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11th February 2011
No Ball Games Sign of the Month
February 2011
This months No Ball Games sign comes from Bray in Ireland. This appears to be one of those examples where children & young people have lost out to the power of the (parked) car.
To see it click [here].
We would love to see your photos of no ball games signs and hear of any relevant articles or stories. Please send your contributions to news@noballgames.eu
11th February 2011
Twelve No Ball Games Signs in a Row
To see all the last twelve No Ball Games Signs of the Month so far, check out the list below:
Enjoy!
Smile
So, the Spending Review is coming. We're all depressed, confused and maybe a bit angry. Time for a smile! Take a look at this film clip on YouTube. It is of 18 month old Jonathan having his cochlear implant turned on for the first time. Watch for his reaction.
If you cannot see it then click [here]
11th October 2010
Replacement idea for No Ball Games signs
The parish church of Wrington in North Somerset reports that drastic measures to prevent people playing ball games against the church walls have all failed.
The measures, including posting notices, erecting new metal fencing and digging trenches along the walls have all failed to prevent church windows from being broken by ball players. But the church has managed to dissuade players with a new tactic - without the use of a no ball games sign. They buried someone right in front of the most popular playing spot. That seems to have done the trick.
Anyone worried that this might concern the family of the bereaved don't concern yourself - the church did this in 1826.
11th October 2010
No Ball Games Sign of the Month
October 2010
Continuing the theme, here is the No Ball Games sign of the month for October. It comes from the wall of a church in Hull, Yorkshire. Click on the image for larger version.
By the way, the person who contacted us for help in wording a no ball games sign - could you get back in touch - we can't find your email address.
We would love to see your photos of no ball games signs and hear of any relevant articles or stories. Please send your contributions to news@noballgames.eu
News! Wordle for September 2010
This is our News! Wordle for September 2010 - it shows the most used words in our News! stopries for last month. As you can see, school stories have been a bit heavy recently - that's probably because we've been working hard on our next 'play in school' roadshow (more on that soon).
Click the picture for larger image.
11th September 2010
Fife Council loses midday supervisors
Fife Council has withdrawn funding for midday supervisory assistants (MDSA's) in its primary schools and made 41 of its staff redundant. The council is reporting to be considering, "alternative methods of supervision during breaktime periods".
The Dunfermline Press reported one person saying "If Fife Council do not need playground supervisors then why have headteachers been instructed to inform their classroom assistants that they will be taking on that role as of August?"
You can read parents reactions to this move [here].
10th September 2010
Schools without Playgrounds
The Board of Education in Calgary, Canada have a number of shiny new schools opening in their area in time for the new school year - each without a playground - leading to newspaper headlines such as ‘Nowhere to play' (Calgary Herald) and ‘Parents angry province won't build new school playgrounds' (CBC News).
But it is not as straightforward as it seems.
By ‘playground' these parents do not mean a flat square of tarmac - each of the new schools has that - they mean fixed play equipment such as swings and climbing frames which, upto now, have been a standard feature of schools in Canada. It is the lack of this stuff that parents are up in arms about. You can read more of this story [here] and listen to a short radio clip about it [here].
Thank god for flat tarmac playgrounds. Except that's not straightforward either.
The possibilities of soon having new schools in England without even the flat tarmac bit has risen again following the announcement that current building regulations will be relaxed in order to allow the newly created ‘free-schools' to occupy buildings designed for other use, such as factories and office buildings - see [here].
Unthinkable, yes? Well, no as we have already had two schools built in recent years without a playground under the Building Schools for the Future Programme.
How can this be so? Because the current building regulations for schools in England and Wales require a playing field as compulsory but there is currently no legal requirement for a hard playground.
6th September 2010
Get involved in EYFS Review
People working within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS England) in childcare and school settings might like to know that SkillsActive and Play England have established an online survey to collect people's views to feed into the current EYFS Review.
The survey is asking for people involved with the EYFS and who have experience of working in a Playwork approach or in partnership with playwork agencies to respond. You can find the online survey [here].
This is an important review which may shape the EYFS in England for some years to come. Please take the time to make your views known.
4th September 2010
Must see programme on BBC2
A programme to be aired on BBC2 is to tackle the issue of boys underachieving at school in a way that has close parallels to playwork.
