A play response to the Every Child Matters Outcomes (2006)
www.playpeople.se
[email protected]
Contents
4.
Acknowledgements
6.
Introduction & Structure of the Document
Section 1
8.
The Difficulty with Play
9.
Background to local authority involvement in play provision
10.
The Every Child Matters – Change for Children agenda
12.
The Play Agenda: Partnerships, Strategic working and the Dobson Review
13. The Inclusion Agenda: Play for all
14.
Themes from the fieldwork
Section 2
16.
Play in Parks and Playground and the ECM Outcomes
23.
Play in Supervised Play Settings and the ECM Outcomes
29.
Play Schools and Hospitals and the ECM Outcomes
35.
Play in the Wider Community and the ECM Outcomes
41.
Play, Service Management and the ECM Outcomes
Section 3
44.
The Discussion Statements in Detail
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank the following for the time and assistance with this project:
Graeme Brooke
Lynne Bruce-Minotti
Steve Chan Anne Chapman
Barbara Charlton
Steve Chown Issy Cole-Hamilton
Lance Farlam Keith Hardy Beth Hogg
Sara Jenson-Boon
Pam Johnson Sue Kennedy Ann Kelly
Jane Lunt
Chris Martin Janice Monty Paddy Mulligan
Chris Munday
Rachel Murray
Frank O’Malley
Vicki Nixon Michael Rowan
Alan Smith John Smith Lynne Williams
Headteacher, Bricknell Primary, Hull
Head of Schools Extended Services, Rotherham Metropolitan Council
Deputy Head, Youth & Community Service (Play Officer)
Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council
Senior Childcare Development Officer, Sure Start Support Team
Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council
Childcare Coordinator (Extended Schools), North Tyneside Sure Start Strategic Partnership
Programme Manager, Torbay Children’s Fund
Policy and Research Officer, Children’s Play Council
Principal Officer, Parks Development
Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council
Play & Urban Games Manager, North Tyneside Council
Play Development Officer, Children & Young People’s Services
Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council
Development Officer, North Tyneside Sure Start Strategic Partnership
Headteacher, Marfleet Primary, Hull
Headteacher, Thoresby Primary, Hull
Training & Development Officer (Playwork), North Tyneside Sure Start Strategic Partnership
Health Development Manager
Birkenhead & Wirral Primary Care Trust NHS
Programme Manager (Policy – England), SkillsActive Playwork Unit
Programme Manager, Wirral Children’s Fund & On-Track
Senior Play Community Worker, Children & Young People’s Services
Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council
Manager, Tower Hamlets Pathfinder Children’s Trust
Director, Play Association Tower Hamlets
Director, Leeds Play Network
North Tyneside Children’s Fund
Manager, Mile End Park, London Borough Tower Hamlets
Headteacher, Buckingham Primary, Hull
Senior Adviser (Partnerships and Planning)
Wakefield Metropolitan District Council
Principal Officer Community Liaison, Regeneration Dept.
Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council
Acknowledgements (continued)
Thanks also go to:
Tracy Booth Claudia Fulchini
Tim Gill
Mark Gladwin Roger Hampshire
Nicole Harwood
Vicki Hunt
Karen Kelly Peter Lamb Mark Lister Estelle MacDonald Jess Milne
Libby Pearson
Wendy Russell
Leigh-Anne Stradeski
Chris Snell John Sutton Ben Tawil
Librarian, Hull Central Children’s Library
Creative Arts Worker, Replay Scrapstore Leeds
Rethinking Childhood, Writer and Consultant
Play Officer (Participation), Bradford Early Years & Childcare Service
Crime Prevention Design Advisor (Oxfordshire), Thames Valley Police
Play Strategy Officer, Sheffield City Council
Wakefield & District Play Forum
Head of Specialist Play Service, Birmingham Children’s Hospital
Planning Manager Hull City Council
Wakefield & District Play Forum
Headteacher, Collingwood Primary, Hull
Playground designer, Design & Build Play
Extended Schools Coordinator, Lady Lumley’s School, Pickering
Independent Playwork Consultant Director, Eureka!
Play Development Officer, Leeds Play Network
Technical Manager, National Play Bus Association
Development Officer, Play Wales
Sam (aged 8), Barney (11), Elias (8), Ruby (6) and Ellie (11)
and to Melissa Stephenson Junior Consultant, PLAYPEOPLE ~ taking play seriously
Introduction
This project was originally conceived by the Wakefield and District Play Forum who, in
common with many others in the play sector, had concluded that the Every Child Matters
agenda may prove very significant in terms of local authority play provision and that
the outcomes framework in particular, although providing some challenges, could also
prove very useful. The forum contracted Marc Armitage, an independent Children’s Play
Consultant working under the name PLAYPEOPLE ~ taking play seriously, to carry out
fieldwork and write a final document. Funding was provided by Wakefield Children’s Fund.
The fieldwork consisted of a number of group meetings and individual interviews with local authority
officers from different councils around the country. A total of twenty-six officers from a variety of council
departments were involved in this stage of the project.
No assumptions were made at the beginning of the project about what form the final document should take
but the fieldwork did suggest both a structure, purpose, and to a large extent the content of this eventual
document which is aimed mainly but not exclusively at local authority officers around the United Kingdom.
The document is not intended to provide a definitive statement on play provision by local authorities, or
even on all the links there might be between play provision and the Every Child Matters Framework – what
it is intended to be is a tool for discussion and development. It is suggested that groups of local authority
officers use this document as an agenda and discussion tool in staff meetings, planning events, and
partnership meetings to help them clarify the state of play provision by their own departments and others
and identify gaps.
It would be helpful if such meetings included officers from a variety of different departments and also play
specialists from inside and/or outside the council structure.
Structure of the document
The document is structured into three sections. SECTION 1 comprises of a number of short background
texts. SECTION 2 and 3 provide the main basis for discussion – SECTION 2 places a number of
Discussion Statements in a grid linked to the five Aims in each of the five Every Child Matters Outcomes.
These have been made relevant to different local authority departments by organising the grids into four
different places where children play – in parks and playgrounds, supervised settings, schools and hospitals,
and the wider community.
SECTION 3 comprises of 55 Discussion Statements in numerical order with a supporting quotation and
a series of discussion points for each. To use the document, read the series of grids most appropriate to
your department to identify which Discussion Statements relate most to you in SECTION 2 – then use the
Discussion Statements in SECTION 3 as your agenda for debate. There are Discussion Statements relative to almost all areas of the local authority, including areas such as
planning and traffic, for example. In addition, there is a separate series of grids covering the Performance
Management key judgements in the Every Child Matters inspection process.
Background, Themes & Issues
The Difficulty with Play
Defining ‘play’ is not easy, not least
because it is a topic that interests
so many different professional and
academic groups, each of which
brings its own special interests and
at times alternative agendas to the
subject. What may be more effective
would be to consider those elements
that are common or generally agreed
as being ‘play’ across interest
groups.
Most definitions of play agree that it is
• Natural – it must be a natural process because everyone except the very seriously disabled do it,
and even then some people with profound disabilities still exercise the desire to play.
• Essential – if we do not play while we are children there can be negative physical and social
consequences that will affect us in our adults lives.
• Spontaneous – play seems to simply begin! But that is because children play all the time, which
explains why they sometimes appear to play in the most inappropriate of places.
• Environmentally based – what and how children play is closely linked to the environment in which
they find themselves. A supportive environment helps, an unsupportive environment hinders.
• Intrinsically motivated – the desire to play comes from within. Children, therefore, find it
impossible NOT to play, and attempts to stop them from doing so often fail. Because play is also such
an intrinsic developmental process it is also a nonsense to say that today’s children have forgotten
how to play – that would be similar to saying children have forgotten how to breathe.
Children and young people on the other hand have little difficulty in defining what is and what play is not.
In numerous consultation events and investigations into the lives of children, there is a consistency in their
answer to this question: they report that play for them is what they do when no one else is telling them what
to do. As such they value it highly.
For a more detailed discussion on play and the benefits of play in a local authority context, see the Local
Government Association Briefing Paper, Realising the potential of cultural services: the case for play
(Research Briefing 12.6, November 2001), Local Government Association (www.lga.gov.uk)
Background to local authority involvement in
providing play provision
Although most local authorities have developed a considerable body of experience in
providing play opportunities for younger children as part of wider early years services this
is less so with the provision of play for older school age children. The reasons for this
are largely historical: despite the argument that the requirements of the 1944 Education
Act (reiterated in the 1996 Education Act) require local authorities to provide access to
play opportunities outside of school hours (it actually calls on provision for youths in their
leisure time) this point is ambiguous and many local authorities do not see this as being an
obligation to their services.
The provision of play therefore is effectively not a statutory requirement and the direct involvement in such
provision varies greatly around the county. In some areas the local authority provides a play service within
the council structure and works closely with the voluntary and non-statutory sectors; in others, the local
authority sees its role as the provider of resources and the coordinator of other agencies who carry out
most, if not all, of the direct provision; and in others the involvement of the local authority is virtually nil. As
a result some local authorities have little experience and knowledge of the issues and practicalities involved
in making good play provision for older children.
There are some statutory services for children that local authorities do provide that have a direct bearing
on the provision of play, such as compulsory schooling, for example. It is rare to find a school that does not
have a playground and access to playtimes and lunchtimes. However, whereas there have been detailed
regulations relating to minimum length of playtimes and the provision of school playgrounds since the early
19th Century, current education legislation provides no requirement for either of these – the 1996 Education
(School Premises) Regulations removed all minimum standards for the size and equipping of playgrounds
from the statue book and the 1996 Education Act makes no mention of the need for playtimes or breaks.
Without statutory protection school playtimes have been progressively reduced and in many places
children’s access to free play during the school day is in decline.
The provision of parks, public playgrounds and open green spaces is probably the area that local
authorities have the most experience in providing. In the case of public playgrounds in particular there has
been a dramatic increase in the number of new playgrounds being built over the last decade as a result of
new funding being made available, particularly through devolved contributions from housing developers and
other regeneration related funding. There is evidence, however, that much of this new provision has been
targeted at younger children with older children and teenagers not being so well provided for. Consultation
exercises with children and young people also consistently report findings of conflict between adult and
younger users of parks and green spaces. When such conflict arises it is usually children and young people
who loose.
In summary, the provision of play services and play provision for children, particularly older children and
teenagers, has historically being patchy and often ill coordinated. The principle reason for this has been the
lack of a clear statutory status for play.
The Every Child Matters Change for Children agenda
The introduction of the Children Act 2004 and
the Every Child Matters – Change for Children
Framework (ECM) that supports it has been
seen as a potentially positive advance by the
play sector (that body of professionals and
organisations that work towards the provision
of play services, mainly but not exclusively for
school age children). However, there were
initial concerns and confusion following
the government’s reaction to national
children and young people consultations
on the Children’s Bill Green Paper: The
consultations showed that what children
and young people wanted was to have fun,
and to have places to play and meet with
friends – this was as true for teenagers as
younger children. What this was translated
as in the earlier drafts of the framework is
that what children and young people wanted
was the opportunity to engage in informal
education!
Sustained lobbying by the play sector during the
passage of the Bill through Parliament, particularly
by the Children’s Play Council, resulted in a subtle rewording and the inclusion of ‘play’ as a legitimate
outcome within the Act and an inclusion of play within the ECM Outcomes Framework – notably in what has
now become the Outcome Enjoy and Achieve. This position was enhanced in 2005 when Tessa Jowell, then Culture Secretary in the Department of
Culture, Media and Sport, said “Both my department and the Department for Education and Skills believe
that play, recreation and leisure outcomes sit equally alongside the others that authorities and their partners
need to consider when making decisions about the provision of coordinated children and young peoples
services.”
The Every Child Matters agenda has produced something of a revolution in local authorities by requiring
them to take a lead in establishing cross-cutting partnership working and joint budget pooling initiatives
in the drive for more coordinated children’s services. This, and comments from central government such
as that above, has effectively led to the provision of ‘play’ for children of all ages becoming a de facto
requirement on local authorities.
10
Many in the play sector see this as a positive step as it potentially:
• Gives greater value and importance
to the role of play in the lives of children of all ages
• Provides greater coordination and cooperation on service delivery between different local
authority departments and other agencies outside the council structure
• Provides access to additional funding opportunities and value for money through strategic
working and joint budget pooling
• Provides a wider range of play services to children of all ages, but particularly older children
and teenagers
• Provides a like-for-like measure of the provision of play services between local authorities
Whether this becomes a reality will depend largely on
the conduct of the Annual Performance
Assessment and the Joint Area Reviews
(JAR) as part of the national inspection
process for the ECM agenda. Children
and young people are already being
closely involved in the JAR with
Inspectors having an opportunity to
speak to them directly, and in the case
of some local authorities it is children
and young people who will be guiding the
Inspectors on tours to explore their day to
day lives.
However, as the inspections are in the
main based on a local authority’s
self-assessment, it is down to local
authorities themselves to demonstrate
just how progressive they are proving
to be in providing play and wider
services to their younger citizens.
