The EYFS brings together the Birth to Three Matters (BTTM) framework, the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage (CGFS) and the National standards for under 8s day care and childminding (the national standards) in a single quality framework for children from birth to the end of the school Reception year. It will be statutory from September 2008, when all providers must comply with its requirements. In the meantime, Foundation Stage practitioners should continue to use the CGFS and/or Birth to Three Matters as well as the national standards where appropriate. The Framework for literacy and mathematics remains as guidance and is not statutory, although it complements EYFS. Foundation Stage practitioners need to take account of all six interdependent Areas of Learning and Development, giving them all equal status.

The guidance that follows is taken from the EYFS consultation document and will be updated when the document is finalised.

The EYFS learning and development requirements

These requirements underpin the six areas of Learning and Development and must be followed across all six areas of Learning and Development. They are based on the EYFS principles.

• Practitioners must ensure that the individual needs of all children are met, including additional or different provision required to meet particular individual needs.
• Parents and families are central to the well-being of the child. Practitioners must therefore build positive relationships with parents in order to work effectively with them and their children.
• Young children are vulnerable. They learn to be independent by having someone they can depend upon. Providers must ensure that each child has a key person within the setting.
• No child should be excluded or disadvantaged because of ethnicity, culture or religion, home language, family background, special educational needs, disability, gender or ability. Providers must actively plan to meet their needs, and to promote equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice.
• Schedules, routines and activities must flow with the child's needs, with practitioners planning for individual children using sensitive observational assessment. There must be no tests for children at any stage within EYFS.
• Children learn by doing, rather than by being told. Learning is a shared process and children learn best when, with the support of a knowledgeable and trusted adult, they are actively involved and interested. Practitioners must therefore ensure a balance of adult-led and freely chosen or child-initiated activities, to be delivered through indoor and outdoor play.
• In order to deliver the maximum impact on children's development, high-quality care, development and learning must work together.
• Providers must be proactive in developing effective partnerships, not only with parents, but with other carers, settings and practitioners important to the child. The experience of the child must be coherent and 'joined up'. This is particularly important for children who attend more than one setting.
• Practitioners must plan to meet activities on the basis of children's developmental progress and interests so that they work towards the Early Learning Goals. In the final year of EYFS, practitioners must record progress towards the goals and complete the Foundation Stage Profile.
• Practitioners must report children's achievements at the end of the stage to their parents or carers.
• In addition, each of the areas of Learning and Development has specific requirements that practitioners should implement in order to help children progress towards the Early Learning Goals (ELGs).