EYFS till 6!

[sweets]

Just swiched on bbc1 breakfast and they are discussing EYFS, they are thinking of extending it till 6 and not starting 'official' learning till 6 in schools. one lady is saying that 4 and 5 year olds should just be let to do child lead activities and learning through they EYFS and a head teacher is saying that 4 year olds are capable of formal teaching and shoud be taught to formally read at that age and should do formal lessons. she is saying that all reception teachers really do now is observe which is wrong.

What do you think?

[Hebs]

how are we supposed to continue EYFS on a child in full time school, when we only have the for 2/3 hours after school and by that time they are tired from being at school, have to do eveing meals deal with parents coming in and out to collect.


oh what the :censored: lets not send them to school and home tutor them and see what they say when they all loose there jobs :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry:

thats it i'm definatly going to train to be a teacher, like i told my sons teacher his job is sooooooooooooo easy, 14 weeks PAID holidays without having to argue for just 1 day of it, 4 or 5pm finish, every weekend off, wow even bank holidays off too and the safety of knowing his wage will be there at the end of the month (not having to work for free and feel awkward about ASKING!!!!!)

:rolleyes: sorry went on a bit of a rant there too

[Chatterbox Childcare]

I have just watched GMTV and there was a head teacher who was on the review panel and she said that they thought the "play" element should still be in year 1, nothing was mentioned by EYFS.

Then another education minster came on (not Ed Balls) saying that the government has conducted its own review and that a new curriculum is coming into place in 2011 for all primary.

Even it the EYFS was extended to Year 1 it wouldn't make a lot of difference to us as we play with the Year 1's after school anyway.

[gegele]

in france school start at 3 BUT between 3and 6 it "maternelle school" which translate like motherly. it's all play until 6 when they start to read and write properly.

some 4 yrs old are ready to learn and some are not they should support both. somehow lol

as forus it doesn't matter because they'll have the EYFS at school we won't need to do it.

[Hebs]

as forus it doesn't matter because they'll have the EYFS at school we won't need to do it.

we will though, like children at nursery we still need to show that we are doing EYFS and working with the setting :panic:

[huggableshelly]

I'm still doing EYFS with a yr 1, he is a young child not 6 till july and hasnt met the EYFS goals to 60 months yet so working with the school still to help get him there.

my other yr 1 has completed it all so not really got anything i could officially document other than more obs to link to what?

all my mindees have a scrapbook regardless of age (including the 12 year old) so I spose in a way I'm still monitoring them all kinda but the books are theirs and its up to them what they put in it, they normally take pics, add art, one even writes stories in hers.

I cant see it being an issue to be honest just a little more paperwork for some.

[Tam's Tribe]

Like Gegele said, its the same in South Africa and Botswana . . . we only started formal school at 6 years . . . before that it was like Playschool!!!!

It has not had a negative effect me me and my siblings or any of my friends . . . although I do agree that children under 6 are like sponges and like learning!!!

[Hebs]

Like Gegele said, its the same in South Africa and Botswana . . . we only started formal school at 6 years . . . before that it was like Playschool!!!!

It has not had a negative effect me me and my siblings or any of my friends . . . although I do agree that children under 6 are like sponges and like learning!!!

i think alot of children will benefit from it as my HV once told me, boys are usually a year behind girls and they would do better waiting a year before starting school as they take longer to mature.
my son was definatly one of these however my daughter at 3 years old could read simple books write her name and count to 30 and knew her alphabet :D

i'm not happy if we have to do formal EYFS during such a short space of time

[mama2three]

but they are learning! just because the learning is child -led doesnt make the child learn any less - just what the head means by 'formal learning' all learning can be 'active' and play led , throughout primary school. formal learning to me brings pictures of worksheets and reciting times tables! EYFS principles extended to age 6 will simply make the teachers work harder , focusing on individual needs rather than group needs ,the best teachers already do this anyway.

[Heaven Scent]

Whoa Whoa - don't lose it - think about it - when it comes to children at primary school - no matter what the age it will be the main responsibility of the school we will just need to support their learning - one way or another we are going to have lots and lots more paperwork to do for all children.

