Care Day Early Education

The EYFS became statutory for Ofsted-registered providers in September 2008. It is designed to ensure consistency in terms of the education and care that children receive across different settings, from birth to the age of five. This means that children being looked after by childminders will receive the same quality of provision as those in nurseries, children’s centres and schools.

Holistic Approach to Provision for Children

The EYFS has the important feature of being an integrated framework, which removes the distinction between education and care. In other words, it is no longer the case that certain settings (such as day care nurseries) are primarily concerned with pastoral care, and others (schools) are more concerned with education. It is now recognised that a holistic approach is the best way to provide for children’s needs – an approach which puts learning and development within the wider context of children’s welfare and wellbeing.

As the EYFS applies to children from birth and five, schools should continue to build on children’s previous experiences from other settings. Children may (or may not) change location when they reach statutory school age, but the transition should be a relatively smooth one due to the common curricular framework used in different settings.