Children's Voice - Playground improvement by Bruntsfield Playground

Playground party - family event. drawings, post-it map and observations

bruntsfieldplayground — 2022-10-09 09:10:34 UTC

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1jcmEHM60mm9a_JZrtx9XnQVHeBzs0Rq7?usp=sharing

Observation - Planting sessions in school summer term

bruntsfieldplayground — 2022-10-09 09:10:55 UTC

Planting session in school with three parents and teacher, and a group of P3s (May 2022):
- high levels of engagement from children in their space
" I wish we could do this all day!"
- getting stuck into digging in the planters
- excited to see worms and snails and moving them to different places
- worked together as a team between children and with adults
- curiosity to learn how to plant
- planting in planters responds to observation in class feedback that they were bare and empty

Since planting session:
- children have regularly enjoyed the plants, in sensory aspects, being close to the plants, touching leaves
- children gather round the plants together, quietly, looking closely at nature
- children from different year groups have been involved in watering to maintain the plants
(feedback from PSAs involved ?)

Additionally - natural materials and loose parts:
-children have played with new tree stumps and crates constantly in before during and after school
-these resources let children be free to creative in different ways, and mix them with the outdoor blocks

Conversation with children day to day (direct quotes)

bruntsfieldplayground — 2022-10-09 09:11:37 UTC

"I would like to go outside more often" (P2)
"we needs balls but we don't mind which ones. small ones. a mix. even small ones" (p2)
"the steering wheel is where everyone is and it's crowded and everyone is just arguing. People are on the edge. They could put it somewhere else" (p3)
'On the climbing, there's a rope and everyone is in there"
"I want to go down in the other playground, it\s just that bit [pointing to lower playground]" (p3)
"we can have paint in there" (p3)
'The playground isn't set up for different ages of children' (P4)
"There are not enough birds" (P2)
"we want cosy , small places to hide in" (P4)
" You know where the rope is and the obstacle course downstairs in the stones... what if we could add... I was thinking about gymnastics bars. and the round things - trapeze. can we have it over there [pointing to upper playground]' (P4)
'the bricks cupboard is open only once a month. we need more blocks and more space. we're not allowed to take the blocks past the benches' (p4)

Drawings (+ direct quotes). click on tile to see images

bruntsfieldplayground — 2022-10-09 09:11:53 UTC

- greenery: trees/ plants/grass, 'food plants'
- loose parts/ 'more toys allowed in playground'
- physical activity : jumping, running, climbing, bouncing, swinging
- gathering/ social spaces
- shelters and dens: quiet, relaxing: 'this [drawing] is a quiet place to relax since the Playground is very noisy'. Suggested examples in drawings took the form of houses ,and tree houses in higher up places away from the ground
- drawing area 'a drawing area to draw when you're bored'
- 'downstairs area to be more colourful'
- 'no stones' in downstairs playground
- 'destroy cars at the road next to the school'

Post-its - click on tile to see images

bruntsfieldplayground — 2022-10-09 09:34:08 UTC

Features of post-it note ideas - stuck onto photos of different sections of playground:
-Dress-up.
- sofa, softer seating, cosy corner, chilling, tree houses
-toys
-bring your pets
-crafts
- storytelling
- ice cream van
- basketball hoops and balls
-tennis equipment
-get rid of stones
- interactive corner
- more space in general : too small for overcrowded school
- downstairs playground more colourful

How can we look deeper into what is coming through seemingly less practical ideas:
-'TV' - digital technology to be used outdoors more?;
'ice cream' - can there be more role play or food making done outdoors, or using herbs from planters to make this?;
- 'bring your pets' - can children have an event each year to bring your pet to school? ; 'giraffe, zebra..." - can these be provided in soft toys, small world as resources outdoors?
-'new teachers', 'new people' - are support staff in the playground equipped to support children in the right ways? do children have space to get away from other children when social situations are difficult?

Class feedback with teachers

bruntsfieldplayground — 2022-10-09 09:36:15 UTC

Selected classes in each year group.

When asked what they currently liked about the playground
common themes were:
The boat area
The pictures on the ground
The wooden blocks
Running around in the space
Playing football
Playing hide and seek
Adventure area

When asked what they thought would make our playground
better common themes were:
Planting trees, flowers and plants
Grow food we can eat
Grass
Replace the stones ( extremely popular!)
Wildlife garden
Planting to attract bugs, bees and birds
Bird boxes and bug hotels
Slides, swings, monkey bars and trampolines
Sand pit
More toys-cars, balls, skipping ropes
Chalk
Tents
Quiet areas for reading and drawing
Football goals
Board games

Observations during event

bruntsfieldplayground — 2022-10-09 11:33:28 UTC

From playground party 11 June, event organiser:
- busy area of planting and feedback
-children enjoyed working with their families to plant in planters and individual pots
- children of all ages at primary level engaged in feedback through drawing and post its on photos of the school playground . Children worked along and with peers on these drawings and notes
- children were excited to think about possibilities, fed back to event organisers that they wanted to see the playground improved and they wanted to see their ideas come to life
- children were very frustrated about the stones in the lower playground
- a makeshift gallery of their drawings was on display
- children chalked on the ground making drawings

INTERPRETATION - Common themes overlap across the listening channels below

bruntsfieldplayground — 2022-10-09 12:02:25 UTC

Greenery and flowers - grass, trees, plants and growing food, greenery at different heights with more living nature

Colourful and clean shelters, safe surfaces - downstairs space shelters and stones, shelters, drawings show a happy, colourful space

Shelters and cosy dens - comfortable, quiet places, sofas and reading corners, high up places away from the noisy, rough activity on the ground

Physical activity equipment - across upstairs and downstairs, at different heights for swinging, climbing, bouncing, sliding, balls

Arts and crafts - chalkboards, chalk, crafts, quiet drawing space

Social space - for eating lunch, board games, sharing interests

Resources for all - more loose parts, toys, animals, role play

Landscaping and routes - drawings show that location, structure, height and position of equipment, growing and dens is important

Reflective questions in our interpretation and planning:

- What is children's feedback below telling us overall? Children are thinking about their 'whole health' needs, play, social, exercise and calm and what they enjoy

- Have all children in the school had the opportunity to be heard in the gathering of their views? For those non-verbal, with EAL, ASL?

- What are the needs for children in the playground of different ages, cultural backgrounds, ASL, EAL, strengths and skills?

- How do we maximise space for an overcrowded playground, while making cosy protective spaces?

- How do we set up the playground for all ages across year groups?

- How can specific needs expressed through children's views and ideas (even the 'fantastical' ones) be met through the lens of lived experiences?

- How will children play in the space as well as what they play with ?

- How can children's views inform the school's use of outdoors for learning through curriculum as well as personal learning in recreational time?

- How will children participate and shape the design of the new playground based on their ideas and experiences?

-Children's drawings and comments should not always be taken literally; they can be representative of needs such as green space, challenging play and the need for quiet and calm

LISTENING - ways of listening to children through observation, verbal, written and visual

bruntsfieldplayground — 2022-10-09 12:06:00 UTC

Below are various channels of listening to children - formal and informal
Class feedback - Playground party - Day to day lived experiences

Observation - Children's work in the playground

bruntsfieldplayground — 2022-12-08 15:48:02 UTC

Children's work with loose parts . Constructions are made on a daily basis using blocks, crates, and the planters themselves (example pictured). Children use circle of tree stumps for physical activity and to design their own games, to sit together.