Our News Category: Play news

The skills needed to face a rapidly changing future are exactly those which are developed through freely chosen, self directed play, demonstrates a new report from the Children’s Alliance.

As AI begins to transform life as we know it and the pace of change accelerates to a degree which is unprecedented, the skills needed to face an uncertain future are creativity, adaptability and flexibility of mind. These are all developed through freely chosen, self directed play – and as such, play must be prioritised by policy makers. This is the chief premise of a new report from the Children’s Alliance which sets out the evidence to support this view, and makes ten policy recommendations that would give play the prominence it requires.

They are:

• Recognise play as a fundamental right: Uphold children’s right to play in diverse settings prioritising free, unstructured play.
• Integrate play into educational policies
• Invest in play provision
• Prioritise play through cross-sector collaboration
• Prioritise lifelong learning and o er coordinated and dedicated training programs for sta working in schools, early years settings, family hubs, and children’s centres
• Promote parental engagement in play
• Update policies to reflect changing needs
• Address disparities in play opportunities
• Support children facing adversity
• Support children’s community initiatives

The Power of Play, Building a Creative Britain, can be accessed here.

A petition calling on the government to prioritise play as an integral part of child development is here

Removing ‘No Ball Games’ signs across the capital is one of the challenges for the next Mayor of London to be included in a manifesto from London Sport.

The London boroughs of Bexley, Hillingdon and Richmond are among the ten local authorities that have slashed their play budgets the most over the past five years, according to a report commissioned by play equipment manufacturer, ESP Play.

The Play Gap report reveals that Bexley had cut spending on play by  a whopping 74 per cent; while Hillingdon slashed revenue spending by 62 per cent and Richmond by 52 per cent.

On crunching the numbers further London Play found that spending on play per head of population (adults and children) is now just 17p in Bexley,

The report also reveals that average spending per region varies wildly. The highest spending local authorities are in Yorkshire & Humberside, where they  invest an average of £671,643 in play; while in the North East it is less than £98,000 per council. At £391,166, London boroughs’ average play spend is somewhere in the middle.

Some 146 of 187 councils across England responded to the Freedom of Information request about changes to spending on maintenance, improvement or development of children’s playgrounds since 2018/19.

Helen Dodd, Professor of Child Psychology at the University of Exeter and Trustee of Play England says in the foreword to the report:

“National data for school-aged children living in Britain showed that, away from home, children play most at playgrounds and in green space. This means that good quality playgrounds form an important part of children’s play opportunity and experience. Playgrounds ideally should be designed to appeal to a wide range of children and have open-ended play opportunities that allow children to be creative about how they interact with the facilities.”

Managing director of ESP Play Andrew Wood said:

“Our mission is a call to action for policymakers and communities to prioritise children’s wellbeing. By fostering partnerships and collective efforts, we can redefine the landscape of play, ensuring every child has the opportunity to thrive.”

You can read the full report here

MP Kim Leadbeater has backed the launch of A Plan for Play, a report calling for political, business and community leaders to ensure that every child in every place can play, every day.

Launching the report at the House of Commons this week, Kim Leadbeater MP said that play is so important, it needs to be “built into every aspect of children’s lives”: at home and at school, in parks and adventure playgrounds and other free spaces; in libraries and in museums.

The Children’s Alliance report makes essential reading for play advocates, linking to a wealth of recent research and resources attesting to the value of play for children and for society as a whole. It also features a case study on Bradford’s Big Swing Adventure Playground, outlining the approach to building a sustainable model for adventure play to survive and thrive.

The report notes that unlike in Wales and Scotland, play “is not acknowledged in any meaningful way by the UK government. Play is determinedly ‘outside the curriculum and there is no legal requirement to provide sufficient time, outdoor space or management knowledge to facilitate it.” It goes on to point out that “Play meets policy objectives on physical health, mental health, activity levels and resilience,” highlighting that in recent years Sport England’s annual Active Lives survey of primary age school children has consistently revealed that ‘active play’ is their most preferred activity, ahead of team sports, cycling, dance or any other classification of activity.

It outlines a series of recommendations for political and other leaders including that ring fenced government funding is made available to local authorities to ensure that every child has access to a local, safe, high-quality playground; that play is included as a Protected Characteristic within the terms of the Equalities Act to recognise its fundamental contribution to the development of human beings; and that Plans for Play in schools become part of Ofsted inspections.

Access the report here and read a Guardian article about the report here.

Play England has set out its manifesto on play for the next government, calling for play sufficiency legislation to be introduced in England.

The national organisation for play is one of 29 mostly sports-focused organisations to set out its manifesto in a document coordinated by the Sports Think Tank.

