The EEF Guide to the Early Years Pupil Premium

Myth-busting

Myth 1

“We have to spend our Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) on programmes and activities which are just for socio-economically disadvantaged children. Spending money to develop the quality of practice will take the funding away from disadvantaged children”.

You should make sure that disadvantaged children are at the heart of your EYPP strategy and spending choices. Evidence tells us that high-quality education and careHigh-quality education and care refers to the quality of educators’ day-to-day interactions that support children’s development and the care they experience. is important for all children, but the benefits for disadvantaged children are greater. When you spend your funding on effective professional development and keep improving the quality of practice, you are addressing a top priority for EYPP spending.

Myth 2

“We should spend our EYPP on buying new toys and resources for individual children”.

If you spend your EYPP solely on buying toys or resources, you are unlikely to improve outcomes for disadvantaged children. Instead, it is what educators do that makes the biggest difference.

Sometimes, buying specific resources might help you to put an approach into action. However, you should do this alongside providing training and support for educators.

For example, if you select the interactive reading approach to improve children’s early language development, you might use your EYPP to buy:

  • Effective professional development and ongoing coaching to help educators put the approach into action.
  • High-quality books to support educators as they deliver the approach.

Myth 3

“The EYPP is only for children who are struggling with their learning and development”.

EYPP should be used to improve the life chances of all of your socio-economically disadvantaged children, by supporting their strengths and meeting needs: from those who are developing well, to those who might need extra help.

Myth 4

“We’ll need to collect lots of assessment data to show the impact of our strategy”.

You do not need to write detailed and lengthy documents and gather lots of ‘data’ for your EYPP strategy. For example, you can check the impact of your strategy by observing changes to educators' practice ‘on the ground’.

  • Are educators using the approaches you have discussed to improve the quality of their practice?
  • Do you observe high-quality interactions throughout the day?
  • Do you notice those interactions inside and outdoors, whilst children are learning and playing, and also during daily routines?
  • Are educators consistently providing extra support and teaching for the children who need it?
  • How are the children responding?

Over time, you might consider using an evidence-informed screening tool for tracking children’s progress as part of your strategy.

Myth 5

“The best way to spend our EYPP is to take the children out on trips or to bring in external visitors”.

Children can thoroughly enjoy ‘one-off’ events such as trips out and special visitors. 

However, when you take a balanced approach to spending your EYPP, you are likely to focus on developing the quality of everyday practice. Disadvantaged children will particularly benefit from this approach: it should be a priority in your spending choices.