What happened to curriculum in the early years?

Ofsted’s consultation about its new education inspection framework, with its focus on the curriculum, is leading Early Years practitioners to wonder what a curriculum for the youngest children might look like. Yet the notion of a curriculum for young children is not new. For example, Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage (QCA/DfEE, 2000) was the main reference document for Early Years practitioners from the year 2000 up to 2008. According to research (Taylor Nelson Sofres with Aubrey, 2002), this Early Years curriculum, covering the nursery and Reception years, was very positively received. However, since the replacement of the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage by the various updates of the Early Years Foundation Stage, the word ‘curriculum’ has vanished. Instead of curriculum guidance, we now have Development Matters (Early Education, 2012). This sets out hundreds of examples of children’s development, organised into overlapping age bands (for example, 22â