I spent a day last week in a wonderful school in Essex; the behaviour of the children inside the school was outstanding, however the Head teacher was concerned about behaviour outside in the playground.
His is not an unusual concern, and research by Blatchford and Baines and Pellegrini, tells us more and more schools are worried about the deteriorating behaviour at playtime. Sharp and Smith’s research also shows that 75 percent of bullying in schools happens in the playground.
What’s important is that the behaviour management systems are reviewed. Frequently, the systems inside the school are excellent, yet those outside can be poor and unclear, with a lack of continuity and consistency.
Outlined here are some simple steps that I use with schools on my training days. I hope they will support you in making playtimes and lunchtimes a safe and enjoyable time for everyone. This article may also help inform your Playtime Behaviour Policy.
Step 1 – Rules
Review your School Rules and ensure that you have Rules displayed inside and outside.
Edventure’s Rules cover the 4R’s of
• Respect for self
• Respect for others
• Respect for property and the environment.
• Responsibility for all your actions
Our Playground Rules are
• We are kind and helpful to everyone
• We are play safely and look after each other
• We listen to each other
• We are honest and truthful
• We take care of our school, playground and equipment
• We are respectful and polite
Step 2 – Rewards
At playtime the reward is always that the children get to play and have fun!
Additional incentives such as the following can be used:
• Reward Tokens: “Star Child”, “Caught being good” and “Star player” (details can be found in my book 101 Playground Games).
How to use these: When children are seen playing co operatively, being kind etc and keeping to the rules they get a paper token. These incentives can then link back into the teacher’s classroom rewards or children can collect their tokens each week and every class can give a certificate to the child or children who get the most slips (certificate templates are on the CD Rom in 101 Playground Games.) Alternatively, the school can give a certificate to the class with the most slips. Many teachers/ schools also like to do drum roles. When a child receives a slip his name is put on it and then it is put into a drum (box). At the end of the week during assembly, the drum roll takes place in a dramatic fashion with someone beating a drum and the box being turned over a few times. Then 2- 6 names are drawn out and those children are then awarded a prize.
• “The Great Play Award” (see 101 Playground Games appendix for the certificate)
is a special certificate that is given out in assembly to a specific child who has kept to the rules/vales of the school; alternatively it can be a plaque, or just a sticker. Teachers choose criteria for selection from week to week and ideally choose different children each week.
Step 3 – Problem Solving
It is important that a problem solving, solution focused culture is developed in a school. This can be done through Circle Time and the development of Action Learning Sets, Peer Mediation etc.
Lunchtime supervisors are encouraged to help pupils sort out problems in a fair way and encourage them to take responsibility for their behaviour. They listen to all parties involved and encourage pupils to problem solve and find solutions. In some circumstances staff will intervene and help both parties reach a fair and amiable agreement.
Step 4 – Consequences and Sanctions
Consequences vary from school to school. Most schools agree that there needs to be some sort of restorative consequence, such as time for the student to think through how they could have acted and how they could choose to behave differently next time, time to restore relationships that may have broken down etc. In the first instance with low level incidences a verbal warning is often all that is needed. However if the child breaks the rule again, a 5-10 minutes ‘time out to think’ is a good consequence. The child usually has to sit
in a solitary place, on a bench, in the hall or classroom away from other children, thinking through which rule they have broken and which rule they need to be keeping, who they need to apologise to etc. Children can join in the game or activity once they have had time out and/or as long as relationships have been restored.
You may know some children who are hugely reactive at playtime. Danger, stress and anxiety trigger the release of adrenalin and cortisol, which often leads to the fight or flight response. These children do not have the stress regulating brain chemicals to calm themselves and need soothing, calming adults to help regulate the chemicals that have flooded their brains.
Positive play experiences and positive social interaction for these children lead to positive emotions and a cocktail of good chemicals such as opioids and oxytocin, which make them feel calm, content, secure and safe.
Some schools like a clearer sanctions system.
If pupils are not able to sort out their problems in a fair way or they continue to:
• break the school rules
• use aggressive behaviour
• be involved in bullying behaviour,
the school can use the following sanctions:
Stage 1. The child will be asked which rule he/ she is breaking and which he/she needs to keep. They will then be given a verbal warning.
Stage 2. The pupils name will then be written on a red playground behaviour slip, outlining the rule they have broken.
Stage 3. The slip will be given to a class teacher at the end of play and put in the ‘I am unhappy with you’ box.
Stage 4. The Principal will speak with the pupil, if two or more notes are received in one week and targets for improvement will be set.
And if this continues:
Stage 5· A letter will be sent home and possible lunchtime exclusion from the playground will occur.
Step 5 – Playground Activity Leaders (PALS)
PALS consist of a group of children who help make the playground a safer, more enjoyable space for younger children.
Their responsibilities are to:
• teach children different games
• befriend lonely children and to help them make friends
• to take out and put away playground equipment
All members of the playground PALS meet regularly with the teacher responsible for playtimes for training and ongoing support.
The ‘Playtime PAL’S wear special sashes or caps for ease of identification.
Playtime PAL’S receive recognition and awards at assemblies and a certificate at the end of their time in the job.
When considering adopting this system in your school, please give consideration to:
How many PALS you need, given the size of your playground and number of children in your school?
How many times a week would be suitable for them to be out on games duty?
How would the PALS be chosen?
What support will they need?
Training up the Playground Activity Leaders (PALS)
Ideally a learning support assistant, lunchtime supervisor or a teacher will take responsibility for the PALS, their training and on-going support.
Step 1 – Discuss roles and responsibilities, rules for themselves, playground rules, rosters, period of time that they are elected to be a PAL (weekly, half termly or termly).
Step 2 – Introduce a selection of games and remind children of games they already know.
If you have a copy of ‘101 Playground Games’ print out the “Traditional Playground Games” section from the CD Rom and give each child a pack of games that they can keep and use as a reference. This will give the PALS ten playground games to learn and introduce to other children.
Step 3 – The children plan and organise a game to play with younger children.
Step 4 – The PALS evaluate how the game went and continue to learn new games.
Step 5 – The PALs choose a uniform that distinguishes them in the playground, this may be a baseball cap or sash.
Step 6 – A roster is agreed to.
Step 7 – The PALs are introduced in assembly to all the school.
Step 8 – The PALs, on their assigned days, go out and play games in the playground with the children.
Step 9 – The PALs contribute to “Playground news” at assemblies.
Step 10 – The PALS meet weekly with the assigned adults who support them.
Ongoing Support
The PALS need to have a regular time to talk about their experiences, the successes and the challenges with a specified adult. Ideally this meeting is weekly or every two weeks. At the end of six weeks or the end of term their time as a PAL they receive a certificate to thank them for their contribution and hard work. This is given out in assembly.
Have Fun!