11
The Play Agenda: Partnerships, Strategic
working and the Dobson Review
Central government interest in children’s play and the wider social world of children has
had a mixed ride over successive parliaments under different political parties, but on the
whole play has not been taken particularly seriously at Westminster. In more recent years,
however, a number of related agendas have begun to come together – concerns over
childhood obesity and healthy lifestyles, concerns over crime and anti-social behaviour, the
introduction of more universal childcare, and the growth in early year’s education have all
contributed to raising the profile of play in the lives of children.
The Play Sector, in particular the Children’s Play Council, have contributed to this debate and has
been increasingly effective in getting play on the agenda helping government to consider play in
a broader context than they might otherwise have done. Devolved government, particularly for
Wales and Scotland have also contributed and we now have national play organisations that are
leading the debate still further in all four nations of the United Kingdom with serious interest shown
by legislators at national level.
In 2004 the Department of Culture Media and Sport commissioned and published the results of a
nationwide assessment on the state of play provision chaired by Frank Dobson MP. The report,
titled Getting Serious about Play – a Review of Children’s Play (but otherwise known as the
Dobson Report) was to lead to recommendations on the spending of a promised £200 million from
the new BIG Lottery Fund specifically for developing children’s play opportunities nationally.
One of the report’s recommendations was that a local authority should adopt a strategic approach
and promote partnership working to develop new play opportunities for children. This point fits well
with the strategic working requirements of the race for wider children’s services under the ECM
agenda, and has particular implications when it comes to a local authority receiving its fair share of
the new lottery money – no evidence of strategic working, no funding.
Establishing a specific local play partnership and constituting a wide ranging play strategy
therefore brings both the prospect of significant new funding for play provision and the ECM
agenda and satisfies the requirements of both. 12
The Inclusion Agenda:
Play for all
The National Review of
Children’s Play (2004), otherwise
known as the Dobson Report,
recommended that projects
seeking support through the
BIG Lottery Children’s Fund
should promote the inclusion
of disabled children and young
people within their setting as a
requirement for funding. This is to
be welcomed both as a move to
increase the number and range of
opportunities available to disabled
children and as a mechanism for closer integration between the able-bodied and the
disabled. This in itself is a massive topic that presents some serious challenges to success
– but the issue of ‘inclusion’ is much broader still.
There are other significant groups of hard to reach and disadvantaged children and young people
who benefit greatly from access to good quality play opportunities in a range of different types
of settings and situations but who face specific barriers to achieving access. Those who live in
socially disadvantaged areas for example, as well as the children of travellers, refugees and
asylum seekers, and those who face discrimination on racial or cultural grounds to name a few.
When working through the groups of Discussion Statements the question of inclusion in its
broadest terms should be considered in your debate – ask yourselves as you discuss each
statement, “What children and young people might find difficult in accessing this form of play, why
is this so, and what can we do to enable their greater access?”
13
Themes from the fieldwork
Because the development and service delivery of play provision available to children in
some local authority areas is delivered mainly by the voluntary and non-statutory sectors,
the experience and knowledge of what forms of play provision and how it might be
delivered varied considerably amongst officers in the fieldwork sessions. But all agreed
that the introduction of the ECM Framework had concentrated their minds on this issue
and for some was becoming an urgent issue to address. As one said, “Every Child Matters
comes up in every single thing we do at the moment.” (north-east)
The need to gather evidence came up often during the meetings but not in a very positive way.
There was confusion in some places about what evidence was actually required, for example, “I’m
not really sure what evidence there is out there.” (north-east). However, those spoken to were very
sure that what they did not want was, “A document full of outcomes and indicators” (north-east) as
they have “indicators and visions coming out of our ears” (north-west). What was felt to be more
useful was a document that ‘points the way’ as far as to what sort of play services were possible
and an indication of how they might fit in the ECM Outcomes Framework. The need for “a simple
document, laid out simply and easy to read” (north-east) was also stressed rather than anything
complicated and fancy.
The general question of raising the issues about play provision and learning more about what the
possibilities were was felt to be much more significant and in the long term more useful.
Those at the meetings represented a broad range of different departments but some areas where
noticeably absent from the group meetings. Those present reacted to this with comments such as,
“This is everyone’s agenda – right through to the planning officer – everyone needs to have play
on their agenda” (north-west); and “We must say to planning officers, ‘Look, this impacts on you
too’!” (north-east). They felt that was needed was to, “… get people to focus.” (London) and by that
they meant fellow colleagues from within the council structure. Receiving a document on its own was felt by some, particularly those with limited experience in
play matters, to be less useful than contact with others who did have experience. “This needs
to be translated into some kind of face-to-face training or briefing session.” (north-west). This
included Headteachers, “Some kind of play seminar linking why play is important and where it
fits [would be useful.” (Hull Headteacher). However, many non-schools people felt that “… the
langue might be off putting for people like those from housing, for example.” (north-west) which
for them meant the language was far too education based. Interestingly, those from school did not
generally agree with this.
The few play officers present at the group meetings had very firm ideas about the possibilities
in the ECM Framework. “This gives us the opportunity to beat the drum – to legitimise play and
playwork and its importance.” (north-west) said one, and another said, “I’m beginning to talk to
people I never even knew existed before.” (London).
14
Those who have already experienced inspections on the framework said that, “Play was looked at
very closely by the inspectors, with them asking lots of questions such as ‘how does this make a
difference to children’s lives. But these points have not made it through to the JAR Report.” (northwest). Others noted that, “Inspections differ everywhere. It largely depends on the inspector’s
interests … and background.” (London). This seems to imply that the like-for-like comparison that
the play sector thought might result from the inspection process may not be so realistic a prospect.
This left some feeling that most of their efforts in developing play provision should be seen as
more of a local issue – the fact that they may be inspected on this nationally was almost incidental.
However, the ECM Framework was agreed by all to be a useful structure on which set targets and
monitoring.
Headteachers and senior teachers in schools seem to be more relaxed than their other local
authority colleagues about the whole ECM agenda. Despite the fact that, “There’s a very definite
tension between the ‘fun’ things in school and attainment. But I see it more about using everyone’s
skills and experiences to deliver more for local communities.” (Yorkshire)
Interestingly, whereas almost all the non-schools officers were looking at the five ECM outcomes
as having equal significance (although some worried about how ‘Economic Well-Being’ fitted into
their role) the majority of Headteachers interviewed felt that there was really only one significant
issue to tackle, “When we started planning for this we started with a big piece of paper that said
‘enjoy’ on the top.” (Hull Headteacher). Another said, “Standards and achievement are at the top
of the inspection process – enjoyment is at the top of mine but when it comes down to it they are
all the same thing.” (Hull Headteacher).
One Headteacher when asked if that meant that in failing schools children are not ‘enjoying he
said firmly, “Yes, and it means the attitudes are all wrong – enjoyment is motivation, is high self
esteem.” (Hull Headteacher).
At least part of the reason for this might be that none of the Headteachers felt that the ECM
Framework was not very new to them – in fact most felt that all they had had to do was place
existing evidence already gathered into the context of the five outcomes, “We’ve done nothing
new, and we’re not going to do anything different.” (Hull Headteacher) “
The results of the fieldwork were revealing and it dictated the overall aims of this document which
are:
• To promote the value and importance of local authority involvement in providing
play provision
• To provide a ‘pointer’, an indication of what could be done
• To act as a tool for discussion within the local authority structure
• To link types of play provision to the ECM Outcomes framework
• To provide links to existing play related documents and helpful contacts
15
Play & the Outcomes Framework
16
Parks & Playgrounds
This section relates to play that takes place in public playgrounds, public parks and green
spaces, and adventure play settings. There are five pages in all – one for each of the ECM
Outcomes. A more detailed explanation of each the Discussion Statements can be found
in SECTION C.
Those boxes in pale grey do not have any Discussion Statements related to them.
Please note there is some overlap with adventure play between this section and the section on Supervised
Play Settings.
This section relates to local authority departments such as:
• Parks and Playgrounds
• Countryside
• Parks and Countryside Wardens/Rangers
• Play Service
• Community Safety
17
Parks & Playgrounds
Being Healthy
Statement – 1
“Children & Young People have access
to a range of good quality public parks &
playgrounds that are close to home.”
Being Physically Healthy
Statement – 2
“Children & Young People have access to
adventurous play.”
Being Mentally and
Emotionally Healthy
Statement – 3
“Older Children & Teenagers have access
to a range of good quality youth type
provision that is close to home.”
Statement – 4
“Children & Young People have access
to play settings that are accessible and
inclusive.”
Being Sexually
Healthy
Statement – 5
“Playworkers and others who work
with children have access to training in
recognising signs of personal stress &
possible mental health problems; how to
deal with it and/or the local referral policy.”
Having Healthy
Lifestyles
Statement – 6
“Children and Young people have the
opportunity to play outside regularly.”
Statement – 7
“Children & Young People have the
opportunity to meet, socialise and play
with friends and others.”
Choosing not to take
Illegal Drugs
18
Parks & Playgrounds
Being Safe
Statement – 8
“Playworkers and others working with
children are adequately vetted and
receive CRB checks.”
Being safe from
maltreatment, neglect,
violence & sexual
exploitation
Statement – 9
“Children & Young People have access
to supervised and unsupervised play
settings that are free of unacceptable
hazards.”
Being safe from
accidental injury
and death
Statement – 1
“Children & Young People have access
to a range of good quality public
playgrounds that are close to home.”
Being safe from
bullying &
discrimination
Statement – 10
“Children & Young People have access to
Play Rangers and street play schemes in
their local neighbourhood.”
Statement – 11
“Play settings and other settings where
children spend their time work through a
recognised play-led Quality Assurance
Scheme.”
Being safe from crime
& anti social behaviour
in & out of school
Statement – 12
“Children & Young People have access to
trained and qualified Playworkers.”
Having security,
stability & being
cared for
19
Parks & Playgrounds
Enjoying and achieving
Ready for School
Statement – 7
“Children & Young People have the
opportunity to meet, socialise and play
with friends and others.”
Attend and
enjoy school
Statement – 13
“The local authority actively promotes the
importance & value of play for Children &
Young People of all ages.”
Achieve stretching
education standards
at primary school
Statement – 12
“Children & Young People have access to
trained and qualified Playworkers.”
Statement – 6
“Children and Young people have the
opportunity to play outside regularly.”
Achieve personal and
social development and
enjoy recreation
Statement – 14a
“Children & Young People have access
to informal places to play that are
recognised as such and are protected.”
Achieve stretching
educational standards at
secondary school
20
Parks & Playgrounds
Making a Positive Contribution
Statement – 15
“Children & Young People are involved
& consulted on the location, design &
development of new & existing public
playgrounds.”
Engage in decision
making & support the
community
& environment
Statement – 16
“The local authority provides a strategic
approach to developing local playground
provision.”
Engage in law abiding
& positive behaviour
in & out of school
Statement – 2
“Children & Young People have access to
adventurous play.”
Statement – 3
“Older Children & Teenagers have access
to a range of good quality youth type
provision that is close to home.”
Develop positive
relationships &
choose not to bully
Statement – 7
“Children & Young People have the
opportunity to meet, socialise and play
with friends and others.”
Develop
self confidence
& successfully deal with
significant life changes
& challenges
Statement – 12
“Children & Young People have access to
trained and qualified Playworkers.”
Statement – 7
“Children & Young People have the
opportunity to meet, socialise and play
with friends and others.”
Develop enterprising
behaviour
Statement – 11
“Play settings and other settings where
children spend their time work through a
recognised play-led Quality Assurance
Scheme.”
21
Parks & Playgrounds
Achieving Economic Well-Being
Engage in further
education, employment
or training on
leaving school
Ready for
employment
Statement – 10
“Children & Young People have access to
Play Rangers and street play schemes in
their local neighbourhood.”
Live in decent
homes & sustainable
communities
Statement – 1
“Children & Young People have access
to a range of good quality public
playgrounds that are close to home.”
Access to transport
& material goods
Statement – 16
“The local authority provides a strategic
approach to developing local playground
provision.”
Statement – 18
“Children & Young People have access to
a range of play opportunities that are free
at the point of entry.”
Live in households free
from low income
22
Supervised Play Settings
This section relates to play that takes place in supervised play settings such as nurseries
and playgroups, after school schemes, and mobile projects. There are five pages in all
– one for each of the ECM Outcomes. A more detailed explanation of each the Discussion
Statements can be found in SECTION C.
Those boxes in pale grey do not have any Discussion Statements related to them.
Please note there is some overlap with adventure play between this section and the section on Parks and
Playgrounds.
This section relates to local authority departments such as:
•
Early Years
•
Play Service
•
Youth Service
•
Family Services
•
Community Development
23
Supervised Play Settings
Being Healthy
Statement – 1
“Children & Young People have access
to a range of good quality public parks &
playgrounds that are close to home.”
Being Physically Healthy
Statement – 19
“Children & young people have access to
mobile play projects.”
Being Mentally and
Emotionally Healthy
Statement – 3
“Older Children & Teenagers have access
to a range of good quality youth type
provision that is close to home.”
Statement – 4
“Children & Young People have access
to play settings that are accessible and
inclusive.”
Being Sexually
Healthy
Statement – 5
“Playworkers and others who work
with children have access to training in
recognising signs of personal stress &
possible mental health problems; how to
deal with it and/or the local referral policy.”
