More than child’s play

While the demand for play, from parents, teachers and pupils remains high, the role of schools in providing play spaces could be set to stretch beyond the boundaries of the school gates. The amount of time that children spend playing outside of school has fallen dramatically over the last ten years.

After the previous government’s Playbuilder funding scheme ended in March, several communities have seen new play equipment installed in their area, while others have seen their playgrounds removed as their local authority cannot afford to replace or maintain it. For the communities who have lost out in the spending cuts, the need for their children to have access to play facilities in school is greater than ever.

The Association of Play Industries’ (API) new State of Play report has found strong links between urban deprivation and a lack of access to play spaces. These areas, defined in the report as “play gaps”, are most prevalent in communities where childhood obesity is on the rise and adult life expectancy is low. Amongst the report’s policy recommendations calling for action on play from the Department for Education, the API has asked for: “Children’s health and wellbeing to be prioritised with suitable availability of outdoor play spaces for early year’s children, schools and communities.”

The report has arrived alongside new physical activity guidelines from the Department of Health and the four UK Chief Medical Officers (CMO). This new information recommends young children have a minimum of one hour’s vigorous physical activity and several more hours of less strenuous activity throughout the day, as soon as they are able to walk. A particular emphasis is given to early years children.

Access to public play spaces often raises very passionate support from parents, but construction can run into numerous difficulties relating to funding, planning permission and location. With set playtimes and play spaces already established, schools can make a strong contribution to children’s levels of physical activity they might not find so accessible in their community. There is an established requirement in the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) for schools to provide children with innovative and exciting play spaces in which to be active, learn and have fun. But how can schools help the wider community play?

An increasingly popular idea in the spirit of the government’s new Localism bill, which aims to encourage members of a community to volunteer in the provision of services, is for school playgrounds to be opened for use at the weekends and after school. Many schools already allow their play spaces to be used by after-school clubs, the new proposal would simply extend this access to times when the main school building is closed so children from the community can use the playground over the weekend.

The idea may prove controversial in itself as there are issues surrounding how these out-of-hours playtimes might be supervised and for there to be suitable vetting of volunteers to ensure the site remains secure. Effectively, the scheme would make existing play spaces more accessible to communities that are already closely involved with the school as parents or governors, to release existing social capital at little or no cost either to the school or the community it is built to serve.

Open for business?
While many public services are undergoing severe cuts, the future of school play provision is not necessarily an open-and-shut case. With rapid changes in the way money is distributed for schools’ construction and building maintenance, there are also new opportunities for schools to think differently about the providers they use to carry out maintenance of existing sites and new construction projects.

For example, the 80 per cent reduction of the devolved formula capital (DFC) is being redirected centrally to local authorities to support the infrastructure of several schools, which means the pot of money directly available to schools is now much smaller. While the remaining 20 per cent is primarily intended for other capital expenditure beyond the upkeep of individual school’s buildings and facilities, such as playgrounds, the majority of the DFC will fall under the central purchasing power of local authorities, which are expected to deliver better value for money when commissioning services so that all will benefit through greater economies of scale.

While the intention of “savings for all” is a noble one, the system has come under fire as a potentially unfair method of funding distribution and seems to contradict the government’s objective of devolving budgets and decisions to those at the ‘coal-face’, namely the head teacher. Another issue that could arise is that as an entire council borough’s funding is gathered together, the unique financial requirements of each school will be lost in a bureaucratic jumble. Simply put, there is a greater risk of schools either being under or over-funded relative to their allocated needs.

In the past, head teachers have been encouraged to manage budgets, including detailed business plans that highlight the requirements of the school over extended periods taking into account a full DFC budget. However, massively reduced funds mean that some schools need to apply to local authorities for funds they previously managed themselves, which may result in long periods spent waiting for a suitable solution to be implemented. Also, the flexibility of how to spend funds over a longer period allowed schools to invest in major projects, including playground solutions. This flexibility has been reduced considerably.

