View from the Top: Joe Lewis on unregulated, 'free range' playtime
For this week's View from the Top, we've handed over to Joe Lewis, the head of Saint Ronan's. Below, Mr Lewis explores the benefits of unregulated, 'free range' playtime...
'Reader, if you were to turn into our driveway today, amongst the snowdrops jostling for attention and the cornucopia of Kent champion tress, your eyes would be averted to a little sign emerging mischievously from the undergrowth...‘Beware – Free Range Children.’ Of course, it is tongue-in-cheek, but aside from the humour, this message encapsulates our philosophy about the importance of allowing children the space to breathe and enjoy themselves; unregulated play - play that isn’t organised or directed by adults or older peers and that generally doesn’t have a defined purpose or outcome.
What is it about playtime that makes it so alluring for children, and how exactly is play beneficial? In an increasingly busy, anxious world, where often both parents work, schedules are tight and "free range children” are a thing of the past. Why is it that we are so cautious in the real world and so laissez faire online?
One of many strengths of an independent prep school education is the freedom we have as educators to think independently. The setting many of our independent prep schools inhabit also allows our children freedom to explore and take risks in a protected environment.
As I look out of my study window across the Tongswood estate, past the lake to the ancient Kentish woodland, I see children playing on the grass, climbing the trees and feeding an apple to Frazzle our Gloucester Old Spot. Play at Saint Ronan’s is a staple on the menu; adventure is the key ingredient, friends (human or animal) the sugar and spice, and mud the agent that binds it all together.
The point of this short article is that unregulated playtime brings tremendous benefits to childhood. In play, children learn to navigate their physical and social environment, while also imagining and constructing new ones. They practise problem solving, testing relationships, what is wise, and what is safe. A recent study found that, neurologically, play can stimulate the “fight or flight” response without triggering cortisol (the stress chemical).
Studies carried out on children living in cities suggest that children are more anxious and may lack emotional intelligence because the stifling nature of supervision sterilises any sense of fun, creativity, or imagination. I remember well as a child in prep school, being allowed to explore the woods, play in the streams and enjoy bucketloads of sport with my friends.
The obvious benefits of unregulated play are manifold. I see the importance of children not being mollycoddled and ruled by health and safety. Yes, safeguarding underpins our culture (this is different), but children must be allowed to play and learn key life skills. They must learn to take appropriate risks, to collaborate and forge strong relationships. This will stay with them forever. Will they be more resilient? Probably.
I strongly believe we are obliged to provide a holistic all-round education where children are allowed to be children for as long as possible and yet prepared well for their next steps. From my perspective, as the Head of a 2-13 country prep school, the last two years of prep school are paramount in their formative development. To see the older pupils still enjoying unregulated playtime is a joy and I am sure they are happier and sleep better for it!
For those worried about academic achievement, let me reassure you. Play prompts children to explore and discover, to use abstract thought and communication as well as promoting vocabulary, imagination, creativity, reading, writing and maths. Children are more likely to learn about engagement, the joy of participation and the integration of all these cognitive processes. Play develops self-regulation; how to control attention, manage impulses, being flexible in thought and behaviour and holding and using information. Furthermore, to state the obvious, those children who are allowed to play are more willing to focus when they return to the classroom – at any age.
I recall a lecture during my post-graduate study as part of the BSA. We were examining children's brains (on a screen, not live) and learning about the importance of how healthy interactions allow the synapses to join up in the pre-frontal cortex. Are children more likely to live longer happier, healthier lives if they are allowed unregulated play? Definitely.
To end, I like the expression human capital, (in a broad sense) it is a collection of activities: all the knowledge, skills, abilities, experience, intelligence, training and competences possessed individually and collectively. In a world where children grow up ever faster, we are able to provide a happy environment for children to remain just that. This investment in human capital benefits not only the individual but the school as a whole and beyond that, society.'