Why Choose This Project?

Through behaviour incident monitoring the school was aware of an unacceptable amount of behaviour incidents in the Key Stage 1 playground.  Informal conversations with staff and observations of playtime highlighted that pupils were not engaged in purposeful play; which resulted in lessons after playtime being disrupted.

What Did The School Want To Achieve Through This Project?

1. To decrease the number of incidents in the playground
2. To increase the pupil satisfaction and enjoyment levels of the playtime
3. To improve behaviour in the classroom after playtimes

What Did The School Do To Achieve These Aims?

The project was supported throughout by the Healthy Lives team to discuss aims, objectives, means of collecting data and designing a survey, and the practicalities of carrying out the project.  The school wanted to increase the activities in the playground so gathered data through a pupil survey and developed six zones based on their findings; the role play zone; the parachute zone; the nurture zone; craze of the week zone; the team game zone and the bike zone. Resources were ordered and a staff meeting and INSET were conducted to inform and train staff on the new roles and expectations in the playground.  Pupils were taught different games so they could be Playground Friends and Year 6 pupils were trained to be Sports Leaders so they could run parachute games. Class contracts were drawn up with clear rules and guidance on the expectations of the pupils when they were in the playground; and this also meant staff were consistent with the rules and punishments and everyone was clear what the consequences of their behaviour would be.

What Data Did The School Collect and What Was The RESULT?

1. Behaviour Monitoring

 2. Pupil Survey

“How do you feel in the playground?” 100% decrease in children feeling sad; 65% increase in children feeling happy

3. Teacher Survey

100% of teachers say their pupils are happier after lunch