Play Strategy

Background: Play Matters
Play is an essential part of learning and development, and the opportunities children and young people have to play, learn and develop, have a direct impact on their community.

We believe that all play provision should be accessible, inclusive and child-centred. Through our services for children and young people, we share and build upon the five Outcomes of the Government’s Every Child Matters: Change for Children agenda (2003):

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

In order to realise the Every Child Matters Outcomes, the Government has laid plans for a National Play Strategy to ensure that all children and young people will experience better opportunities for play. 

Suitability: Our Expertise
Our Southeast programme for children and young people includes flexible childcare, early years centres, extended schools, holiday playschemes, intervention and arts projects. Using our expertise as a service provider, we are now working in diverse urban and rural communities to develop and implement 15 local play strategies to improve local area play provision. These play strategies will improve outcomes for children and young people in regions across England.

Overview: Informed Decision Making
Each play strategy takes the shape of an individual plan to improve play provision at a local level, reflecting the needs and wants of the local community. Our priority in assessing the needs and preferences of communities, is always to create bridges for open, honest and effective communication, and a platform for discussion and debate.

We began by establishing several local play partnerships across Bradford, Essex, Luton, and the Isle of Wight. These groups monitor and evaluate informal and formal play opportunities and the location of play services. They also actively engage with and to listen to the views and opinions of local people, across the community.

Play partnerships are a collaboration of multi-agency stakeholders within local authorities and across the voluntary, community and private sectors, particularly responsible for:

•  Play, leisure and recreation
•  Children and young people
•  Planning
•  Community development and regeneration
•  Housing
•  Parks and open spaces
•  Extended schools

Play partnerships include representatives from the Children’s Fund and Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnerships.

Innovation: Community Involvement
We focus on engaging with children, young people and communities in wide reaching consultation that leads to meaningful and tangible outcomes for each play strategy. Using play, art and drama as a consultation tool, we have spoken to over 12,000 children, young people, and their families to capture diverse preferences and needs of communities, across England. The implementation of these highly informed and expertly developed play strategies will lead to big changes for children and young people across England.

Click on the following links to find out more about what different regions are doing to improve play in their area:

Play team and the previous play strategy for Bradford

Current play facilities in Luton

Essex Play website

Isle of Wight Play page