This document proposes, and sets out, some principles and aspirations to underpin early childhood care and education, and stresses the importance of drawing from a diverse range of theories and practices, to meet the needs of all children. It encourages practitioners to reflect, and to decide for themselves what is appropriate for the children they work with, in the context of their community (providing some useful questions to start this process). This is the opposite of what the EYFS, with its statutory learning and development requirements and ‘expected’ goals, promotes and, sadly, its effect has been to damage the creativity of both practitioners and children, as they try to cover, or achieve, often unrealistic, targets.