Focus on play as learning
In the early years, play is crucial to learning. Many high performing Scandinavian and Asian countries, for example, focus on play-based approaches to learning for longer and formalise much later than in England. In Wales, play-based learning until the age of seven was introduced in 2011, and studies found that both attainment and wellbeing improved (Taylor et al., 2015).
Play is generally seen to be entirely child-directed and therefore a bit of a hit-and-miss approach to learning (Smith, 2015). This narrow view of play fails to capture the rich and varied possibilities for learning through play and playful learning: physical play, playing with objects, role play, symbolic play, playing with rules (Whitbread et al., 2012). Guided play offers a teacher-led version of play which merges the best of the ‘telling’ and ‘discovery’ approaches to learning: the child has some free choice within a playful activity so that they can make their own discoveries, and the adult provides guidance based on the individual child’s interests, needs and understanding to support them towards a predetermined learning goal (Skene, 2022).
Here we have grouped School 360 signature practices which come under the umbrella of focusing on play as learning which you can read in the PDF below.
- 4. Play and COOL time
- 5. Seesaw
- 6. Outdoor Learning
- 7. Oracy
- 8. Storytelling
- 10. Let’s Think
- 11. Lunchtimes
- a. Part 1: Eating Together
- b. Part 2: Outdoor Play
