Positive Playgrounds

Today I set about making a positive change to the playground culture in my school.  It wasn't anything out of the ordinary, or even inventive.  It was stock-standard, run-of-the-mill stuff.  But it will make a difference.

The positive change I made today?  I sat down with our three oldest classrooms of students and taught them all the same rules to a game.  I explained to the students that problems in the playground often boil down to someone thinking that something is not fair and then reacting to that feeling in an angry way.  The person probably doesn't deem it fair because there is a misinterpretation of the rules of the game.  The students nodded in agreement.

Together we discussed the rules, debated a few of the trickier ones, drew diagrams and checked that we all understood what was expected of us when we played this game.  Heading outside the oldest students modelled the game for the younger ones, taking the game slowly, being careful to be honest and to be fair.  We then all jumped onto the field, the mixed age groups working alongside each other in a positive way to practice the game.  And then we actually played it.

You see, not rocket science, not reinventing the wheel.  Just stock-standard, run-of-the-mill stuff.  But it works.

Making positive changes to playground culture starts with the basics.

• Letting the students have a say in creating the rules. 
• Making sure that all students understand how to play the games that are available to them in the playground.
• Discussing ways to deal with each other respectfully when a disagreement arises.  Practising this.
• Meeting regularly with students to talk about playground issues and how to minimise these.  The students know the answers.  They just need a voice.

We don't need to reinvent the wheel, we don't need to have a degree in rocket science.  We just need to do the basics well.  Repeat the steps often.  Keep talking to our kids.  Make that positive change to playground culture.