Bristol Adventure Playgrounds

Bristol Adventure Playgrounds

Adventure Playgrounds have been around in the UK for over 60 years, but with funding cuts affecting services across the UK, what might happen in Bristol?

To set the scene first, let’s remind ourselves of some of the history involved. In 1931, a Danish architect named Sorenson came up with the concept of a ‘junk’ playground as a result of his observations of children at play on construction sites and junkyards. He proposed a space where children would be permitted to play in ways otherwise prohibited to them and realised his vision years later during the German Occupation.

The children’s rights campaigner, Lady Allen of Hurtwood, identified with the ethos of this type of play and promoted the idea in England. After considerable opposition to a ‘junk’ playground, the name was changed to adventure playground and with the support of local and national organisations, the first playgrounds opened in London in the late 1940’s. They were set up on sites which had been bombed and across the country were opened in blighted or blitzed neighbourhoods, involving children in the design and operation of these spaces.

 In this post war period, one aspect of Lady Allen’s thinking was that playing in these more derelict spaces and fostering a democratic community with the children’s involvement, would help children heal the scars of war and the experiences they had been through. It is this idea of restoring children’s emotional health that is maybe the most pertinent aspect to the enduring nature of adventure playgrounds and the continued choice of children to freely spend time in them. Some 60 years on from their first arrival, adventure playgrounds may not need to provide the same type of healing necessary post WW2, but in an adult-led society with more risk aversion and less free wild spaces to explore, adventure playgrounds provide a chance to explore the other elements of human nature and provide a different outlet and experience.  Providing an opportunity for local children to experience risky and adventurous play, sharing, cooperation, belonging and ownership, adventure playgrounds could be said to provide essential services within communities.

Bristol has a rich history of adventure playgrounds, many of which have been running since the 1970’s. Local children from areas around St Pauls, Easton Lockleaze, Southmead and Windmill Hill have all benefitted from these open access provisions, with children from across the city traveling to their nearest site.

Unfortunately, the way in which Bristol’s Adventure Playgrounds are funded has recently changed. Previously, the services were either funded directly by Bristol City Council or, in the case of Windmill Hill, funding from Bristol City Council was received by Windmill Hill City Farm to run the provision. Last year, Bristol City Council undertook a commissioning process to provide youth and play services across the city, which covers adventure playgrounds. The outcome of this process was announced last September: the city was divided into 7 areas with a consortium and lead partner for each; £22 milllion was allocated over 5 years for youth and play; Councillor Gary Hopkins appeared confident that ‘when other councils are slashing funding for youth services, Bristol City Council is committed…(to)…..ensure there are quality services for children….to meet the needs of local communities’, but it now seems less clear.                     

The current situation is that St Pauls, Felix Rd, Lockleaze and Southmead playgrounds are continuing their existing services in the short term whilst local consortiums review what is being provided and create a plan for the future. However, this plan could include closure of sites, reductions in services and/or provisions of new services. Bristol City Council owns the buildings themselves and what would happen to these buildings if sites were closed is unclear.

Windmill Hill City Farm has sadly had the funding for its adventure playground withdrawn and the adventure playground closed at the beginning of February. This is a huge loss for the community. Sarah Rowland, Leader, stated in the Evening Post "The closure has come as a real blow as there is nowhere else in the local community where the kids can go and enjoy activities for free." She and another staff member have been transferred across to work for the lead partner in their area’s consortium, Learning Partnerships West. It is not known currently if any services could resume at a later date or what other plans might be in place.

In terms of numbers of children affected so far, around 100 children per session came to Windmill Hill City Farm Adventure Playground, with around 250 children registered in total. So there are 100 children per evening and weekend looking for somewhere else to explore. These fit with average numbers across the UK for adventure playgrounds so we can assume that there is a minimum of a further 1000 children registered across the city for the other four playgrounds, who may be affected by a cut in services.

As long term consequences, ‘Matrix: an economic evaluation of play provision’ 2010 by Play England concluded that for every £1 that is spent on adventure playground provision, £1.32 is recouped. This is as a result of long term benefits to health and education as a result of increased wellbeing in childhood. So cuts to these services now could result in higher costs further along the line.

To sum up, it’s clear that Adventure playgrounds have a rich history in the UK and there are large benefits for children and young people in our communities, to the communities in which they reside and to the long term costs incurred by society. Funders, Bristol decision makers, local representatives and the community need to be aware of the emotional, health and monetary benefits of these provisions before any further decisions to cut or reduce services are made.  

If you would like to show your support for Bristol Adventure Playgrounds, you could:

sign a petition –www.ipetitions.com/petition/supportbristolplay/ and/or contact your local councillor, MP or consortium leader  http://www.bristol.gov.uk/press/children-and-young-people/contracts-announced-new-bristol-youth-links-service

Sarah Holway, Development and Support, BAND.

This is an article from the BAND newsletter - to recieve a copy please contact the office at admin@bandltd.org.uk

 

 

What we remember…………. Part 2

We all know that there are many many articles about how children nowadays spend too much time indoors or on the computer and how they rarely play outdoors anymore – many factors have played a part in that. BAND are quite a small staff team of varying ages and we all have different memories of play and what play means to us. So I thought that I would talk to the team and find out what they remember playing with or doing when they were younger……

Jenny (Young in the 70’s, freedom to roam in the 80’s)

I grew up in a suburb of North Bristol, living in a terrace of 3 houses in the middle of the High Street.  When I was too young to go out and about on my own, I used to play with my big brother (when he let me)! We would play cowboys and Indians or ‘forts’ from the top and bottom of the stairs. I spent a lot of time dancing, my favourite thing to do was dress up in hand me down party frocks and dance to Top of the Pops for my family – much to their intense enjoyment!

