Welcome to our presentation

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Welcome to our presentation
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PROMOTING POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS AND SOCIAL
INCLUSION IN THE PLAYGROUND

• By Trish Bradfield
• and
• Diane Maddock

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Building positive relationships with children.

• If you succeed in developing positive
  relationships with the children, you are more
  likely to manage their behaviour constructively.

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How do you build a positive relationship with the
children?

• List a number of ways you already develop
  positive relationships with the children you work
  with.
• Can you list at least five ways?

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Did you get any of these?

• Learning their names.
• Being child-centered.
• Offering praise and showing children that you
  have confidence in them.
• Appearing and sounding positive.
• Listening.
• Responding sensitively to what you hear.
• Being consistent, firm and fair.
• Being a positive role model.

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Becoming child-centered. Think of a particular
age group of children that you work with and try
to answer the following questions.

• Can you remember being this age?
• What do these children find interesting?
• What sort of ideas and communication can they
  understand?
• What do they find amusing?
• What worries them?
• What matters to them?
• How do these children get on with their
  classmates?
• How different are the boys and the girls?
• How do children of this age cope with children
  who are from other cultures?

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Encouraging positive behaviour in the playground.

• After a structured morning in the classroom,
  young children appear to be programmed to run,
  shout, climb (anything there is to be climbed
  including the spiked fence), splash in puddles,
  kick anything that can be kicked, and throw
  objects no matter what the shape or size. You
  will often be required to stop them doing what
  they particularly enjoy and in this the seeds of
  conflict can be sown.

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Zoning the Playing Area.

• School grounds usually consist of a combination
  of surfaces such as grass and tarmac, and in some
  cases the addition of a soft surface.
• Poor design of the environment or simply lack of
  space can be alleviated by zoning areas.
• Research suggests that the strict segregation by
  age may remove the need to nurture smaller
  children and indeed, increase the degree of
  aggressive play amongst older children.

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• Another benefit of mixed age play is the positive
  passing-on of games and skills to younger
  children.
• The decision to zone the playground in an age
  related way or not is entirely a decision to be
  made by the school in the light of their
  childrens attitudes and their level of social
  integration.
• Regardless of the schools organisation of
  playtime by age, it will be absolutely necessary
  to designate certain areas of the playground for
  specific types of activities. Area zoning in
  this way will allow fewer opportunities for
  accidents to occur, and will also encourage all
  children to use the playground in a more
  meaningful way.

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Zoning does not mean making rigid areas to play.

• Playtimes are for the children to engage in
  activities that interest them, e.g. run freely,
  sit and talk, play games organised by themselves,
  play a more fun game etc.
• An overall formalised playground will never
  engage the interest of all children and may
  seriously harm social and cognitive development.
• Whatever the size of the playground (and it does
  not necessarily follow that big is beautiful!)
  the quality of the environment determines the
  quality of the experience and the way the space
  is managed is also significant.

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free running zone
small equipment zone
informal games zone
quiet zone
formal games zone
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The zones identified.

• A free running zone.
• This is probably one of the most difficult zones
  to identify and provide but is certainly one of
  the most necessary. It is natural for children
  to want to run, and they are more likely to do so
  within a game or in a safe environment.

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A quiet zone.

• Many school grounds are uncomfortable places.
  The quiet zone provides the comfort. Whilst
  children rarely need to sit down because they are
  tired, they do need to be able to find a quiet
  place to sit and talk, share a joke or a worry.

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Some suggestions for enhancing a quiet area.

• Seating.
• Potted plants and shrubs.
• Painted mural on the back wall.
• Outside blackboard and pens/chalks.
• A small box containing.
• Large wooden jigsaws
• Old big books
• Glove puppets for imaginative games
• Several large crayons and paper.

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More suggestions to enhance a quiet area.

• A marbles ring.
• A road mat for children to play with toy cars.
• An on-going project such as growing sun flowers
  in pots and measuring them every day.
• A willow tent or tunnel to hide in.
• A small wooden hut or seats with a roof over.

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A small equipment area.

• Children need to develop and constantly test
  their newly developed manipulative and
  co-ordination skills, so it is essential to
  provide the opportunity for them to practise and
  enjoy them.

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Enhancing a small equipment area.

• A WORD OF WARNING!!
• Unsuitable equipment can cause accidents.
• Bats and balls should not be used freely in large
  groups of children bats can slip out of hands.
• Appropriate equipment - a small games equipment
  box can be provided especially for use at play /
  lunchtime. The type of equipment which might be
  suitable could include-
• Lightweight plastic airflow balls - vinyl
  covered sponge balls (different shapes and sizes)
  - koosh balls - lightweight hollow plastic
  quoits - bean bags - skipping ropes - flat
  rubber shapes or markers.

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An informal games zone.

