SAVING PLAYTIME

The publication of the Play Commission’s interim report, State of Play, has been hailed as a significant milestone in the journey towards improving the status of play for children across England

We can’t continue to watch as our children become increasingly unhealthy and unhappy

The Raising the Nation Play Commission published its interim report, State of Play – Raising the Nation, in February. The play sector hailed the publication as a “significant milestone” in the journey towards elevating the status of play in society. The interim report provides initial findings and recommendations, with the full report – covering all themes of the Commission – set to be published on 11 June 2025.

Background

The Commission was launched in June 2024 by its chair, entrepreneur and campaigner Paul Lindley OBE – founder of Ella’s Kitchen, the UK’s biggest baby food business. It is working in partnership with former Children’s Commissioner Baroness Anne Longfield’s Centre for Young Lives think tank.

The commission’s interim report reveals some of the growing barriers to play in England, including playground closures, concerns about traffic and safety, cuts to park budgets and play facilities, and the growth of a ‘No Balls Game’ anti-play culture. It warns that generations of children are spending less time playing, less time outside, less time with their friends, and more time inside glued to digital tech, at a time when millions of children are growing up unhealthy, unhappy, and not ‘school ready’.

Play is a crucial tool for reversing the growing number of children with obesity, mental ill health and developmental problems. It’s time to get our children playing again

People

Play is being squeezed out of their lives, and the consequences for their mental and physical health, and their development, are dire

The report sets out the huge benefits of play for children and calls on the Government to introduce a National Play Strategy to ‘get children playing again’, alongside a legally binding requirement for councils in England to provide play facilities and opportunities for children, new funding for playgrounds, and a review into the use of ‘No Ball Games’ signs.

Strategic moves

The Interim Report lays down foundations for a play strategy for England to be proposed to the Government in the commission’s final report in June. The report argues that a National Play Strategy is more urgent than ever, with around four in 10 children living with an unhealthy weight, more than a quarter of children overweight (including obese), one in five children and young people in England struggling with a diagnosable mental health problem, and around one in three children not school ready.

The report also reveals how, despite the immense benefits of breaktimes to children’s development and learning, play time has been squeezed out of the school day over a 25-year period. It analyses four national surveys carried out in 1995, 2006, 2017, and 2021, shared with the Play Commission, which show the significant decline in average total breaktime in minutes per day in England’s schools between 1995 and 2021.

Average total break time in minutes per day in England’s schools across four national surveys

KEY STAGE 1 (Age 5-7)

KEY STAGE 2 (Age 8-11)

76 77

KEY STAGE 3 (Age 11-16)

100

2021

2017

2006

1995

Baroness Anne Longfield CBE, Executive Chair of the Centre for Young Lives and former Children’s Commissioner for England, said: “Generations of children are now growing up spending less time playing, less time outside, less time with their friends, and more time inside, glued to phones and social media.

“Play is being squeezed out of their lives, and the consequences for their mental and physical health, and their development, are dire.

“This interim report puts forward positive, workable, evidence-based proposals to support those aims, including a cross- Government National Play Strategy for England that would boost those ambitions.”

Data-driven

According to the report, the youngest school children in England have lost 23 minutes breaktime a day, on average, when compared to their counterparts in 1995. The average total time dedicated to breaktime in a day fell by 18 minutes over the same period for older primary school children, and by 17 minutes for Key Stage 3 children.

It also shows how breaktimes have fallen most sharply in primary schools in the most deprived parts of England. Schools with a higher proportion of children in receipt of Free School Meals have shorter breaktimes. While state secondary schools have seen a significant fall in breaktime, there has been no discernible decline in the time devoted to play in England’s private schools since 1995.

The report argues that an overbearing national curriculum and highly pressurised accountability system has led many schools and teachers to view breaktimes as nothing more than a loss of valuable teaching time. It also warns that many schools are punitively withholding breaktimes from children for behavioural reasons.

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Disappearing places

The report also highlights how children have been “designed out” of public spaces. The spaces that could accommodate them are disappearing and nothing is being put in place to replace them.

“In the public realm, formal spaces to play - such as local playgrounds - have been closed at an alarming rate,” the report states. “Playing out on local streets in the community has also declined, as a result of more cars now occupying these spaces and concerns about crime growing.

“Across all spaces, whether it be local playgrounds or public space, the planning system often overlooks the needs and views of children, creating spaces which are inaccessible, unsafe, or even unwanted. Typically, this disproportionately impacts girls, children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), children from low income backgrounds, and ethnically minority children.”

To tackle this, the report recommends a process which would guarantee investment into spaces designed for children

“To ensure children have safe places to play, we support the introduction of a Play Sufficiency Duty, to provide a framework and guidance for local authorities to protect and provide opportunities to play,” the report says.

“This should encourage creativity at a local level to adapt and evolve places, such as by opening school playgrounds for wider community use outside of the school day. We also recommend a realignment of the planning system, so that it is able to serve children and young people’s needs. This includes requiring developers to consult children on their views on the spaces which they will live in and use, as well as ensuring that they recognise the need of all children and young people to have access to outdoor and green space.”

The report recommends a process which would guarantee investment into spaces designed for children

The next step

The full and final report will be published in June and the message of it will be simple: England needs a play strategy. The publication date is no coincidence either – 11th June is the International Day of Play.

Paul Lindley OBE, Chair of the Raising the Nation Play Commission, said: “Play should be a crucial part of growing up. It improves development, physical and mental health, social skills, and school readiness.

“Yet our Commission has heard countless examples of how England’s children are missing out on the same play opportunities that their parents and grandparents enjoyed. An anti-play, ‘No Ball Games’ culture has emerged. Hundreds of playgrounds have closed, half of all youth centres have gone, school playing fields have been sold. Our streets and public spaces feel less safe, and children are losing hours of play time at school every month.

“We can’t continue to watch as our children become increasingly unhealthy and unhappy. Play is a crucial tool for reversing the growing number of children with obesity, mental ill health, and developmental problems. It’s time to get our children playing again.”

The State of Play report makes a range of evidence-based recommendations to government to reverse the loss of play time in schools, including: ● Calling on government to establish the first National Play Strategy for England since 2008 led by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport. The strategy would set out a clear, long-term vision to ensure children can easily access and enjoy places to play in public, at school, and at home. ● New statutory Department for Education guidance to ring-fence time within the school day for breaktimes and lunchtimes, and support for The British Psychological Society’s call for an extra 10 minutes of play to be restored to the school day. ● Ofsted to include play sufficiency – specifically time to play - as a measure of school performance to encourage schools to boost play in school time and reward those schools who value play highly. ● School teachers, staff, and supervisors to receive high-quality and mandatory play training to enable healthy and active breaktimes and playful learning. ● Ring-fenced funding for local authorities to maintain and renovate playgrounds and provide new ones in playground deserts. ● The adoption of a legally binding Play Sufficiency Duty for England, bringing England into line with Scotland and Wales, to ensure that local authorities provide sufficient play opportunities and to communicate them to parents and families. ● A Review of the use of ‘No Ball Games’ signs and update byelaws for Parks and Open Spaces to create a more welcoming, healthier, and active environment. ● A national campaign to encourage and support parents to play with their children, as part of the drive to improve school readiness.