‘Gareth Malone's Extraordinary School for Boys' (part 1 of 3) to be shown on BBC2 at 9pm Thursday 9th September, provides a solution for "the gap between girls' and boys' achievement in speaking, reading and writing" by making lessons more adventurous.
In the programme lessons are taken outside where children are encouraged to build their own classroom, climb trees and play rough games. There are some elements of the Forest School movement in this but it is also classic Adventure Playground work.
Adventure playgrounds are possibly not what people who have never experienced them might think - they are spaces staffed with specialist playworkers where children are encouraged to climb, swing, build dens, use tools and cook.
There are something like 120 adventure playgrounds across the whole UK (sorry, none in Republic of Ireland yet).
To learn more of this type of playwork visit Rob Dighton's excellent website www.adventureplay.org.uk
If you represent a youth group, school, children's centre or other childcare setting you might find a visit to an adventure playground near you an eye opener.
2nd September 2010
£13 million improvement for NI schools - but indoors or out?
The Southern Education and Library Board in Northern Ireland are currently spending £13 million on small scale improvement projects among its local schools. Most of this money is been spent on new classrooms and other buildings but it is pleasing to see that at least some of this money is being spent on improving outdoor play facilities.
There are some countries in the world (including in Scandinavia for example) where a small proportion of any money spent on school and chidcare settings developments must be allocated to outdoor improvements. Such a policy adopted here would make a significant difference to an often overlooked part of our schools and children's centres.
Only a small proportion of this money has been spent so far so it will be interesting to see what proportion the Board eventually allocates to outdoor developments.
To read more on this and see a short film clip on the programme click [here]
1st September 2010
Girls believe they are better behaved at age of four
Research presented to the British Educational Research Association 2010 conference suggests that girls as young as four have stereotypical views of themselves as better behaved and better learners at school - boys eventually come to the same conclusion.
These attitudes appear to be learnt through contact with adults.
Researcher Bonnie Hartley from the University of Kent concludes from her research that,
"By seven or eight years old, children of both genders believe that boys are less focused, able, and successful than girls and think that adults endorse this stereotype. There are signs that these expectations have the potential to become self-fulfilling in influencing children's actual conduct and achievement."
This suggests some interesting implications on the role of the adult in the transistion of young children from childcare to schooling. To read more on this story click [here].
1st September 2010
No Ball Games Sign of the Month
September 2010 
The shear variety of No Ball Games Signs never ceases to amaze. This months offering brings two examples - one from London the other from North Lincolnshire - showing that the simplest really are the best (that's irony, by the way). Click image on right.
We would love to see your photographs of no ball games signs and hear of any articles or stories. Please send your contributions to news@noballgames.eu
News! Wordle for AUGUST 2010
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This is our News! Wordle for August 2010. A Wordle takes the most common words that appear in our stories for August and presents them as a Word Cloud with the bigger words being those that appear most frequently.
Click the picture for larger image.
24th August 2010
Latest craze, latest ban?
The latest hot craze for children is hitting the shops in the UK and Ireland in time for the new school year.
Silly Bandz, are jelly bracelets that come in a variety of shapes that can be stretched to wear on the wrist but they always go back to their original shape.
But how long will it take for these to also become the latest banned item from the playground? These Silly Bandz are very similar to the 'Shag Bands' that where around not so long ago which caused heated debate and panic over stories of a sexual connection with each colour of band - the then Labour Minister Mary Creagh wanted them outlawing for that reason see [here].
There are very few crazes that don't end up been banned (anyone remember 'Clackers'?) usually for spurious reasons. You can read children's reactions to adult concern over shag bands on the CBBC Newsround website or for a more academic reaction see the Urban Legends website article on snopes.com - lengthy but a good read.
So let's start the stopwatch - and if anyone out there hears of a ban please let us know straight away at news@noballgames.eu
19th August 2010
Have your say on the cuts to come
The coalition Government have established a website - the Spending Challenge - listing all the ideas that people have so far identified for savings before the October Budget which is expected to see departmental cuts of between 25% - 40%.
There are very few proposals relating to play, playgrounds, childcare or youth - but there are some. There are quite a lot of proposals relating to education and schools and there are others that might have indirect consequences too, such as a proposal to do away with or drastically reduce degree courses that are not considered to lead to 'meaningful' jobs.
The government is asking people to look and these and vote on those they feel have 'potential'. So, have a look and have your say.