Having Healthy
Lifestyles
Statement – 7
“Children & Young People have the
opportunity to meet, socialise and play
with friends and others.”
Choosing not to take
Illegal Drugs
24
Supervised Play Settings
Being Safe
Statement – 8
“Playworkers and others working with
children are adequately vetted and
receive CRB checks.”
Being safe from
maltreatment, neglect,
violence & sexual
exploitation
Statement – 9
“Children & Young People have access
to supervised and unsupervised play
settings that are free of unacceptable
hazards.”
Being safe from
accidental injury
and death
Being safe from
bullying &
discrimination
Statement – 11
“Play settings and other settings where
children spend their time work through a
recognised play-led Quality Assurance
Scheme.”
Being safe from crime
& anti social behaviour
in & out of school
Statement – 12
“Children & Young People have access to
trained and qualified Playworkers.”
Having security,
stability & being
cared for
25
Supervised Play Settings
Enjoying and achieving
Ready for School
Attend and
enjoy school
Achieve stretching
education standards
at primary school
Statement – 7
“Children & Young People have the
opportunity to meet, socialise and play
with friends and others.”
Statement – 20
“Children & Young People have access
to a range of different playschemes and
special play events.”
Achieve personal and
social development and
enjoy recreation
Statement – 12
“Children & Young People have access to
trained and qualified Playworkers.”
Achieve stretching
educational standards at
secondary school
26
Supervised Play Settings
Making a Positive Contribution
Engage in decision
making & support the
community
& environment
Statement – 21
“Children & Young People are involved
and consulted in the organisation and
management of their supervised play
setting.”
Statement – 3
“Older Children & Teenagers have access
to a range of good quality youth type
provision that is close to home.”
Engage in law abiding
& positive behaviour
in & out of school
Statement – 7
“Children & Young People have the
opportunity to meet, socialise and play
with friends and others.”
Develop positive
relationships &
choose not to bully
Statement – 12
“Children & Young People have access to
trained and qualified Playworkers.”
Develop
self confidence
& successfully deal with
significant life changes
& challenges
Statement – 7
“Children & Young People have the
opportunity to meet, socialise and play
with friends and others.”
Develop enterprising
behaviour
Statement – 11
“Play settings and other settings where
children spend their time work through a
recognised play-led Quality Assurance
Scheme.”
27
Supervised Play Settings
Achieving Economic Well-Being
Statement – 22
“Young people have the opportunity
for play training & education and job
opportunities in the play sector.”
Engage in further
education, employment
or training on
leaving school
Statement – 23
“Young People have access to
volunteering opportunities.”
Ready for
employment
Statement – 24
“Children and Young People have access
to a range of good quality supervised play
provision close to home.”
Live in decent
homes & sustainable
communities
Statement – 17
“The local authority adopts an effective
Play Strategy & Action Plan linked to the
local Children & Young People’s Plan.”
Access to transport
& material goods
Statement – 18
“Children & Young People have access to
a range of play opportunities that are free
at the point of entry.”
Live in households free
from low income
28
Schools & Hospitals
This section relates to play that takes place in institutional settings such as schools and
hospitals. There are five pages in all – one for each of the ECM Outcomes. A more
detailed explanation of each the Discussion Statements can be found in SECTION C. Those boxes in pale grey do not have any Discussion Statements related to them.
This section relates to local authority departments such as:
• Education Service
• Behaviour Support Service
• Special Schools
• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools
• Hospitals, Clinics, GPs Surgeries, and Dentists
• Primary Care Trusts
29
Schools and Hospitals
Being Healthy
Statement – 25
“Children & Young People are able to
walk or cycle to school, in the company of
adults and independently.”
Being Physically Healthy
Statement – 26
“Children & Young People have access
to a good quality outdoor environment
that provides for their play, social
& recreational needs at primary &
secondary school.”
Being Mentally and
Emotionally Healthy
Statement – 29
Children & Young People are able to
play while in hospital, at clinics, GPs and
dentists surgeries.”
Statement – 4
“Children & Young People have access
to play settings that are accessible and
inclusive.”
Being Sexually
Healthy
Statement – 5
“Playworkers and others who work
with children have access to training in
recognising signs of personal stress &
possible mental health problems; how to
deal with it and/or the local referral policy.”
Having Healthy
Lifestyles
Statement – 7
“Children & Young People have the
opportunity to meet, socialise and play
with friends and others.”
Statement – 27
“Children and Young People at primary
& secondary school have access to
playtimes and lunchtimes that are
enjoyable and which meet their play,
social & recreational needs.”
Choosing not to take
Illegal Drugs
30
Schools & Hospitals
Being Safe
Statement – 8
“Playworkers and others working with
children are adequately vetted and
receive CRB checks.”
Being safe from
maltreatment, neglect,
violence & sexual
exploitation
Statement – 9
“Children & Young People have access
to supervised and unsupervised play
settings that are free of unacceptable
hazards.”
Being safe from
accidental injury
and death
Statement – 25
“Children & Young People are able to
walk or cycle to school, in the company of
adults and independently.”
Being safe from
bullying &
discrimination
Statement – 11
“Play settings and other settings where
children spend their time work through a
recognised play-led Quality Assurance
Scheme.”
Being safe from crime
& anti social behaviour
in & out of school
Statement – 28
“School Midday Supervisors have access
to play training.”
Statement – 12
“Children & Young People have access to
trained and qualified Playworkers.”
Having security,
stability & being
cared for
31
Schools & Hospitals
Enjoying and achieving
Statement – 30
“Children & Young People have access to
play-led transition projects as they move
from primary to secondary school.”
Ready for School
Statement – 31
“Children in the Foundation Stage at
school and day care settings have
access to a good quality outdoor play
environment & spend significant time
there.”
Attend and
enjoy school
Statement – 32
“Primary & secondary schools & Hospitals
have a statement and/or policy on play &
recreation during the school day/during
attendance.”
Achieve stretching
education standards
at primary school
Statement – 7
“Children & Young People have the
opportunity to meet, socialise and play
with friends and others.”
Statement – 27
“Children and Young People at primary
& secondary school have access to
playtimes and lunchtimes that are
enjoyable and which meets their play,
social & recreational needs.”
Achieve personal and
social development and
enjoy recreation
Statement – 28
“School Midday Supervisors have access
to play training.”
Achieve stretching
educational standards at
secondary school
32
Schools & Hospitals
Making a Positive Contribution
Statement – 33
“Children & Young People are involved &
consulted on the design & development of
the outdoor environment at school.”
Engage in decision
making & support the
community
& environment
Statement – 34
“Children & Young People have access to
a representative school council at primary
& secondary school.”
Engage in law abiding
& positive behaviour
in & out of school
Statement – 35
“Children & Young People support others
at school and at hospital.”
Statement – 36
“Children & Young People have access
to school grounds & other school facilities
outside of school hours.”
Develop positive
relationships &
choose not to bully
Statement – 7
“Children & Young People have the
opportunity to meet, socialise and play
with friends and others.”
Develop
self confidence
& successfully deal with
significant life changes
& challenges
Statement – 30
“Children & Young People have access to
play-led transition projects as they move
from primary to secondary school.”
Statement – 11
“Play settings and other settings where
children spend their time work through a
recognised play-led Quality Assurance
Scheme.”
Develop enterprising
behaviour
33
Schools & Hospitals
Achieving Economic Well-Being
Statement – 7
“Children & Young People have the
opportunity to meet, socialise and play
with friends and others.”
Engage in further
education, employment
or training on
leaving school
Statement – 22
“Young people have the opportunity
for play training & education and job
opportunities in the play sector.”
Ready for
employment
Statement – 23
“Young People have access to
volunteering opportunities.”
Statement – 36
“Children & Young People have access
to school grounds & other school facilities
outside of school hours.”
Live in decent
homes & sustainable
communities
Access to transport
& material goods
Statement – 18
“Children & Young People have access to
a range of play opportunities that are free
at the point of entry.”
Live in households free
from low income
34
The Wider Community
This section relates to play that takes place in place in the home, local neighbourhoods,
town and city centres, and other places where children visit such as museums and
libraries. There are five pages in all – one for each of the ECM Outcomes. A more detailed
explanation of each the Discussion Statements can be found in SECTION C.
Those boxes in pale grey do not have any Discussion Statements related to them.
Please note there is some overlap with adventure play between this section and the section on Parks and
Playgrounds.
This section relates to local authority departments such as:
• Cultural, Heritage, Music, Museums and Galleries Service
• Sports Development
• Community Safety
• Traffic
• Planning
• Housing and Regeneration
• City Centre Management
• Shops and Shopping Centres
35
The Wider Community
Being Healthy
Statement – 37
“Children and Young People have access
to child-friendly and play-friendly city and
town centres, shopping centres, parks
and public spaces”
Being Physically Healthy
Statement – 39
“Children & Young People have access
to safe streets and play-friendly home
neighbourhoods”
Being Mentally and
Emotionally Healthy
Statement –38
“Children & Young People are able to
freely move around their neighbourhoods
& communities on foot, cycle or public
transport.”
Statement – 40
“Children & Young People are able to play
at home.”
Being Sexually
Healthy
Statement – 4
“Children & Young People have access
to play settings that are accessible and
inclusive.”
Having Healthy
Lifestyles
Statement – 6
“Children and Young people have the
opportunity to play outside regularly.”
Statement – 7
“Children & Young People have the
opportunity to meet, socialise and play
with friends and others.”
Choosing not to take
Illegal Drugs
36
The Wider Community
Being Safe
Statement – 10
“Children & Young People have access to
Play Rangers and street play schemes in
their local neighbourhood.”
Being safe from
maltreatment, neglect,
violence & sexual
exploitation
Statement – 13
“The local authority actively promotes the
importance & value of play for Children &
Young People of all ages.”
Being safe from
accidental injury
and death
Statement – 42
“The local authority promotes local
community stewardship & involvement in
community facilities.”
Being safe from
bullying &
discrimination
Statement – 39
“Children & Young People have access
to safe streets and play-friendly home
neighbourhoods”
Statement – 38
“Children & Young People are able to
freely move around their neighbourhoods
& communities on foot, cycle or public
transport.”
Being safe from crime
& anti social behaviour
in & out of school
Statement – 10
“Children & Young People have access to
Play Rangers and street play schemes in
their local neighbourhood.”
Having security,
stability & being
cared for
37
The Wider Community
Enjoying and achieving
Ready for School
Attend and
enjoy school
Statement – 43
“Children & Young People have access to
play friendly cultural places to visit such
as museums, galleries & libraries, etc.”
Achieve stretching
education standards
at primary school
Statement – 6
“Children and Young people have the
opportunity to play outside regularly.”
Statement – 14a
“Children & Young People have access
to informal places to play that are
recognised as such and are protected.”
Achieve personal and
social development and
enjoy recreation
Statement – 40
“Children & Young People have the
opportunity to play at home.”
Achieve stretching
educational standards at
secondary school
Statement – 43
“Children & Young People have access to
play friendly cultural places to visit such
as museums, galleries & libraries, etc.”
38
The Wider Community
Making a Positive Contribution
Statement – 42
“The local authority promotes local
community stewardship & involvement in
community facilities.”
Engage in decision
making & support the
community
& environment
Statement – 51
“Children & Young People are actively
engaged in decision making, planning,
managing & monitoring policy, strategy
& services, and their views are taken
seriously.”
Engage in law abiding
& positive behaviour
in & out of school
Statement – 13
“The local authority actively promotes the
importance & value of play for Children &
Young People of all ages.”
Develop positive
relationships &
choose not to bully
Statement – 7
“Children & Young People have the
opportunity to meet, socialise and play
with friends and others.”
Develop
self confidence
& successfully deal with
significant life changes
& challenges
Develop enterprising
behaviour
39
The Wider Community
Achieving Economic Well-Being
Statement – 7
“Children & Young People have the
opportunity to meet, socialise and play
with friends and others.”
Engage in further
education, employment
or training on
leaving school
Statement – 1
“Children & Young People have access
to a range of good quality public parks &
playgrounds that are close to home.”
Ready for
employment
Statement – 24
“Children and Young People have access
to a range of good quality supervised play
provision close to home.”
Statement – 36
“Children & Young People have access
to school grounds & other school facilities
outside of school hours.”
Live in decent
homes & sustainable
communities
Statement – 39
“Children & Young People have access
to safe streets and play-friendly home
neighbourhoods”
Access to transport
& material goods
Statement – 41
“Children & Young People of all ages
have access to scrapstores, play
equipment loan schemes & toy libraries.”
Statement – 18
“Children & Young People have access to
a range of play opportunities that are free
at the point of entry.”
Live in households free
from low income
40
Service Management
This section relates to play that takes place in place in the home, local neighbourhoods,
town and city centres, and other places where children visit such as museums and
libraries. There are five pages in all – one for each of the ECM Outcomes. A more detailed
explanation of each the Discussion Statements can be found in SECTION C.
Those boxes in pale grey do not have any Discussion Statements related to them.
Please note there is some overlap with adventure play between this section and the section on Parks and
Playgrounds.
