Is Play Time Dead?

The building works have really had an impact on the places that our boys can recreate on any school day. Our Deputy Principal, Mr Byrne, has been implementing access for the students to run around on our back oval during our lunch time. This has been well received by the boys and he has received much positive impact from the boys who have taken the time to let him know how much they appreciate the opportunity to run about.

This got me to thinking about play time. Is it a concept from the past?

For anyone driving around their neighbourhoods after school or during the holidays, it might seem as though play time has vanished from our children’s lives. Many parents/carers and grandparents nostalgically recall games of cricket on the street with all the neighbourhood kids or fighting for space on the monkey bars at the local playground. But now the playgrounds regularly stand mostly empty, the streets devoid of children. We have clearly moved past the golden age of outdoor play of the 1960s. But is play time dead? Maybe not.

Data shows that many parents/carers no longer feel comfortable letting their kids play outside unsupervised, but this doesn’t mean that children aren’t playing at all. It’s just that play has undergone a shift.

Humans are naturally drawn to play. It’s a vital part of our human experience. Play time begins at birth when babies play with their hands and feet and discover how their bodies work. From there they move through solitary play at two years, and then begin playing with other children at around four-years-old. Much play in the early years is not about bonding. In fact, it often occurs with limited interaction – and it’s known as parallel play. As children grow older, play may look less like a game of superheroes, and more like playing board games or video games. It may look like trying out new tricks on a skateboard, strumming a guitar, or experimenting with new painting techniques. Even as adults, we may say that we’re “playing around with the data”, or “toying with an idea”. Play is simply defined as any activity that is intrinsically motivated and done for enjoyment. Many things fall under the umbrella of play.

So maybe play time isn’t dead. But the kinds of play that we associate with childhood are in decline.

While it is hard to quantify how much play has declined over the last few decades, 85% of mothers agree with the statement that their children play outside less than they themselves did as children. And in the 15 years leading up to 1997, the time children spent playing decreased by 25%. While we don’t know how much it has decreased since then, we do know that opportunities for play are shrinking.

Many kids go to school for six hours a day, then spend their afternoons and evenings bouncing around various highly structured (and often expensive) extra-curricular activities. While we may enrol our children in these activities with the best of intentions, they are being told what to do and how to do it for large parts of each and every day. They’re missing out on engaging in intrinsically motivated activities that are done just for enjoyment. Even if they enjoy these activities, competition and excellence often supplant connection and mastery as the reason for the activity.

Why does this matter?

Over the same period that opportunities for free play have declined, we’ve seen a corresponding increase in childhood and adolescent psychopathology. Children today are more anxious, more depressed, and more narcissistic than they were 50 years ago.

While we can’t say conclusively that decreased play has caused this increase in mental health challenges in our children, we do know that play time encourages children to develop their interests, practice making decisions and solving problems, learn to regulate their emotions, assess and respond to risk, develop socially, and most importantly, facilitates access to joy. All of which contribute to good mental health and wellbeing.

So how can we encourage our kids to play more? Here are three goals for what you can aim for:

1. Have one moment of roughhousing/physical play each day

Roughhousing not only helps kids to be physically active (and builds strength), it also encourages emotional intelligence, boosts confidence, and teaches boundaries. For pre-schoolers, you might play a game of airplane and fly them around the room. With your school-aged kids, you might engage them in a game of wrestling (make sure you lose spectacularly, your kids will think it’s hilarious!). And with your teens you could challenge them to a game of touch rugby. The idea is to get the heart rate up and get them laughing.

2. Allow at least 45 minutes of uninterrupted free play each day

You might have noticed that when your kids enter a new space, they are often quietly exploring at the start, and then arguments start to break out. Ignore your instinct to intervene. If you allow them to argue, just for a bit, you’ll notice that they’re trying to define the rules for play. Soon enough they’ll be happily playing together and will have learnt about cooperation and compromise along the way. If he isn’t involved in training for a College team, encourage your teen to have at least one homework free night a week so they can hang out with real people.

3. Spend two hours outside daily

While this may seem like a huge challenge, over 80% of teens and 60% of kids exceed the screen time recommendation of two hours per day. If we could replace that time (or at least some of it) with outdoor time, they will be reaping huge intellectual, social, physical, and emotional benefits. Nature is fuel for the soul, and it provides a platform for relationship building and physical activity. By racing about on the back ovals, your son can add 40 minutes to his play total, in the sun, each day.

