If you are running a childminding business in the UK, the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) will significantly affect your role and responsibilities as a childminder.
The early years of a child’s life are crucial for their overall development and wellbeing, and the EYFS has been established to ensure that children up to five years old receive the support and education they need during this formative period.
In this blog, we take an in-depth look at the EYFS, its principles, its impact on early childhood education and how it affects your childminding business.
The Childminding App will help you navigate all the factors of the EYFS that affect your childminding business. It will also help you with everything from bookings to keeping your child’s parents informed and engaged.
What is the EYFS?
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is a comprehensive framework for early childhood education and care in England. It sets standards for the learning, development, and wellbeing of children from birth to five years old.
The primary aim of the EYFS is to provide a solid foundation for every child’s future learning and development, ensuring they are well-prepared for school and later life.
It is designed to provide a holistic approach to early childhood education, encompassing not only academic development but also social, emotional, and physical wellbeing.
The EYFS serves as a guide for childminders and practitioners, helping them create a nurturing and stimulating environment that supports children’s learning and development during their early years.
In January 2024, there was a significant shift in the EYFS framework, introducing two distinct versions – one tailored specifically for childminders and the other designed for group and school-based providers. Both versions incorporate amendments from the September 2023 update. Find out more about the key changes.
The Childminding App can help with your EYFS reporting, monitoring and observations – making sure you’re taking the right steps to remain compliant to protect your childminding business.
What are the Key Principles of the EYFS?
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is guided by four key principles that form the foundation for early childhood education.
These principles serve as a guiding framework for childminders about all aspects of early childhood education under the EYFS. They reinforce the idea that each child is a unique individual, deserving of personalised care and support.
1. Every Child is a Unique Individual:
- Recognises and celebrates the individuality of each child.
- Emphasises the understanding that every child is born with unique characteristics, interests, and abilities.
- Encourages practitioners to tailor their approach to meet the individual needs and interests of each child.
2. Enabling Environments:
- Acknowledges that children learn and develop well in environments that are stimulating, safe, and provide rich learning opportunities.
- Highlights the importance of creating an environment that supports exploration, curiosity, and engagement.
- Encourages practitioners to design environments that cater to different learning styles and foster a sense of belonging.
3. Children Learn and Develop in Different Ways and at Different Rates:
- Recognises the diversity in children’s learning styles, preferences, and the pace at which they develop.
- Encourages practitioners to be responsive and adaptable, tailoring their approach to individual children’s needs.
- Emphasises the importance of providing varied and flexible learning experiences that accommodate diverse learning styles.
4. Partnership with Parents and Carers is Crucial:
- Highlights the significance of collaboration between early years practitioners and parents/carers.
- Recognises parents as the primary educators and advocates for the child’s wellbeing.
- Encourages open communication, sharing of information, and involving parents in their child’s learning journey.
- Aims to create a seamless transition between home and early years settings.
What are the Areas of Learning and Development in the EYFS?
The EYFS framework identifies seven areas of learning and development, which are organised into three prime areas and four specific areas.
These areas collectively provide a comprehensive and balanced approach to early childhood education for childminders, ensuring that your children will receive a broad range of experiences that contribute to their overall development and prepare them for future learning.
Here are the seven areas of learning and development in the EYFS:
Prime Areas:
Communication and Language:
- Objectives: Encouraging children to develop their listening, attention, and speaking skills.
- Activities: Storytelling, conversations, singing, and activities that promote language development.
Physical Development:
- Objectives: Supporting the development of both fine and gross motor skills, coordination, and understanding of healthy living.
- Activities: Physical play, outdoor activities, games, and activities that enhance motor skills.
Personal, Social, and Emotional Development:
- Objectives: Focusing on building self-esteem, forming positive relationships, and developing emotional intelligence.
- Activities: Social interactions, role-playing, activities promoting self-awareness, and supporting emotional well-being.
Specific Areas:
Literacy:
- Objectives: Promoting early reading and writing skills, including phonics and literacy appreciation.
- Activities: Storytime, exposure to books, letter recognition, and activities fostering a love for reading and writing.
Mathematics:
- Objectives: Developing mathematical understanding, problem-solving skills, and a solid foundation in numbers.
- Activities: Counting games, pattern recognition, exploring shapes, and activities that involve basic mathematical concepts.
Understanding the World:
- Objectives: Encouraging exploration and understanding of the environment, people, communities, and technology.
- Activities: Nature walks, cultural explorations, science experiments, and activities introducing technology.
Expressive Arts and Design:
- Objectives: Fostering creativity through art, music, movement, and imaginative play.
- Activities: Creative arts and crafts, music and dance sessions, role-playing, and activities promoting self-expression.
Cross-Cutting Themes:
Additionally, there are three cross-cutting themes that are woven throughout the EYFS which are particularly relevant to childminders:
- Playing and Exploring: Children engage with the world through play, learning to make sense of things around them.
- Active Learning: Children are motivated and involved in their learning, developing their own strategies and approaches.
- Creating and Thinking Critically: Children have opportunities to explore and solve problems, developing critical thinking skills.
The Childminding App can help you follow the EYFS framework and develop your children’s crucial skills and learning. The Parent App that complements the Childminding App also gives you an easy way of letting parents know about their child’s progress.
How does the EYFS affect childminders?
As a childminder in England, the EYFS will have a significant impact on the way you run your childminding business.
The EYFS ensures that childminders follow a consistent and high-quality approach to early-years education and facilitates communication and collaboration between you as the childminder, parents, and other professionals involved in the child’s development.
Here’s how the EYFS will affect you as a childminder:
- Legal Requirement: Childminders in England are legally required to follow the EYFS framework. This means that they must provide a curriculum that is based on the EYFS principles and meets the learning and developmental needs of the children in their care.
- Assessment and Planning: Childminders use the EYFS to assess the progress of each child in their care. They observe and record children’s achievements and plan activities that support their individual development.
- Learning and Development Requirements: The EYFS specifies seven areas of learning and development, including three prime areas (communication and language, physical development, and personal, social, and emotional development) and four specific areas (literacy, mathematics, understanding the world, and expressive arts and design). Childminders must provide activities that cover these areas to promote a well-rounded development in the children.
- Observation and Record-Keeping: Childminders are required to keep detailed records of children’s development and learning. This includes observations, assessments, and any additional support provided to meet individual needs.
- Parental Involvement: Childminders are encouraged to establish strong partnerships with parents and carers. Sharing information about a child’s progress and involving parents in their child’s learning journey is a key aspect of the EYFS.
Accessing the Parent App that complements the Childminding App, will make it much easier for you to follow EYFS guidance and give your children the best possible start in life.
