Applying the EYFS principles to the early years workforce

Holdgate, Hannah and Garcia, Jayne (2025) Applying the EYFS principles to the early years workforce. Early Education Journal.

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Abstract

Human Capital, or as we more commonly regard it, our people, are the heart of our settings, our communities, our organisation and often businesses. People form a key part of our Enabling Environment and are truly the essence of our relationships with children, their families and our communities. Whilst we are frustrated by wider issues facing the early years workforce, such as a lack of regard for the professional standing of early years careers, including not only pay, but the responsibility and often unpaid hours worked. We can as settings play a part in nurturing our people and developing our teams. Settings are increasingly reporting challenges with recruiting suitably qualified staff, furthermore, issues of retention pose a challenge (Ofsted, 2024; Haux et al., 2022). This article explores some of the strategies settings can apply to ensure they are giving a considered approach to issues of recruitment and retention, through applying some of the principles we value in early childhood education and care, such as nurture and professional love (Gerhardt, 2015; Page, 2018) and the four overarching principles of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) (Department for Education, 2024). It explores how these principles, which we confidently acknowledge and apply to our work with children, can be applied to our colleagues too. The overarching principles of the EYFS as detailed below, can also be considered through the lens of the adults who work with them: • Every child is a unique child, who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident, and self-assured. • Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships. • Children learn and develop well in enabling environments with teaching and support from adults, who respond to their individual interests and needs and help them to build their learning over time. Children benefit from a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and/or carers. • Importance of learning and development. Children develop and learn at different rates. (Department for Education, 2024:7)

Item Type:	Article
Depositing User:	JISCRouter
Date Deposited:	15 Jan 2026 16:21
Last Modified:	15 Jan 2026 16:21
URI:	https://marjon.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/18073

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