This section relates to local authority departments such as:
• Cultural, Heritage, Music, Museums and Galleries Service
• Sports Development
• Community Safety
• Traffic
• Planning
• Housing and Regeneration
• City Centre Management
• Shops and Shopping Centres
41
Service Management
Statement – 44
“The local authority adopts relevant
national & International policy &
standards.”
Statement – 17
“The local authority adopts an effective
Play Strategy & Action Plan linked to the
local Children & Young People’s Plan.”
Ambition
Statement – 45
“The local authority carries out a broad
audit of current play provision and service
providers.”
Statement – 17
“The local authority adopts an effective
Play Strategy & Action Plan linked to the
local Children & Young People’s Plan.”
Statement – 46
“The local authority provides or supports
a local play partnership body made up
of relevant partners in the statutory,
voluntary & private sectors.
Prioritisation
Statement – 47
“The local authority provides a Play
Officer of a sufficiently high grade to
administer the Play Strategy.”
42
Service Management
Statement – 48
“The local authority provides or supports a
local Play Service.”
Statement – 49
“The local authority provides or supports a
local play network organisation.”
Statement – 50
“Children & Young People have access to
National Play Day events.”
Capacity
Statement – 14b
“Children & Young People’s Impact
Assessments are carried out before
changes to local policy, and at the
planning stage of regeneration & building
projects.”
Statement – 51
“Children & Young People are actively
engaged in decision making, planning,
managing & monitoring policy, strategy
& services, and their views are taken
seriously.”
Statement – 53
“Children, Young People & play
professionals are represented on relative
working groups & strategic bodies.”
Performance
Management
Statement – 52
“The local authority produces a regular
local ‘State of Children’s Play Report.”
Statement – 54
“The local authority provides ‘child
friendly’ updates and progress towards
completion of the Play Strategy.”
43
The Discussion Statements
44
The Discussion Statements
This section of the document reproduces the
– Discussion Statements in numerical order.
Each Statement is supported by a quotation
from an experienced individual or relevant
publication and a number of discussion bullet
points. Once again, these discussion points
are not exhaustive but are meant to provide
a starting point for debate and exploration.
The Discussion Statements could be used as part of
a staff meeting, a development session, or as part of
a specially convened partnership debate. To learn
more about the issues raised in the Discussion Statements make a web search using keywords selected
from the Statement.
It would be useful if any such meeting included one or more play specialists as it is accepted that some
forms of play provision raised may be new to many local authority people. Many local authority areas have
a play specialist local network organisation and there are regional networks across the country. To help
identify what organisations might be useful and to learn more about some of the forms of play provision in
the statements a first port of call should be the websites of a national play organisations.
Each of the four nations in the United Kingdom has a national organisation for play. These are:
• Play England - www.playengland.org.uk
• Play Scotland - www playscotland.org.uk
• Play Wales - www.playwales.org.uk
• Play Board Northern Ireland - www.playboard.org
Other national organisations:
• Playwork Training and Education Unit at SkillsActive (the National Training Organisation
representing play) - www.playwork.org.uk
45
Statement 1
“Children & Young People have access to a range of good quality
public parks & playgrounds that are close to home.”
“Local authorities have traditionally provided public playgrounds as places for children to
play – for playground services it is children who are our core users, and those children and
young people need such places where they can incrementally develop their skills and their
independence, enjoying a quality play experience that is free at the point of delivery.”
Peter Lamb, Planning Manager Hull City Council
www.hullcc.gov.uk
Some issues for discussion:
•
Children & Young People like traditional types of play equipment, such as swings, roundabouts and
climbing frames; but their favourite play environments are natural places with trees, grasses, flowers,
rocks, and water. The most successful playgrounds provide for both.
• Location is the most important factor in a playground being well used or not. A good playground in
the wrong place will not receive much use but even a poor playground in the right place will.
• Parks and playgrounds that are close to home and which can be seen from housing and well
used paths are more popular than those in tucked away places on the edges of housing. Hidden
playgrounds also receive more damage and vandalism.
• There is a tendency amongst some adults to see playgrounds as being for children but the wider
park setting as being for adults. This is a point that often causes friction between the generations.
46
Statement 2
“Children & Young People have access to adventurous play.”
“Adventurous play needs an environment that is non prescriptive and offers enough
breadth and depth of experience so as to enable children and young people to challenge
themselves and one another. Being able to freely experiment with a range of variables
found in an adventurous environment not only develops their physical skills and their ability
to deal with risk, but it also helps children and young people to experiment with their social
skills, and concepts like morals, citizenship, responsibility and their personal behaviour and
interpersonal relationships In short a truly experiential developmental process.”
Ben Tawil, Development Officer, Play Wales
www.playwales.org.uk
Some issues for discussion:
• Adventure playgrounds are very different to public playgrounds. They are staffed places to play that
combine rigorous physical types of play such climbing and swinging combined with opportunities to
use tools, to build dens and big structures, light fires, and play with water as well as play games.
• Adventurous play is very popular with older children and teenagers especially, but it appeals to
all ages as a place where children feel a sense of freedom and a have opportunities to explore and
experiment with the world around them.
• Adventure playgrounds and other types of adventurous play have often been used as a diversion
from nuisance crime and more serious offences to great effect.
• London has a significant number of adventure playgrounds of various different types. Contact
London Play, the play organisation for the nation’s capital for more information (www.londonplay.org.
uk).
47
Statement 3
“Older Children & Teenagers have access to a range of good quality
youth type provision that is close to home.”
“The main thing that young people want to do is meet and socialise with their friends in the
evening. When they were younger they would do that in the playgrounds, but now they find
adults saying to them, ‘you’re too big for there, get out!’ Or they are told not to hang around
shops or the back of the community centre. We must continue to provide suitable facilities
for these young people, and that includes things such as youth shelters and ball games
areas. Research has shown that the more provision older children have the more it diverts
them from the possibilities of crime.”
Roger Hampshire, Crime Prevention Design Advisor (Oxfordshire), Thames Valley Police
www.thamesvalley.police.uk/crime-reduction/shelters.htm
Some issues for discussion:
•
Young people, teenagers in particular, can be noisy, obnoxious and destructive when they gather
in groups. However, this has always been the case and in many respects this is just as much of a
developmental stage that young people go through as is the ‘terrible two’s’ for younger children.
• Young people say they often gather in groups because this is what makes them feel safer. This is
also the reason they gather in light places outdoors where there are other people around that can
provide help if needed. Shops and shopping centres fulfil both these points.
• Youth shelters and provision such as ball play areas and skateboard ramps are very popular with
young people, but placing spaces such as this in tucked away areas means they will receive little use.
• Making outdoor provision for teenagers can be difficult as adult concerns and fears are often given a
priority over the needs of those young people. However, far from increasing nuisance, such provision
can reduce it dramatically.
48
Statement 4
“Children & Young People have access to play settings that are
accessible and inclusive.”
“In order for all children to have access to effective and inclusive play provision, providers
must recognize that play is the common currency of childhood for each and every child
and that every child needs to play in a range of different ways at different stages of
development in order reach her/his full potential. If you use a wheelchair, if you have
autistic spectrum disorder, if you are part of the Traveller Community, if you are seeking
asylum from a war- torn country, or if you are the future King of England … you still need to
play.”
Melissa Stephenson PLAYPEOPLE ~ taking play seriously
www.playpeople.se
Some issues for discussion:
• Whereas they may always be a need for specialist facilities for some groups of children, the ideal
would be for all play settings of all types to be fully inclusive and accessible for all.
• For disabled children in particular, having provision close to home makes that provision more
accessible than a centralised setting far from the childs home. This is especially true of public
playgrounds which are often rarely used by disabled children.
• The separation, deliberate or otherwise, of some groups of children from each other promotes
misunderstanding and discrimination. Inclusive settings are a starting point for understanding and
cooperation.
• Some children who face discrimination and exclusion from play provision are also often at great
risk of health harming levels of stress. Children such as those living in sheltered accommodation,
travellers, and the children of asylum seekers for example often loose out on access to good play
provision.
• The national organisation, Kids have an online inclusion checklist for play settings (www.kids-online.
org.uk/ndd/publications/index.html).
49
Statement 5
“Playworkers and others who work with children have access to
training in recognising signs of personal stress & possible mental
health problems how to deal with it and/or the local referral policy.”
“It is easy for parents to identify their child’s physical needs: nutritious food, warm clothes
when it’s cold, bedtime at a reasonable hour. However, a child’s mental and emotional
needs may not be as obvious. Good mental health allows children to think clearly, develop
socially and learn new skills. Additionally, good friends and encouraging words from adults
are all important for helping children develop self confidence, high self-esteem, and a
healthy emotional outlook on life.”
National Mental Health Foundation, (on-line factsheet)
www.nmha.org/infoctr/factsheets/72.cfm
Some issues for discussion:
• The role of play in supporting children’s physical health has been well recognised for many years,
but the important role play has in relieving stress and improving mental health is becoming more
recognised and valued.
• The number of children being reported with forms of depression and mental health problems has
been increasing steadily in recent decades.
• Generally speaking, happy children have more chance of becoming happy adults. Playing and
socialising with friends on their own terms and for their own agenda is what children and young
people say makes them happy.
50
Statement 6
“Children and Young people have the opportunity to play outside
regularly.”
“… walking and playing provide children with more physical activity than most other events
… Encouraging children to be out of the house will increase their physical activity.”
Roger Mackett, Making Children’s Lives more active. Centre for Transport Studies,
University College London, August 2004.
Some issues for discussion:
•
Levels of childhood obesity and general ill health and fitness have been increasing steadily in
recent decades. There is temptation amongst some adults to blame children themselves for this,
citing the effect of the television, computer games and generally inactivity as the case.
• However, children’s freedom to play out has been severely restricted in the same period; car usage
has increased and school playtimes have been reduced by at least half since 1971.
• Attempting to substitute children’s opportunity to play freely outside with adult organised, mainly
indoor provision is not only costly but may also be less effective. Children are usually more physically
active during free play than they are at organised sports sessions and PE lessons.
51
Statement 7
“Children & Young People have the opportunity to meet, socialise
and play with friends and others.”
“If we stop and ask any random adult, ‘Where was your favourite place to play when you
where a child?’ almost all of them will mention an outdoor place and even city people will
mention places with trees, grass, hills and water. It is in these outdoor places we spent
time with our friends - time that seemed to pass in an instant. What makes any of us think
that the current generation of children does not want the same, or deserves it?”
Marc Armitage, PLAYPEOPLE ~ taking play seriously
www.playpeople.se
Some issues for discussion:
• Friends and friendship groups are a central and key part in the lives of children and young
people and provide a contribution to children’s health and happiness. A successful play setting will
acknowledge this and allow children space and time to spend with their friends.
• When friendships break down children can find themselves lost and unhappy and staff in supervised
settings may find that some react to this by becoming quiet and solitary, whereas others maybe
become aggressive and angry. It is at times like this when playworkers knowledge of the friendship
groups and changes in friends within the setting can be invaluable.
• Friendship groups that split into factions can sometimes be as a result of or a cause of bullying.
52
Statement 8
“Playworkers and others working with children are adequately
vetted and receive CRB checks.”
“All reputable organisations providing play, child-care and recreational services to children
(be they local authority, voluntary sector or commercial organisations) want to be sure that
the people they employ or who volunteer to work with children in their care are as suitable
to have continuous and close access to children and young people as a system can
devise, and their management practices are conducive to child protection.”
Fair Play for Children
www.arunet.co.uk/fairplay/child_p.htm
Some issues for discussion:
• All settings where volunteers and paid staff come into contact with children should have proper
vetting procedures and Criminal Records Bureaux checks made as part of their registration
requirements. In addition a good setting will have other policies and procedures that guard against
the risk of abuse.
• Some parents may express concern at their children being in contact with adults they do not know
well, especially male workers. However, the real risks of abuse to children come not from strangers or
professional workers but from people within their own families.
53
Statement 9
“Children & Young People have access to supervised and
unsupervised play settings that are free of unacceptable hazards.”
“Children need and want to take risks when they play. Play provision aims to respond to
these needs and wishes by offering children stimulating, challenging environments for
exploring and developing their abilities. In doing this, play provision aims to manage the
level of risk so that children are not exposed to unacceptable risks of death or injury.”
Play Safety Forum (August 2002) Managing risk in play provision: A position statement
www.ncb.org.uk/cpc
Some issues for discussion:
• Children and young people seek risk and the thrill of potentially dangerous experiences when
playing. This might be of concern to some adults but opportunities for children and young people to
experience risk and stretch themselves to the limit of their experience are an important part of the
development process.
• The real danger to children comes not necessarily from risk but from the dangers of avoidable
hazards. A good play setting will have policies and procedures in place that will remove such hazards
but leave a necessary element of risk.
• Risk in play should be put into context – a child has more chance of having an accident in the home,
at school, or in an organised sports event than while playing with friends. The most significant danger
to children’s health comes not from playing but from the motor car.
• Two specialist safety organisations with play connections are the Royal Society for the Prevention of
Accidents (www.rospa.org.uk) and the Child Accident Prevention Trust (www.capt.org.uk)
54
Statement 10
“Children & Young People have access to Play Rangers and street
play schemes in their local neighbourhood.”
