Supporting our Students 

at Play

 

Lunch and recess play can be one of the biggest challenges that children face at school.  Some students have difficulty developing positive peer relationships.  Some students struggle with the non-structured nature of play and can mis-read social situations.  As the doors open, the rush outside can cause students to lose their friends and then the large open spaces at times can be quite daunting, especially to new and younger students.

As a school we identified that we needed to create a space that met the needs of these students and supported them to become more successful at playtime. 

Three years ago, if you came into the Library at lunch (it was only open for twenty minutes at lunch and closed at recess) there would be ten students on computers playing games and maybe ten students reading by themselves.  Very little, if any, collaboration.  Meanwhile there were students outside at play who were struggling to develop positive friendships and others who needed to develop the skills to collaborate with their peers and learn how to work through social issues when they arose.

Hence, we opened the Library for all of lunch and recess and took away the computers.  We wanted to give students open-ended play opportunities and support them to develop friendships and their peer relationships. We needed to provide structured support to enable students to develop the skills to collaborate with their peers and more opportunities for students to build empathy and understanding amongst peers they may have had issues with. 

The Personal and Social Capabilities defined in the Australian Curriculum emphasizes students developing empathy for others, understanding relationships, establishing and building positive relationships, making responsible decisions, working effectively in teams and handling challenging situations constructively. Capabilities that are so important for young people to develop. 

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Now the Library is a hub of activity with students lining up at the door to get in.  There are regularly over fifty students (1/6 of the student population) in the Library.  Some students have to play there due to needing playtime support and needing a structured environment to learn how to collaborate with their peers.  Most students are there because they want to be. The Library is an environment where students are supported to develop positive peer relationships and vitally important collaboration skills.  There are numerous board games, construction opportunities through Lego, ball runs, trains, wooden and magnetic blocks, as well as strategic games such as Jenga, Chess and Dominos.  Most importantly students are in the Library collaborating with their peers and working together to solve problems, developing their Personal and Social Capability. 

This is just one of the many ways we support students to develop friendships as well as their collaborative skills at Hackham East Primary School.

Scott Megson, Deputy Principal