Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS): Regulatory Changes - November 2024

 Early Years Foundation Stage: November 2024

The changes made to the EYFS framework in November 2024 aim to address several key challenges and priorities within the early years sector.

From 1 November 2024

These changes have been made to:

·       help childminders join and stay in the profession

·       support the rollout of the expanded childcare entitlements

·       clarify the existing policy on the qualification requirements for counting in the staff to child ratios at Level 6

These changes are designed to:

 Help Childminders Join and Stay in the Profession

The childminder sector faces unique challenges in terms of sustainability, flexibility, and growth. The recent updates to the EYFS framework aim to make it easier for childminders to enter and remain in the profession by offering greater flexibility and support.

Allowing Childminders to Work in Non-Domestic Settings: Previously, childminders were restricted to working within a domestic setting, but now they can operate in non-domestic spaces, such as community halls or forest schools. This change opens up opportunities for childminders to offer more flexible childcare services and adapt to changing needs in their communities. By broadening the spaces in which childminders can operate, the profession becomes more versatile and appealing, encouraging more people to join and continue in the field.

Increased Capacity with Assistants: Childminders can now employ more assistants or other childminders, allowing them to expand their service offerings and work with larger groups of children without compromising quality. This change helps alleviate some of the workload for individual childminders, making the profession more sustainable in the long run​.

Support for Flexibility in Working Arrangements: The updated framework acknowledges the diverse nature of childminding, offering more flexibility in how childminders can deliver care. This includes allowing for a mix of flexible hours and settings, catering to the increasing demand for non-traditional childcare options​.

 

Support the Rollout of Expanded Childcare Entitlements 

The UK government has committed to expanding childcare entitlements, which allows more families to access affordable and flexible childcare services. The updates to the EYFS framework are aligned with this effort, ensuring that providers can meet the increased demand while maintaining high-quality care standards.

More Children Accessing Childcare: With the expansion of childcare entitlements, more children will be eligible for early years education. This creates a need for more flexible and scalable childcare solutions, which the new framework supports by allowing childminders to work in larger spaces, with more assistants, and in a variety of non-traditional settings​.

Incentives for Providers: The changes also aim to incentivise providers to expand their capacity and improve the quality of care. The flexible staffing ratios, new qualifications guidelines, and greater clarity around how to meet regulatory requirements ensure that providers can scale their services effectively while maintaining a high standard of care​.

Encouraging Workforce Growth: By making the profession more accessible and offering childminders clearer pathways to increase their capacity, the changes ensure that there will be enough high-quality providers to meet the demands of expanded childcare access. This helps ensure that the rollout of these entitlements can be successful and sustainable​.

 

Clarify Existing Policy on Qualification Requirements for Staff-to-Child Ratios at Level 6 

One of the key changes in the updated framework is the clarification of qualification requirements for staff-to-child ratios, particularly at Level 6. This change provides clearer guidance on what qualifications are needed to be counted in staffing ratios, ensuring that early year’s providers can make informed decisions about staffing and qualifications.

Clearer Guidelines for Level 6 Qualifications: The Level 6 qualifications refer to higher education qualifications such as degree-level qualifications in early childhood education. The updated guidance explicitly states which qualifications are considered acceptable for meeting the qualifications needed for staffing ratios. This ensures that providers can be certain which qualifications can be counted towards their staffing requirements, helping them to meet regulatory standards more effectively​.

Check Your Early Years Qualifications Finder: The introduction of a qualifications checker tool (the Check your early years qualifications finder) allows early years professionals to verify which qualifications meet the criteria for inclusion in the staff-to-child ratios at Level 6. This is an important addition that provides clarity and transparency for early years providers, helping them navigate the qualification requirements more efficiently​.

Staff-to-Child Ratios at Level 6: The policy on staff-to-child ratios is a critical part of ensuring child safety and maintaining high-quality care. The updated framework clarifies the exact qualifications necessary to meet these staffing ratios, ensuring that settings have qualified and competent staff providing care. This change directly addresses the previous confusion regarding which qualifications were acceptable and removes any ambiguity, supporting providers in complying with regulatory requirements​. 

Conclusion:

The November 2024 updates to the EYFS framework are designed to enhance the flexibility, accessibility, and quality of early years care. By helping childminders enter and stay in the profession, supporting the successful rollout of expanded childcare entitlements, and clarifying the requirements for staffing qualifications, these changes will help create a more sustainable, efficient, and high-quality childcare sector in the UK. These changes not only make it easier for providers to meet the growing demand for early years services but also ensure that the workforce remains well-qualified and supported to provide the best care for children.

 

January 2024 - Changes are as follows below:

From a Safeguarding and Child Protection perspective, changes to the guidance for all providers clarifies:

The EYFS currently states that: “The safeguarding policy and procedures must include an explanation of the action to be taken when there are safeguarding concerns about a child and in the event of an allegation being made against a member of staff and cover the use of mobile phones and cameras in the setting." 

The DfE have added: “other electronic devices with imaging and sharing capabilities" to this requirement, alongside clarifications to aid understanding of the current requirement.