Describing it as a ‘no-cost policy’ Play England asks for the introduction of statutory guidance that local authorities must follow, in order to comply with a duty to assess for and secure sufficient play and recreation opportunities and to conduct regular play sufficiency reports. It states that the sufficient duty should not relate just to spaces and places for play, but also cover the play workforce and play services.

In the foreword, MP Kim Leadbetter explains that contributors had been asked to put forward policy solutions that were ‘cost neutral’.

London Play director Fiona Sutherland endorsed the Play England call for a sufficiency duty for play to be imposed on local authorities in England. However, she warned:

“Local authority budgets have already been cut to the bone and this is one of the main reasons that playgrounds and play services across the country are suffering near-terminal decline. The introduction of  play sufficiency legislation must be accompanied by ring-fenced funding for play, to make it a realistic prospect for local authorities to fulfil such a duty.”

The full context and detail of  Play England’s manifesto ask can be found here; Play England – Play Sufficency – Manifesto Ask

The Mayor of Barnet has opened a new inclusive and accessible playground at Victoria Recreation Ground in East Barnet enabling people of all ages and abilities to play together.

The Fair Play playground directly addresses the challenges faced by the disability community and empowers disabled and non-disabled people of all ages to play together without exclusion or bias. Local residents with disabilities, parents, carers and accessibility experts have been involved in shaping the project from the outset, putting the disability community at the heart of its design.

There are one million disabled children in the UK. But research from Scope has shown that half (49%) of parents with disabled children say there are accessibility issues at their local playground, and more than one in ten families living with disability (13%) were unable to enjoy the playground because their children were not able to play together.

Cllr Nagus Narenthira, the Worshipful Mayor of Barnet, said: “I am honoured to be able to open the Fair Play inclusive playground today. It’s wonderful to see so many people of all ages and abilities being able to play together. We are fortunate in Barnet to have had such a wonderful team of fundraisers to help achieve this and I hope this is a model that we can see more of in future.”

Deborah Gundle, co-founder of Fair Play, said: “As a mother with a disabled son, I know how difficult it is for families like ours to be able to play together. A lot of hard work has gone into this project, and seeing the equipment being used by disabled and non-disabled children side-by-side is incredibly rewarding. I’d love for every playground to allow people of all ages and abilities to play in this way and we hope Fair Play will act as the blueprint for new playgrounds up and down the country.

“Inclusive play will reduce stigma through positive experiences in a society where social integration and physical fitness are important to all of us.”

As a mother of three, Nathalie has always valued the importance of play for physical, social, cognitive and emotional development, and believes playgrounds are a space where there should be no exclusion.

Nathalie Esfandi, co-founder of Fair Play, said: “Playgrounds should be wholly accessible and inclusive, allowing those with learning and physical disabilities to play alongside their siblings and friends. Local governments across the country should take note of this, providing community spaces that serve all ages and abilities.”

The half a million pound playground has been paid for through independent funding and donations, including £100,000 coming from Barnet Council. In addition, the Council launched a public consultation to ensure it meets the needs of local residents.

Solid safety surfacing across the whole play area ensures it is wheelchair accessible, and the picnic area allows wheelchair users and non-wheelchair users to sit together. There are also communication boards for non-verbal people to use, along with a textured path surface to support visually impaired users to navigate and only one entrance and exit to ensure users won’t leave without their carer’s knowledge.

More than 82,000 children living in temporary accommodation in London risk losing their ability to play – blocking their development and storing up “catastrophic” problems for them in later life, leading experts have told the i newspaper.

Research by University College London has explored the challenges that families living in temporary accommodation face, particularly in regards to ensuring time, resources and space for their children to play. It found that children living in temporary, local authority housing are being prevented from playing because many live in cramped conditions, with strict visitor policies that don’t allow friends over. As a result, tens of thousands of children are seeing their physical and psychological development suffer, with charities reporting cases of “toddlers that haven’t learnt to walk yet because their living space is too small to naturally learn to walk”.

England’s long-running housing crisis has recently accelerated into a new and damaging phase, compounded by rising costs of living. Social safety nets are straining to match the growing need for affordable, decent accommodation. The consequences of this crisis risk hampering the development of an entire generation. At present,
there are over 130,000 children living in English temporary housing – most of them in London.

The article in i features the plight of one single mother, living in temporary accommodation with her seven-month-old child, said: “There’s no room: I don’t have my own bedroom and neither does she. I think it will affect her development because she’s at the age now where she wants to get up, stand up, and crawl around and there’s no space for her to do that. And it will only get worse as she gets older. She hasn’t crawled yet, but my worry is when she does crawl, how do I baby-proof this?”

