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78 – CHAPTER 8: POLICIES INFLUENCING PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH AND PRACTICEECEC organisation of settingsHow the provision of ECEC is organised can greatly influence pedagogy. Such factorsinclude whether settings serve all children in the ECEC age range, or are split between differentage groups, and the type of ECEC provided (care, after-school care, early education, playgroups),all of which influences the pedagogy of ECEC staff. This is usually also reflected in thecurriculum, as well in separate curricula for different age groups and/or settings, if a split systemis in place. The organisation of ECEC at national level and the different types of settings wereexplained in Chapter 4. This section will focus more on whether ECEC is aligned, or evenintegrated, with primary school. This also influences pedagogy, since preschool settings inprimary schools can have a pedagogical approach that more closely resembles school, meaningthat the pedagogy in these countries is focused on academic education rather than playing andsimple childcare.In sum, France is the only one of the case-study countries where early years pedagogy isexplicitly aligned with the formal school system, though this applies only to the education sectorof the French ECEC system. The close alignment between the two settings has been criticisedbecause it is argued that it discourages appropriate pedagogical practice in the preschool settingand encourages practices used in primary schools. One advantage, however, is that teachers andadministrators meet regularly to discuss children’s learning and development. This helps toidentify difficulties and smoothes the children's transition from the école maternelle to theprimary school. In other countries, including England and Japan, ECEC and primary educationare aligned with each other, whereas in Denmark, Germany and New Zealand, a strict division ismade between ECEC and primary schooling. However, measures in these countries have easedthe transition from ECEC to elementary education by interposing a transition year, or implicitlylinking certain aspects of the curriculum framework with primary education.EnglandIn England, early years education is becoming increasingly aligned with formal schoolsettings. This is not only in view of the Early Years Professional Programme (EYPP) and EarlyYears Teachers Programme (EYTP), but also through changes in the early years curriculum. In2012, the EYFS reshaped its learning areas and goals in accordance, where possible, with thebaseline for the national curriculum (DfE, 2012). These changes have been preserved in thenewest version of EYFS (2014), which directly specifies 17 early learning goals in its sevenlearning areas. How far these goals have been met is assessed in the EYFS profile of each child.Early years practitioners are asked to indicate whether or not the child is meeting the expectedlevels of development, and to describe the child’s abilities in relation to the three prime learningareas. The profile is then given to the child’s Year 1 teacher, to allow activities to be tailored tothe child’s needs in a formal school environment.DenmarkIn Denmark, ECEC settings and primary school are differentiated both in their pedagogicaland educational approach and expectations. The legislation promotes child well-being in bothinstitutions. Day-care facilities are encouraged by the Day-Care Facilities Act (MFCA, 2007) tohelp ease the transition from day care to primary school by nurturing children's basic competencesand general motivation for learning. As a result, ECEC for children from birth to 6 years focuseson holistic child development, rather than using ECEC as a means to merely prepare children forprimary school and stimulate cognitive development only. Denmark aims at providing childrenwith early development opportunities through play, addressing holistic development subjects thatare cognitive and socio-emotional, and stimulate well-being. Denmark implements differentmeasures to ensure that children transition well between ECEC and primary education. Since2008, a previously optional year of preschool class (at International Standard of Classification ofEARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE PEDAGOGY REVIEW: ENGLAND © OECD 2015