Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Who’s who
- About the author
- Preface
- Foreword
- Prologue
- Introduction ‘To respect, protect and fulfil’
- one ‘To play and to dream’ • Restoring play to the heart of the campaign for children’s rights
- two ‘For a change’ • Finding the evidence for play policy
- three ‘Advocates for play’ • Playwork’s place at the heart of the play movement
- four ‘New opportunities’ • Lottery funding and the beginnings of public play policy
- five ‘A vital and vibrant city’ • How devolved government in London set a benchmark for play policy
- six ‘Making the case’ • The call for a national play strategy
- seven ‘Things to do, places to go?’ • How play was overlooked by children’s services reform
- eight ‘Getting serious’ • The national play review
- nine ‘Lottery millions’ • The Children’s Play Initiative
- ten ‘Dirt is good’ • The Play England project
- eleven ‘The best place in the world’ • The Play Strategy for England
- twelve ‘Playbuilders’ • Breaking the mould of the public playground
- thirteen ‘Everyday adventures?’ • Austerity brings an end to play policy in England
- fourteen ‘Skylarks and canaries’ • The legacy of the Play Strategy
- fifteen ‘Children now’ • Responding to children’s right to play: conclusions and recommendations
- Epilogue
- References
- Index
Preface
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 March 2022
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Who’s who
- About the author
- Preface
- Foreword
- Prologue
- Introduction ‘To respect, protect and fulfil’
- one ‘To play and to dream’ • Restoring play to the heart of the campaign for children’s rights
- two ‘For a change’ • Finding the evidence for play policy
- three ‘Advocates for play’ • Playwork’s place at the heart of the play movement
- four ‘New opportunities’ • Lottery funding and the beginnings of public play policy
- five ‘A vital and vibrant city’ • How devolved government in London set a benchmark for play policy
- six ‘Making the case’ • The call for a national play strategy
- seven ‘Things to do, places to go?’ • How play was overlooked by children’s services reform
- eight ‘Getting serious’ • The national play review
- nine ‘Lottery millions’ • The Children’s Play Initiative
- ten ‘Dirt is good’ • The Play England project
- eleven ‘The best place in the world’ • The Play Strategy for England
- twelve ‘Playbuilders’ • Breaking the mould of the public playground
- thirteen ‘Everyday adventures?’ • Austerity brings an end to play policy in England
- fourteen ‘Skylarks and canaries’ • The legacy of the Play Strategy
- fifteen ‘Children now’ • Responding to children’s right to play: conclusions and recommendations
- Epilogue
- References
- Index
Summary
When I embarked on this project, I was keenly aware that my credentials for writing the book were solely based on personal experience. Policy Press wanted the story of the Play Strategy for England of 2008-10. I was as able as anyone to tell it, and believed it needed to be told.
But the Play Strategy was just one policy response to children’s ‘forgotten right’ and the original intention was to compare and contrast it to others, by other governments in different countries. However, I have discovered that what makes me (perhaps) wellqualified to write about English policy for play equally renders me an unsuitable chronicler of parallel events elsewhere. I am no historian, or any kind of academic. Even if I were, there was neither the time in the schedule nor space in the book to capture such a broad subject sufficiently to do it justice. I have therefore left the equivalent stories from the devolved UK and elsewhere to others.
However, one of those developments in particular must be noted here, if only to urge the reader to further research. In 2002, the devolved Welsh Government adopted a children’s rights approach to policy formulation that included an unprecedented national government play policy (Welsh Assembly Government, 2002). This led, over time, to a statutory duty on local authorities to assess and secure sufficient play opportunities for children in their area: probably the first such requirement anywhere in the world.
The Welsh play policy continues to inspire hope for play advocates everywhere. The continuity of government there seems to have protected it, so far, from the reversal that happened in England in 2010. The vibrant Welsh play and playwork sector is busy supporting its implementation and exploring ways to effectively evaluate its impact. Perhaps someone from Play Wales will one day write its story. Equally, some positive play policy developments in Scotland, Northern Ireland and other parts of the world are best related by advocates from the relevant countries.
Another area not covered much by the book is the question of play in schools and in early years provision. The Play Strategy only touched on these domains peripherally and they are not my area of experience, although the implications for education, early years’ and childcare policy of a more enlightened approach to children’s play – one based on the trans-disciplinary perspectives touched on in the book – would seem to be considerable.
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- Chapter
- Information
- Policy for PlayResponding to Children's Forgotten Right, pp. xiii - xivPublisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2015