I actually think this is a really good thing the proof is out there that when compared Globally in England children start school younger than anywhere else and it has the lowest literacy rates - the proof is in the pudding - children are being burnt out at a very early age and are being presented with concepts that are too difficult for their brainst to compute far too early and therefore they are experiencing a sense of failure far too often at an very early age.

This idea is a step in the right direction BUT they will still want them to do this in a formal education setting and follow the rigors of a school routine e.g. being in large groups and sitting quietly for assembly - that is a very long time for a young child!!!

I won't get started on this - I have been on my soap box about this for years and years.

Don't get me wrong there I am not in agreement with how a lot of this is done but as I say for the children it is a tiny step in the right direction - for the adults working with these children its just not - its still far far too prescriptive - they just cannot seem to let go properly and let the children get on with it -

Yes good childcarers need to make note of some unusual or extraordinary behaviour or trends in a child and should be aware of what to worry about and where to go to get help. They should also be aware of what is a healthy interest and what is an obsession and know how to promote an interest but not let it take over - but that is where it should end. - this said in very simplistic terms and it runs a great deal deeper than this But we do not need to be duplicating our paperwork and we should be able to choose how we relate day to day information to parents etc - the sad thing is that we live in a litigation society and we have to put up with big brother who likes to be able to be in control of all of us and its all tangled up together - we can't win.

Hebs - I've been a teacher and do you know what I didn't always get paid on time and I've had to bring home tonnes of work to do at the week-end. Good schools provide lots of after school and lunch time activities and yes teachers have to turn up for them too - there is also a lot of work which has to be done through the school hols and its getting worse - Teachers are paid a salary and that is for a years work and therefore within a year they are expected to put the hours in and if that means staying for evening events so be it - as you say they have 13 weeks hols per year. There is no ideal job at least in this one we are our own bosses.

Since the recession hit my 2 sisters and their husbands who are all teachers 3 in secondary schools (1 sister sometimes works in primary schools) and one BIL is asenior lecturer in a University have all had to take huge pay cuts (not a pay freeze but actualy huge cuts) and I wouldn't be surprised if that wer to hit here think hard before you jump.

[Lady Haha]

I would actually welcome this as I do think children are being pushed far too early in school. And doing the EYFS for school kids isn't really that bad! My DW told me to do one observation a month on school kids. So thats one activity a month to plan.

I just wish they had thought of this when my son started reception three years ago. He has consistantly been a year behind on everything except reading since he started school. So obviously in his case, if things had been left a year later for him, he would be reaching his goals. It must be pretty soul destroying for children to keep failing.

[sarah707]

Don't forget what an Ofsted inspector said at the Nursery World conference the other week -

'if we offer wrap around care, we should not be looking to meet all 6 areas of learning and development with every child each day. Instead we need to offer a complementary care, which recognises the child has been busy at school all day. So long as we focus on PSED and the children are happy to play and rest in our care, then we are meeting their needs.'

It's brilliant that younger children might be given the chance to be children for longer...

Hopefully they will communicate it to parents properly so there isn't the panic that happened when Eyfs came out.

:D

[devoncm]

My DD2 id say was ready for school not long after she started nursery at 3, she's now a few weeks off being 6 and is loving learning, she brings a new book home nearly every day and cant wait to change it, sshe enjoys doing all the writing things they do and maths, but they do lots of play and drawing too. I went to her parents eve earlyer in week and there isnt alot of written stuff as they do lots of practical so its fun for them
BUT
step DS has just started reception and think he should have more learning through play-and his speech worked at but thats another story.

I think the teachers can see where child is at fairly soon after starting and can work at the childs pace, i know my dd would be bored if she played all day but that form of learning would be better for s.ds

[Hebs]

Hebs - I've been a teacher and do you know what I didn't always get paid on time and I've had to bring home tonnes of work to do at the week-end. Good schools provide lots of after school and lunch time activities and yes teachers have to turn up for them too - there is also a lot of work which has to be done through the school hols and its getting worse - Teachers are paid a salary and that is for a years work and therefore within a year they are expected to put the hours in and if that means staying for evening events so be it - as you say they have 13 weeks hols per year. There is no ideal job at least in this one we are our own bosses.
.

well i work 7 days a week to earn enough to comfortably provide for my family, work 13 hour days too, and thats for 48 weeks a year if not more and thats before i've even looked at paperwork, so yes to me a teaching job seems less tiresome

[Rach30]

WE are lucky cos at our school the year ones still get free play in the afternoons. I think it is definately a step in the right direction. As for more work for us ? well not really . for my mindee who attends nursery every day i barely do anything . just an ob a month. Its like that quote sarah put , we dont need to do all 6 areas every single day with every single child.

