Make Play and Continuous Provision statutory in England's Key Stage 1 Curriculum

Revise statutory guidance for KS1 to make play based pedagogy a core part of the Key Stage One National Curriculum, extending the best practice that we see in Early Years to ensure all Key Stage One children continue to have a developmentally appropriate play based approach to their learning.

The Early Years Framework highlights the importance of play. However, as children transition to Year 1 and throughout KS1, many may experience a stark shift to formal teaching strategies. We think this fails to reflect how young children learn best. We want our children to access a reformed education system that meets their developmental needs, supports wellbeing, allows for movement, communication, play and develops a true love of learning, enabling all children to thrive.

The Department is working to make sure that all children and young people have access to a variety of enrichment opportunities at school, as an important part of our mission to break down barriers to opportunity. For some schools, these opportunities may be used to encourage children and young people to play.

We recognise that play is critical to children’s wellbeing and development, as highlighted in the Centre for Young Lives’ Everything to Play For report. This is reflected in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework, which is clear that play is essential for children’s learning and development. The EYFS emphasises the importance of creating opportunities for indoor and outdoor play, and enabling environments and cultures for high-quality play.

Our expectation is for schools to organise the school day and school week in the best interests of their pupil cohort, to both provide them with a full time education suitable to their age, aptitude and ability, and to provide opportunities for schools to incorporate time for play and other activities.

We recognise the current key stage 1 curriculum requires reform. This is why the Government established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, to look into issues, such as this, and make recommendations to improve the curriculum for children. The Review Group is currently looking across the existing national curriculum and statutory assessment system, to ensure they meet the needs of young people in your area and across England.