What is taught in a pre-school setting?

The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum is the framework for children's learning from birth to five years in all pre-school settings that receive funding from the government. This includes state and most private nurseries, some playgroups and registered childminding settings. There are some private providers who are not eligible for funding from the government because they choose to follow a different curriculum.

Will my child who stammers be helped by this new curriculum?

Parents may be worried that there will be too many targets for their child and that this will put him under pressure. In a pre-school setting where staff are well qualified this should not happen and your child should enjoy learning through play activities that will help him to meet the targets. As one of the curriculum goals is to develop your child's communication skills, staff will have to observe these and respond to any problems. This means that staff should be better able to identify any problems with your child's speech and offer him support.

The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum should help your child as it ensures that staff will observe your child's speech and offer support for any difficulties.

Child language development and the curriculum: An overview DFE EYFS

What is the Foundation Stage Profile?

The Foundation Stage Profile is a way of recording children's progress during the last three terms of the Foundation Stage. This is sometimes called the Reception Year. The word 'Profile' has been carefully chosen, as it is a picture of what a child has achieved, knows and can do. The Profile is based on the Early Learning Goals and Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage.

Why has it been introduced?

The Profile has been introduced to standardize assessment procedures across the Foundation Stage.

How will the information be obtained?

The Profile is based on practitioners' ongoing observations and assessments over all six areas of learning in the Foundation Stage. Each child's development and achievements will be recorded on assessment scales derived from the stepping-stones and Early Learning Goals. Booklets for each child are available for recording the information. Pre-school staff have access to training to support their practice as for many, particularly childminders, it may be more demanding than what they are used to.

How will the information be used?

As the Profile builds, practitioners will use the information to identify each child's strengths and interests in order to plan for their future learning.

What will happen to the findings?

Completed Profiles will be used to inform parents and Year One teachers about a child's achievements and learning needs. The Local Education Authority will collect numerical results annually.

There are 13 scales, based on the Early Learning Goals and divided between the six areas of development and learning.

It is important to avoid any sense of pressure to achieve on a young child, particularly as the child who stammers is likely to be very sensitive to any stress or anxiety. At this stage, parents and Early Years workers need to support the child's growing confidence and self-esteem.

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