Fair Play for Children News — Children’s Play and Youth Work
including Children’s Play, Sport, Arts, Recreation, Creativity, Cultural, Youth Work
Fair Play for Children website: http://www.fairplay31.online/index.html
The POWER of Play — Boy finds solace in kites amidst war devastation — WATCH HERE
Read previous editions to 28th October 2024
28th November and 20th November 2024: 94 new stories worldwide inc 4 video
Adventure park unveils accessible playground for children with disabilities
DanTDM donates £300,000+ to Great Ormond Street Hospital — Esports News UK
New adventure playground opens in South London after 700k revamp — Yahoo News UK
Playtime’s over? Reeves’s tax raid threatens children’s play centres — MSN
Children’s play space revamped thanks to £12,500 grant — Yahoo News UK
‘A real need’ for more accessible playgrounds in south east London — Yahoo News UK
20th November 2024: 66 new stories worldwide inc 4 video
World Children’s Day
On this day in 1989, the UN Convention on the Rights of The Child came into force
Council’s duties under s508 and 507b of Education Act 1996 as amended — a Freedom of Information request to Birmingham City Council — WhatDoTheyKnow
Fair Play for Children challenges Birmingham City Council’s youth work cuts — answers due by 5th December
Carmel’s Prather Park getting new playground equipment
The LEGO Foundation — This is why children should play throughout the school day … — Facebook
Let Children Play to learner better! — Kashmir Images
‘Because the spaces work for children, they work for everyone’ — how the Whittington estate
Sutherland Shire councillors blame public for Cronulla Maul playground safety fears | news.com.au
CYP Now — How I Got Here: David Harkin, youth worker
Non-formal learning activities enrich children’s lives | Schools | The Guardian
Children’s and teens roundup — the best new picture books and novels | Books | The Guardian
14th November 2024: 61 new stories worldwide
The Right to Play: Gaza’s children navigate roller-skating under the shadow of amputation
Youth Services in the UK — House of Commons Library
Let them play’: Expert explains how video games are preparing kids for future jobs — WJLA
Student injury reignites debate over school playground safety surfaces | in-cyprus.com
8th November 2024: 72 new stories inc 3 video + Play England update
- See Latest Play England Policy, News etc below
Fair Play for Children asks Birmingham City Council searching Freedom of Information questions about its major cuts to youth provision
(see Guardian Report below). FPfC focuses on the City’s duties under Education legislation concerning ‘sufficiency’ of provision and consultation of young people. Fair Play will evaluate the answers the Council gives and consider any action. In our view, this may well turn out to be a major concern.
Read FoI HERE
UK playgrounds in crisis — Northumberland Gazette
Children’s play, health and wellbeing Archives — Blog
Overwhelming majority of parents believe in-person play
Play in England: a new 10-year strategy
Throughout 2024 we have been busy undertaking a strategic re-imagineering* of Play England, primarily through the development, engagement, consultation, and adoption of a new 10-year strategy.
At the core of the strategy will be our call on the new government to introduce Play Sufficiency legislation in England, alongside the central foundation of the UNCRC — particularly, Article 31 (leisure, play and culture); in that every child has the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of cultural and artistic activities.
As part of the engagement and consultation process, we launched quarterly open sessions with our Executive Director, Eugene Minogue. These sessions provide regular opportunities to meet with Eugene and ask questions about the wide-ranging strategic re-imagineering of Play England, the development of the new strategy — as well as general questions/updates.
Please use the links below to register for and/or review the previous sessions.
Strategy Wireframing: 26 April 2024, 11.00–13.00
Strategy Co-design and Collaboration: 8 July 2024, 13.00–15.00
Strategy Challenge and Curiosity: 18 October 2024, 11.00–13.00
Strategy Commitment: 2024 AGM (Date TBC)
The third open session on 18 October will focus on challenge and curiosity on the strategic forecast, with a final open session on strategy commitment session at our 2024 AGM, with a view to adopting a final strategy in Winter 2024/25.
*Imagineering (from “imagination” and “engineering”) is the implementation of creative ideas in practical form.
An open letter to government
Following the general election in July 2024, the nominations and elections process for the chairs of the various select committees was completed in early Sept 2024. Therefore, Play England have written to the new Chair of Housing, Communities and Local Government (HCLG) select committee, Florence Eshalomi MP to request that the new committee consider re-opening the inquiry and publish a report — and for the government to respond and act on the recommendations.
