Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the role of play in supporting the (a) development and (b) learning of (i) children with special educational needs and disabilities and (ii) other children; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure that reductions in school break times do not limit opportunities for play during the school day.

The department recognises that play is critical to children’s wellbeing, learning and development. This is reflected in the early years foundation stage statutory framework, which supports early years practitioners to design a rich curriculum that includes regular opportunities for play-based learning.

Governing bodies (for maintained schools) and academy trusts (for academies) are responsible for deciding when sessions should begin and end on each school day. They are also responsible for deciding the length of each lesson and the timings for the morning session, the midday break and the afternoon session. The department does not collect data on the number of breaks, including lunch time, that schools schedule into their daily and weekly timetable.

Government guidance sets out the expectation that a school week is a minimum of 32.5 hours, inclusive of breaks. However, the department does not collect data on the amount of time provided.