Welcome to the Stockport Better Playtimes Initiative.
Effective playtimes offer a huge range of benefits for children's well-being, learning, social skills and attention skills, but playtimes are often the forgotten and overlooked part of the day. Research suggests that the duration of playtimes have significantly reduced over the last 5 years but that this has had no impact in terms of improving 'behaviour'.
Delivered by educational psychologists, informed by psychological theory and based on Dr Sian Bristow's published research in the field, the Better Playtimes programme supports school to develop and improve their playtimes.
Better Playtimes is a strategic initiative that focuses on creating safe, inclusive, and enriching playtime experiences for all children. As part of this initiative, schools can work towards formal recognition of their commitment to excellent playtime provision through the Better Playtime Accreditation awards. The Better Playtime Champion for your school will attend two training sessions per year (over a 3-year period) and have access to optional supervision sessions.
We recommend that the member of staff who leads the Better Playtimes initiative in your school is somebody who has a role responsibility and the agency to make changes to your playtimes.
We recommend that your school's headteacher attends this session alongside the member of staff who will be leading Better Playtimes in your school. Feedback from previous attendees who are Headteachers has been incredibly positive.
Costs:
The Full Better Playtimes programme (including 6 training sessions, 6 supervision sessions and the Better Playtimes Resource Folder) = £650
Individual training or supervision sessions = £100 per session
Feedback from attendees to previous sessions:
“I have absolutely loved the training and am now an advocate for the importance of play in primary schools at our school (and in life in general) I think the program strikes a perfect balance of theory and research along with practical ideas and step by step guidance for implementation in your own school setting. It has made a real difference to the quality of playtimes in our school, making them more inclusive for all and helping children learn how to collaborate and not just compete in their play! Thank you it is a really well thought out program.”
“Thanks so much – love that it’s a graded approach.”
“Has real potential for huge impact on practice; really need to go back and discuss and plan next steps.”
“Loved it – would recommend.”
“Really useful and I’m sure this will have a positive impact on children and staff.”
“Every time that I come to a session I feel more inspired to tell everyone about the importance of play and to make changes to our provision.”
“Great ideas and theories to enable truly better playtimes”
“It has been a fantastic opportunity to attend this training. The journey of improving playtimes has been a focus of mine this year and it is a great support being around other professionals with the same passion.”
