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Hello and welcome to Little Learners. In today's video we're going to be doing a bit more of a
deep dive into the new Birth to Five Matters document which made a video on recently.
In that video I asked if you wanted to know a bit more about it in more detail and lots of you
said you did so here we are! The way I see this video, kind of, going is that we will do a bit
of a background on the document, then we'll look at parts of the document in more detail, we'll
do a bit of a comparison between this document and the DfE's new 'Development Matters' document
and we'll probably throw in some comparisons between the Birth to Five Matters document
and the old - or current, depending on when you watch this video - Development Matters document.
It's quite a long document so I've got my notes here and I've got my laptop as well. I've tried
to pick out the parts that I think might be most relevant or you might be most interested to know
about but obviously if there's anything you think I miss do let me know in the comments below and I
am happy to answer any questions. Before we get started don't forget to click that like button
during the video if you find it helpful and click on the subscribe button and the bell so you never
miss a future video. Okay let's get into it. So if you don't already know, we have a new
Early Years Foundation Stage framework starting in September of 2021. Some schools have been early
adopter schools and have been using the new framework for this academic year that we are
currently in, although depending on when you watch this I know that might be a bit confusing, so we
are currently in the 2020-2021 year. The framework is of course a statutory document that we as early
years practitioners have to use but there are also non-statutory documents you can also use .
Up until now we have known about the Development Matters document which was made in conjunction
with early education. This time however the DfE decided to do their own Development Matters
document which looks like this. However, the early years coalition made of these organisations have
created a new non-statutory document that kind of looks more like the Development Matters document
we used to know and love, but is now called Birth to 5 Matters. This again is a non-statutory
document so you don't have to use it ,however I do think that a lot of early years practitioners will
be using it in conjunction with the DfE document. You may also see this as an alternative to the DfE
Development Matters document, so do let me know in the comments below at the end of this video
what you think you'll be using. Let's look at what the early is coalition said about this document.
[Reading quote] 'In creating this guidance we were to some extent constrained by the format of the EYFS and the need
for practitioners to be able to map from one to the other. In our preliminary sector consultation
we had a majority favouring a cautious evolution while still wanting to maintain the framework of
Development Matters 2012. Therefore, this document builds on and links to what has come before.' [End quote]
As you can see within the early years coalition we have early education the makers of that all-important
Development Matters document we've been using for so long. Okay let's get into the document.
First of all I think it's important we look at the contents page so we know exactly what is included.
The main areas of the document are: [Quote] 'Foundations of highest quality provision for children, a unique
child, positive relationships, enabling environments, and learning and development.' [End quote]. When we look at the
EYFS principles in this document there is a lot of emphasis on the importance of play, respectful care
and continuous provision. Just like the previous Development Matters document this states that this
document is not a tick list but rather guidance for practitioners to follow. One quote I really
love from this part of the document is, [Quote] 'Effective early years provision pays as much attention to
children's care as it does to play and learning as these are intertwined and impact equally on
children's development and overall well-being.' [End quote]. I think this is a philosophy that all early years
practitioners believe in and so it's nice to see it put so plainly in this document.
We then have a section on transition which I found really interesting to read, I loved that there was
such an emphasis on this because as we know for many young children transitional periods can be
quite difficult and it's something that we really have to think about and plan for. The document
talks about the importance of a key person, or a buddy system if the key person is not available
and that it's important for children to feel known in order for them to feel comfortable during a
transitional period. Then we have a section about the unique child which is kind of at the heart of
early years practice. It talks about factors which influence development and there is a wonderful
quote in here that I will show you now. [Quote] 'While we can be guided by an understanding of some general
patterns of development from pre-birth into early childhood, progression is uneven and unfolds
differently for each individual child. The complex differences for each child mean the pathways
towards maturity should be seen more as dancing around a ballroom than climbing a ladder.' [End quote].
Dancing around a ballroom rather than climbing a ladder, I just love that because it's so true. I think we all
know the pressures of making sure that children hit certain milestones and they are performing at
a certain level but early years is about so much more than just climbing that academic ladder.
It's really about holistic care and actually that's something we'll get onto in a bit.
There's then a section about self-regulation and the importance of co-regulation. I really liked
this because it was talking about how children need us to be able to develop the skill of
self-regulation, they can't just do it on their own and so to help them, co-regulation is what we need.