• This is an area where children can create and
  play their own games or game suggested by the
  adult, without requiring equipment. This means
  they can play confidently and safely.
• Much of the play will be imaginative and active,
  and sometimes centred around the movement on
  painted floor markings.
• Marking games such as hopscotch are common
  features of school grounds, but teachers often
  report back that these are little used.
• Most schools will already have some form of
  markings on their playgrounds but children may
  not know how to use them properly.
• Drawing the design on the board and explaining
  how to use it will give children the practise
  they need.

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• A formal games zone.
• The formal games zone will be used most of the
  time by those who wish to play football. The
  outside lines of this area could be painted red
  to indicate that the game should not go beyond
  the lines.
• In some schools, it may only be a small core of
  boys and girls who want to play football, and
  that causes no problems as long as they can play
  uninterrupted at anytime - with an appropriate
  ball. A medium-sized plastic ball will need more
  concentration to control and will not hurt so
  much if it hits anyone in an unexpected way.
• If the numbers wishing to play are larger, then a
  rota needs to be organised. At the beginning of
  each half-term or term, all children who wish to
  play football should attend a meeting.

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Making the playground safe.

• It is impossible to declare a playground 100
  safe because children are unpredictable beings,
  but to sum up, if we put everything into place to
  create a positive playground, then activity
  levels should rise an accidents become less.

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Making the playground safe.

• Conduct a detailed appraisal of the grounds, i.e.
  surface, boundaries and safety of any equipment.
• Ensure regular maintenance of equipment.
• Take out action immediately any piece of
  equipment which is faulty and report it to the
  head teacher/supervisor.
• Zone the playground to ensure safe moving and
  restricted use of equipment.
• Provide appropriate equipment and playground
  markings.
• Encourage children to play positively and with
  purpose
• Ensure that children are aware of zones and any
  rules governing them.
• Ensure movement and expertise of staff.
• Be aware of what the children are doing and stop
  the activity immediately if there is any game
  going on that could cause an accident.
• Make sure children are dressed suitably for the
  activity, i.e. log loose clothing when on
  climbing equipment can be dangerous.
• If one area is very popular, then consider a
  rota system to give equal access and
  opportunity to all pupils.

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Managing wet play.

• Wet play is unlikely to be an ideal situation,
  but can be manageable and even enjoyable.
• Some children welcome the option of being
  inside, preferring it to the rough and tumble of
  the playground.

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Review of wet playtimes.Answer these questions.

• Do you have time to plan and prepare for wet play
  and review your practice?
• At what stage do you decide it is too wet to play
  outside?
• Who decides that it is wet play and how is it
  communicated?
• During wet play, how successfully do you manage
  challenging behaviour?
• Where do you supervise the children?
• During wet play, what play equipment and
  resources do you have to keep the children
  occupied?

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Some ideas to keep children occupied during wet
play.

• Build in time to plan and prepare for wet play
  activities.
• Communicate clearly about the use of classroom
  equipment.
• Create a collection of separate wet play
  equipment for each class.
• Regularly update and swap this equipment between
  classes to provide novelty value.
• Use your own entertainment skills.
• Consider using older buddies to help with younger
  children.
• Try to ensure that the equipment and activities
  meet the needs of the children.

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Ways to encourage childrens positive behaviour
a whole school model.

• Being firm, fair and consistent.
• Having high expectations for all pupils.
• Focusing on what you would like children to do,
  rather than what you would like them not to do.
• Planning for good behaviour.
• Offering children praise and rewards.
• Separating and responding to a childs behaviour
  without condemning the child.
• Using your understanding of why children
  misbehave.
• Encouraging children to take responsibility for
  their own behaviour.
• Being an effective role model.
• Considering the importance of physical and
  environmental issues.

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Resources and relevant organisations.

• Active playgrounds. A free guide for primary
  schools, British Heart Foundation.
• www.bhf.org.uk
• Everyone Can Play - inclusive play training
  pack. National Centre for Playwork Education.
• www.playwork.co.uk
• Games Kids Play. (This is an American site that
  offers games from a range of countries).
• www.gameskidsplay.net
• Growing Schools (This is a major government
  programme to harness the full potential of the
  outdoor playground.)
• www.teachernet.gov.uk

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• 101 Fun Warm-Up and Cool-Down Games by John Byl.
• www.umankinetics.com
• Learning Through Landscapes (LTL provide a
  range of relevant fact sheets and information
  packs to members.)
• www.ltl.org.uk
• Playground Games and More Playground Games by Rob
  Golding.
• www.pearsonpublishing.co.uk
• Playground Pals. (This is a fascinating website
  that provides international games, case studies
  and information about equipment and playground
  management.)
• www.pioneer.cwc.net/playgroundpals.htm
• Primary Playground Development Pack. Youth
  Support Trust.
• www.youthsporttrust.org

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Thank you. We hope you enjoyed our
presentation. For any further information please
contact us at Cleadon Park Primary Alternative
Education Service Off Park Avenue South
Shields NE34 8QL