Reopening the committee inquiry and publishing a report, which reflects evidence — would provide a powerful and a high-profile catalyst for much needed meaningful change in England. It would also support the government’s legislative agenda, ensure that the importance of play is recognised, valued, and protected across government, and secure a lasting legacy for our future generations by giving children their childhood back!
Consultation Response — Proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) were seeking views on how they might revise national planning policy to support our wider objectives.
Play England’s response to consultation primarily, (but not exclusively) related to Chapter 8 — questions 70 & 71. However, our response can be correlated to other chapters and questions, as such we are assuming that our response will be considered within this context.
In summary, Play England’s consultation response called for meaningful change within England’s planning system as part of the government’s legislative programme — through the introduction of play sufficiency legislation and a new national play strategy.
Additionally, Play England support the consultation responses from our partners Playing Out, Fields in Trust and the Town and Country Planning Association — amongst others.
The Good Childhood Report | The Children’s Society
The report calls for the new government to take decisive action in line with their proposed national roadmap to a good childhood. It includes (on page 14);
Let children play by providing improved, safe spaces for leisure and play. This includes rebuilding communities for young people and increasing opportunities for them to be active, creative and to socialise.
It specifically calls on Govt to Introduce play sufficiency legislation — reflecting Play England’s manifesto.
Raising the Nation: Play Commission — Call for evidence
The Play Commission is gathering evidence and expertise to inform the policy recommendations that we make in our final report. We are calling for organisations and individuals with professional expertise or lived experience to share their knowledge and views by submitting evidence to our commission.
The key areas the commission are examining are explained in more detail here, broadly they are asking for submissions around the following questions:
- How do we boost learning through play?
- How do we expand places and environments where children can play?
- How can we use children’s right to play to ensure national and local government support children’s play?
- How do we provide children and families with more time to play?
- How do we harness technology and the digital world to boost children’s play?
- How do we encourage parents to play with their children and to encourage their children to play in the offline world?
The call for evidence closes on 31st October 2024.
If you would like to make a submission, please send a word document setting out your evidence and recommendations to info@centreforyounglives.org.uk. Please use the email subject title ‘Call for Evidence — Play Commission submission’.
Playday 2024 — The Culture of Childhood
The national play organisations called for focused action for play as Playday celebrated across the UK on Wednesday 7 August 2024.
Thousands of children, young people and families come together to celebrate play at local and regional events, the formation of a new UK government provides a timely opportunity to highlight the need for a renewed commitment to play at all levels across society.
Some images from Playday event in Hinckley:
Webinar: Play Sufficiency: The policy context and in practice -
Taking place on the 7 November 11–12.30, this webinar is aimed to Local Authorities and Active Partnerships in England.
It aims provide an overview of play sufficiency — the current national policy context, and how it can be put into meaningful practice — as Leeds City Council have done in the absence of national statutory guidance.
The launch of PlayNation magazine!
The inaugural issue of PlayNation magazine is now live — PlayNation — issue 1 2024
PlayNation magazine has been developed in partnership with SportsNation magazine and SAPCA (the Sports and Play Construction Association), and is dedicated exclusively to the dynamic and growing sector of play, recreation and physical activity for children and young people.
Published bi-monthly, the magazine focuses on the policies, people and places that help children, young people and families to play and be more active. Subscribe now to receive a complimentary copy of the magazine every two months.
If you’d like to contribute or feature in PlayNation magazine, please email us with ‘PlayNation Magazine’ in the title of the email.
Donate to Play England
In other news
- BBC Breakfast feature on play and playgrounds, where our Executive Director Eugene Minogue spoke about the need for play sufficiency legislation in England.
- Ministers urged to introduce legislation on access to playgrounds | CYP Now
- The inaugural Play Safety Week took place between 9–15 Sept 2024
- Starlight — Playing with children’s health? — watch the symposium here
- Adventure playgrounds in Leicester handed funding lifeline | BBC News
- The LEGO Group and Nike unite to elevate the power of creative play and sport
- Child in the City 2024 Seminar, 3–4 December Rotterdam — Keep on Moving, which will explore children’s access to physical movement and play. If you book your place before 19 October you can take advantage of our ‘early bird’ price.
- Why Sports 2025 Conference | Get Active for a Healthier Britain | London 4 March 2025 — Eugene will be giving a presentation as part of the conference title: will be presenting at the Conference ‘It all starts with play!’. Play England members can access discounted tickets using the code ‘PLAYENG30’. Book your place here.
- The new PE & sport premium guidance has been published by the Department for Education, which includes examples of how to and how not to spend the premium.
