Revivals from the 1980s are all the rage. It’s the Stranger Things effect.
Carefree kids getting up to adventures. Life was a simpler one to lead. Finding a place to make a den in the great outdoors was the biggest challenge of the morning.
Trying to avoid being the first one called in by a mother as the sun went down at the end of a long summer day of fun was the biggest challenge of the evening. And if it was you, by the time you finished arguing for just another 10 minutes and won, everyone else had been called in anyway.
Today, those calls for just 10 more minutes come more than often from a bedroom where the eyes are trained on a computer screen. The real mind-flayers, 40 years on from when Stranger Things is set, are the PlayStations, the XBoxes, the mobile phones and the social media platforms.
It’s not how things were, but schools are now taking a lead in trying to rediscover the joys and benefits of outdoor play, and there is now a concerted effort to support them and get children out running up those hills like they used to.
One school which has embraced the outdoor life is Carr Primary, nestled in the countryside between Lisburn and Carryduff. It’s one of 10 across Northern Ireland which is the latest recipient of a quality award in recognition of their outstanding outdoor play provision.
Awarded by PlayBoard NI, a leading organisation for the development of children and young people’s play, the Taking Outdoor Play Seriously (TOPS) Award is presented to schools for their commitment to making their pupils’ outdoor play experience the best that it can be.
And the fact that in just a few months the school has taken its ‘outdoor classroom’ to a whole new level shows there’s something all schools can aim for.
Principal Joanne Bryans said her school was one of the lucky ones, having beat 200 others to secure backing for their idea.
“We started with applying last summer to be part of the programme. We were one of the lucky 10,” she said.
“Pupils were still playing in their bubbles at the start of term. We were very aware of that. It hurt us. We’re a small country school, like a family, but that feeling was taken away from us.
“Going for this award has galvanised us and behind the scenes we set about putting a vision in place for what we wanted in out playground area,” she added.
“This has come at the right time for us. We started with just grass and tarmac and a small area of trees, what the children liked to call the forest.”
There are many benefits of outdoor playing for children
With funding secured, it wasn’t all about picking up a catalogue and going mad. Instead, headed by the school’s co-ordinator Michelle Hamilton, the plan was to create 10 distinct areas, all going the children something a little different to feed their imaginations.
“There was nothing else for them, so we thought about what would be good quality play, not just play for play’s sake,” said Joanne.
“So, we built our resources up, and now it’s about how we can use what we now have as part of our classroom. It all sits naturally with the NI curriculum.
“Solving peer conflicts, compromise is all brought alive in a safe place, and they don’t know they’re doing it. Thinking skills, creativity, working with others is all flourishing in a fun environment. It’s created a new level of pride in our school.”
What the school now has, instead of simple grass and tarmac, is a series of distinct areas for outdoor learning, including an undercover outdoor classroom.
Michelle Hamilton has been the TOPS co-ordinator and said the change in the children is already noticeable.
“It’s been a very a quick journey for us,” she said. “It shows that when the effort and community commitment is there great things can be achieved.
“We only really started this at the end of October. The longest part of it all was waiting for things to arrive.
“We’ve had great help from the parents and the community. There are even railway sleepers from my garden being used now.
“But there was an action plan from the start. That was vital to keep a track of what we were doing. There wasn’t any idea of just buying equipment without thinking about how it was all going to work in with what we were trying to achieve here.
“It’s changed our children, changed us as a staff,” she added. “It’s all been so positive and rewarding for the school.
“It encourages us to take out learning outside.
“We have an outdoor classroom and here being outside is part of the life of the pupils, there are so many from a country background and being able to bring a lot of unused areas into use means the school actually feels bigger.
“Having excited, happy children helps learning all round and we’re delighted at the difference it has made to our school.”
It all comes after new research revealed that children who spend more time playing adventurously have lower symptoms of anxiety and depression and were happier in the school environment.
The study, led by the University of Exeter, asked parents how often their children engaged in play that was “thrilling and exciting”, where they might experience some fear and uncertainty.
The research was carried out with two groups of parents: a group of 427 parents living in Northern Ireland and a nationally representative group of 1,919 parents living in Great Britain.
Welcoming the findings, Jacqueline O’Loughlin from PlayBoard NI said the benefits of adventurous play had been highlighted said parents should encourage their children to experience the great outdoors.
“Children and young people need freedom and opportunities to encounter challenge and risk in their everyday playful adventures,” she said.
“It is clear from the research findings that playing, taking risks and experiencing excitement outdoors makes a positive contribution to children’s mental health and emotional wellbeing.
“The rewards of allowing children to self-regulate and manage challenge in their play are widespread and far-reaching.
“Adventurous play helps children to build the resilience needed to cope with and manage stress in challenging circumstances.”
TOPS co-ordinator at Carr Primary School Michelle Hamilton, Kirstie Ward from Grassmen and Carr PS principal Joanne Bryans
Researchers found that children who spend more time playing outside had fewer “internalising problems” — characterised as anxiety and depression.
Helen Dodd, Professor of Child Psychology at the of the University of Exeter led the study team. “We’re more concerned than ever about children’s mental health, and our findings highlight that we might be able to help protect children’s mental health by ensuring they have plentiful opportunities for adventurous play,” she said.
“This is really positive because play is free, instinctive and rewarding for children, available to everyone, and doesn’t require special skills. We now urgently need to invest in and protect natural spaces, well-designed parks and adventure playgrounds, to support the mental health of our children.”
Supported by the Department of Education and facilitated by PlayBoard, the TOPS training programme and quality award supported the schools over the past academic year to develop and transform their external environment to encourage and deliver more outdoor play.
Congratulating the award recipients, Jacqueline O’Loughlin, Chief Executive of PlayBoard said: “Time playing outside offers many and varied benefits for children and young people and has a critical role in schools.
“I am delighted the pupils have been enjoying their new and improved play spaces which offer great opportunities for play, learning and fun during the school day.”
Education Minister Michelle McIlveen said the importance of outdoor play for children’s development cannot be underestimated.
“It supports children to be physically healthier and undoubtedly has significant mental health and educational benefits,” she said. “It also allows them to have fun while learning.
“I am pleased that all those involved in this partnership approach have recognised the benefits of outdoor play in our young people’s learning and I look forward to seeing them build on the success of this award.”
At Carr Primary School the building of their outdoor world is to continue.
Further funding has already been confirmed.
And alongside them will be other TOPS award winners: Gaelscoil Eoghain, Cookstown; Gilford Primary School, Craigavon; Moneynick Primary School, Randalstown; Orangefield Primary School, Belfast; Poyntzpass Primary School; Sacred Heart Boys Primary School, Belfast; St Colmcille’s Primary School, Ballymena and St Joseph’s Primary School, Drumquin. Rather than turn school classrooms upside down, taking kids inside out is the new line of thinking.
