Development Matters is Non-Statutory It helps us to design an effective early years curriculum and acts as a guide to building on the strengths and meeting the needs of all children. . The curriculum consists of everything you want children to experience, learn and be able to do. It meets the requirements of the educational programmes in the statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). This guidance sets out the pathways of children's development in broad ages and stages. The actual learning of young children is not so neat and orderly. For that reason, accurate and proportionate assessment is vital. It helps you to make informed decisions about what a child needs to learn and be able to do next. It is not designed to be used as a tick list for generating lots of data.