Practitioners asked for feedback on EYFS guidance
By Rachel Lawler
The Early Years Coalition has launched guidance to help support the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) as an alternative to the revised Development Matters.
Called Birth to 5 Matters, the document is a draft which will be updated following feedback from a practitioner survey launched alongside the guidance. It was developed in response to the coalition鈥檚 initial survey in autumn 2020, which received more than 1,600 responses from early years practitioners.
This next phase of the consultation will run until 11 January 2021. After that, the guidance will be revised in response to the feedback and a second round of consultation will start in February.
A complete version of the Birth to 5 Matters document will launch in March 2021 and will be free to download.
The coalition says that the new draft aims to take the best elements of previous early years guidance and 鈥渦pdate and extend it in line with what practitioners tell us they want and need鈥.
The Early Years Coalition is a group of 18 early years organisations, including the Alliance. It aims to support practitioners as they implement the revised EYFS.
Beatrice Merrick, chief executive of the early education and chair of the early years coalition, said: 鈥淭his draft guidance is a testament to the enthusiasm of the sector for doing what is best for children. We want to thank all the people have given their time and expertise for free to develop the guidance, building on what has gone before. By giving us further feedback, colleagues right across the sector can help us shape the final version to meet their needs. We want to hear from practitioners and leaders in all kinds of setting, working with children at all ages from birth to 5, whether they are new to early years or seasoned practitioners. We want all views to be heard and taken into account as we develop the final version of the resource鈥
To download the first draft of Birth to 5 Matters and take part in the survey, go to .