Play
www.educationbusinessuk.net – THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR EDUCATION
Written by Mark Hardy, chair, Association of Play Industries
OUTDOOR FACILITIES
Are you making the most of your outside space? Stepping outside of the classroom door carries an abundance of opportunities to enhance pupil learning and development, says Mark Hardy of the Association of Play Industries If you thought the best classrooms have four walls and a roof, think again. Getting children out of their chairs and into the fresh air brings a host of benefits. Children look at the world with fresh eyes when outdoors. You don’t need to travel far – stepping out into your school grounds can open up a world of exciting new learning experiences. A large outside space is every head teacher’s dream, but for many schools, this simply isn’t possible. Having a small outside space needn’t limit opportunities for children to play, learn and be active. With expert planning and creative design skills, an accredited member company of the Association of Play Industries (API) will transform an unloved, unused spot into a hub for outdoor learning. Improving your outside space can be a significant investment so you want to be sure the company you choose knows what it’s doing, has the experience and expertise to provide a solution that meets your objectives and budget, knows schools inside out and will be in business way beyond the completion of your project.
spaces to get children moving during lesson time, break and lunch times, before and after school, and for extra-curricular activities, as well as during sport and PE. It’s not just physical literacy levels that will improve. Schools report improvements in behaviour and well-being too. Next, school is the only safe place for some children to play. For children in deprived communities, school may provide the only safe outdoor place to play and be physically active. Additionally, there’s government funding to improve school sport and PE provision. The Primary PE and Sport Premium is designed to help schools improve the quality of sport, PE and active play they offer, and to maintain those improvements. Outdoor play equipment promoting
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REASONS FOR PLAY If you need persuading that improving or updating your school’s outdoor facilities is a good idea, here are five good reasons. Firstly, children of all ages learn through play. Learning through play is a Trojan Horse for all the learning experiences that will follow in a child’s school life. Without even realising, children develop knowledge, skills and lessons for life, from confidence and endurance to communication and leadership. Providing time, space, opportunity and a positive attitude to play benefits children of all ages and abilities. Secondly, physical activity boosts concentration, learning behaviour and mood. Children have natural energy and enthusiasm so make the most of it by building physical activity into the whole school day. Use your playground and outside
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physical activity and movement skills is eligible for this funding. Finally, open your facilities outside of school hours. Many communities lack high-quality facilities for sport and physical activity. Opening your facilities to clubs and the local community outside the school day raises the school’s profile and could generate an additional income stream. Every year, hundreds of schools choose API member companies to help them improve their outdoor facilities. Recently, we asked our members what their school customers had to say about the benefits of improving their outdoor facilities. They said that schools want to help children be as active as possible – the top three objectives for school customers to improve their outdoor facilities are to increase opportunities for active outdoor play (85.7 per cent), physical activity (68.5 per cent) and outdoor learning (62.8 per cent). Children also move more when schools improve their outside space – 68.5 per cent said schools report an increase in children’s physical activity following outdoor improvements. Behaviour and classroom learning improve too – 45.7 per cent said schools report better behaviour and 28.5 per cent report more positive attitudes to learning as a result. On top of this, enquiries from schools are increasing – over a third (34.2 per cent) say increasing numbers of schools are getting in touch for advice on how to make more of their outside space. Schools have big ambitions for their outside spaces – 75.7 per cent report that schools want major improvements or complete makeovers of playgrounds and outside spaces. ADVICE FOR SCHOOLS For schools wanting to make outdoor improvements, it can be difficult to know