Making Childhood Matter Why making space for play is the new challenge for child policy Adrian Voce,

1
Making Childhood MatterWhy making space for play
is the new challenge for child policyAdrian
Voce, DirectorPlay England
The Centre for the Study of the Child, the Family
and the Law. The Law School University of
Liverpool. 16 November 2006
2

• (Todays children) still need what developing
  humans have always needed, including real food
  and real play (as opposed to sedentary,
  screen-based entertainment) - first hand
  experience of the world they live in
• 100 academics, practitioners and writers
• Daily Telegraph, 12 September 2006

3

• I am firmly of the view that play is a
  necessity not a luxury
• David Lammy, Minister for Culture, Time for Play,
  DCMS, 2006

4

• after all, some of the children playing today
  may be our Olympic champions in 2012! ...
• David Lammy, Minister for Culture, Time for Play,
  DCMS, 2006

5

• I want a Britain where parents can let their
  children walk to school - or play in the park -
  without incessant worry.
• Charles Kennedy MP
• Leader
• Liberal Party Conference, September, 2005

6

• as children get older, they need to be able to
  exercise, they need to be able to roam (but) the
  average area within which a child in Britain
  roams freely now has shrunk in one generation to
  a ninth of what it used to be. We have just one
  acre of playgrounds for our children for every 80
  acres of golf courses.
• David Willetts MP
• Shadow Education Secretary
• Conservative Party Conference, October 2006

7
Barriers to Play

• Traffic
• Crime
• Fear of crime
• Pressures on childrens time
• Pressures on public space
• Changes in family life

8

• On average, there is 2.3 sq m of public play
  space for each child under 12 in the UK
• ... about the size of a kitchen table
• Childrens Play Council, 2004

9

• Local authorities spend on average 8p per child
  per week on playgrounds and 14p on out-of-school
  supervised play activities
• Making the Case for Play
• Childrens Play Council, 2002

10
Children Act, 2004

• New outcomes for coordinated Childrens Services
• Education, training and recreation.

11
Every child matters

• Be healthy
• Stay safe
• Enjoy and achieve
• Make a positive contribution
• Enjoy economic well-being

12

• My department and the DfES agree 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 across their area...
• Tessa Jowell, Secretary of State for Culture,
  Media and Sport,
• Community Care Magazine, 2005

13
Being healthy

• there is an obesity epidemic in young children
  (in the UK) ...the main solution is to reduce
  television viewing and promote playing ...
  opportunities for spontaneous play may be the
  only requirement that young children need to
  increase their physical activity
• William H Dietz, Director of Nutrition and
  Physical Activity,
• Centre of Disease Control and Prevention,
  Atlanta, GA
• (BMJ Vol. 332, February 2001)

14
(No Transcript)
15

• Unstructured play second only to PE in calorific
  intensity walking and playing provide children
  with more physical activity than most other
  activities
• Prof Roger Mackett, Making Childrens Lives More
  Active,
• Centre for Transport Studies,
• University College London, 2004

16

• children appear to have fewer opportunities for
  physical activity increasingly, evidence shows
  that children do not play out as much as they
  used to and that opportunities for free play are
  restricted.
• Choosing Health White Paper,2004

17

• Recent findings suggest that outdoor play makes
  a major contribution to childrens overall level
  of physical activity, including playing in the
  street. DCMS is considering how to take forward
  a strategic approach to play policy.
• Choosing Activity
• a physical activity action plan, 2005

18

• Barriers to outdoor play and recreation is a
  causative factor in rising mental health problems
  in children and young people.
• Bright Futures promoting young peoples mental
  health,
• Mental Health Foundation,2000

19
Staying safe

• Challenging play provision is essential to
  children being able to experience and learn how
  to manage risk and boundaries.
• Play Safety Forum Position Statement
• Managing Risk in Play Provision
• Endorsed by HSE, RoSPA, Child Accident Prevention
  Trust, NSPCC

20
Enjoying and Achieving

• Play
• engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation
  rather than a serious or practical purpose
  (verb)
• activity engaged in for enjoyment and
  recreation, especially by children (noun)
• Oxford English Dictionary

21
Have your say Consultation on a national
strategy for children and young people DfES,
2001-2
22
(No Transcript)
23
(No Transcript)
24
Top Priorities Primary School Children
25
Top Two Priorities Primary School Children
26
What would you do if you were Minister for a
Day? Secondary School Children
27
Summary 1
28
Summary 2
29

• The outcomes which children and young people
  tell us matter most to them
• Every Child Matters, green paper,
• DfES 2003

30
Enjoying and Achieving?

• Since 1997 the proportion of 11 year olds
  achieving the expected level in English and
  maths...
• In 2002 over 51 percent of 15 year olds gained
  at least five GCSEs at grades A- C...
• Unauthorised absence has remained constant since
  1995/96 at 0.7 percent of half days missed...
• Etc., etc

