Paperwork is causing early years practitioners to lose sight of the framework
As you know, early years settings follow the early year’s foundation stage. The foundation stage offers various documents to support practitioners and managers and importantly to support the children. The two main supporting documents are the statutory framework and the development matters document. These documents form the practice that should be followed and achieved by all working within the early year’s industry. The EYFS supports those from birth to five and is a PLAY based curriculum.
The EYFS promotes that all learning happens through positive relationships, enabling environments and all learning should take place from play-based experiences. This leaves little room for formal teaching and children should not feel like they are taking part in a lesson. Children can often be described as ‘empty vessels’ who are waiting and ready to be filled with knowledge. This knowledge is gathered through well-planned play based experiences and careful and sensitive interaction and support from highly trained practitioners.
Although the EYFS requires practitioners to support children through play is also holds a variety of other regulations with regards to children’s learning which must be followed. Also holding a set of regulations that must be followed are Ofsted https://www.piggledots.com/early-years-mock-ofsted-inspection-handbook/). Together the strain can become a lot for practitioners and managers and often leaves them feeling like the framework and pressure of inspections takes time away from the play that should be happening with the children.
Is the framework destroying its own purpose?
The framework is there to support children and practitioners through a play based curriculum, however, it is requiring more paperwork than ever to be completed by practitioners and managers. This is leading to overworked, underpaid and often highly stressed practitioners and managers.
From policies and procedures, planning, observations, risk assessments, forms, daily record sheets, supervisions, appraisals and learning journeys it leaves less and less time for practitioners to engage in meaningful play experiences with the children.
Practitioners should be able to engage in play with the children without the worry about writing observations or adding these onto planning sheets. Meal times should be a wonderful learning time through the enjoyment of food and socialising without the strain of completing meal sheets or using, this time, to catch up on uncompleted paperwork.
The strain of the framework itself is causing more restrictions and is, in fact, hindering practitioners to fully support children’s individual needs.
When the new EYFS was introduced it was supposed to cut the amount of paperwork required by settings, however, early years workers have seen little evidence of this and claim that the paperwork needed is constantly increasing. It is also thought that the paperwork levels are one of the top reasons that practitioners leave childcare.
It is time that the paperwork load was drastically cut so that the play based framework can be fully followed and children can have the best possible early years experiences. Having high-quality early years experiences is the key to creating great life chances for children and give them the start to the education that they need. This does not require tons of paperwork but merely time, space and dedication of highly qualified practitioners.
Someone should start a petition about this the paper work is absolutely disgusting. Children are suppose to the the focus but no it’s the paper work due to inspections…. I’ve had to leave the room when a new baby is screaming for me just so I can do some planning and obz for the week. I have took work home and done hours of unpaid work is unfair on the children and staff they are not learning this way they are being ignored
I’d sign it. Am so disillusioned with the EYFS and particularly Ofsted at the moment. The whole set up is a joke.
I totally agree. The thing is using software that enables it all to be done electronically doesn’t save you time as it advertises. If anything it’s more time consuming! All work and no play is not what parents pay their fees for!
I highly agree paperwork is too much. It’s more paper work then being with children and enjoying the play. Sometimes key carer take paperwork home or stay late after work. Or some staff have to sit in lunch hours to complete work so they can be more organised. Child care is more to be with children not paper work and stressed out.
I totally agree with the article. So much pressure is put on these workers who want to do their best by the children by providing positive experiences in these vital early years. So much time is spent on so called ‘evidencing’ which actually distracts from their key work. It doesn’t stop there because when the children go to school, teachers also have to do incredible amounts of paperwork, lesson plans, and reports that are ridiculously over complicated for primary school children. When can we get back to allowing nursery workers to prepare children with social skills through play, and teachers to teach.
Absolutely right.
If we could be just with the kids the job would be so much more enjoyable for all.
All paperwork is only for the benefit of the regulators.
If nursery children are happy and entertained they will learn more. If staff aren’t fully immersed with the children due to all orher pressures then this will not happen. Let us concentrate on each individual child to encourage them to meet the needs of their age and stage.and beyond.
All the paperwork is doing is making good staff leave the childcare field.
I completely agree with this. The paperwork is unnecessary and ridiculous, I find I spend more time writing in folders of 14+ key children than I do actually sitting and interacting with the children.
Also I find that when it comes to parents looking at the files they don’t so much as look at all the hours of writing I have done and are only interested in the pictures of their child playing or pictures their child has drawn.
These practioners have already spent years to qualify as early learning teachers. They should not have to spend hours after work explaining themselves to people do not have their qualifications.
It is ridiculous.
The amount of paperwork completely takes over any quality teaching time you can have with the children .It is one of the reasons I left the job .
I really agree with this artical My daughter is always going into work early or leaving late because of paperwork. She has also gone into work at the weekend to complete work as there is no time during the week to do it