People living in temporary, or emergency, accommodation often suffer from depression and anxiety, as well as feelings of guilt, isolation, unhappiness and a loss of “agency” – control over their actions and their consequences – all of which make play even harder.

“The crisis in temporary housing means most children have no space to play . This is a ticking time bomb that can have a direct impact on a child’s social interaction, physical development and mental health,” Professor Monica Lakhanpaul, of UCL, told i.

“From the data gathered, it is clear that there is yet immense work to be done to tackle the problem of play in temporary accommodation,” added UCL researcher Lorenzo Dall’Omo.

He wants to see existing spaces in temporary housing made more suitable for play, making local play facilities more accessible to children and putting play at the core of the way the accommodation is managed.

For more on this article click here to go to the i website

Or for the report from the Reach Alliance, which  responsible for producing the research click below.

Proximity to accessible greenspaces increases local social cohesion, according to a four city European study involving over 1,300 people.

As inflation halts housebuilding projects the Guardian has highlighted the issue of play spaces being sacrificed and abandoned when developments go wrong

Families in south London say their children have stopped playing outside after communal spaces and playgrounds were ripped out to make room for new homes and then left boarded up when Southwark council ran out of money.

The council began tearing down large parts of the Bells Gardens and Lindley estates in Peckham last August but abandoned the build in January due to a funding crisis driven by rising interest rates. All that remains of the previous play area is a small pitch surrounded by hoardings and out of sight of the flats.

Experts warn the boarded-up area – which locals say is an “abomination” – illustrates a crisis in how social housing is funded as well as an urgent need for better laws to protect children’s play spaces.

Helen Dennis, a councillor and cabinet member for new homes and sustainable development, told the Guardian the council was being hit by mounting costs. “Increased inflation, significantly higher building costs and interest rates following the government’s mini-budget a year ago have meant that councils across the country have had to change plans.

“The residents of Bells Gardens worked so passionately with us to plan what was to happen on the estate. It’s incredibly disappointing. We will provide a playground and we are working as quickly as possible to get things moving again.”

More on this article is here.

The  Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has invested £1.4m from London’s Violence Reduction Unit in a partnership with UNICEF UK that will provide child rights resources and training to support inclusive practice, learner voice and engagement for all state-funded school and education settings in London for the next four years.

London’s Inclusion Charter  is a partnership between young people, schools and local authorities to help tackle rising suspensions and absenteeism that has led to thousands of children losing out on learning – and becoming at greater risk of exposure to violence.

Figures show that the equivalent of 1,430 children each day lost learning in London in 2021/22 due to suspension or persistent absenteeism – up 71 per cent on pre-pandemic levels in 2018/19. Since 2018/19, suspensions in London have increased by 14 per cent, while persistent absenteeism has grown 106 per cent. There is a correlation between children with a history of suspension or exclusion from school and violence.

The first city-wide charter of its type, it has been developed by the Mayor of London’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) in partnership with young people, schools, parents and carers and education specialists. It will entitle all educations settings in London free access to UNICEF UK’s Rights Respecting Schools Award programme for the next four years.   Participating schools will gain recognition for putting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into practice within the school and beyond.

There are already 18 boroughs signed up to the principles of the Charter, including Barking & Dagenham, Brent, Camden, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith & Fulham, Haringey, Hounslow, Islington, Lambeth, Newham, Southwark, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth and Westminster.  The Mayor is today calling for all schools and local authorities to sign up to the principles of the Charter and take up the free offer of support.

Research commissioned by the VRU, and published by the University of Bath  captured the views of nearly 4,000 school children, parents and educators. It found that two-thirds of primary school children and more than half of secondary-aged young people felt that having school rules that were fair would help them feel safe, while 67 per cent of primary students felt not being listened to impact their sense of belonging. Being safe and belonging are both crucial factors in attendance in education.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I firmly believe in the importance of education and being in school to keep young people safe and to help them develop and grow.

“We are seeing suspensions and absenteeism rise both in London and the rest of the country. The equivalent of more than 1,400 children are losing out on education each day in London alone. That can’t be right. We also know there is a correlation between school exclusions and violence.

“It’s why we are launching London’s Inclusion Charter – the first of its type city-wide. My Violence Reduction Unit has led the way, working in partnership with young people, local authorities and schools to develop a Charter that prioritises education in our city that is fully inclusive, fair and available to all.

“Of course, this approach requires investment and that’s why we’re investing £1.4m in a partnership with UNICEF UK to provide further training and resources to support our hardworking teachers to embed inclusion which we know keeps young people in school, safe and able to thrive.”

More is here.