Safeguarding and Child Protection updates for childminders includes:

The EYFS currently states that: “The lead practitioner is responsible for liaison with local statutory children's services agencies, and with the Local Safeguarding Partners (LSP)” 

For clarity, this has been amended to: “In the case of childminders working together, each childminder is responsible for meeting the requirements of their own registration. Childminders must know that they have a shared responsibility when working together for the well-being of all the children present. Therefore, where childminders work together, each childminder also has a responsibility to refer any concerns where another childminder does not continually meet the requirements of their registration” and “Childminders must know how to contact the local statutory children’s services, and the LSP (local safeguarding partners).”

What changes now in place for group and school-based providers?

Group and school-based settings must:

·        ensure setting managers appointed on or after 4 January 2024 hold a level 2 maths qualification, or they achieve one within 2 years of starting in the position (Section 3, Staff:child ratios)

·        ensure your setting’s safeguarding policies and procedures include all electronic devices with imaging and sharing capabilities, not just mobile phones and cameras (Section 3, Safeguarding policies and procedures)

·        ensure all level 2 and level 3 staff members hold a valid paediatric first aid (PFA) certificate, otherwise they cannot be included in ratio (Section 3, Paediatric first aid)

Group and school-based settings may wish to consider applying the following flexibilities, if appropriate:

·        level 3 practitioners in group and school-based settings will no longer be required to hold a level 2 maths qualification to count within staff:child ratios (Section 3, Staff:child ratios)

·        a manager in group and school-based settings can now allow students and apprentices to count in staff:child ratios at the level below their level of study, if the manager is satisfied that they are competent and responsible (Section 3, Staff:child ratios)

·        settings may provide opportunities for children to develop and use their home language in play and learning, previously this requirement stated this ‘must’ be done (Section 1, English as an Additional Language)

Group and school-based settings should also be aware that the following updates have been made to the EYFS

·        there is a new statutory document on early years qualification requirements and standards

·        the language has been changed to clarify that physical evidence does not need to be collected for assessments (Section 2, Assessment)

·        a clarification made that while qualifications must be verified, employees do not have to provide physical copies of their qualifications (Section 3, Suitable people)

·        a clarification made on the wording on the validity of paediatric first aid (PFA) certificates (Section 3, Paediatric first aid.) 

What changes now in place for childminders?

Childminders must:

·        be aware that further information has been provided in the framework on safeguarding responsibilities when childminders are working in a group, including a change on child protection language (Section 3, Safeguarding policies and procedures)

·        ensure the safeguarding policies and procedures at a setting include all electronic devices with imaging and sharing capabilities, not just mobile phones and cameras (Section 3, Safeguarding policies and procedures). As technology changes, you should consider a wider range of devices in your policies, for example smart watches.

Childminders may wish to consider applying the following flexibilities, if appropriate:

·        you will no longer be required to complete training on the EYFS prior to registration, however childminders will still need to demonstrate that they have the required knowledge of the EYFS at their pre-registration visit (Section 3, Safeguarding training)

·        where judged appropriate by a childminder, childminding assistants can now fulfil the role of a key person for children (Section 3, Key person)

·        childminders with open plan kitchen-living areas can now utilise safely useable areas within this room for their provision (Section 3, Indoor space requirements)

·        childminders may provide opportunities for children to develop and use their home language in play and learning, previously this requirement stated this ‘must’ be done (Section 1, English as an Additional Language)

Childminders should also be aware that the following updates have been made to the EYFS:

·        the language has been changed to clarify that physical evidence does not need to be collected for assessments (Section 2, Assessment)

·        the Early Learning Goals (ELGs) have been moved from the childminder EYFS to an annex, as childminders do not usually need to use these (Annex C, Early Learning Goals)

·        the section on assessment in the childminder framework has been significantly amended including removing information on the Reception Baseline Assessment which childminders never undertake (Section 2, Assessment at the end of the EYFS – the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP)

·        the wording has been changed on ‘suitable person’ to clarify that it is the responsibility of the childminder agency (CMA) or Ofsted to carry out suitability checks on behalf of the childminder (Section 3, Suitable people)

·        the wording has been changed on ‘confidential areas’ so rather than having a permanent area available, a suitable area is made available on request (Section 3, Organising premises for confidentiality and safeguarding)

·        the requirement for childminders to display a paediatric first aid (PFA) certificate has been removed, instead these are available on request (Section 3, Paediatric first aid)

·        a physical copy of the certificate of registration is no longer required to be displayed, a digital version can be used instead (Section 3, Information about the childminder)

Changes that will be introduced at a later date

·        Introduction of an experience based route to working in ratios (for group and school-based providers only)

·        Clarification that practitioners can only operate in Level 6 staff child ratios if they hold Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS) or Early Years Professional Status (EYPS) (for group and school-based providers only)

Changes that will not be taken forward

·        Change in qualification requirements outside of peak hours

·        Reduction in the percentage of Level 2 qualified staff required per ratio from 'at least half' to 30% or 40% of all other staff

Resources:

EYFS Framework for Childminders: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/670f8c0f366f494ab2e7b93d/EYFS_statutory__framework_for_childminders.pdf

EYFS framework for Groups and School Based Providers: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/670fa42a30536cb92748328f/EYFS_statutory_framework_for_group_and_school_-_based_providers.pdf

the Check your early years qualifications finder: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/early-years-qualifications-finder