Private schools to axe the 'nappy curriculum' for toddlers Our schools do not have to follow the National Curriculum from Year 1 onwards, so it was wholly unfair to have the EYFS framework imposed on them. The bottom line is that parental choice in their children's education must be upheld, and enforcing the framework was eliminating that entirely. From October 26, all independent schools with a high rating by the official schools inspectorate will be able to apply to drop the curriculum. The change is being made as part of a wholesale reform of pre-school education. Last year, a Government review - led by Dame Clare Tickell, chief executive of the charity Action for Children - called for a dramatic reduction in the number of benchmarks children are expected to meet from 69 to just 17. It was also revealed that a new framework would place a bigger focus on speaking and listening skills, basic literacy and social interaction. The plans will also led to a cut in the amount of paperwork in nurseries, including the abolition of written risk assessments for all activities. But plans to give private schools powers to opt-out have angered some experts. Speaking earlier this year, Bernadette Duffy, head of the Thomas Coram Children's Centre in north London, who helped lead a review of the curriculum for the Coalition, said: "Our view is that there is enough flexibility within the framework to embrace different traditions and different ways of working. I hope most people won't want to exempt themselves from it as it is based on research about what works best for the vast majority of children.