18th August 2010
No Ball Games Sign of the Month
August 2010
This months No Ball Games sign comes from the village of Darrington, Wakefield in the People's Republic of Yorkshire. Other than that for reasons of decency I'm afraid we cannot say more.
To see it click the picture.
We would love to see your photographs of no ball games signs and hear of any relevant articles or stories. Please send your contributions to news@noballgames.eu
17th August 2010
Bridget Driscoll was only the first
Quiz question: what is Bridget Driscoll's unfortunate claim to fame? Answer: she was the first person to be killed in a UK road traffic accident (RTA) in 1896 (you can read more about her [here].
The newly published Child Casualties Research Report 2010 brings this issue up to date. It lists 408 local council areas in order of the risk of 0-15 year olds being involved in an RTA. Preston ranked highest for risk and Kensington & Chelsea lowest.
The report also concluded that Friday's are the riskiest day for children on our roads and May is the riskiest month. Perhaps most significantly the report also concludes the more deprived an area the greater the risk of being involved in an RTA
The report makes fascinating if tragic reading. You can download it and a map showing the relative risk in the 408 council areas on the Road Safety Analysis website.
16th August 2010
The Superhero: good or bad for children?
Following on from our story about parents petitioning to have the Simpsons cartoon removed from the curriculum of their school (20th July 2010 below) come two academic research papers on the value and the drawbacks of superhero characters for children and young people.
One concludes it is largely good and the other is less certain. You can read about them both [here] and [here].
Marc has written on this topic in his monthly Reflections paper for August.
The Reflections are a monthly column of about 1,000 words on a topic relating to children's lives, their education, child development, childcare and play - it's a chance to be able to comment on significant stories in the news in a little more depth.
If you would like to read the latest paper download the pdf Reflections August 2010. And feel free to make your comments on this paper by emailing marc@marc-armitage.eu
2nd August 2010
Trees: made for swinging on
London Play, the organisation supporting children's play in the UK capital city, have produced a comprehensive guidance document on Tree Swings - you know ... a rope in a tree.
The document advises on how and where to install Tree Swings, how to risk/benefit assess it, supervise it and maintain it. A very important document for all those who know the importance of Tree Swings but have been afraid to use them in your setting. You now have no excuse!
You can download the document at the London Play website or click on the image.
2nd August 2010
Have you forgotten how to play?
For those people unaware of the IKEA inspired Play Report you might like to have a look - it is well worth it. It involved 11,000 interviews in 25 countries resulting in a detailed report and a number of short films in which children from around the world talk about playing.
You can download the report and see the short fims online at the Make the world play more Facebook page.
Perhaps the most interesting question the project raises is 'Have you forgotten how to play?' Thing is, this question is aimed at adults not children.
You can see the introductory video [here] - that's worth looking at for the music alone!
2nd August 2010
CPIS Play Abstracts and Conferences
The Children's Play Information Service have published the August edition of their free monthly bulletin of news, literature, conferences and events relating to children's play.
These bulletins are a useful source of new facts and information for people in any setting in which children and young people play. You can download the bulletin from the CPIS website.
1st August 2010
NBG! comes in at number 2
The increase in people visiting our website seems to be having an effect.
Put a websearch for the term 'no ball games' into Google and our website has been coming up in the top twelve for the last nine months. But we have been slowly creeping up and we now come as ... number 2!
As those web-geeks out there know that's not too bad. Honest, the Dragon's Den lot talk about this stuff all the time.
28th July 2010
ASBO possibilities for Playwork
The new Home Secretary Theresa May has announced a fundamental review of Anti Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) which may lead to them being abolished completely. She said "We need a complete change in emphasis, with people and communities working together to stop bad behaviour escalating." [read more here]
This sounds like an ideal opportunity for Playwork and for local play associations and networks in particular.
The Playwork sector has long argued that much of what is labelled 'anti-social' is actually 'play' but in a form that irritates adults - the use of the No Ball Games sign is a prime example - and that a real solution will only work if it is community based.
Confusing being 'anti-social' with being 'criminal' does not help a local community resolve conflict between adults on the one hand and children and young people on the other - but playwork can.
27th July 2010
CABE under Threat
The future of the Council for Architecture and the Built Environment seems to be under real threat of possible closure or amalgamation with a number of other bodies.
CABE, which recently lost significant funding on the cancelation of the Building Schools for the Future programme has been seen as very play friendly in its approach to urban design including parks, playgrounds and schools - it has its own webpage about designing for play [here].