First new steps
The recent review of the EYFS recognises the intrinsic value of play for 0-5 year-olds and encourages it in several educational disciplines to ensure that children remain active, both in body and mind. Indeed, the spirit of play is recognised as a key influence on how children learn through three characteristics of effective teaching and learning: playing and exploring; active learning; and creating and thinking critically.

There is an increasing range of innovative play equipment developed specifically with these goals in mind that complements learning in the classroom by providing children with opportunities to learn through the more relaxed environment of the playground.
Play engenders development by encouraging children to act both instinctively and spontaneously, providing crucial opportunities to take risks and use their own initiative. Play also enables children to interact with, and learn about, their environment and those around them.

Echoing the API’s recommendation for suitable outdoor play spaces in schools, the EYFS review also states that: “Providers must provide access to an outdoor play area or, if that is not possible, must ensure that all outings are planned and taken on a daily basis (unless circumstances make this inappropriate, for example poor weather conditions).”

Outdoor play
Outdoor play encourages the development of social interactions that build relationships and social skills, whilst encouraging the expression of emotions and thoughts sometimes inhibited in other situations. Many outdoor play space designs emphasise the inclusive nature of play by proposing products and spaces that are fit for all and that can be adapted and interpreted freely by the children themselves.

Water play is highly tactile and the right equipment can engender harmless, dynamic movement that is absorbing and fascinating. Indeed, water with sand is a perfect combination, as so many children discover on the beach.

Music & sound play
Play involving sound and music can help young children with their creative development. It can help them to discover how to express themselves in an imaginative and artistic way. For older children, experiencing music and sound outside can be important to show them how acoustics alter. This, in turn, can help them to understand the different structural elements of music (rhythm, melody, harmony, timbre, texture, form, and dynamics).

For some children with severe, profound and complex learning difficulties, music can be a precious gateway into the world, enabling them to “feel” the beat and the rhythm.

Children with specific needs
The benefits of play can be particularly important for many children with SEN and disabilities, providing them with unique opportunities to explore the world and engage in creative and fun activities. A vast array of play equipment is available for schools and, with the right guidance and advice, it is possible to produce highly accessible and inclusive play environments to meet the needs of most children.

These environments can be particularly important in helping with pupil’s personal, social, and emotional development, and in developing their problem solving, reasoning and numeracy skills.

The use of different textures and colours can greatly assist visually impaired children by providing visual and tactile cues. It can be used to delineate physical boundaries, for example, where Tarmac finishes and a timber trail starts, or to highlight different textures, such as gravel, sand, bark and a variety of rubberised surfacing (continuous or tiled).

Quiet corners & sensory gardens

Time out zones can be important for many children, but especially for those with autistic spectrum disorders or dyspraxia, as they provide them with a place to wind down from their anxieties. Story areas or circles can encourage communication, use of language and literacy, while also stimulating creative development, for example, by providing essential space to act out a story.

Being involved in gardening can contribute greatly to general wellbeing. Gardening also generates many learning outcomes and involves the development of such a variety of skills and activities. It can be used very flexibly to select those activities which best suit the abilities and interests of each individual child.

Planting and nurturing flowers or vegetables brings with it a degree of responsibility, a skill that some children can develop over an extended time. The experiences found in sensory gardens, with herbs, lavender, rosemary, flowers, sweet peas and strawberries, are all part of gaining knowledge and understanding of the world.

Loose parts & indoor play
One advantage of supervised non-public areas in schools, and particularly in special schools, is the opportunity to have loose parts play equipment. There are several equipment options available, consisting of both small and large scale modular play solutions that, when bought in sets, children can use in a variety of combinations, creating dynamic, exciting child-initiated playscapes where they can have fun, explore and learn.

Soft play areas and sensory rooms have come a long way since the first days of ball pools. One special school said it had introduced listening to music and a choice of tactile as well as motor-auditory experiences into its sensory areas. Another is having a brand new soft play and sensory room fitted with an interactive floor and lights so that by breaking light beams children can play notes and make sounds. This will aid their motor skills and hand/eye coordination and help them to understand cause and effect.

Written by the Association of Play Industries