“Play rangers and street play schemes help to legitimise local shared space as play space
and thereby enhance children’s enjoyment of their neighbourhoods as well as encouraging
interaction with other children and across the generations. Street play schemes increase
the range of things that children can do, especially for those children who would not
normally cross the threshold of community play facilities.”
Chris Snell, Play Development Officer, Leeds Play Network
www.leedsplaynetwork.org.uk
Some issues for discussion:
• Play Rangers are specially trained playworkers who do not usually work inside – they work in
playgrounds, recreation fields and in the streets enabling children and young people to play freely
outside their own homes and mediating in conflict with adults.
• We now have neighbourhoods where very few adults spend time outside so the informal supervision
of each others children which may have been taken for granted in the past is now less so in some
areas. Play Rangers return a friendly adult eye to the local neighbourhood.
• Street play schemes take the form of boxes of play equipment for loan based with a local adult in
the neighbourhood but they can also include bigger projects aimed at making it easier for children to
play in the street itself.
55
Statement 11
“Play settings and other settings where children spend their time
work through a recognised play-led Quality Assurance Scheme.”
“Working through an endorsed quality assurance scheme that is play focussed provides a
setting with a tool for reflection, evaluation and improvement that places the ‘child at play’
at the centre of what the setting does as well as giving the a setting external validation for
what they do and how they do it.”
Wendy Russell, Independent Playwork Consultant
Some issues for discussion:
• A Quality Assurance scheme provides a local authority and parents with a benchmark against which
to assess the quality of a play setting. A play specific QA scheme places play at the top of the list
of what the setting does. However, such schemes should not be restricted purely to a play setting
– schools, cultural settings and sports centres, among other places where children spend their time,
would find such a scheme useful.
• Working through a play specific QA scheme encourages a setting to explore the way it works as
well as what it provides. It allows playworkers and others who work with children to discuss and
address issues that may not be directly related to play but which can be used as a training tool to
improve good practice.
• There are, for example, no Statements attached to the Every Child Matters aims on ‘Being Sexually
Healthy’ or on ‘Choosing not to take Illegal Drugs’ in this document. However, both of these are topics
that will come up in a play setting. Working through a QA scheme helps a setting and individual
workers discuss this in context and agree upon a reaction.
• The two best know play specific Quality Assurance Schemes are ‘Quality in Play (QiP)’
administered by London Play (www.londonplay.org.uk), and ‘First Claim’ administered by Play Wales
(www.playwales.org.uk).
56
Statement 12
“Children & Young People have access to trained and qualified
Playworkers.”
“[There is a] new vision of providing community services throughout childhood [which]
requires a programme of reform and sustained development across the age range. It
underpins the development of children’s centres and extended/community school models
backed by the framework for integrated children’s services embodied in recent government
legislation. It means that thousands of qualified workers will be needed to create a
children’s profession …”
SkillsActive (2006) Quality Training, Quality Play 2006-2011 – The first UK strategy for Playwork
Education, Training & Qualifications. www.playwork.org.uk
Some issues for discussion:
• Children establish a close relationship with the adults around them that are very different to the
relationship they have with their own parents and carers. This means that playworkers and others
who work with children often find themselves in a position of trust where children and young people
will confide in them, express their fears and concerns, and ask for advice and support. Much of this
may be beyond the remit of the workers actually job description.
• Access to training and education is essential if a member of staff is to react to such approaches
appropriately and effectively. Issues such as bullying, discrimination and abuse; physical and mental
health concerns; and inclusion and disability issues should all be provided for through training and
education.
• There is a well established ladder of training and qualifications for playwork from basic entry level up
to senior playworker, playworker in charge, and beyond to degree qualified play development worker.
This ladder is administered and coordinated by the Playwork Unit at SkillsActive, the Sector Skills
Council for Active Learning and Leisure (www.playwork.org.uk) and the Higher Education courses
such as the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Playwork are offered at a number of universities including
Leeds Metropolitan University (www.leedsmet.ac.uk).
• Playwork training should not be seen as just for playworkers – anyone working with children from
childcare workers, teachers, park and play rangers, designers and planners, would benefit from
learning more about the unique approach that playwork brings to working with children.
57
Statement 13
“The local authority actively promotes the importance & value of
play for Children & Young People of all ages.”
“We identified in our play strategy a lack of public tolerance for children playing out. We
have addressed this point because of over 1000 children surveyed during our children’s
consultation a majority of them said their greatest barrier to playing outside was not
traffic or lack of places to play – it was ‘people spoiling our fun’, and ‘people interfering
in our play’ that was their greatest concern. They included in that being moved on by
unsympathetic adults.”
Mark Gladwin, Play Officer (Participation) Bradford Early Years & Childcare Service
www.bradford.gov.uk
Some issues for discussion:
• There are times when children, young people and adults come into conflict with each other over
children’s chosen choice of play place or activity. Where there is such conflict children and young
people almost always loose – see for example the number of ‘No Ball Games’ signs in housing areas.
What these signs actually mean is, ‘No Playing here’.
• If children and young people being loud and annoying is a natural part of growing up then there
is a possibility that adults complaining about such behaviour is also natural. However, it is worth
reminding adults sometimes about what their own childhoods were like and what they got up to when
they were younger.
• Young people, particularly teenagers, get a very bad press. Such negative images need to be
addressed and countered with positive ones. The local authority can help here by encourage dialogue
between the generations in local authority wide initiatives and local events.
• Despite the concerns that many adults may have we still see children as important because, ‘they
are the future’. True, but children and young people are also citizens and members of our local
communities now and as such they have certain rights as well as responsibilities.
58
Statement 14a and 14b
“Children & Young People have access to informal places to play that
are recognised as such and are protected.”
“Children & Young People’s Impact Assessments are carried
out before changes to local policy, and at the planning stage of
regeneration & building projects.”
“Children and young people spend much more time outside in their local neighbourhood
than most local adults, and so any changes to that environment are likely to affect
them more and may affect them in ways that adults may not fully understand. In the
Scandinavian countries there is a recognition that such changes may have negative
consequences for local children and so there is a requirement on local authorities to make
an assessment of what effect such changes may have at the initial planning stage.”
Marc Armitage, PLAYPEOPLE ~ taking play seriously
www.playpeople.se
Some issues for discussion:
•
The odd piece of waste land and ‘bombed out’ area is one that will be occupied by children and
used in their play – at least in part because these spaces will often be overgrown and so provide the
kind of experiences that children look for in a play place. However, these spaces are increasingly
disappearing – a growing economy means a need for land for development and building.
• We should never assume that just because a piece of land is waste and wild and is of no use to
adults, that it is not being used by children and young people for their play and socialising. Replacing
such spaces with neat, tidy adult designed play places is not an alternative.
• Before making any major changes to the local community infrastructure, a proper children and
young peoples audit that details what spaces are being used and how they are used should be made.
The results of such an audit can very often be an eye opener, revealing patterns of use that adults
have simply not noticed before.
• In a number of European Union countries, including all three Scandinavian countries, there is a legal
requirement for local authorities to do this (see for example the website of the Swedish Children’s
Ombudsman www.bo.se, Swedish website with English link page)
• Playwork training should not be seen as just for playworkers – anyone working with children from
childcare workers, teachers, park and play rangers, designers and planners, would benefit from
learning more about the unique approach that playwork brings to working with children.
59
Statement 15
“Children & Young People are involved & consulted on the location,
design & development of new & existing public playgrounds.”
“Involving children and young people in the design of a playground produces a play space
that does for them what they need. That provides some ownership and so they look after
it.”
Jess Milne, Design & Build Play
www.designandbuildplay.org
Some issues for discussion:
• It is sometimes an uncomfortable fact to face, but children and young people do not use public
playgrounds as we might like. A playground which has a higher Play Value score is likely to receive
more use than one with a low score.
• Play Value is a method used to assess the variety of opportunities a playground provides. If, for
example, a playground has two sets of identical swings it would not score well in Play Value terms as
what the assessment is not doing is counting pieces of play equipment – a playground with two very
different types of swing providing different experiences will begin to score higher because there is
now some variety in how a person can swing.
• When children and young people are involved in the design of new and redeveloped playgrounds
this also tends to increase usage and lower damage and vandalism.
• Even when children and young people are involved and consulted on playground design, however,
the most important question that could provide input on has usually been decided on already – that is
where the playground should be located.
60
Statement 16
“The local authority provides a strategic approach to developing
local playground provision.”
“The review confirmed the need for a strategic approach, a stronger focus on play at
national and local level and for the whole system to be streamlined to secure maximum
benefit from the extra funds and the higher priority now being given to play.”
Department of Culture, Media & Sport (2004) Getting Serious about Play –
a Review of Children’s Play. London: HMSO
Some issues for discussion:
• The technical design note PPG17 which gives guidance and regulation on the design and building
of recreational facilities such as playgrounds; and the National Playing Fields Association 6 acre
standard (www.npfa.org.uk) suggests that playgrounds should form part of a coordinated hierarchy of
types of space.
• Developing children and young people’s access to parks and playground provision needs to take
into account their ability to travel and what distances they would be prepared to move to regularly and
unaccompanied visit a play place.
• A series of smaller spaces leading to a larger more central space is the norm, but there is a
possibility that we spend a disproportionate amount of effort and resources on the bigger, destination
facilities despite the fact that the smaller, closer to home spaces are probably used more often.
61
Statement 17
“The local authority adopts an effective Play Strategy & Action Plan
linked to the local Children & Young People’s Plan.”
“A local authority that has a Play Strategy is saying that it values play as an essential part
of children’s development in the same way as it sees other services, such as education
for example, as important - it highlights that children learn through their play. Having a
Play Strategy and a plan showing how it will be adopted and implemented gives a clear
commitment to ensuring that things will be done.”
Nicole Harwood, Play Strategy Officer, Sheffield City Council.
www.sheffield.gov.uk
Some issues for discussion:
• The Dobson Report (the National Review of Children’s Play completed for the Department of
Culture, Media and Sport in 1994) concluded a strategic approach to play provision development
was essential if local children were to get the most from new opportunities. The Report also made
recommendations to the new BIG Lottery Children’s Fund that taking such an approach was
important.
• The BIG Lottery Fund and central government have made it clear that if local authorities are to get a
fair share of the £155 million available for England, then any submission made must provide evidence
of a strategic approach and partnership working. A similar requirement is made on local authorities in
children’s services in general through the requirements of the Children Act 2004 and the Every Child
Matters – Change for Children agenda (www.everychildmatters.gov.uk).
• The creation of a Play Strategy which should be seen as stand alone document though related to
other strategies and plans, therefore, is important on a number of different levels. Not least of which is
financial.
62
Statement 18
“Children & Young People have access to a range of play
opportunities that are free at the point of entry.”
“Access to projects should be free to users. Charging clearly leaves low-income children
and young people and their families at a disadvantage. So any charges should be
considered only in exceptional circumstances, e.g. for trips and outings, and only if there
then is there is no other source of funds.”
Department of Culture, Media & Sport (2004) Getting Serious about Play –
a Review of Children’s Play. London: HMSO
Some issues for discussion:
• Some of the best childhood experiences we might remember as a child were free of cost. A trip to
the beach, for example, is a trip full of excitement and experiences at little cost to parents and carers.
However, for an experience to be truly free then the travel costs must be taken into consideration.
• Transport for London, in cooperation with Ken Livingston the Mayor of London, have recently
introduced free travel on all London public transport. Such a move will be a welcome point for families
on low income and will hopefully lead to returning some degree of independent mobility to children.
• A play setting which offers the Three Free’s – ‘that is free at the point of entry, where children are
free to do what they choose, and at which they are free to leave without the need for an adult to
collect them’ (Perry Else, Sheffield Hallam University). This may not be feasible in all cases but it
does provide something to aim for.
63
Statement 19
“Children & young people have access to mobile play projects.”
“Mobile projects are ideal for taking play provision to places that could not usually access
resources from elsewhere, whether because they are in rural places or other areas of
social isolation – they can almost take play provision to the doorstep, often acting as a
catalyst, empowering local communities to set up and run their own activities.”
John Sutton, Technical Manager, National Play Bus Association
www.playbus.org.uk
Some issues for discussion:
• Mobile Play projects are those that move to a chosen location on wheels – either in the form of Play
Vans and/or Play Trailer projects; or with converted double-decker buses. These forms of provision
can move to quite isolated locations and set up their projects allowing play to be taken to children
rather than them coming to it.
• Mobile play projects can also provide special play events or as part of ‘fun in the park’ type events
during school holidays. Such provision is usually very cost effective and when combined with
schemes such as rural mobile playschemes (see Statement 20) then large numbers of children can
be provided with access to a service they might not otherwise have.
64
Statement 20
“Children & Young People have access to a range of different
playschemes and special play events.”
“How was the playscheme, Sam?” “It was really, really, REALLY good!”
Sam, aged 8
Some issues for discussion:
• Playschemes are daytime play sessions run during the school holiday period – mainly the summer
and Easter break, but not exclusively. Playschemes can be run as an extension of an out-of-school
care scheme or Extended Schools provision during the holidays, or can be open access – in other
words, local projects set up where children can come when they wish and leave when they wish.
