Planning better playtimes

Climbing trees, building dens, looking after chickens and the freedom to choose between these and many other activities is behind better behaviour and learning at Beacon Rise Primary, says Michael Follett...

I was being shown round the grounds of Beacon Rise Primary by Katie, the school’s playworker, when we passed the water play area. There were a few children constructing a long run of pipes and guttering, discussing how to improve the design to lose less water. I expressed surprise that there were not more children involved in the water play, but Katie pointed out that since pupils knew the equipment would be out every day, and because there were so many other activities on offer, it was no longer such a big deal. “Sometimes it’s really popular and other days no one uses it, which is fine,” she explained. During my six years as play adviser within the South Gloucestershire Learning and School Effectiveness Team, I developed OPAL: a programme of mentored support, training and resources – culminating in a quality mark – to support school improvement through play. I was at Beacon Rise, situated on the north edge of Bristol, at the invitation of headteacher, Chris Thomas, to carry out an OPAL awards audit.

As we continued to tour the grounds, Katie – who is employed to lead on all aspects of planning, resourcing and improving play at the school – displayed an enthusiasm for the role that I found infectious. Since I was there to do an awards audit, she was keen to reassure me that the resources were not just on display for my sake, but always available to the 400 pupils.

In the lower playground, we passed the games and dressing up areas. Here there were blankets laid out under sheltered spots with a great variety of toys, games, clothes and equipment. Katie explained they put all of the resources out every day so that children, rather than adults, are the ones making choices about how play develops.

Taking risks

Walking past a group of children constructing a den out of blankets and cardboard boxes, a girl asked if I had seen the chickens yet. Katie explained we were on the way there, but before we got to the chickens we passed an area of trees festooned with ropes, hammocks, cushions and children. The trees were marked with bands of different coloured tape and I was told this was colour coding for how high KS1 and KS2 children were allowed to climb. Katie said these rules were no longer strictly followed, but had been useful as part of the process of introducing tree climbing after many years of prohibition.

Developing play at the school involved changing the way in which the team of supervisors saw themselves. To this end, they all received training in playwork and were reassured by conversations about risk. “During training, the supervisors learned they would not be sued,” Katie told me. “We wanted them to understand that what happens at playtime is part of a school plan, which is guided by a policy that the local authority supports.” Along the hedgerow was a space where the grounds maintenance team dumped all of the clippings and logs, to which additional tarps, ropes, tyres and scrap had been added to create a messy den area. It reminded me of the kind of play provision I had seen on a visit to schools in Sweden; messy, cheap and based on the values of trust and independence.

Finally we arrived at the chickens. Looking after the hens was, Katie told me, one of the most prized activities and just about the only thing that had to be organised by an adult, so that the chickens didn’t get totally overwhelmed by the number of carers. Children cleaned out the pens, collected eggs and were allowed to stroke the birds. Some had recently been lost to foxes, but they had been replaced and it was chalked up as another learning experience.

The highlight at the end of the tour was the play landscape, sculpted from the sloping hillside and landscaped for play by Green Play Project. It includes teepee frames for den making, a raised house, a large hill with a sand pit at the top, twin tunnels, willow planting, wild-flowers, bamboo jungle, boulders, logs, ropes, netting, networks of paths, plants and a wooden platform. Children had taken scrap from the large amount available and built their own structures within the teepee frames and were using bits and pieces as props in all kinds of imaginative games that ranged all over the landscape.

Beyond better behaviour

When we went inside, I had a chance to talk to Chris, the
headteacher, in more depth about the impact of this style of play on the school. “Behaviour – no doubt,” was his immediate reply. “When I started here, every playtime and lunchtime was spent dealing with the behaviour issues of an endless stream of children outside of my door.

Now I have my lunch in peace, before taking a walk around the grounds to chat with children who are playing happily. I think we are nearly at the stage now where there is enough on offer for everyone to find things that they want to do. But we are not stopping here. We will continue to make it even better.”

I believe the benefits Chris noticed were due to much more profound changes than fuller occupation of the children. I think children at Beacon Rise are starting to experience some of the deeper benefits of play: they are increasing their ability to problem solve and negotiate; they are becoming more able to initiate and sustain activity themselves; they are more resilient when things go wrong; and they are able to explore the complex relationships between their inner lives and their social and physical worlds. I was delighted to hear the school’s recent Ofsted inspection had resulted in a similar conclusion. The inspectors acknowledged that Beacon Rise’s excellent play opportunities supported good learning behaviours, and this in turn contributed to its ‘outstanding’ judgement. I was also happy to present the school with a Platinum OPAL Award – the highest level possible.

Ofsted’s change in language regarding behaviour and play was also significant for Chris. “In the past, they would have talked about quiet, well-behaved, compliant children,” he said. “When the inspector was here, we had a child hit in the face with a football and all of the usual bumps, scrapes and fallings-out. But they were far more interested in how we foster behaviours that support good learning – isn’t that what play is all about?”

OPAL’S TOP FIVE PLAY TIPS…

1 Junk is best - children like lots and lots of simple, open ended resources to play with
2 Play is not just for early years - all children love to play in a stimulating environment
3 Be consistent - make sure adults are giving the same messages to children
4 Play supervisors’ main role can be to make good things happen; not just stopping bad ones 5Download the new ‘statement on managing risk in play and leisure’ from the Health and Safety Exec website (h e.gov.uk) and use it to introduce risk/ benefit instead of risk elimination.