Every Child Matters, green paper, DfES 2003
31
Making a positive contribution

• Place-making (i.e. improving the liveability of
  public space through design and maintenance) is
  amore effective solution to ASB than simply
  increasing security measures
• CABE Space, 2003

32
Making a positive contribution

• Case Study
• The Childrens Fund in Tower Hamlets was
  inspected by Ofsted which reported the Youth
  Justice Board had noted a marked decrease in
  youth offending over the period of the review
  against the pre-Childrens Fund benchmarks. A
  major part of the programme was the Community
  Play Project
• Ofsted, 2004

33
Economic Well-being

• Access to green and open spaces offering
  opportunities for free play are quality of life
  indicators with compensatory economic value for
  children and young people living with social or
  economic disadvantage
• State of Londons Children Report,
• Mayor of London, 2004

34
Economic Well-being

• National Childcare Strategy a major plank of
  the governments policy to reduce child poverty

35
Economic Well-being

• In the new global economy and the borderless
  information age, hierarchical structures and ways
  of working will be increasingly ineffective. A
  competitive economy will depend more and more
  upon lateral thinking and emotional intelligence,
  qualities that research demonstrates are most
  finely developed through free play.
• Helen Goodman MP
• Chair, All Party Parliamentary Group on Play
• Childrens Play Council national conference, 2005

36
Joint Area Review - Key judgments

• All children and young people can access a range
  of recreational activities, including play and
  voluntary learning provision.
• There are safe and accessible places where
  children and young people can play and socialise.
  

37
Planning Policy Guidance

• Open spaces, sports and recreational facilities
  have a vital role to play in promoting healthy
  living and preventing illness, and in the social
  development of children of all ages through play,
  sporting activities and interaction with others.
• Planning Policy Guidance 17, ODPM, 2002

38
Planning Policy Guidance
Local authorities should use the information
gained from their assessments of needs and
opportunities to set locally derived standards
for the provision of open space, sports and
recreational facilities. PPG 17
39
(No Transcript)
40
Challenges to the sector

• The play sector must work with local
  authorities to make sure it takes full advantage
  of its new structure and of the opportunities
  offered
• Big Lottery Fund initiative
• Children and Young Peoples Plans
• Local Area Agreements
• Extended schools
• Local youth offers.
• Time for Play
• Encouraging greater play opportunities
• for children and young people
• (DCMS, 2006)

41
155m for England
10 for regional infrastructure
10 for innovation fund
80 allocated to all second tier and
unitary local authority areas
42
Childrens Play programme

• What children and young people do when they
  follow their own ideas and interests in their own
  way and for their own reasons.
• Free of charge
• Freedom of choice
• Free to come and go

43
Enabling local partners to develop effective play
strategiesAdrian Voce, director, Play England
the Childrens Play Council
44
The Play England project

• Regional support and development
• Strategic enabling
• Policy and research
• Good practice development and dissemination
• Campaigning and awareness raising
• Creating a long term structure

45
Aims

• Recognition and awareness
• For the vital importance of play for all children
  to be widely recognised and considered by policy
  makers, opinion formers and the public
• Policies and strategies
• For all government policies affecting the use of
  public space and the provision of public services
  to reflect this importance
• Quality provision and space
• For play provision of all kinds, including public
  space, to reflect play principles, standards and
  good practice and those for inclusion, diversity
  and equalities

46
(No Transcript)
47

• all children need regular access to the space
  and opportunity to run, climb, skip, hide, play
  with ropes

48

• jump, practise cartwheels, throw and kick
  balls, make friends, fall out, build fires, grow
  things, tell stories, climb trees, take risks,
  get wet, explore nature

49

• build dens, get dirty, dress up, pretend, keep
  animals, dig holes, swing on tyres, shout, fight,
  invent games, make things, paint pictures, talk
  with their friends

50
or just sit. Planning for Play, Childrens
Play Council/Big Lottery Fund, 2006 (After Guide
to Preparing Play Strategies, Mayor of London,
2005)
51
Open and green space
Supervised services
Children play in
Streets and housing
Whos responsible?
52
Links with

• Every Child Matters Joint Area Reviews
• Childrens centres and extended schools
• Local Strategic Partnerships LAAs
• Sustainable community plans
• Open space strategies
• Youth Matters
• Childrens Fund
• Housing, transport, regeneration

53

• National Government will continue to do all it
  can to support play.
• David Lammy, Minister for Culture
• Time for Play
• DCMS, 2006

54
The challenge for government

• Children and young peoples plans
• Local area agreements
• Planning Policy
• Transport Policy
• Physical activity strategy
• Extended schools
• Local youth offers

55
(No Transcript)