• Playschemes are amongst the most favoured type of play provision by children and young people
themselves. However, it is all too easy to allow playschemes to become just another form of directed
provision that has a specific agenda. Children like special activities such as art and craft, music and
sports events run as part of playschemes, but tend to prefer those sessions where they are totally
free to choose what to do – and that includes doing nothing but ‘hanging around with friends’.
• There is evidence that the number of open access playschemes that are close to children’s own
homes has dropped alarmingly over the last decade to the point where in some local authority areas
there are no such playschemes running.
65
Statement 21
“Children & Young People are involved and consulted in the
organisation and management of their supervised play setting.”
“The primary purpose of children playing is children playing! There is no need to consult
them about play while they actually doing it, but there are times when we need to listen to
them about their experiences when they play. As children become more comfortable with
the adults around them they will want to become more involved in making decisions about
things that affect them. That might include decisions about equipment, the staff they work
with, and times facilities are open. A dialogue like this can lead to significant improvements
in quality.”
Steven Chown, Programme Manager, Torbay Children’s Fund
www.the-childrens-society.org.uk/learn/SG_Feature/74862/9/
“Because then it’s like they (adults) are really interested in us. You’ve got to know what
different children like to do. They might end up doing something really boring if they don’t
ask us what we like doing. If we don’t know what the rules are we might get embarrassed
or in trouble. If children help write the rules everyone will enjoy it and everything will all
work out fine.”
Barney aged 11 years, Elias 8 years, Ruby 6 years
Some issues for discussion:
• Allowing children and young people to take an active role in organising and managing a supervised
play setting takes a great deal of commitment and patience on the part of the staff and management
group. Letting grip the reins of power is never easy.
• Involvement can range from consultation over activities and program planning and contents of
meals and tuck shops; to help in publicity and fundraising activities; and interviewing prospective new
members of staff.
• There will be some children and young people who do not want this degree of involvement but there
will also be others who will benefit greatly from the experience. Any adult who may be afraid of this
kind of approach should remember that even adults do not always get what they want.
• The Ladder of Participation, as adapted by Professor Roger Hart, gives a progressive tool for
judging the extent to which children and young people are consulted and involved (www.freechild.
org/ladder.htm).
66
Statement 22
“Young people have the opportunity for play training & education
and job opportunities in the play sector.”
“In June 1988 the very first Playwork course based in a higher education organisation
in the UK was validated at Leeds Metropolitan University (then Leeds Polytechnic). In
January 1989 the first cohort of students enrolled on this unique course. In the ensuing
17 years the profession of Playwork has grown in recognition with increasing numbers of
students being attracted to the field.”
Playwork (BA) Degree course, Leeds Metropolitan University
www.leedsmet.ac.uk
Some issues for discussion:
• The play work force has increased dramatically in the last decade and is set to increase still further
as more playwork job opportunities become available. Access to good quality training that is held
local enough for participants to access is, as a result, is going to become an increasing need.
• Local colleges play organisations and individual settings all provide training for playworkers,
however, it is questionable how much of this is known about by people such as school careers
advisors and local authority officers.
67
Statement 23
“Young People have access to volunteering opportunities.”
“There are many opportunities to volunteer within playwork like in after-school clubs,
weekend clubs and during school holidays in camps. This is a great way to gain realistic
and relevant experience. Playwork employers value prospective employees making
the effort to gain relevant experience and developing skills needed to be a successful
playworker.”
SkillsActiveCareers Case Study UK
www.skillsactive.com
Some issues for discussion:
• May play settings would find it very difficult to operate without volunteer workers, who themselves
often say that volunteering often leads to fuller employment and on the job training.
• Young people have many volunteering opportunities offered to them as part of Citizenship within the
curriculum and other schemes such as the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme.
68
Statement 24
“Children and Young People have access to a range of good quality
supervised play provision close to home.”
“The best play provision is part of the community - it’s about where they live and the
relationships in that community. In play provision that is close to home the playworkers will
develop relationships with children and the wider community that will help them help their
children to access opportunities within their own community; advocate on their behalf; and
provide a voice within their community.”
Steven Chown, Programme Manager, Torbay Children’s Fund
www.the-childrens-society.org.uk/learn/SG_Feature/74862/9/
Some issues for discussion:
• For many children life can seem one long journey from place to place: home to school; school to
care scheme; care scheme to sports centre or art club; and back to home. Often all by car.
• Having facilities that are close to home means that children may be able to get to and from them on
foot or on bicycle, increasing the amount of time they spend outside and so being active.
• Facilities close to home are also likely to be cheaper – no transport fees.
69
Statement 25
“Children & Young People are able to walk or cycle to school, in the
company of adults and independently.”
“Walking to and from school can be better for children than two hours a week of PE and
games lessons.”
Roger Mackett, Making Children’s Lives more active. Centre for Transport Studies,
University College London, August 2004.
Some issues for discussion:
• In the 1970s most children walked or cycled to school. In the early 21st Century most are now
taken to school by car. Parents often report that they cannot let their children walk or cycle to school
because of the traffic on the roads, forgetting that they are a major contributor to this. What may be
more significant is the increase in people at work – it is much more convenient for a parent to drop
their children off at school in the car on the way to work than perhaps to walk them before leaving for
work.
• Safe routes to school can be very effective in claming parent’s fears over traffic and give children
greater freedom and control over their own movement so growing in confidence and being more
active. Walking Bus schemes, where adults collect children at ‘Bus Stops’ before all walking to school
together can also be very effective, but they do not replace the freedom that have had in the past to
play on the way to and on the way home from school.
70
Statement 26
“Children & Young People have access to a good quality outdoor
environment that provides for their play, social & recreational needs
at primary & secondary school.”
“As an environment for children’s play [the school playground] is often barren and visually
depressing, with harsh lines and hard surfaces, and with little or no equipment. There may
be a few faded game markings on the surface … but very little else on which children can
focus.”
Peter Blatchford (1991) Playtime in the Primary School: Problems and Improvements. London:
Routledge
Some issues for discussion:
• There have been playgrounds at schools in the British Isles for as long as we have had schools in
the way that we know them. From a very early stage there were strict regulations on the minimum
sizes of those playgrounds and what sort of equipment should be in them – shelter, seating and
play equipment were the norm. However, all such regulations were removed in the 1996 (School
Premises) Regulations.
• Very few modern school playgrounds provide shelter, shade and play equipment – often with fears
over safety and cost given as a reason. However, the United Kingdom is one of very few countries in
the European Union where there is no requirement for such features to be given.
• Children and young people often report that there favourite part of the school is the outside, but
many of them also report that the outside is bland and boring. A bland and boring environment results
in bland and bored children.
71
Statement 27
“Children and Young People at primary & secondary school have
access to playtimes and lunchtimes that are enjoyable and which
meet their play, social & recreational needs.”
“For children and young people, playtimes, breaktimes, and the lunchtime period are
simply the most important time in the whole school day. It is for them a chance to play,
socialise and meet up with friends, discuss their day and their problems, and a chance to
get away from the rigors of the classroom. The effect of a relaxed and fun playtime can
have dramatic positive on children’s health, happiness, and their ability to learn.”
Marc Armitage, PLAYPEOPLE ~ taking play seriously
www.playpeople.se
Some issues for discussion:
• In a similar way to the provision of playgrounds at school, there was until 1996 a requirement for a
playtime period during the school day. This requirement no longer exists, although most primary and
secondary school provide them. However, the time allocated to these periods is estimated at only half
what it was in the early 1980s.
• When asked, children and young people report that the playtime, breaktime and lunchtime
periods are their favourite parts of the school day. However, they also report that there is often little
provided for them except for adults telling what not is they cannot do – and sometimes without much
consistency.
• Adults appreciate a break from work and their evidence to suggest that children perform better
at learning tasks after a playtime period. However, happy children also make better learners and
playtime is time for freedom, relaxation and fun.
• Playtime and breaktime, however, can also produce its own stresses. Bullying and intimidation take
place more outside and during these periods then they do indoors during class time. Staff need to be
vigilant to see this happening as children and young people often report that this is missed by staff.
When children fall out with friends this too can add to levels of stress.
72
Statement 28
“School Midday Supervisors have access to play training.”
“It is now becoming recognised that there is a misalignment between the large amount of
time supervisors spend in charge of pupils and their low pay and lack of training.”
Peter Blatchford & Sonia Sharp (1994) Breaktime and the School: understanding and changing
playground behaviour. London: Routledge.
“A good midday supervisor can make or break a lunchtime.”
Primary school headteacher, North Yorkshire (2003)
Some issues for discussion:
•
School midday supervisors at primary and secondary school have been responsible for the
supervision of children during lunchtime since the mid 1980s. They are usually poorly paid, poorly
trained, have little status amongst staff or parents and at times unclear over their own role.
• Children, however, often make very close attachments to midday supervisors who, with even very
basic play training, can begin to recognise some sense in the mass disorder that lunchtime often
seems and help children make the most from their free time.
73
Statement 29
“Children & Young People are able to play while in hospital, at
clinics, GPs and dentists surgeries.”
“Play in a health care setting provides an opportunity to distract, divert, release emotions,
develop coping strategies, encourage cooperation, reduce anxiety, and provide information
regarding health promotion topics, procedures, and treatments. Appropriate play can
involve health care personnel to reduce barriers, bring smiles and laughter under difficult or
upsetting circumstances promoting a positive image of health care.”
Karen Kelly, Head of Specialist Play Services, Birmingham Children’s Hospital NHS Trust
www.bch.org.uk
British Association of Play Therapists
www.bapt.info
Some issues for discussion:
• Any parent knows that when children are taken to places such as the dentists or the doctors surgery
it does not take many minutes of waiting around for them to start ‘messing around’. What children
themselves would say is that they are ‘playing’. It would not be a difficult or expensive task to set
aside a small part of a waiting room as a play space
• For longer stays at hospital or hospice play can have a vital role in helping recovery. Play specialists
and playworkers in hospitals can work in special playrooms and at the bedside providing access to
play materials giving a form of acceptance that it is ok to play here too.
• When playschemes are based at a hospital site they can provide children at hospital with a respite
from the hospital ward and can create a sense of normality with an opportunity to play with children
who may not be attending the hospital for treatment themselves.
74
Statement 30
“Children & Young People have access to play-led transition projects
as they move from primary to secondary school.”
“This summer we are providing an adapted summer playscheme in our secondary
school for about 80 of the 130 students who are rising to secondary this year. We will be
monitoring how this year 7 group integrate and settle in compared to previous years. In
our view Extended Schools should help children and young people to view school in a
more holistic way – yes school is where they go for education and achievement, but this is
also where they go stretch their imaginations, be creative, make social circles and overall
enjoy.”
Libby Pearson, Extended Schools Coordinator, Lady Lumley’s School, Pickering.
Some issues for discussion:
• Moving from primary school to secondary school can be a stressful experience – children may loose
touch with old friends and trusted adults, and find themselves in a bigger more complex environment
that the one they are used to.
• Transition projects based on summer playschemes on after school projects before the summer
holidays can help children make new contacts and begin to build friendship groups before the move.
• ‘Play’ in the context of transition projects works well, as the children find themselves in a familiar
situation – playing – but with a group of people they may not know so well. Making new friends
becomes easier.
75
Statement 31
“Children in the Foundation Stage at school and day care settings
have access to a good quality outdoor play environment & spend
significant time there.”
“Unfortunately, outdoor play has sometimes been viewed as something that children do on
their own and is secondary to what goes on in the classroom … but for outdoor play to be
successful it is critical that the outdoor environment is considered in as much depth as any
other educational setting.”
Helen Bilton (1998) Outdoor Play in the Early Years: management & innovation. London: Fulton
Some issues for discussion:
• The Foundation Stage is the name given to the early year’s curriculum for children between three
and four years old. It is delivered in both school and childcare settings. In Wales, a new Foundation
Phase is due to begin in 2007 which sets the age range for this early curriculum at between three and
seven years – a similar age grouping is used in many other European Union countries.
• The Foundation Stage and Phase guidance notes state that the outdoors is a very important
element in the whole curriculum, however, a significant number of settings have very poor quality
outdoor spaces and in some cases no space at all.
• The use of outdoor space in early learning works best when free access is allowed between the
indoor and outdoor environment. This is a point that is not well understood in some settings who give
mainly practical and supervision reasons for not doing this.
76
Statement 32
“Primary & secondary schools & Hospitals have a statement
and/or policy on play & recreation during the school day/during
attendance.”
“In an institutional setting where children may spend a significant amount of their time,
having a separate statement or a policy on play is taking an opportunity to highlight the
value of ‘play’ for its own sake. Where the subject of play is included as a smaller part of a
larger policy this value and importance is often lost. In schools, for example, play for older
children is often linked firmly to the behaviour agenda, which changes significantly the way
that play is viewed in the school. And not for the better”
Marc Armitage, PLAYPEOPLE ~ taking play seriously
www.playpeople.se
Some issues for discussion:
• Schools usually have numerous policy documents relating to the running of the school. ‘Play’ is
more often than not included within a broader Behaviour Policy.
• A separate Play Policy in the school gives a school an opportunity to declare the importance it
places on play and recreation during the school day – something that can be shown to parents and
other professionals who may be unclear about the role of playtime and break times.
