Revisions to the EYFS from September 2025

Revisions to the EYFS from September 2025

With 3 months to go before the introduction of the EYFS Sept 2025, it is time to look at your documentation and get organised. The main changes to the EYFS which will be introduced from 1st September 2025 include:

Nutrition guidance

Nutrition guidance will be included the EYFS Sept 2025, to replace the current menu guidance. It is non-statutory, but you will need a good reason not to comply with the guidance. Ofsted has confirmed they will inspect providers in line with the requirements in the EYFS and, if they note concerns around safe or healthy eating, inspectors will aim to find out from settings why they are not using the guidance.

Childcare.co.uk has a recorded webinar about the changes. EYFS nutrition guidance webinar

Policy – Food & Nutrition Policy

Safer recruitment amendments

including the requirement to have a Safer Recruitment Policy and to request a reference from your applicant before employment. DfE has confirmed to Childcare.co.uk that written policies are only required if childminders have or are looking to employ an assistant – however, it will be a requirement in the EYFS to have a policy.

Childminder assistants and staff
Safeguarding Policies

Attendance Policy

requirement to set out your procedures if a child is absent for a prolonged period of time or is not brought for a session. The Attendance Policy will reference how to contact your local children’s services or the police to request a welfare check.

Attendance Policy

Emergency contacts

changes to state that you should ideally have additional emergency contacts in place for each child, to ensure children are safeguarded if their parents are unable to contact them in an emergency situation. There is flexibility in the wording for those parents who cannot provide emergency contacts for their child. There is space on the Childcare.co.uk Emergency Contact Form to include emergency contacts for each child.

Emergency Contact Form

Safer eating requirements

including the addition of several new paragraphs to cover, for example, mealtime supervision, allergies and intolerances, choking and safe weaning. The Childcare.co.uk series of health and safety guides have been updated to include latest statutory requirements and best practice guidance.

Health & safety guides

Childcare.co.uk has also commissioned a safer eating webinar about the changes. Safer Eating webinar

Safeguarding training annex C

which will set out training requirements for all providers and an additional course for the designated safeguarding lead (DSL) which will be relevant for all childminders. Providers must make updates to the Safeguarding Policy to include information about how safeguarding training is delivered, including how practitioners are supported to put it into place. The Childcare.co.uk Safeguarding Policy has been updated to reflect this information and there are Childcare.co.uk webinars to cover both ‘basic’ and ‘DSL’ training requirements.

Safeguarding Policy
Safeguarding Webinars

Childcare.co.uk has also provided a free ‘early years safeguarding training matrix’ to support provider record keeping.

Useful Documents

Paediatric first aid amendments

in the group setting EYFS to state that early years students and trainees are required to have paediatric first aid (PFA) training for them to be included in ratios at the level below their level of study. The wording relating to paediatric first aid training for early years providers has also been strengthened. Tigerlily, which is the leading first aid provider and offers Childcare.co.uk gold members a generous discount off courses, has confirmed their course is compliant with the new requirements.

Paediatric First Aid training

Privacy wording changes

to ensure that children’s privacy during nappy changing and toileting is considered and balanced with safeguarding considerations. DfE suggest, for example, that practitioners can use their bodies as shields to give children privacy while also monitoring other children in the setting. The Childcare.co.uk Safeguarding Policy has been updated to reflect this information.

Safeguarding Policy

Whistleblowing requirements

have been updated including a requirement for a written Whistleblowing Policy. DfE has confirmed to Childcare.co.uk that childminders who do not have assistants are not required to have this policy in writing – however, it will be a requirement of the EYFS and whistleblowing has a much wider remit than sharing details with assistants about how to, for example, contact the local authority designated officer (LADO). Childcare.co.uk has added a Whistleblowing Policy to their safeguarding documents –

Safeguarding Policy

DfE state that they have also made ‘a small number of other minor changes to the structure and wording of the safeguarding requirements have been made to improve clarity.’

You will find the ‘Summary of changes’ document here. Summary of EYFS safeguarding changes