Sharron Fogarty, Head of BIEA early years along with Yang Feng the Marketing Director of BIEA China, attended an EYFS workshop in Beijing on the 17^th of August 2019. The workshop was to bring together Chinese early years educators with British early years professionals and discuss the Chinese early years educational system with a particular emphasis on the current bottleneck. The workshop attracted educators and investors from Beijing along with teachers and directors from a wide area around the city.

Sharron, who had achieved the first “Outstanding” judgement from Ofsted the British Education Standards Authority for her work on early years education in her locality, talked about British EYFS and its advantages compared to other international systems. Sharron also talked about how the four major themes and principles along with the seven learning and development fields complement each other in the British system.

Yang talked of the EYFS in China and said that strong integration and high recognition were the main objectives of teachers in China. The teachers were informed of the forthcoming launch of the BIEA E-League accreditation standard (Early Years League Qualification ELQ) for overseas early years educational institutions that adopt the British EYFS framework and showed great interest.

Having gained an understanding of the British EYFS framework and hoping to assist in its implementation in China, many of the nursery schoolteachers and directors raised questions concerning its integration into local culture. Sharron gave advice and guidance especially referencing her own experience in implementing the system in Britain. Yang went on to explain the standards and scope of the assessment of the ELQ accreditation and how to apply for it.

The open attitude towards British early years educational systems by China’s educational establishment was demonstrated by the successful completion of the Beijing EYFS workshop.

With the increasing membership of the BIEA E-League and the continuing implementation of ELQ accreditation standards, more nurseries will adopt the BIEA E-League framework. This can only improve the systems integration locally and benefit the education of young children.