[tulip0803]

The government has called the findings of the review that this came out of "outdated and disappointing". They are still detirmined to push yougner and younger children into formal education systems.

In Wales the Welsh Assembly started to roll out the Foundation Phase last sept. for children 3-7 years which means that "formal" lessons do not start until juniors it is all learning through play and a lot of outdoor stuff. They still learn to read, write etc but not sitting in rows at desks. I have a report from the school on my DD2 and it is full of pictures and I think there is only one where she is sitting at a table:) . There is only one table for all the infants, It is much more natural and relaxed. They are in an open classroom with small rooms off and each group of 8 has it's own assistant:)

I think it is a good thing to start formal education later. In many countries they start later than our children and tose children consistently out-perform ours with results in teenage years. We destroy children's interest in learning by making them sit at desks to learn.

[Rubybubbles]

I'm still doing EYFS with a yr 1, he is a young child not 6 till july and hasnt met the EYFS goals to 60 months yet so working with the school still to help get him there.my other yr 1 has completed it all so not really got anything i could officially document other than more obs to link to what?

all my mindees have a scrapbook regardless of age (including the 12 year old) so I spose in a way I'm still monitoring them all kinda but the books are theirs and its up to them what they put in it, they normally take pics, add art, one even writes stories in hers.

I cant see it being an issue to be honest just a little more paperwork for some.


thats brilliant:clapping:

I think it will be a good thing too:thumbsup:

[Mouse]

I think it's a great idea.

Even in year one some children are not ready for a formal education, but I don't see it will disadvantage the ones who are as they will be able to extend their interests through play.

I can't imagine it will be much more work for us either. Like the others have said, it's not like we have to deliver the full EYFS to them everyday.

I love Sarah's quote & have printed it off fo my folder. I think it sums up exactly what we have to do in a very clear & concise way.

[Rach30]

Tulip , that school sounds lovely ! :thumbsup: Of course the goverment wont like it . They want all children to be looked after by someone else so the parents can go out to work . :angry: Next they'll be taking newborns away to be looked after so the mother can return to work next day !!!!! Nanny state is na understatement !:angry: There , thats my political rant over for the day LOL:laughing:

[The Juggler]

I don't think it would affect us as childminders so much given what Sarah has already pointed out with regards wraparound care. However, I agree, there are so many benefits from children starting formal schooling later. They can start school still at 4+ but they will remain in nursery type education classes until the age of nearly 6 which would benefit them greatly.

This is what most of europe, australia and many other places do. Their children all seem to do better at literacy and numeracy (overall) despite this. I for one think it is a great idea. It doesn't mean more advanced children can't be challenged in literacy or numeracy if they are ready for it, it will just be done in a less formal way.

[Hebs]

The only part I agree with is the shorter summer holidays!

[mandy moo]

My son turned 8 last month he is the eldest in his year 3 class, bearing in some of the kids in his class with July birthdays will just have turned 7, theyre homework goes like this;
reading for 20 mins,
Maths sheet,
Spelling 10 or so words, Lliteracy-this week they had to write out a recipe..
Geography-make and fill in a chart with warm, temprate and cold places, and 3 sentances about these places..
the week before they had to learn in French, numbers 1 - 5..
They receive this on a friday afternoon and it has to be in on a wednesday morning!

[louise]

I sort of guess my son is kind of doing this still in yr 1. At his school they only have 45 intake a year. In his class he is the oldest the yr1s are those born april-aug 04 the reception are sept- jan 05. In yr 2 he will be with his reception class of jan-aug 04 then back to this class in yr 3. As he has a mix of reception there will still be an element of eyfs in his learning. His class still has a lot of free play aswell. This will hopefull benefit him as he has problems with his motor skills so the extra free play will help them. I have a mindee who is a reception child in the class im starting to learn where they change things. At the moment reception do not go to assemberley and practice the sounds ect. I have just had parents evening and have been told he is doing very well and is clever :clapping: :laughing: but due to his motor skills he cant quite show it on paper :(