• Lunchtime at primary and secondary school has an obvious purpose – it is time to eat a meal. The
purpose of playtime and breaktime are less obvious. Preparing a School Play Strategy provides an
opportunity to discuss and reach a conclusion on this issue.
77
Statement 33
“Children & Young People are involved & consulted on the design &
development of the outdoor environment at school.”
“Scrutiny of the research relating to the design of school grounds consistency points to the
importance of involving children to achieve ‘good’ outcomes … There can be little doubt
that where children are consulted, appropriately, about the design of provision for them,
a better understanding of their needs is achieved and design outcomes are usually more
successful.”
Wendy Titman (1994) Special Places, Special People: The hidden curriculum of school grounds.
Surrey: LTL/WWF
Some issues for discussion:
• Adults are often guilty of assuming that they know how children are using particular spaces that they
occupy regularly. Teachers and midday supervisors, for example, may feel that they know exactly
how the children and young people at their school are using the playgrounds and the wider grounds
during their free periods. They will be right with some things but very wrong with others.
• Before making any physical changes to school grounds an audit of current use involving children
themselves should be made and new proposals for development should be based on what already
happens and where it happens. Failure to do so can result in spaces and features being removed that
are already popular and well used. A point which leads to frustration and resentment.
• When school grounds are developed they are sometimes altered for purely educational reasons,
such as to develop wildlife resources, sports facilities, and outdoor classrooms. It is important to
remember that a significant amount of the time that children spend outside at school during the school
day is free time for them to choose what they want to do and who they want to do it with. That’s why
‘play’ is included in the word ‘playground’.
78
Statement 34
“Children & Young People have access to a representative school
council at primary & secondary school.”
“School councils are democratically elected groups of students who represent their
peers and enable pupils to become partners in their own education, making a positive
contribution to the school environment and ethos.”
Schools Councils UK website
www.schoolcouncils.org
“I want a school council to make school more interesting, so we get a say in what goes
around because what’s happening affects us more than anyone else.”
Barney, aged 11
Some issues for discussion:
• Schools are places that not only teach children a practical and academic curriculum but they
are also places that prepare children for future life. An ability to make decisions and to experience
representative structures is useful to this aim and is a part of citizenship in the National Curriculum
(see for example the Schools Council website www.schoolcouncils.org).
• School Councils at primary and secondary school can act as a useful link between the adult world of
the school and the child world – the school council for instance can often raise issues or add weight
to a discussion from a child’s point of view that adults may have missed or not have given great
significance too.
• There are some children and young people at school in particular that may benefit from the added
responsibility of school council membership. However, these ‘difficult’ children may not be given the
chance to do so because of adult concerns over previous behaviour.
• Once a school council is adopted it is important that the views of the council are seen as important
and are acted upon by the school staff. Failure to do so presents children and young people at school
with a lesson in adult to child power issues.
79
Statement 35
“Children & Young People support others at school and at hospital.”
“We have very little objective evidence on the success of such projects as ‘buddy schemes’
and children as play mentors – both of which strike me as very adult concepts. But we do
have evidence of how positive friendships and peer to peer relationships between children
can help in times when children are under stress, are unhappy, or are simply bored.”
Marc Armitage, PLAYPEOPLE ~ taking play seriously
www.playpeople.se
Some issues for discussion:
• The British tradition of teaching is still very much about the adult-to-child relationship, possibly
because of the academic background of much of our teacher training. However, in a number of other
countries the important role of the child-to-child relationship in learning is emphasised and peer led
learning is an accepted part of school life.
• Often, child-to-child involvement at school is based on good behaviour and anti-bulling strategies
which, while positive in itself, is sometimes based largely on adult views, perceptions and methods
of dealing with conflict. In the case of anti-bulling, for example, the Scandinavian organisation
Friends promotes the important role that children and young people themselves have in creating an
environment in which bullying is simply not acceptable (www.friends.se, Swedish website with English
link page).
• In health care facilities children can act as supporters to other children through illness and injury
simply by providing an opportunity to ‘compare notes’ with a child who already experienced a
particular procedure.
80
Statement 36
“Children & Young People have access to school grounds & other
school facilities outside of school hours.”
“As a community school we allow access to our field after school hours because we
want to make our facilities as available for community use as possible. Our school site is
very well looked after because our local children and young people feel they have some
ownership of it.”
Estelle Macdonald, Headteacher Collingwood Primary School, Hull
Some issues for discussion:
• In some areas, especially those that are heavily built up and densely populated, the local school
grounds may provide the only access to community open space in the neighbourhood. However,
many schools and Boards of Governors report that they are unwilling to allowing greater community
access after school hours because of the possibility of vandalism. However, a school that has people
on site using it as a play and recreational facility are not the problem – they are part of the solution as
these users act as informal guardians of the school grounds.
• The protection of school buildings from deliberate damage is an important point, but protecting
the school buildings is not the same issue as protecting the school grounds. At Collingwood
Primary School in Hull, for example, large areas of the school grounds are open to community use,
but separate areas of fencing make it impossibly for people using this space to reach the school
buildings.
• The use of local community stewardship schemes, where there are formal agreements with
members of the local community over their informal in ‘keeping an eye on the school’ are defined and
encouraged (see Statement 42).
• The Extended Schools agenda may produce additional difficulties with greater open access use
of school grounds. This may mean that non-users of after-school care projects are denied use of
the grounds whilst such schemes are running for security concerns. This presents a tricky issue for
debate.
81
Statement 37
“Children and Young People have access to child-friendly and playfriendly city and town centres, shopping centres, parks and public
spaces”
“Public spaces that engage and stimulate children are enjoyed by everyone. Just look at
the fountains in Sheffield’s Peace Gardens which, on hot and not-so-hot days, becomes
the city’s beachfront. With good design and management, city and town centres, parks and
public spaces can be more than just thoroughfares. They can be places where people of
all ages and walks of life can play, rest, meet their friends or simply relax and watch the
world go by.”
Tim Gill, Rethinking Childhood, Writer and Consultant
www.rethinkingchildhood.com
Some issues for discussion:
• Towns, cities, and villages have, to a certain extent, always been seen as adult places – they
are designed by adults with adult needs in mind. However, children and young people make up a
significant proportion of a local areas population and will spend time in public places whether adults
want them to or not. Children often accompany parents and carers to public places, and older children
and teenagers will often travel from out of town to larger city centers to make use of the leisure, retail
and cultural facilities that they offer.
• UNICEF, the United Nations agency for children, currently supports the European Network of ChildFriendly Cities which aims ‘to make cities livable for all’ (www.childfriendlycities.org). They share the
vision expressed by Ken Livingston, Mayor of London, who said in the capitals Children and Young
People’s Plan that ‘a child friendly city is one in which children are seen and heard’.
• A child-friendly city, however, cannot be truly child friendly unless it is also play-friendly. Sheffield,
for example has a very good example of how a city centre feature can be both a public space and
play friendly not just through it’s fun water features that can be played in, but also by an acceptance
of the fact that this is a space where children can play (see the Pease Gardens link in www.sheffield.
gov.uk).
82
Statement 38
“Children & Young People are able to freely move around their
neighbourhoods & communities on foot, cycle or public transport.”
“Many studies have shown that children play everywhere, regardless of whether the space
in question has been designed for play or not.”
Pia Björklid (1982) Children’s Outdoor Environment’s: A study of children’s outdoor activities
on two housing estates from the perspectives of environmental psychology and developmental
psychology. Studies in Education and Psychology 11, University of Stockholm.
Some issues for discussion:
• Children and young people play everywhere. As Colin Ward said in his book, The Child in the City
(1978, 1990 London: Bedford Square Press) ‘play is the thing that children do’. There is, therefore,
simply no place that is ‘inappropriate for play’ because children will play wherever they are – because
they play all the time!
• Creating a playground in a local community, therefore, is no guarantee that children and young
people will not still spend time in other places too. This means that children and young people also
spend a great deal of their time moving around their local neighborhoods – visiting playgrounds,
informal places to play, sports and youth centers, schools, shops and friend homes.
• A local neighborhood where children and young people can do this without the fear of traffic
accidents and free of their parents concerns over their welfare whilst outside is a sign of a positive
functioning community.
83
Statement 39
“Children & Young People have access to safe streets and playfriendly home neighbourhoods.”
“Streets are the starting points of children’s everyday experiences and adventures outside
the home. At their best - as in well-designed home zones - they can offer rich, lively play
environments much like those that many adults remember from their own childhoods.
So home zones should be the benchmark for all new housing developments. Even in
existing streets, where traffic levels may make it difficult to reclaim the street space for
play, children should be able to walk and cycle safely and conveniently around their
neighbourhoods, with places to play close to hand.”
Tim Gill, Rethinking Childhood, Writer and Consultant
www.rethinkingchildhood.com
Some issues for discussion:
• Children and young people in many areas still see no problem with cars moving up and down their
local streets when playing there – they simply stand aside when a car comes and wait for it to pass
before carrying on. In fact, parked cars prove more of a problem than moving cars in this context,
because parked cars physically remove street space.
• Homezones are one solution to this, where combinations of street furniture, a change in priorities to
pedestrians, traffic calming and redesigning parking can result in a space where access to places for
play right outside the front door are possible (www.homezones.org.uk).
• Homezone, however, are not always popular with planners and traffic officers. They have priorities,
quite rightly, to reduce child road deaths and accidents - the Homezone agenda, however, is broader
and is about more than just the reduction of accidents. It is also about returning communities to
people and lessening the grip of the motorcar.
• Traffic calming is one part of that and the reaction to ‘speed bumps’ is a classic example of adult
views taking precedence over children’s needs can be seen. Speed bumps in residential streets have
dramatically reduced the number of serious injuries and death to children in our cities especially (Hull
claims a more than 70% reduction in a 15 year period www.hullcc.gov.uk). But adult car divers do not
like them and complain bitterly campaigning for them to be removed or lessened. They often win.
84
Statement 40
“Children & Young People are able to play at home.”
“Playing at home is where it all starts – it is the place where a healthy and balanced family
life begins. Children eventually progressing into playing both inside and outside, but for
some children this can be difficult to do: disabled children, for example, may find access to
the outdoors difficult, and there are other children who for reasons of culture, gender and
other inclusion issues may find they spend more time playing at home than others.”
Chris Snell, Play Developmental Officer, Leeds Play Network
www.leedsplaynetwork.org.uk
Some issues for discussion:
• Overcrowding, high rise living, poor housing and unsupportive outdoor neighborhoods can leave
some children effectively restricted to playing mainly indoors. There are some communities where
cultures reasons may restrict children’s access to the outdoors, especially girls.
• There will, however, always be times when children spend more time indoors than out. When
children are very young, for example, or when the weather is exceptionally bad, or when parents and
their carers are simply not confident that the outdoors presents a safe environment. Access to Play
Ranger and Street Play Schemes may help counter some of the negative reason for children not
playing out (see Statement 10) but home is a place of comfort for most children and so is just a valid
a play place as a local playground.
• Access to Toy Libraries and equipment loan scheme can contribute to children’s playing at home,
especially for those children where there is little income (see Statement 41).
• Some organizations and local authorities run Portage services, which provide specially trained
individuals who work in the home with the parent or carer and their disabled children aged usually
between 0 – 3 years helping them reach their early developmental milestones through play (www.
portage.org.uk).
85
Statement 41
“Children & Young People of all ages have access to scrapstores,
play equipment loan schemes & toy libraries.”
“Scrapstores provide a vast array of different things for children, parents and organizations
to use. It’s not things like empty yoghurt pots and glittery paper but big things too, like
wheels and industrial scrap stuff that children can use as loose parts or for building big
things. We also have equipment for loan to play settings and people like scout groups,
schools, and childminders, who might not have the space to store such things or have the
funding to buy it.”
Claudia Fulchini, Creative Arts Worker, Replay Leeds Scrapstore – reuse reduce and recycle
www.leedsplaynetwork.org.uk
Some issues for discussion:
• A Scrapstore is a setting where material that is thrown away by industry are recycled and made
available for play and art. This might include such things as paint, paper, card and other art and
craft materials, fabric and glue. But it may also mean more ambiguous materials such as cardboard
boxes of all sizes, rope, cloth sheets, tires, timber and industrial waste (see for example Grumpy at
Manchester www.grumpy.org.uk).
• Play equipment loans services are often a service offered by scrapstores or by local play network
organizations (see Statement 50). These tend to hold larger pieces of play equipment for use by
parents, children, and play organizations. Things for loan may include parachutes for play, inflatable
play features, big games sets, and loose parts such as timber, tires, and a host of all sorts of bits and
bobs.
• Toy Libraries are loan points for toys. Aimed mainly, but not exclusively at parents with younger
children, toy libraries also offer advice on choosing toys and in adult/child play and interaction (www.
natll.org.uk).
86
Statement 42
“The local authority promotes local community stewardship &
involvement in community facilities.”
“Genuine community engagement not only ensures better use of facilities but actively
reduces maintenance costs, which takes pressure off local authority budgets. Community
involvement in projects like this have wider spin offs as they create a greater sense of
confidence and a belief that engaging in wider regeneration can really make a difference.”
