Schools with No Playgrounds or Outdoor Space

[alanmckinney]

I am a father two four children, two of who are in first school.

I recently found out (through our school wanting to build classrooms on the playground and us campaigning for the council to buy adjacent land) that schools DO NOT need to offer any outdoor space to their children. AND even worse many (especially in London and other urban areas) don't.

New free schools can even set up in office blocks! This is down to a relaxation in legislation in January 2013 to allow free schools who struggled to find locations to provide enough space to set up pretty much anywhere.

So I have started a petition jointly with the charity Learning Through Landscapes to ask the government to revise it's legislation or introduce new legislation that stipulates the amount of outdoor space schools must provide for their children.

If you have children in school or will do in the future, if we don't do something about this we will have a large number of schools with inadequate or no outdoor space at all. Where are your children going to play, exercise and do PE? Most likely by getting on a bus and going to the local high school or leisure center cutting into classroom time.

Please show your support by having a look and signing the petition here:

www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/the-uk-government-stop-new-schools-being-created-without-any-outdoor-space-for-children-to-play-and-learn

If we can get 100,000 signatures the Government will consider addressing the issue in Parliament.

One of the reasons we chose our DS's school was because of the fantastic outdoor space. I think it's vitally important for kids to get out in the fresh air. Will sign the petition.

silly to say "woowoo is out of touch". These are the facts for many inner city schools and parents and schools have to work harder to compensate. DCs go to an inner London school with no outside space - only covered playdecks so no chance of any vit D. Also no possibility for bigger games like football unless they go to Hyde Park or Regent's Park. And it's not quite right for endless games of Hey Presto and cartwheels that we had on our field at primary school. On the other hand, they can play in all weathers so always get running around time. There really isn't any space for a playing field.

I agree with OP to the extent that I don't like to see free schools opening up in office blocks. At least our school has attempted to design its way around the problem. But let's not make the best the enemy of the good. There are ways for children to get exercise as long as they have adequate space - it just might not be a playing field.

Most of our pupils live in very overcrowded flats (5 children, 2 adults in 1 and 2 bedrooms). There are many children whose ONLY opportunity to run and have Soave is at school
totally agree.

Its vital! Children of course need out door space to run round in, and why the heck shouldnt they?
The playing fields of Eton wont be touched by all this I pressume?

I also added in one school v another due to play area

• unless they go to Hyde Park or Regent's Park

Both stunning parks, hardly a hard ship.

Are we a first world country or third world. We have in the past tried to accommodate play space for children where we can, why on earth are we regressing the other way?

I think WooWoo talks nonsense.

My DS starts school in September and I'm so pleased that his school has the biggest playing field and playground I've seen around here. The other school has a tiny concrete playground. I've seen the kids running around in it - they have no space at all.

My memories of school were running about outside having fun. I hated it when it rained and we couldn't go out.

I am not talking nonsense, I am talking about my own personal experience of going a primary school that didn't have it's own playground.

I get that children need outdoor space. I get that schools should ideally have their own outdoor space.

I'm just saying that children don't automatically suffer from not having outdoor space at school. Not when their parents provide plenty of other opportunities to be outside

Signed and shared. Ds is like a dog and needs to run around outside each day

unless they go to Hyde Park or Regent's Park

Both stunning parks, hardly a hard ship

Indeed. Except that they are each at least a 20 min walk away for a crowd of five year olds....the point is that it's not the same as having a playing field. Plus you can't corral them safely in the same way - that's why the school actually don't use them for the younger children. Only the KS2 children go out regularly for a bigger game. So the children at my DCs' school don't have the opportunity for casual football games at breaktime. But as I've said, there really isn't much of an option where we live. I agree with the basic tenet of the petition but sometimes it is actually just a practical difficulty.

I would say that children need breaks outside during their school day. Especially in winter when the days are short.

Woo woo

A) not every parent does allow adequate opportunities to play outside. Sad but true.

B) even if they do provide opportunities for children to play outside, the school day is a long day for children and they need to have a run around outside. Any teacher who has taught on a wet day where playtime has been indoors will testify to this!!

Op I think you should post this in AIBU as well as they get more traffic and exposure there.

Thanks GobbolinoCat I will do that now!

Signed.

Thanks CruCru

I decided to set up a Facebook group to keep people updated on our campaign but also to get some debate like has been happening here to happen in the group too. Please do head over and join. I will accept everyone that joins up:

www.facebook.com/groups/1415980561999257/

Are you aware of how many VERY EXPENSIVE private schools in London only have a concrete courtyard on site?

That doesn't make it right Talkin!

I didn't say it did :
My primary school used to walk us down to Battersea park if we wanted to run around
and lots of naice prep schools are building on all of their space to get more fee paying bums on seats
and Gove relaxed the rules on the amount of floor space pupils are meant to have in state schools

"Gove relaxed the rules on the amount of floor space pupils are meant to have in state schools" along with all the other land and money related changes designed to screw state education...

Yet more evidence which demonstrates that Gove is a twat