As we announced last week, our discussions with Ofsted highlighting the impact of Early Years Foundation Scheme (EYFS) requirements on playwork has led to new guidance which should allay the concerns of playworkers.

We are delighted that numerous meetings with Ofsted to represent the employer voice on this issue have finally paid off. It highlights the importance of the role that we have, as the sector skills council and employer voice for playwork, in challenging external regulations that impact our sector.

We listened to the playwork sector to understand concerns about the requirements of the EYFS, gathered evidence and took this to Ofsted, ultimately resulting in this new guidance which should mean that playworkers don’t have to change their existing practice to meet the requirements of the EYFS.

It is encouraging to see that Ofsted has recognised that play based provision is compatible with the EYFS and we hope that this this factsheet will make Ofsted inspections clearer for the play sector.

With the government due to review the EYFS in September 2010, we will continue to listen to our members and will work closely with the DCSF to ensure playwork employer views are once again represented.

The Ofsted factsheet is available to download while we have also produced a guidance paper on the Early Years Foundation Stage and its impact on holiday playschemes, a topic recently mentioned by Elaine Clowes in a previous blog post.