents to provide a focus for campaigning to stop the UK government forcing all Steiner Waldorf and other kindergartens and nurseries to implement the Early Years Foundation Stage requirements.

Most of the framework is both positive and uncontentious. The problem is that some of the development goals and assessment run contrary to existing forms of education that thousands of people in the UK and many more in Europe have been championing for decades."

www.savesteinerschools.org/

I thought that I would put this back up to the top. Numbers are rising-now 2889-but needs more signatures.