We need to help children understand how to deal with moments of stress and upset how to
get through those and by helping them resolve these situations. Eventually they can shift from
co-regulation into self-regulation. I'm sure you've seen lots of Facebook posts or just people talking
in general about children having temper tantrums or children misbehaving - children who are toddlers
and really need our support in order to understand how to handle and regulate their own emotions.
So I really enjoyed reading this part of the document. [Quote] 'Self-regulation involves children's
developing ability to regulate their emotions thoughts and behaviour to enable them to act
in positive ways toward a goal. The rapid brain development which takes place in early childhood
paves the way for the growth of self-regulation, which develops both through the maturing of the
brain's neural systems and through opportunities to practice. It continually develops through
to adulthood with further development of self-regulation taking place in adolescence.
Self-regulation is now recognised as crucially important in young children's development ,
strongly predicting children's later success in relating to others and in their learning. [End quote]
We then move on to a section about inclusive practice, something that is so important and we
constantly need to be reviewing it's a part of our own practice that we always need to be evaluating .
The document talks about the difference between equality and equity. I really liked reading this
part because the difference between equality and equity is something that I think a lot of people
aren't aware of - we hear a lot about equality, but what exactly is equity and how do we ensure
that it is involved in our practice? Well let's see what the document has to say. [Quote] 'Equality aims
to provide fairness through treating everyone the same regardless of need while equity achieves this
through treating people differently dependent on need. [End quote] It would be lovely to say that we can just
treat all children the same, however it's also important to remember that that isn't possible
for all children. We need to give all children the same opportunities for learning, yes of course, but
for some children this might involve more work, this might involve us supporting their families
this might involve us putting some interventions in place, it might involve other professionals -
from a medical background for example - coming in to help the child, and to use a very overused example,
telling all the children to walk up the stairs to treat them all fairly doesn't work when you have
a child in a wheelchair who needs a ramp. However, allowing children to use the stairs or the ramp if
they need it means they all have the opportunity to enter the same building. I hope that makes
sense. On that topic the document also talks about diversity and what this actually might look like
in a setting. [Quote] 'As well as legally protected characteristics, diversity in the setting may
include children living in temporary accommodation, refugees and asylum seekers, or children and
families that have very different lives or family structures. [End quote]. The protected characteristics they're
talking about are from the Equality Act of 2010 this includes things like race, disability,
gender identity and other characteristics, but as the document notes there are other things that
contribute to this diversity that we must keep in mind and so depending on a child's background or
needs we may need to adjust the way that we treat them in order for everyone to be treated fairly.
It's that equality-equity balance. There's also a part in this document about talking
to children about race. I think this is so important and I know it's something that
many practitioners do anyway and I appreciate that sometimes it can be a difficult subject
to know how to approach with young children, Not everyone holds this opinion unfortunately
and so for teachers and practitioners it can be quite difficult. I myself received
a couple of comments recently about my opinion on teaching children about race, that we should
do it, I received quite a hostile response to that which is not representative of the majority of my
subscribers, we usually have a very, very respectful and kind and nurturing environment in the Little
Learners family so I'm sorry that this person managed to sneak in. Anyway, let's see what the
document said about talking to children about race. [Quote] 'It is important that practitioners do not shy away
from these conversations and instead challenge the effects of prejudice and discrimination.
Children's resources and books should avoid stereotypical depictions of people on the basis
of gender and sexual orientation. Opening dialogue and developing understanding about white privilege,
systemic racism and how racism affects children and families in the early years settings.' [End quote]
Yes absolutely we have a responsibility to teach our children about this and to help them navigate
the world, and be respectful towards one another. This is just an anecdote of mine but personally I
grew up in a very multicultural community and so I have always been interested in other people's
religions and communities and cultures. It was just part of my life growing up.
However I have met other people who didn't have an upbringing like that and so have quite different
opinions to me, so if we can teach children about this early enough it will hopefully resolve in a
much more respectful world. As you just saw there's also some information in here about LGBTQ+
representation in books and just in learning in general. Of course we may have many children who
come from LGBTQ+ families and so it's really important for them to feel represented, just as it
is for any other child to feel represented in terms of their race or disability, for example.