While these goals may seem lofty and unattainable, remember that “If you’re trying and failing, you’re still getting one step closer to success than if you’re doing nothing.” (Jeanette Coron). Any play time is better than none at all.

Extra Time for Teachers

On 7 October, the Minister for Education and Early Learning in NSW, the Honourable Sarah Mitchell, announced that in 2023, all teachers in NSW Public Schools will be granted an additional 30 minutes per week release from face-to-face teaching to assist teachers to plan and collaborate. It isn’t a lot of time, but it is a move in the right direction!

Our school community has been doing this already. Our Learning and Innovation Team, led by Mrs Lombardo, prioritised professional collaboration as a strategy to improve teacher practice and our teachers have utilised this one hour per fortnight when we commenced the 2022 school year. As always, the quality of our teachers will continue to be our priority. We are blessed to have a staff who is generous with their time and ensure all of our Co-curricular activities run smoothly and professionally.

We look forward to the Industrial Commission ruling on the wage case for teachers so that we can better plan for 2023. We anticipate a minimum 5% pay rise, backdated to 1 January 2022 (the previous Enterprise Agreement expired at the end of 2021). Once this decision is handed down, we will publish our 2023 Fee Schedule.

Changes to our Advisory Council

Mr James Coyne has taken up a position with EREA Ltd as their Company Secretary. His expertise has been highly valued and recognised and we wish him well.

EREA has appointed Mr Anthony Meaker to take up the position of Council Chair. His son Jonathan has just completed his schooling (Class of 2022) and has been a member of our Advisory Council and Chair of our Finance Committee for several years. I look forward to Anthony’s expert stewardship of the Council and know that his extensive experience in the corporate sector, and experience as an SPC parent, will add value to our work.

We are currently seeking Expressions of Interest for interested people who wish to contribute to our Finance Committee and Risk and Governance Committee. You can download a form here and send through as indicated on the form by close of business Friday 28 October 2022.

Wonderful Feedback about our Boys

As the Principal, I am the recipient of reports of instances when our students make poor choices. This week I received some wonderful feedback about some boys in Year 11, Year 12 (2023): James Bellamy, Matthew Gainsford and Matthew Svoboda. They volunteered to assist in a fund-raising event for cancer. I wanted to share the feedback with you because this is not an exceptional occurrence at the College – I find our boys to be generous to a fault! I wanted to share the comments from the organiser of the event, Ms Rose Charles:

“On Friday evening I hosted a fundraising event Sparkle for a Cause, raising funds for Brain and Breast Cancer, at Aqua Luna, Drummoyne.

I just wanted to let you know that I had three volunteers from the College, being Matthew Gainsford, James Bellamy and Matthew Svoboda.

These three young men were outstanding, as they carried out their volunteering duties. All the guests commented on how professional, polite and engaging they were.

I saw James Bellamy at the College on Saturday, and he walked straight over to me, and congratulated me on such a wonderful evening.

I really felt the need to advise you both of this, as I was extremely proud of them, being a fellow parent of the College, along with many parents of the College attending the event also.

I truly hope these young men can be acknowledged for their efforts. It was a seven-hour stint, which is just amazing, that they were so keen to contribute in the first instance.”

Perspectives Survey: Our School in Focus

Hopefully, you have taken the opportunity to submit your thoughts in the AINSW survey that was sent directly to you. If you have yet to complete this, please do so this week by clicking the link in the email that was sent to you. If you cannot find the email or you never received it, you can give your feedback using this link.

In Memoriam

We keep in our prayers Mrs Jackie Raheb (Diverse Learning), her husband Old Boy Joseph Raheb (’92) and their sons Joseph Raheb (Year 12), James Raheb (Year 10) and Joshua Raheb (Year 7) on the recent passing of their family patriarch, Mr Joseph Raheb Snr.

We also pray for Mrs Carmel Allen (Front Office) and Mrs Loretta Mynett (Uniform Shop Manager) who lost their father late last week after a brief battle with a serious medical condition.

We pray for the repose of their souls and all the souls of the faithfully departed.

Requiescat in Pace.

Dr Vittoria Lavorato

Principal

SPC boys can do anything!

**except divide by zero

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