What is new at Policy & Play: October 2026

Photo activity sheets

The biggest change is in the activity library. 187 activity sheets now have real photos: one of the finished activity and one for each of the four steps. Each sheet fits on a single page and carries a kit list, questions to ask, ways to make it easier or harder, EYFS links, things to look for and a safety box.

Every photo was checked by eye before it went live. Photos are illustrative examples, and none of them show children.

A few sheets have kept their older layout because photos did not suit them, such as name writing and the settling-in checklist.

Open the activity library to see them. On a phone, the preview now fits the screen and there is a Back button to return to your results.

29 new seasonal ideas

We added 29 new activities for autumn, winter and spring, all in the photo layout. They include a conker caterpillar, a leaf lion, a pine cone owl, frost painting, ice sun-catchers, a salt dough robin and twig stars.

Your dashboard now has a short "Good for this week" row: four sheets picked for the time of year, which change each week.

Inspection tools rebuilt

Ofsted's early years inspection toolkit changed how inspections are reported. There is no single overall grade any more. Each evaluation area is reported on a five-point scale, and safeguarding is reported as met or not met.

We rebuilt three tools to match:

• The self-evaluation form now follows the seven evaluation areas.
• The inspection checklist has 70 items, each tied to the rule it comes from.
• The readiness quiz uses plain results instead of the old grade names, and includes safer sleeping.

You can find them under Inspection tools in your member menu. For the rules themselves, see our rules and guidance page.

Forms corrected

We read our forms against the EYFS framework for childminders that came into force on 1 September 2026, and corrected what we found.

• The allergy action plan now follows the BSACI plan: any one airway, breathing or consciousness sign means adrenaline and 999.
• The child record form now holds everything the framework lists, including each parent's address, who has parental responsibility and who the child normally lives with.
• The accident form explains who must be told about a serious accident, and by when.
• The existing injury form now points welfare concerns to children's social care.

If you have printed any of these before October 2026, please download the new version.

Six of the forms most often shown to an inspector or a parent now have small tips beside the tricky boxes. Tap the question mark to see what to write. Tips never print.

New money tools

Three new tools help with fees:

• A charge worksheet for working out what you can and cannot charge alongside funded hours.
• A late payment letter.
• A notice letter.

They sit alongside our post on funded childcare hours.

One menu, fewer dead ends

Members told us the site was hard to find their way around. There is now one menu on every member page, with six plain groups: Home, Activities, Paperwork, Children, Getting started and Account.

We also removed pages that did not earn their place, including the sheet maker, which we have retired. The library now does that job better.

Several member tools were improved at the same time. The daily routine chart, the development snapshot and the startup budget now save what you enter on your device, and they are easier to use on a phone.

Getting in

Policy & Play is a website, not an app, so there is nothing to download. Sign in at policyandplay.co.uk/login. If you would like it on your phone like an app, open the site in your browser and choose Add to Home Screen.

New members now get a welcome email that says exactly that, with three first steps.