I mentioned before about the importance of a key person and the document talks about attachment
and what makes a good key person. Forming these positive relationships is just so important for
children and it's something that as practitioners we ought to take very seriously. Then we have
'Enabling Environments', talking about security, comfort, engagement and opportunity. This of
course talks about effective provision and how our provision can really enable children to have so
many different learning opportunities. We then have the 'Learning and Development' section which talks
about observation, assessment and planning. The document talks about the importance of gathering
observational evidence rather than just data. Here we have this nice chart that shows how all of
these work together. I have linked everything down below if you want to take a look, this particular
image is on page 38. Of course we have information about the characteristics of effective learning in
this document, talking about the importance of play and how to develop these crucial characteristics
of effective learning. And then we move into the different areas of learning in the kind of style
of the old/current - depending on when you're watching this - Development Matters document of
2012. However it is important to note that the structure of the Birth to Five Matters document
does not necessarily always match the new Early Years framework. [Quote] 'In some cases the organisation
of strands within Birth to 5 Matters does not match the structure of the ELGs where
a more logical arrangement aligning with child development has been used. This will help support
practitioners understanding of child development and how they might support children's progress
throughout the EYFS. [End quote]. We then have some information on every area of learning and how these all work
together, of course all areas of learning are intertwined in some way so it's nice to have
some examples of this. We then have a section that tells us how to use the document. There are
a few things to note here. In the 2012 Development Matters document we have age bands such as birth
to 11 months, 8 to 20 months and so on. In the new DfE Development Matters document the age bands
are different, they are birth to three years, three and four year olds and reception children. In the
Birth to 5 Matters document the age bands are a little bit more detailed but they are not referred
to by the months anymore. They are called ranges. Luckily the document has a handy key to show us
which age ranges each range refers to. For example here in range one we have birth to six months,
we then move on to six to twelve months which overlaps with range two, then moving on to twelve
to eighteen months and so on. We then move on to the areas of learning which are in the style of
the 2012 Development Matters document breaking down each area by age range. Here you can see a
comparison between the new Early Years framework and the Birth to 5 Matters document. So let's go
through these. In the framework for communication and language we have listening attention and
understanding. In the Birth to 5 Matters document we have listening and attention. For the
framework we then have speaking and in the Birth to 5 Matters document we also have speaking.
In the framework for personal social and emotional development we have self-regulation, in the
to 5 Matters document the strands that support this ELG are characteristics of effective learning,
PSED understanding emotions and communication and language listening and attention. We then
have managing self, supporting that in the Birth to 5 Matters document are characteristics of
effective learning, PSED understanding emotions, sense of self and communication and language.
health and self-care. For building relationships in the Birth to 5 Matters document we have
making relationships, in the Framework for physical development we have gross motor
skills and fine motor skills. In the Birth to 5 Matters document we have moving and
handling. For literacy in the framework we have comprehension, this is supported by understanding
in the Birth to 5 Matters document. Reading supports word reading from the framework and
writing supports writing from the framework. For maths we have number and numerical patterns,
in the Birth to 5 Matters document we have mathematics. For understanding the world in the
framework we have past and present and people culture and communities, which are both supported
by the strand people and communities in the Birth to 5 Matters document. The natural world in the
framework is supported by the world in the Birth to 5 Mattersatters document and of course we now have
no ELG for technology, but the Birth to 5 Matters document still includes information
on development for technology. For expressive arts and design we have creating with materials
and being imaginative and expressive and these are the same in the Birth to 5 Matters document.
So hopefully here you can see how the Birth to 5 Matters document proposes to support the
new framework and which strands can go towards which area. Then we move on to each area in terms
of each age range with the headings, 'a unique child', 'positive relationships' and 'enabling environments':
what a child might be doing, what adults might do, and what adults might provide. At the end of each
area we have the goals. So what do you think? Is this a document you're going to be using?
Do you like the way it looks? Are you interested to learn more? Obviously I have done my kind of
'I read it so you don't have to' like I do in many videos but you definitely should read this
one and I think it's a document that a lot of practitioners are going to be using
from September onwards. If you are from an early adopter school, would you have liked to have had
this document earlier? Do you think this would have been helpful for you with the new framework?
And just let me know your comments below in general about the new framework and the
non-statutory documents that the DfE have done and the Early Years Coalition have done. I really
do hope you found this video helpful, please give it a like if you did and don't forget to subscribe
for more videos just like this one. I really can't wait to read your comments and hear your thoughts
on all of this so do leave them in the comment section down below. As I said before I have linked
all documents in the description box. Thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time.
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