Frank O’Malley, Business coordinator, Leeds Play Network
www.leedsplaynetwork.org.uk
Some issues for discussion:
• Community Stewardship Schemes are projects where a degree of responsibility for the protection,
and in some cases the maintenance, of community facilities such as parks, public playgrounds, and
school grounds, is given over to the community. This allows a local community to take a greater role
in looking after what they rightly see as ‘there’s’.
• There are issues over agreeing on the responsibilities of such schemes and on what responsibilities
the local authority (who is still likely to own and operate the facility) retains, but these are negotiable.
Reluctance on the part of a local authority to enter such schemes is sometime based purely on their
lack of previous history with such ideas.
• Children and young people should also form an important part of any such stewardship scheme.
87
Statement 43
“Children & Young People have access to play friendly cultural
places to visit such as museums, galleries & libraries, etc.”
“Museums offer a unique opportunity for children to learn more about themselves and the
world around them. All museums should develop a play-friendly area, dedicated to children
where they can be introduced to the museum experience ‘hands-on’ – play is how children
learn.”
Leigh-Anne Stradeski, Director Eureka! The museum for children.
www.eureka.org.uk
“Libraries should be places that children enjoy, where they feel wanted in, and where
they can develop a reading habit - for enjoyment as well achievement - that will continue
through life.”
Tracey Booth, Children’s Librarian, Hull Central Library, www.hullcc.gov.uk
Some issues for discussion:
• Shhhhhhhh! No talking! Don’t touch that, just look! Stop messing about! What child in their right
mind would value a space where such comments are felt appropriate?
• Children learn through the use of all five senses – particularly touch. Although there is value in
looking at things children and young people would find an interactive space much more valuable.
Our cultural facilities have recognized this and have made big advances in recent years, but all too
often more effort is put into the coffee shop than into spaces for children to be children – exploring,
discovering and learning.
88
Statement 44
“The local authority adopts relevant national & International policy
& standards.”
“Practical work to improve play space is affected by polices, strategies and initiatives at
national and local level.”
Children’s Play Council Briefing no. 2: More than Swings and Roundabouts. www.ncb.org.uk/cpc
Some issues for discussion:
• The adoption of a local standard for play provision and for local plans and strategies are an
essential part in making real change and development to play provision possible and improving
children and young people’s access to services. However, this must be done in the context of
relevant national and international initiatives, many of which local authorities should consider formally
adopting. In the context of children and young people’s play and recreation these might include:
•
Best Play: what play provision should do for children (2000) (National Playing Fields
Association www.npfa.co.uk; Children’s Play Council www.ncb.org.uk/cpc; PLAYLINK www.
playlink.org.uk) – which sets out a broad agenda on what play provision should actually
provide children, particularly for local authorities.
•
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) (www.unicef.org/crc)
– which sets out the basic international framework for children rights and includes important
articles on children’s play (Article 31), consultation and involvement (Articles 12, 13), and
freedom of assembly (Article 15).
•
Getting Serious about Play – a Review of Children’s Play (2004) (www.culture.gov.uk)
Department of Culture, Media & Sport. London: HMSO – which sets out the current state of
play provision in the UK and makes recommendations to the BIG Lottery Fund on priorities for
the distribution of funds.
•
A guide to preparing play strategies (www.london.gov.uk/mayor/strategies/play/index.jsp)
•
Every Child Matters: Framework for the inspection of children’s services (July 2005) Ofsted
(www.ofsted.gov.uk).
•
Realising the potential of cultural services: the case for play (Research Briefing 12.6,
November 2001), Local Government Association (www.lga.gov.uk).
89
Statement 45
“The local authority carries out a broad audit of current play
provision and service providers.”
“Engaging and consulting with children and young people as fully as possible is an
essential part of the process: at least as important as the audit of provision. It is from
determining the young community’s needs and aspirations for their free time, and
assessing this against current provision and how it is used, that the specific objectives for
the Play Strategy should emerge.”
Mayor of London (2004) Draft Guide to Preparing Play Strategies London: GLA
Some issues for discussion:
• The provision of play services for children can be difficult to define and audit, simply because so
many different department and agencies have a role in providing for play – even department such as
traffic and planning have issues relating to play. However, an affective audit is an important starting
point to identifying gaps in provision and identifying solutions.
• The planning guidance note PPG17 gives guidance on how this audit might be done, but does
so mainly in the context of providing open spaces – but it services a useful, starting point (www.
communities.gov.uk).
• Children and young people should be involved in such an audit from the start, if only because they
may have ideas about what constitutes ‘provision’ in a local area that adults might not consider, waste
and wild spaces not actually designated for play but well used for example.
• Local neighbourhood play audits involving children and young people should also be made as
‘snapshots’ of what is available in detail. Such a local audit also provides a valuable insight into
how children and young peoples themselves use their local spaces – an exercise that might identify
potential and actual conflict with adults.
90
Statement 46
“The local authority provides or supports a local play partnership
body made up of relevant partners in the statutory, voluntary &
private sectors.
“Local partners will need to work closely together to access local needs, set priority
for action, identify and pool relevant resources, plan services and decide how best
to commission and provide them. These arrangements will reaffirm local authorities’
traditional role in local leadership.”
Tessa Jowell MP (2005)
Some issues for discussion:
• Because the provision of play services involves such an eclectic band of providers, partnership
working is the only effective way of auditing, preparing strategy, and planning for action.
• Local play partnerships can wind up being very, very big bodies which needs careful and effective
methods of communicating so as to involve all concerned.
91
Statement 47
“The local authority provides a Play Officer of a sufficiently high
grade to administer the Play Strategy.”
“Play is a service area that cuts across many departmental boundaries: from early year’s
provision, to youth work, sports, community safety, countryside, planning and traffic to
name but a few. A local authority officer that is not employed at a sufficiently high enough
grade in the local authority structure will find it difficult to have much influence across such
a diverse range of departments.”
Marc Armitage, PLAYPEOPLE ~ taking play seriously
www.playpeople.se
Some issues for discussion:
• Many local authorities have employed an individual as a Play Development Officer, with some
having a long history of having such a post. These officers have generally being employed at quite a
low scale, principally because such a position rarely holds much in the way of budget and rarely any
capital budget.
• However, the role of a Play Officer in the local authority has taken on a new direction with the
adoption of Play Strategies and partnership working. The Play Officer is now more of a strategic
position, coordinating the delivery of the Play Strategy. In order to be able to do this effectively the
Play Officer needs to have the ability and the authority to move across departmental boundaries and
interact with high level offices within the council structure. The scale of the Play Officer must reflect
this, even where there is still no major capital budget directly associated with the pots.
• Those small numbers of universities that have been producing degree qualified individuals who are
specialists in providing for the play needs of school age children, especially open access play, have
managed to cope with the demand for such positions so far, but the demand is likely to increase in
the coming years. Care should be taken not to take the easy route and employ an individual without
that play specialist background. After all, if there is a problem with the plumbing at home we don’t call
an electrician to fix it.
92
Statement 48
“The local authority provides or supports a local Play Service.”
“Wirral has adopted the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child which sets
out a child’s basic needs – this includes the child’s right to play. Wirral recognises that
children need to play as well as having access to education and other services while they
are growing up and a play service seeks to enrich children’s lives through play provision.
This is what children and their local communities say they want.”
Steve Chan, Acting Deputy Head Youth & Community Service (Play),
Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council, www.wirral.gov.uk
Some issues for discussion:
• Although there are trained and competent people employed in positions that involve providing for
children’s play needs, such as teachers, social workers, and park rangers for example – playworkers
are specialists in providing play opportunities that are sympathetic to the way that children and
young people themselves say they want to spend their free time. A team of well trained and qualified
playworkers, whether employed by the local authority or not, are a vital part in the overall scheme of
providing for children’s play needs.
• Not all playworkers work in buildings: some work on adventure playgrounds, some in the streets and
green spaces around children’s homes, some on mobile play projects and others in schools, hospitals
and local prisons.
93
Statement 49
“The local authority provides or supports a local play network
organisation.”
“Play network organisations provide the local community and play providers with an
independent, expert body that can offer a necessarily robust challenge to the local
authority when questioning the quality of play services being delivered – giving a voice
to local children and their parents where they may not otherwise have the power to do
so. They also act as an umbrella organisation for other play providers, giving challenge,
support and promoting innovation.”
Frank O’Malley, Business coordinator, Leeds Play Network
www.leedsplaynetwork.org.uk
Some issues for discussion:
• The existence of a local play network organisation that can provide play providers, individual
playworkers, parents, and local authority officers with specialist advice and support is patchy around
the county. In some regions there are long established networks in all or nearly all local authority
areas, where in others there are few.
• Such organisations are almost always in the voluntary sector and they survive by a combination of
large and small grants plus in some cases core funding from their local authority. As voluntary sector
organisations they provide very good value for money but many struggle for funding on a year by year
basis.
• A local play network will prove an invaluable partner in any local play partnership and should be
seen by a local authority as an important link between the statutory provider and much of the face to
face work on the ground. Failure to financially support such an organisation is folly.
• In addition to the local play networks, there is a well established regional structure in the form of the
National Centres for Playwork Education and Training, part of the Playwork Unit in SkillsActive, the
Sector Skills Council for Active Learning and Leisure (www.playwork.org.uk); and a newly emerging
network of regional centres supporting the work of Play England, the organisation for children’s play
in England (www.playengland.org.uk).
• Scotland (www.playscotland.org), Wales (www.playwales.org.uk) and Northern Ireland (www.
playboard.org) also have national play organisations.
94
Statement 50
“Children & Young People have access to National Play Day events.”
“Playday is the biggest annual play celebration in the country. On Playday each year,
thousand of children take part in play celebrations across the UK. These events are
organised by local people, with support from the Children’s Play Council.”
National Play Day website, www.playday.org.uk
Some issues for discussion:
• National Play Day, coordinated by the Children’s Play Council (www.playday.org.uk) and held
usually on the first weekend in August each year, has become a well attended celebration of
children’s play. National, regional and local play organisations all get involved in special events for the
day which provides an ideal opportunity for publicity, information sharing (especially with children and
young people) and a chance to monitor local strategy and consult.
95
Statement 51
“Children & Young People are actively engaged in decision making,
planning, managing & monitoring policy, strategy & services, and
their views are taken seriously.”
“[The Audit Commission Play Strategy Performance Indicator LIB 115] … assess the
extent to which the development, adoption and implementation of a corporate play
policy has involved users and providers, is responsive to local and diverse needs and
demonstrates an understanding of the importance of play and the child’s right to play.”
Mayor of London (2004) Draft Guide to Preparing Play Strategies London: GLA
Some issues for discussion:
• The involvement of children and young people in preparing audits of play provision and decision
making and producing a Play Strategy should be seen as only a first step. Children and young people
should also have an opportunity to monitor the workings of those bodies that are established to
provide for their needs.
• Key service areas in local government have Scrutiny Committees whose remit is to critically assess
the way in which the local authority operates. The creation of a Children and Young People’s Scrutiny
Committee made up purely of children and young people who have the task of assessing the local
authority’s track record in providing for their needs would be a brave step for any local authority to
take, but a valuable one.
96
Statement 52
“The local authority produces a regular local ‘State of Children’s
Play Report.”
“Over the coming months and years, the [State of London’s Children] report – which
we plan to update regularly – will be an invaluable tool for London Government and our
partners involved in the ongoing implementation of my Children and Young peoples
Strategy.”
Ken Livingston, Mayor of London, in the forward to the 2004 State of London’s Children Report
www.london.gov.uk
Some issues for discussion:
• National Play Day, coordinated by the Children’s Play Council (www.playday.org.uk) and held
usually on the first weekend in August each year, has become a well attended celebration of
children’s play. National, regional and local play organisations all get involved in special events for the
day which provides an ideal opportunity for publicity, information sharing (especially with children and
young people) and a chance to monitor local strategy and consult.
97
Statement 53
“Children, Young People & play professionals are represented on
relative working groups & strategic bodies.”
“... play needs to be properly represented on all forums and groups where children are the
focus ... expert representation is not enough – children need to be involved.”
Play Link (2002) Play as Culture: incorporating play in cultural strategies,
www.playlink.org.uk
Some issues for discussion:
• Play specialist individuals and organisations can provide vital advice and support on play related
matters to local authorities in general and to local play partnerships and play strategy groups in
particular. Failure to involve such people may well result in poor choices and priorities being made
and value for money being called into question.
• However, the real experts in this topic are children and young people themselves. Without involving
them directly, taking what they say seriously, and acting upon it a local authority runs the risk of
paying lip service and not taking a lead by example.
98
Statement 54
“The local authority provides ‘child friendly’ updates and progress
towards completion of the Play Strategy.”
“Well, I read it, and I read, and I read it. But I didn’t get it.”
Ellie (aged 11), on having read a local authority Play Strategy Discussion Document.
Some issues for discussion:
• A document that cannot be read and understood can serve only one of two purposes:
a) It is intended to be useful but ultimately fails because its contents cannot be actioned or monitored,
or
b) It serves its purposes of making sure that no one could question its contents or monitor its progress
because it was deliberately written in such a way that it could not be understood.
99