Bath & North East Somerset Play Policy
The United Nations Convention On The Rights Of The Child
Article 31 states 'Parties recognise the right of the child to
rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities
appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in
cultural life and the arts.'
Ratified by the UK Government,
1991
Rationale for a Play Policy
There are many advantages for Bath & North East Somerset
Council in having a functioning play policy they are:
- consistency of principles - a play policy
identifies an agreed set of principles and definitions about play
and its value for children's well-being and development.
- focus on children - a play policy provides the
context in which the focus can be shifted from existing
institutions and practice to the needs of children, creating the
possibility of change, innovation and long term development.
- transparency - a play policy clarifies the
purposes of provision for providers, service users, funders and
regulators.
- local commitment - the process of creating a
policy unlocks local interest and energy and creates commitment to
services; children, parents and local communities get
involved.
- a necessary first step - a play policy is the
essential prerequisite for identifying service objectives and
planning strategies.
- a basis for quality - quality has no meaning
unless it is related to the specified purposes of the services and
provision; the purposes are themselves justified in the terms of
the policy.
- a foundation for safety practice - without the
framework of a policy, and practice which is derived from it,
providers will have difficulty in determining what is appropriate
safety practice and in demonstrating that they have acted
reasonably where negligence becomes an issue.
- a framework for the allocation of resources -
a play policy provides the rationale for an allocation of resources
which can be explained and justified both in relation to competing
claims from other services and to the public. Children
benefit from expenditure being more accurately targeted on their
needs and wishes.
- consistency between training and practice -
the commitment to common principles specified in the play policy
provides the link between service and practice development locally
and the national standards for playwork education and training and
the professional development of playworkers.
Part 1 Play Policy
This policy sets out Bath & North East Somerset's
understanding of play and confirms its commitment to ensuring that
quality play environments are available to all its
children. The policy is underpinned by the principles
outlined in the Council's statement of vision and values and its
equality policies.
The play policy document aims to be a practical working
tool, to be referred to whenever decisions about play need to be
made. It is therefore applicable to all forms of
children's services whose objectives include the provision of play
opportunities. These include, for example, after-school
clubs, nurseries, playgroups, holiday play schemes, non-supervised
fixed-equipment playgrounds, schools (in breaktime), play centres
and adventure playgrounds.
It is recognised that a significant number of Council services
have an impact on children's play. Therefore, although the
process of play policy development was initiated by Youth and
Community Services, this policy is intended to be corporate policy,
'owned' and implemented across Council services. More
detailed reference to this aspect is made in the
attached Play Strategy document. Areas covered in the
document include:
- Understanding Play
- Play: Learning What Cannot Be Taught
- Play And Culture
- The General Environment And Children
- Changing The Balance: A Council For Children And Adults
Alike
- The Need For Play Provision
- Values And Principles
- What We Mean By 'All' Children: Overview
- What We Mean By 'All' Children: Bath and North East
Somerset
- What We Mean By 'All' Children: Disabled Children
- Quality Play Provision And Questions Of 'Safety'
- 'Unacceptable Risk
- Risk Assessment
- Elements Of A Rich Play Environment: Criteria For Making
Judgements About Play Provision
- Staffed Provision
- The Children Act
- Consultation: With Parents; With Children
- Age Limits
- Practical Considerations: Extending Play
Opportunities
Part 2 Examples of Play Provision: Scope and
Limitations
Introduction
This section will give some examples of
children's services. The extent to which these services are
able to offer a rich play environment to children will be
determined by the service objectives of the provision and the
extent to which the criteria detailed in Section One are
met.
1. Staffed Adventure
Playgrounds
Adventure playgrounds are specifically
designed to provide the widest possible range of play opportunities
for children. Though this form of provision may incidentally
meet adult requirements, it is first and foremost play provision
for the child. Staffed adventure playgrounds are a form
of open access provision; that is, children are able to come and go
freely.
Adventure playground service objectives
are directed towards meeting the full range of play criteria.
The child's ability to control and freedom of choice are the
characteristic values of an adventure playground.
Bath and North East Somerset has no
adventure playgrounds.
2. Non-Staffed, Fixed
Equipment Playgrounds
Examples of this form of provision are
Alexandra Park and Greenacres Park.
Non-staffed, fixed equipment play
provision represents a special case in that its primary service
objective is the provision of play opportunities; yet the range of
experiences on offer is often limited by the nature of the
equipment and on occasion by site location. Children,
however, do attempt to adapt playstructures and surrounding areas
to meet their play needs.
The Council wants to ensure that these
valuable spaces provide the best possible environment for
children's play.
3. Activity Centres
Activity weeks with a theme: for example
sports or crafts. Activities take place in, for example,
Sports Centres.
4. Play Centres
Purpose built play centres aimed at
pre-school and primary school age children. They often offer
soft play equipment and ball ponds for a relatively low risk but
physical play experience.
5. Holiday Play Schemes Or
Holiday Clubs
Open access
Children are the primary clients and are
able to come and go freely. The schemes take place in a
variety of settings: for example, village halls, youth centres,
school grounds, council playing fields. Provided mainly by
the voluntary sector.
Closed access
Children are booked places by their
parents or carers and are not able to come and go freely.
Venues similar to open access play schemes.
6. Out Of School
Clubs.
To provide child care for parents who are
working, training or in education.
The nature of the service requires it to
be responsive to parents/carers demands, which may include ensuring
that children: participate in programmed activities; do homework;
take meals at set times. After-school clubs will often be
located in non play specific premises and sites, offering limited
or no access to the outside environment; and where such access is
available the capacity to 'manipulate' features within the
environment may be constrained either because it is subject to
joint use or because of its inherent lack of malleability.
7.
Schools
Service objectives: the transfer of
approved and predetermined knowledge and skills to children in a
structured and timetabled setting. Met by: children's
compulsory attendance at school.
Schools are traditionally organised to
allow for a breaktime the purpose of which is to offer teachers a
rest period and children a break from the curriculum-driven
regime. Schools are increasingly becoming interested in
extending the possibilities for play within the breaktime
period.
Schools are unlikely to be able to meet
fully the play criteria - their primary service objective is
legitimately directed towards delivering a formal education
curriculum. Nevertheless, recent work by PLAYLINK (Play at
School Scheme) has demonstrated that children's play opportunities,
and indeed learning generally, can be considerably enhanced as the
result of creating quality playtimes.
8. Nurseries, Nursery,
Infant & Reception Classes, Playgroups
Play in these settings is particularly
valued. It is understood as a vehicle for learning and
therefore seen as an integral part of the child's
day.
Part 3 Infrastructure
Community Safety
Bath & North East Somerset recognise
that it must take account of the community safety dimension in
developing and implementing a play policy. The Council undertakes
to fulfil the mandatory duty imposed by the Crime and Disorder Act
1998:
'to exercise its various functions with
due regard to the likely effect those functions on crime and
disorder and to do all that is reasonably can to prevent crime and
disorder in its area'
In order to give full consideration to
community safety issues, the Council recognises the necessary
involvement of other agencies from the public, private and
voluntary sector, and the wider community.
Training, Management & Maintenance
Bath & North East Somerset recognise
that appropriate management structures, review and evaluation
systems, and training opportunities need to be developed in order
to ensure that the objectives of this play policy are met. These
will now be reviewed in the light of this play policy.
Bath & North East Somerset welcome the
involvement of individuals who give of their time freely in support
of projects. The Council recognises, however, that the term
'volunteer' encompasses the distinctive contribution made by
individuals performing a wide range of functions and accepting
different levels of responsibility, from Trusteeship through to
providing day-to-day assistance to a project.
