Nancy Stewart is an Early Years consultant, author, and trainer and currently the Project Lead on Birth to 5 Matters. She travelled across the Atlantic many years ago to be a teacher, a trainer, right the way up to advising on the EYFS review in 2012 and famously co-authoring the 2012 Development Matters with Helen Moylett. She played a central role in projects such as ‘Every Child a Talker’ during her time at National Strategies. She has also authored her own books, “How children learn - The characteristics of effective early learning”, and “Your Baby – from birth to 18 months”. She was Project Lead on the original Birth to 5 Matters guidance, and on the revised 2026 version. She has been a long-time contributor to Famly, having helped out with projects like our 2020 documentary ‘The EYFS Tracking Lie’
Birth to 5 Matters emerged from a coalition of 16 sector organisations that felt unheard during the government's revision of the EYFS, leading them to produce their own non-statutory guidance. The document was designed to offer a strong pedagogical foundation and depth across areas of learning, as well as a clearer grounding in early years principles.
The revised Birth to 5 Matters introduces several new sections including sustainability and digital pedagogy, which address contemporary issues not covered in the original edition.
There is a new cross-phase section called "Across Early Childhood", reflecting both emerging research and societal changes such as the expansion of funded places for younger children.
"Some of the differences within it actually came from feedback that we got from the working groups on the project and from the sector. People wanted more guidance around neurological divergence and also more guidance around babies. So, the working group for communication and language had the Birth to 2 group reading through their section, to make sure that it reflects babies. The digital pedagogy group went through it all, then the sustainability group went through, and the SEND group went through it all, looking and adding in bits about neurodivergence. So it's just more finely tuned to make sure it's inclusive and covers all we wanted to cover."
Nancy Stewart, Project Lead, Birth to 5 Matters
The revised guidance was developed by approximately 123 volunteers across multiple working groups, each cross-reviewed by specialist groups covering neurodivergence and disability, digital pedagogy, sustainability, and babies and toddlers. The updated website features QR codes linking each printed section to expanded online resources, bibliographies, and deeper reading, structured to allow practitioners to engage at whatever level suits them.
Birth to 5 Matters is not a document to use as a tick-list and is a rejection of statement-based tracking and assessment. The guidance is deliberately designed to make mechanical ticking-off impossible. Nancy notes that while many practitioners now intellectually accept this approach, confidence in applying professional judgement without a checklist remains a barrier for some.
"It's a shift. If you don't have the confidence to respond to children and to interpret for yourself... it's a shift to jump to feeling more confident. But I do think people have started saying, 'Yes, I can see that's right, but we're just not sure how to do it.'"
Nancy Stewart, Project Lead, Birth to 5 Matters
Educators may have felt pressure to produce granular assessment data from Ofsted, though that particular driver has largely receded. A newer concern is the government's GLD (Good Level of Development) target, which risks pushing data-driven expectations down through the age range, particularly in school settings.
The decision to use overlapping developmental ranges rather than age-linked milestones was the result of extensive consultation and reflects a commitment to inclusivity and developmental variability. Ranges are intentionally broad to avoid false precision, to support neurodivergent children, and to prevent the re-emergence of checklist culture through the back door.
"I don't want to get back to people having to do lots of written observations, but when you do, note something significant. Not writing things down every day for the sake of it, but when you see something interesting and new that that child has shown you, a quick note shows that that has been progress, that something has moved on. If you look back at those over a period of time, the progression is clear. It is particular to the child, to the instance, to what was happening. And that's where, where progress is real, actually."
Nancy Stewart, Project Lead, Birth to 5 Matters
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