Nursery World - Playwork EYFS guide by SkillsActive comes 'too late'

A play expert has criticised new guidance on the EYFS published by play skills council SkillsActive as 'too little and a year too late'.

SkillsActive published the guidance in July because some holiday clubs and after-school providers have stopped taking children under six due to the demands of the EYFS.

However, Shelly Newstead, managing director of Common Threads, a play training organisation, said, 'The briefing is a genuine attempt by SkillsActive to do something helpful in a crisis situation, but it is too late and it hasn't tried hard enough. It is a wasted opportunity. The EYFS has been statutory since September 2008 and summer play schemes have already started.'

Playworkers told Nursery World last month that they do not feel that their approach to children's play is understood by Ofsted, and some said that they would no longer be taking children within the early years age range (Analysis, 10 June). They complained of finding it time consuming to complete paperwork such as the Self Evaluation Form, and some said that staff were having to work late at home to complete it.

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