So much time and effort has been put into closing gender gaps recently, and rightly so. This is the same in EYFS as anywhere else in the education system. In 2016 girls performed better than boys in the Early Learning Goals in ALL 17 areas of learning. And the gender gap has increased since 2013 in the areas of Maths, The World, and Technology, with girls doing better than boys year on year.

My own Action Plan for EYFS and my current Action Research for  marginal gains (Improving the outcomes of boys writing through expressive art and creativity) are both focused on reducing the gender gap. Increasingly important in a current cohort where I have 17 boys and 9 girls!

However after recently becoming involved in the wonderful world of WomenEd I have had to stop and think about how I am helping to promote girls in EYFS.

A first Google, (yes the word ‘glance’ has now been replaced in our home), the very first link that comes up when you search ‘promoting girls in EYFS’ is the really good, but totally irrelevant National Strategies document ‘Confident Capable Boys…’. Directly followed by the similarly sourced ‘Gateway to Writing: Boys and Writing’ .

Hmmm.

It appears there is room for some current discussion, writing and debate about how we promote GIRLS in EYFS. This absolutely sits with the #BeBoldForChange value that WomedEd & International Women’s Day 2017 holds so close. My pledge was to ‘Forge Women’s Education’. So starting in my own area of expertise, the girls appear to be doing very well already. What needs to change?

Move on to end of KS2, and this  – from 2016: ‘When looking at individual subjects, girls outperform boys at the expected standard in all subjects except mathematics. The gap is largest in writing (13 percentage points). Girls also outperform boys on the high score in all subjects except from mathematics.’

In maths, boys are achieving deeper learning by 11. Not a comparable cohort, but boys certainly seem to be closing the gender gap in Maths; and in higher standards, over taking them.

So what can we do in EYFS to  promote girls who already seem to be doing well at 5?

It think the answer lies in expectation. Especially regarding maths and STEM. We need to be involving and using women & girls as role models with maths and STEM with our EYFS children (both the boys and the girls!). We need to promote equality, both in the setting and at home. I have encountered several dropped jaws at the end of a session when Mum or Dad come to pick up little Jimmy, dressed in a princess dress. Or little Elsie covered in muddy marks over her pink shoes. We have an important role in breaking down stereo type with role-play. I recently overheard one child, on noticing something broken, shout ‘We’ll have to get a man to come and fix it!’.

The Pre-School Learning Alliance has some excellent suggestions on supporting girls. I did have a little wobble about the word pink. I love pink! But the children regularly observe me holding worms and spiders, up to my ankles in mud and reading stories where the superhero is a girl. Or the boy is afraid.

Promoting girls in EYFS is not necessarily about doggedly tracking their academic attainment. It’s about supporting them to take risks, giving them problems to solve, opportunities to reason. It’s by being bold and turning gender expectations on their heads.