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Leopard Skin Wellies, A Top Hat and a Vacuum Cleaner Hose: An Analysis of Wales' Play Sufficiency Assessment duty
... The everyday environments that children share with adults are produced, regulated and over-coded with "a vast array of practices, habits, technologies, symbols and so on that constitute the maintenance routines that keep them operational" [83] (p. 45). ...
... 155). While the limitations of this article prohibit a detailed examination (see [83]), it is worth highlighting here the significant step taken by the Welsh Government in placing children's play as a central component of social policy and the statutory duty for local authorities to assess and, as far as is reasonably practicable, secure a sufficiency of play opportunities. The vagueness of the term "sufficiency" defies dominant outcomes-driven policy formulation and associated technical measuring devices and calculations, providing a degree of indeterminacy that allows for the possibility of creative and experimental approaches in order to appreciate the multiple and complex processes that constitute moments of play, to build collective wisdom in order to act more responsibly with these [83]. ...
... While the limitations of this article prohibit a detailed examination (see [83]), it is worth highlighting here the significant step taken by the Welsh Government in placing children's play as a central component of social policy and the statutory duty for local authorities to assess and, as far as is reasonably practicable, secure a sufficiency of play opportunities. The vagueness of the term "sufficiency" defies dominant outcomes-driven policy formulation and associated technical measuring devices and calculations, providing a degree of indeterminacy that allows for the possibility of creative and experimental approaches in order to appreciate the multiple and complex processes that constitute moments of play, to build collective wisdom in order to act more responsibly with these [83]. ...
Risk is big business. It has assumed almost universal acceptance as an ever-present reality of life, something out there waiting to cause harm (most notably to political, economic and health systems). It commands vast resources to develop preventative measures that are the preserve of experts issuing often contradictory advice and warnings. Children’s play is caught up in this account. No longer something that children just do, it is subject to adult scrutiny that simultaneously and paradoxically attempts to manage risk and promote “risk-taking” for its perceived instrumental benefits, primarily the development of risk assessing skills. Adults thus guide children’s play, rendering children passive and needy recipients of expertise. This article takes a broader perspective to consider how this contemporary understanding of risk plays out in material discursive practices in relation to childhood, play, health and wellbeing. It then draws on conceptual tools of relationality, materiality and performativity to reconfigure playing as an emergent co-production of entangled bodies, affects, objects, space and histories in ways that make life better for the time of playing. Such moments produce health-affirming potential as an intra-dependent phenomenon rather than an individual achievement. Finally, it considers implications for “health promotion” and health enabling environments.
... March 2013 where Local Authorities had to consider 111 criteria across nine areas, or 'matters' that have an impact on children's play with the process being supported by statutory guidance (Lester and Russell, 2013;2014: Barclay & Tawil, 2015WG, 2012). ...
... The first Play Sufficiency Assessment from twenty of the Welsh Local Authorities was analysed by Lester andRussell (2014) using Amin's (2006) four registers of repair and maintenance, relatedness, rights and re-enactment as a framework. Each of the four registers were analysed collectively as a whole. ...
Each local authority in Wales has a statutory duty to undertake a Play Sufficiency Assessment every three years, adhering to the Children and Family (Wales) Measures 2010 (Welsh Government, 2010). The first was undertaken in 2013 and the second is due to be completed by March 2016. The Assessment covers nine areas or 'matters', including individuals and organisations within the statutory sector and outside in the third sector who have both a direct or indirect contribution to support children and young people's play. This study contributed to one local authority's Play Sufficiency Assessment by conducting semi-structured interviews with their play team. The interviews were analysed using a five-phase thematic analysis approach, and identified three main themes: 'diverse and inclusive practice', 'funding concerns' and 'make a difference'. These are discussed in relation to the current state of playwork in Wales.
... Play is not only something that happens in designated spaces and times; it is not something that can simply be 'provided' by adults. It emerges opportunistically from a dynamic assemblage of conditions (Lester and Russell 2013). Given this, we advocate that assessing and securing sufficient opportunities to play should be a process of paying attention to those conditions. ...
... This shared understanding needs to "work both within and across local authorities to engage with different professionals in appreciating the nature and value of play and their role in supporting it" (Russell, et al., 2020, p. 48). However, Lester and Russell (2013) in their review identified: ...
As part of the Welsh Play Workforce Study, seven lead local authority officers responsible for facilitating the three-year Play Sufficiency Assessment (PSA) were interviewed in respect of Matter G: Securing and developing the play workforce development. Thematic analysis constructed three themes from the findings: play profile, collaboration and funding. Although each lead officer was passionate about the importance of play, their play profile differed concerning their play and playwork experience, knowledge and qualifications. The study indicates the importance of collaborative and partnership working both within and external to the local authority, especially with the ever-changing play-related policy and potential funding streams. However, the unpredictable nature of funding for developing a play workforce is reflected in different local authority priorities where some have or support an established play workforce, whilst others have a sparse or no play workforce at all. What the PSA and the role of the lead officer does enable is a link between statutory legislation and the play workforce on the ground which is unique to Wales.
Kinderen spelen omdat ze het leuk vinden en omdat het goed is voor hun ontwikkeling en gezondheid. Dat weet iedereen uit eigen ervaring. Toch krijgen veel kinderen in Nederland tegenwoordig te weinig tijd en ruimte om te spelen. De gevolgen daarvan worden steeds duidelijker. Omdat spelen zo’n belangrijk onderdeel van het leven van kinderen is, verdient het een prominente plek in het gemeentelijk beleid: niet alleen in het jeugdbeleid, maar ook op het gebied van ruimtelijke ordening, onderwijs, verkeer, wonen, groen, recreatie, sport en cultuur. Dat levert ook iets op, want een kindvriendelijke gemeente is goed voor iedereen. Om te zorgen dat spelen de aandacht krijgt die het in de huidige tijd verdient, is een integrale aanpak nodig. Het is tijd om in actie te komen.
This paper focuses on the role of control, power and people in utilising school grounds for play. Despite children’s right to play in statute and evidence that play has positive outcomes for children, evidence suggests that school grounds are under-utilised. An action research methodology was adopted with three primary schools in Wales (UK), opening school grounds after school hours. Findings indicate that power and control are factors affecting accessibility and use of outdoor spaces, particularly in relation to who was allowed access to play spaces, where children were allowed, as well as when and what types of play were acceptable.
This paper discusses a research project undertaken during spring 2014, in response to the findings of the Play Sufficiency Assessment in one Welsh Local Authority. The results highlighted anomalous findings between two neighbouring communities regarding the children’s self-reported levels of satisfaction with opportunities to play. The research study aimed to identify factors which may have caused the disparity in satisfaction between the two communities. The findings of the research indicate that simply having more places to play is not automatically an indicator of satisfaction. Factors such as child and parental fear, socio-economic conditions and the development of a ‘play culture’ within communities have a more significant role in influencing children’s freedom and opportunities to play.
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