Birth to Five Matters is launched

Following six months of consultation and input from across the early years sector, the Early Years Coalition last night launched Birth to 5 Matters. The materials include a core document available as a free download, with printed copies available to purchase, and an interactive online version which includes all the text from the core document, plus additional resources, suggestions for further reading, and a bibliography.

“We are delighted to offer this support to the early years sector as they look ahead to implementing the revised EYFS from September,” said Beatrice Merrick, Chair of the Early Years Coalition. “It is a rich resource which will support knowledge of child development and how children learn, and help practitioners make their own professional judgements about meeting the needs of the children they work with.”

Although Birth to 5 Matters builds on previous non-statutory guidance for the EYFS, it has updated all the material to reflect research evidence and meet the needs of practitioners today. It outlines the foundations of good practice and offers information and guidance for practitioners to consider how the Principles of the EYFS can be brought to life in their setting. New sections on play, characteristics of effective learning, and self-regulation are designed to help practitioners to reflect on and develop their own pedagogy.

“The guidance includes detailed examples of trajectories of development and learning in all the prime and specific areas,” says Nancy Stewart, Project Lead. “The need for this information to support child development knowledge came through very clearly in our consultations.” But she cautions that a new mindset is needed across the sector, to move away from a checklist approach that takes practitioners away from being with children. “If settings have been using previous guidance as a checklist, they should not see Birth to 5 Matters as a replacement to be used in that way,” she says. “Instead, it is a support for informed professional judgement that will help practitioners move to a new way of understanding and supporting children’s learning, with a minimalist approach to recording assessment."

CREC's Professor Chris Pascal, Co-chair of BECERA said: "We’re very proud to be part of the Birth to Five Matters Coalition who we have been working together with and the wider sector to produce this new non-statutory curriculum guidance. We are strong supporters of Birth to Five Matters for two reasons. Firstly, we believe very strongly in active, participatory and democratic practice and we celebrate how this guidance has been created, through dialog and consultation with the sector, to create something for the sector.

Secondly, we feel in this unprecedented time it’s really important for us to think deeply and reflectively about the current and future challenges which are complex and multifaceted. We know there’s an increase in inequality and poverty, our communities are increasingly diverse and, collectively, we need more sustainable ways of living. We feel this new guidance offers really powerful and positive way forward as we in the sector try and rise to challenges that face us at this time."

The Early Years Coalition is currently planning for training materials and events to introduce practitioners to using Birth to 5 Matters, as well as to support professional development in areas that have been highlighted through the consultations.

The online resource, downloadable copy, link to purchase a hard copy as well as the launch event recording are all available at https://www.birthto5matters.org.uk/ .