Government updates – 29 July 2021
An update to Development Matters
The Department for Education (DfE) have published a revised version of Development Matters, government’s non-statutory curriculum guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), to reflect feedback received from the Early Adopter schools that have adopted the EYFS reforms over the 2020/21 academic year.
Please note that changes to content are minor and you will not need to alter any planning based on the September 2020 version that you may have already made.
These changes include:
- Updated links, making minor tweaks to wording for clarification purposes
- Updates to the Introduction and Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning sections to ensure the wording is aligned with the aims of the reforms and reflects the most recent research and evidence
- Ensuring the document is accessible, inclusive, and easier to navigate. This includes a new design, layout and colour coding.
Use of PPE in education, childcare and children’s social care
When to use PPE, including for aerosol generating procedures (AGPs), in education, childcare and children’s social care settings for COVID-19.
Change made: removed Step 3 guidance and updated Step 4 guidance to remove (applies from Step 4) from the title.
Ofsted EIF inspections and the EYFS
What schools and registered early years providers need to know about delivering the current and revised early years foundation stage (EYFS)
Change made: first published.
Foundation Years Newsletter – July 2021
Tell Ofsted if you have a COVID-19 incident at your childcare business
You must tell Ofsted if there is a confirmed case of COVID-19 at your nursery, childminder business or other day care. You should also tell us if you have to close your setting as a result.
Notifications
If you have any confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the setting (either child or staff member), or if your setting has been advised to close as a result, you should report this to Ofsted as soon as reasonably practical, and in any case within 14 days. Notifications of confirmed cases of COVID-19 will not prompt a regulatory visit from Ofsted.
Fast-track application process
To support local authorities and registered early years and childcare settings, we have put in place temporary arrangements that allow us to fast-track applications and requests from existing providers only to operate provision in a different way or to set up additional premises. Contact your local authority for further information.
We will review this process in September 2021.