There were a large group of children who were of similar age and we all used to go to school and hang out in our free time together. Once old enough to take myself out and about we spent a lot of time in my best friend’s cul-de-sac playing hide and seek in the big pine trees and trying not to get caught by the adults as we weren’t supposed to climb the trees!  We also used to go down to the big field by the Portway and play softball, rounders and cricket, all followed by a sprint home so I wasn’t late and could go out again the next day!

Our favourite thing to do was to walk through Penpole Woods, past Kingsweston House and then onto Blaise Castle, once there we would eat the packet of crisps and bottle of squash we’d taken, play on the really tall slide that used to be there, go for a paddle in the pool that used to be there and then catch the bus home, if we hadn’t spent the money on ice cream!

Tell us here at BAND what you remember doing…we’d love to hear from you!

ellie@bandltd.org.uk

What we remember...play memories

Over the coming weeks BAND will be updating our Blog with a serious of short articles from members of the staff team, based around their memories of play. Some of the articles will also appear in the BAND newsletter which is available by contacting the office admin@bandltd.org.uk 

 

What we remember………….

 

We all know that there are many many articles about how children nowadays spend too much time indoors or on the computer and how they rarely play outdoors anymore – many factors have played a part in that. BAND are quite a small staff team of varying ages and we all have different memories of play and what play means to us. So I thought that I would talk to the team and find out what they remember playing with or doing when they were younger……

 

Ellie (Young in the 80’s):

 

I lived in a small cluster of houses in a little village in the New Forest and the thing I remember the most is a distinct lack of adults! I was lucky enough to have a huge garden too. I remember playing with my fried Hilary who was my age and my little sister a lot – mainly making dens and hiding out in them. I remember my older brother, who had 2 friends his age – tom and Philip, playing a lot of tricks on us – the main one I remember is falling in rather a large hole that they had covered over with twigs and branches and they thought that was hilarious!

 

I remember rolling down hills, getting very muddy, jumping in fords and getting my wellies stuck in mud which I seemed to be attracted to (and still am…) I remember playing badminton with a distinct lack of rules, and when we were inside, I remember being in our playroom and dressing up a lot – in fact there are rather a few incriminating photos of me ‘modelling’ some rather atrocious dresses! 

 

I remember believing that there was a ghost on our stairs, trying to dress up the cat (!) and playing doctors and hospitals with friends. But I honestly don’t remember many adults being around. Apart from a loud voice at tidy up or dinner time and feeling rather annoyed with them……..

 

Tell us here at BAND what you remember doing…we’d love to hear from you! ellie@bandltd.org.uk

 

 

New Ofsted Inspections Begin

New Ofsted Inspections Begin

Ofsted inspectors have been busy inspecting settings under the requirements of the Revised EYFS 2012 framework, since it was introduced in Spetember.  Several settings in Bristol (both early years and out of school settings) have now been inspected, although at the time of writing, most of the reports hadn’t been published.  Feedback from these Bristol settings, about their experience of the inspection process, has been fairly positive and we look forward to reading the inspection reports. 

Although we haven’t seen many Bristol inspection reports, inspections took place throughout England within a few days of the new framework being introduced and we have been reading the published reports with interest to identify any key points that might be useful to share with Bristol settings.

These reports clearly state what the inspectors focussed on during the inspections, for example:
The inspector observed activities in each of the playrooms, including joint observations with the provider.

• The inspector spoke to the provider, deputy manager, childcare staff throughout the day and recorded observations of their interactions with children.
• The inspector held a meeting with the manager, which included carrying out a joint observation of a story session.
• The inspector looked at children's assessment records, planning documentation, evidence of the suitability of practitioners working within the setting, the provider's self-evaluation form and a range of other documentation.
• The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day and in information in the self-evaluation form.

The inspection reports give information about why the setting has been awarded a particular judgement and why it hasn't been awarded a higher grade.

Detailed information about the findings of the inspection is given under the headings:

How well the early years’ provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend.

• The contribution of the early years’ provision to the well-being of children.
• The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years’ provision. This section particularly focuses on how well practitioners understand and implement the safeguarding procedures, risk assessments, supervision, team work, staff’s  understanding of their roles and responsibilities, monitoring and observation of staff practice, staff appraisals and self evaluation.  

It is very clear that out of school settings are being inspected on the learning and development requirements of the EYFS.

 To see the new style Ofsted inspection reports visit www.ofsted.gov.uk and click on “inspection reports/find an inspection report”.

This post is the lead article from the Winter 2012 edition of BAND News which is due to be mailed out week commencing 10th December 2012 - for more information about this blog or the BAND newsletter please contact the office on 01179542128 or admin@bandltd.org.uk.

PAWS 2012 Illustration Workshop

PAWS 2012 Illustration Workshop, a set on Flickr.

Led by local childrens illustrator Chris Fisher

Photos of the PAWS Fire Workshop led by the Ape Project

PAWS Fire Workshop 2012, a set on Flickr.