Early Years Foundation Stage

SkillsActive has been working closely with the Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) on the implementation of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) which is due to be introduced in September 2008. 

Some people in the Playwork sector have expressed concerns about how the introduction of the EYFS will affect the delivery of Playwork.  In Playwork settings only a small part of the user group will be four or five years of age and the ethos of Playwork is to facilitate play opportunities that are chosen freely by the children.  There is also no formal recording of children at play or written assessment of children using the play space. It was therefore seen as a potential area of conflict for the sector.

The DCSF assures us that as long as Playworkers are adhering to the Playwork Principles they will be in a good position to meet the EYFS requirements.

In addition, the following should be noted:

• The assessment scales (appendix 1of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage – SFEYFS) will be completed by the primary setting where the child spends the majority of their time between 8am to 6pm (2.22 SFEYFS). Given that play settings operate before and after school and during the holidays, they are not going to be the primary setting.
• In respect of holiday play schemes, although for a number of weeks children may be spending a large proportion of their time there, taking into consideration the whole year, they still wouldn’t be the primary setting.

The Frequently Asked Questions also contain a lot of information on this subject.

SkillsActive believe that, given this scenario, there is no need for Playwork practitioners to engage in any further training over and above that required for their usual Playwork practice or general information about the introduction of the EYFS.

For more information on the EYFS please visit the DCSF website