Design for Play

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Designing for Play

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Play in Educational Settings Consultation Paper

Introduction

Over the past year, the importance of play for children's learning and development has become more widely acknowledged at a national level. This paper addresses all those who have an interest in play within educational settings (ie all education provision for 0-18 year olds, including Children's Centres and Extended Schools). This includes teachers, headteachers, other practitioners, parents, out of school providers, playworkers, governors, EYDCPs, children's trusts, education advisers, and play specialists.

The paper is the result of collaboration between the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), PLAYLINK not for profit, Learning through Landscapes, ContinYou, and the Free Play Network.

The main sections, include:

• Overarching objective
• Values and understandings
• Play
• Adults' role
• Recommendations

The Paper is based to a significant extent on the development by Play Wales' development of a Welsh National Play Policy and PLAYLINK's play policy work and work with schools.

Play in Educational Settings Consultation Paper

Overarching objective

The overriding objective of this statement is to secure for children and young people an increase in the quantity and an enhancement in the quality of play opportunities within all educational settings.

Values and understandings

Children and young people:

• are entitled to respect for their own unique combination of qualities and capabilities
• should have their opinions and reactions taken into account to the maximum degree consistent with health, safety and respect for the needs of others
• are part of, and contribute to, the wider life of their communities, and their school communities in particular
• have a right to play environments that offer challenge and stimulation and opportunities to take acceptable levels of risk
• have the right to expect consistency and clarity in adult values. Children and young people must see the connection between stated policy and what actually happens. They need to feel part of a community of trust and co-operation.

Play

The term 'play' is understood in a number of different ways. It is not the purpose of this paper to fasten down one universal meaning of the term, or create a hierarchy of meanings. Instead, this paper looks at how play is understood in practice, that is, in the different contexts within which it operates within the education system for 0 - 18 years olds.

For the purposes of this paper we have categorised the time children spend in school under three primary headings. They are the:

• planned, structured curriculum part of the day
• non-curriculum part of the school day (i.e. breaks and lunchtimes)
• out of school hours.

Planned, structured, curriculum part of the day: play, from the teachers perspective, has identifiable learning outcomes, whether or not the child is aware of this. In order to achieve the identified outcome, the play may be structured, managed, directed or assessed by the teacher, however informally. Teachers may intervene to guide or direct the child's play to assist the child to develop curriculum knowledge and understanding in its broadest sense. In this context, teachers use the term 'play' to identify activity that is fun or pleasurable for the child, is deeply involving and allows space for children's spontaneity within a consciously adult-structured environment.

Non-curriculum part of the day: that is, in children's break or leisure time when 'play' is understood as being freely chosen by the child. In this context play is, to the greatest extent possible, in the child's control. It is a key value that adult intervention is kept to a minimum, and that adults have, in principle, no role in structuring, directing or managing a child's play. There is no necessary or pre-determined outcome or product. There is no attempt to test or check that a learning outcome has been achieved.

Out of school hours: for example, before and after school, weekends and school holidays. These periods may be directly controlled by the school and form part of its extra-curricula activities, or external organisations may use the school premises for their own activities. So far as play is concerned, those responsible for out of school sessions need to be clear whether the activities they offer have 'identifiable learning outcomes, whether or not the child is aware of this', or whether play 'is understood as being freely chosen by the child'. From the adult perspective, decisions about how children are supervised, what they are allowed to do, and how they are allowed to do it will depend on the objectives of each particular out of school provider.

From a child's point of view, particularly in the early years, the school day is likely to be experienced as a seamless entity. As children become older, and the school day becomes more overtly structured, the categories of play are likely to become more distinct from the child's perspective.

All play at school has a fundamental role in enabling children and young people to engage positively with the complexities of the world around them.

Adults' role

Adults' role is to support and enable children's play.

In the planned, structured, curriculum part of the school day, teachers and practitioners must be given the freedom to use professional judgement to mediate the requirements of the curriculum through play and to intervene sensitively to maximise learning potential.

In both the non-curriculum part of the school day, and the out of school day, where creating quality free play opportunities is the objective, all practitioners, including teachers, must be given the freedom to work to play values and playwork objectives.

Recommendations

1. That Government places a statutory duty upon local authorities and schools to meet minimum standards to provide for children's free play needs, including a minimum allocation for breaktime.

2. That Government issues guidance on developing outdoor, play-friendly environments aimed at transforming school grounds into rich play environments. This to be a statutory requirement for all new build and refurbishment projects. That Government should also amend Standard 4 of the National Standards for Full Day Care Registrations to require all Early Years settings to provide children with good access to adequate outdoor play space that adjoins the premises.

3. That 'play-friendly' school grounds should be judged and developed against the play environment criteria set out in 'Best Play: what play provision should do for children' (see appendix 1).

4. That the supervision of children and young people at play will have as its key objectives:

Objective One: The provision extends the choice and control that children have over their play, the freedom they enjoy and the satisfaction they gain from it

Objective Two: The provision recognises the child's need to test boundaries and responds positively to that need

Objective Three: The provision manages the balance between children and young people's need and want to play and the need to keep them from being exposed to unacceptable risks of death or serious injury.

Objective Four: The provision maximises the range of play opportunities both indoors and outside, and maximises the amount of time for play, enabling children to play with a wide range of partners and alone

Objective Five: The provision fosters independence and self-esteem

Objective Six: The provision fosters children's respect for others and offers opportunities for social interaction

Objective Seven: The provision fosters the child's well-being, healthy growth and development, knowledge and understanding, creativity and capacity to learn.

(These seven play objectives take account of those in 'Best play: what play provision should do for children.')

5. That Government encourages and resources schools to use a whole school approach to develop and implement successful play policies. (See Appendix 2 and the 'Play at School' report on a whole school approach to developing play opportunities within schools, published by PLAYLINK. (www.playlink.org.uk).)

6. That Government encourages educational settings to appoint a 'play champion' of sufficient seniority to secure quality play opportunities in both the school day and the out of school part of the day.

7. That Government ensures that the value and importance of play is recognised in the primary school curriculum and assessment system.