A petition launched by play-based learning consultant Ruth Lue-Quee is urging the Westminster Government to make play and enabling environments statutory for children aged 5 to 7 in England’s Key Stage 1. With over 31,000 signatures already secured – triggering an official government response – it now aims for 100,000 signatures to force a parliamentary debate.
Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), for children aged 0 to 5, ensures providers deliver learning and development requirements that embed play and have regard to “enabling environments”, where resources support child-initiated and adult-supported activities.
“Play is essential for children’s development, building their confidence as they learn to explore, relate to others, set their own goals, and solve problems. Children learn by leading their own play, and by taking part in play and learning that is guided by adults”
Department for Education
However, at Key Stage 1 (KS1), Years 1 and 2 (ages 5 to 7), there is no statutory requirement to maintain these play-orientated, child-led approaches. This petition seeks to bridge that gap by embedding EYFS principles into the statutory KS1 curriculum.
By extending the EYFS entitlement into Key Stage 1, schools in England would have to ensure areas for play-based learning and open-ended resources are always available to children aged 5 to 7 in school. It would also bring alignment with Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, where play and enabling environments remain central to primary curricula:
🟨 Northern Ireland
- Learning Through Play at Key Stage 1 from the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) outlines how play supports all areas of learning in Years 1 and 2.
- Curricular Guidance for Pre-School Education from the Department of Education NI) emphasises play as central to early development and learning through six key areas.
🟦 Scotland
- Realising the Ambition: Being Me from Education Scotland builds on earlier frameworks and sets out play pedagogy from birth through early primary.
- An Early Level Play Pedagogy Toolkit has been designed by Education Scotland to support play-based learning in Primary 1.
- Statutory guidance Building the Ambition from the Scottish Government provides a national definition for “play and learning” as referred to in the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014.
🟥 Wales
- The Curriculum for Wales, introduced in 2022, embeds play across its 3 to 16-years-of-age framework. Developmental pathways such as exploration, communication and well-being provide a child-led foundation that continues throughout early education.
- The Early Childhood Play, Learning and Care (ECPLC) Plan from the Welsh Government sets out principles, workforce standards and quality indicators to support play-rich environments across early childhood settings.
- A Quality Framework for Early Childhood Play, Learning and Care was published in 2025 to guide consistent, high-quality practice and support implementation of the ECPLC plan in early years provision.
What you can do:
- Sign the petition: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/729440
- Share it with your networks and social channels
- Encourage colleagues and parents and carers to add their voices
- Contact local schools, nurseries and other childcare providers
You can also contact your local parliamentarians and politicians:
- Contact your Member of Westminster Parliament (MP), and Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) or Member of the Senedd (MS) as applicable
- Contact your local Principal Council Councillors
- Contact your local Town and Parish Councils (England) or Community Councils (Wales) and their Councillors
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