Play in upper primary school

[DancingintheDark17]

Hey, looking for opinions on having more play/ creative/ active opportunities in upper primary (p6 in particular). Behaviour has took a recent decline for a group of boys, resulting in negative views on school for them and their peers. I'm moving from p1 to p6 teaching and interested in adopting a more active style of teaching, still writing and structured following curriculum, but with a fun twist. Lots of practical opportunities, developing social skills, peers relationships, problem solving, creativity, transferring skills etc. My main hope would be having these style activities available on the classroom would reduce the time they are removed (usually because refuse to do written work, end up disruptive) as during these times they have no focused learning, will help staff or play board games etc.
Would you as a parent be happy for child to experience this? As all pupils would have access, meaning it wasn't seen just reward for bad behaviour etc. Also any teachers have experience of implementing this, with pros or cons? X

It might be an idea for you to look at something like continuous provision and adapting it for the older ones. It would give you time to focus on small group teaching while the rest of the class have other learning activities.
I used to take Y5/6 out to play when they needed it but didn't have a play-based curriculum as such.

DD's p6 was like this. She used to do a lot of her work lying on the floor on her tummy. There were no desks, maths could be done outside using leaves and twigs in a more complex version of how you might do it in p1. If it was successful unfortunately I can't answer as lockdown happened in March of her p6 year but she certainly seemed to enjoy it.

Love this.
We do a lot of team challenges and escape room style ways of helping KS2 children to learn but in creative playful ways.

So for example, they might need to solve a maths problem to get a clue that they then need to descript. They might need to appease a sea creature by writing a poem to it or silly things like. They absolutely got into it and motivation and behaviour was much better.

As a parent that sounds good, as long as it’s done well. Scout leaders tend to be very good at organising this sort of thing, I’d see if you have an experienced one around, and have a chat as well as talking to other teachers.

If your school is happy then go for it! You could have continuous provision for afternoons or once a Maths or English activity is finished. Activities could be linked to the Science, History, Geography, RE etc. you are doing that term. So if you were doing rocks and soil, for example, have a soil/rock tray in one corner with labelling activities or a sorting activity. If it was WW2 in History, have a role play area set up as an air raid shelter and a make-your-own gas mask box activity. For RE you could have artefacts or a Bible story sequencing activity or similar. Then each afternoon you do a guided activity for small groups at a time. As well as having a reading corner, topic-related sorting and Maths activities etc.

It sounds like a wonderful way to do it, tbh! But many schools are far more prescriptive in what they think lessons outside of EYFS should be like. Even in Year 1 😞

topic-related writing, I mean.

Sorry I'm late but just getting round to reading your responses. I love the positivity, and ideas on moving forward. I loved the good old textbook when at school, as felt accomplishment when completing, however now I can't think of anything worst than writing all day 🤦🏻‍♀️ I want them to use theyre skills/ knowledge in a way that's meaningful for them, while also developing skills that are often forgotten about in upper school. I've got a long summer ahead organising everything so will have a look into suggestions and see how I can make it work. Thanks again x

Hello,

I'm going in to P7 and I'm also hoping to incorporate more play! Is there any reading/useful links you've found? I'm found a couple of teachers on Instagram but I'm struggling to find much aimed at upper stages.
I'm coming from teaching Early/First level so I'm not new to play but I need to ensure it's relevant/interesting for this stage and I won't have the same resources.

@jigglypuffcookie sorry I've just seen your reply, it's great hearing from like minded teachers 🥰 if I'm honest sounds like your in same boat as me, I've found a few groups/ teachers on social media but very little professional reading/research. I'm lucky my HT is with me 100% but I would also like some evidence/ professional inputs to help me make sure I'm doing it right. Social media is great for ideas, but not so much on the full implemention, assessing of it. So far I quite like the promoting play in upper school group on Facebook and mr_minchin on Instagram.
I'm still working on how I will facilitate this but I will be using the soft start approach in the mornings. There's lots of ways to do it but I'm thinking of having a set of activities available to choose from, focusing on literacy/ numeracy/ HWB/ stem and a social skills game. This website explains it well, primarydelightteaching.com/soft-start-vs-morning-work/
If I do come across anything I will get back to you x

I teach UKS2 (Y5 & 6 with a couple of Y4s). Currently all boys- very able learners, all autistic, all with challenging behaviour including a number of demand avoidant profiles. Nobody keen on writing. Have been doing this 20 years, sometimes autistic kids, sometimes SEMH, sometimes a mix.

I would say structure is your friend. Mine respond best to lessons that always come in the same format so they can predict what is coming. For example, maths is always: intro, teacher model, video clip model, task explanation, movement break, task with feedback, digital learning platform time. I also keep their days and weeks ultra consistent.

I do NOT mix their lessons up and try to make them 'fun'. It adds to behaviour problems because they don't know what is expected of them each day. You must maintain high expectations of them as learners and avoid sinking into playing games to keep them happy. They will enjoy succeeding as learners more anyway.

I do interleave every block of 'desk time' with time when they can be active and pursue their own agenda. They also have access to creative play using 'big' equipment (crates, pallets, tyres etc) for two long blocks every day. We do daily PSHCE to work on social understanding and well-being.

My school website has a lot of info about our curriculum if you want to DM me for the link.

I teach P6 and have been developing a more play-based pedagogy. I absolutely love it! Happy to help if I can.

Totally agree with 2reefsin30knots
You need to be wary of simply trying to make everyday a fun day. I think you are also buying into a way of thinking that is not necessarily true - the kids are misbehaving because they are bored. I think routines, rewards and when necessary consequences, high expectations, support and encouragement are the solution.