It is not the first time the organisation has been under threat: a report by the Taxpayers Alliance in 2009 concluded that "‘in such straitened times a quango to ensure good design is hardly a priority" * It would seem the new coalition government agrees.
* The same report also called for Sure Start to be scrapped.
27th July 2010
Good for horses ...
A new animal rights act about to be introduced into Sweden this August contains a few elements that some might feel would be useful if applied to children's rights here at home.
Sverigesradio (Swedish State Radio) reports that the new law requires horse owners to "allow a horse to run every day in a pasture big enough for them to gallop." Horses must also be able to "see and hear other horses" when in their stall.
So, if it's good for horses ... good title for a campaign?
26th July 2010
North East South West
Following our News! email in June we received the greatest number of visitors to our website and the highest number of
page views in any calander month since we began a little over a year - and this month we broke that record again.
The most Northerly visitor in July came from Alloa in Scotland
The most Southerly came from Brighton
The most Easterly came from Norwich - at least in the British Isles as we had also visitors from Tokyo, Japan
The most Westerly came from Dublin - unless you count the visit from Uwchland in the USA
We also had visitors from Belguim, Germany France and Sweden.
So, thank you everyone, and thank you for the comments we have received so far. To send us any news, interesting stories or general comments email us at news@noballgames.eu
20th June 2010
No Ball Games Sign of the Month
July 2010
Fast on the heels of our first No Ball Games sign of the month from Scotland comes our first from Northern Ireland, courtesy of PlayBoard NI - the national organisation for play in Northern Ireland. Children and young people often try to take down no ball signs they feel are unfair and this one shows signs of just that. To see it click [here].
We would love to see your photos of No Ball Games signs and hear of any relevant articles or stories. Please send your contributions to events@noballgames.eu.
20th July 2010
Teaching without teachers
A scheme first used in India to teach children how to use computers has been introduced into the United Kingdom. Prof. Sugata Mitra began the scheme in 1999 by placing a single computer in a slum area of Delhi and was amazed at how quickly children taught themselves how to use it.
"No child would play with it inside the classroom" he says, "[But] If you leave it on the pavement and all the adults go away then they will show off to one another about what they can do." The project has suggested that children can learn complex tasks quickly with little supervision.
Said Professor Mitra, "I think we have stumbled across a self-organising system with learning as an emergent behaviour."
What you have 'stumbled' across there, Professor, is what we call 'play'.
You can read more of the project and how it works [here]. Lev Vygotsky stumbled on this idea too - in 1933.
20th July 2010
School petition to ban Simpsons
More than 400 parents of children at a school in Somerset have called for the school to stop using the Simpsons cartoon TV series in its English curriculum. One parent described this as 'dumbing down' English lessons and that children should be taught something more 'intellectual' such as Shakespeare.
Presumably that would be the bits of Shakespeare without the sex, violence, drunkeness, murder, incest and the erractic spolling - sorry, spelling. You can read more on this story [here].
Or if you're more inclined you can access the Simpsons official website [here].
Doh!
20th July 2010
Summer break - too long or too short?
In a week when concerns have been expressed in the UK over a shortage of summer break childcare places [click here] people might be interested in a proposal that has been made by the centre-right government and a number of opposition parties in Sweden to reduce the length of their school summer break.
Perhaps we could do the same here, except people may be unaware that school summer holidays in Sweden (sommorlov) are a little longer than ours - they are 10 weeks long.
The call, which has been rejected by Swedish Education Minister Tobias Krantz, might seem strange to the British until you realise that our 6 week break is amongst the shortest in the European Union.
A longer school year seems to make little difference to higher standards, either - almost all those countries with a longer break than the UK do better. To read more on this click [here]. And stop moaning.
16th July 2010
Paedos in the Bushes
Eleanor Image, the Play Development Worker with Play Association Tower Hamlets (PATH), tells an interesting story about the fears and realities of adult concern over paedophiles in public parks and playgrounds. The story, posted on the webpages of fellow playwork organisation PlayLink, includes some interesting quotations from local police officers.
You can read the article [here].
Also, see this in relation to our story about parental concerns posted 31st May 2010 below.
14 July 2010
Big apes just big children
A research project from the University of Portsmouth has concluded that big apes play chase games in much the same way as human children. Tag, Tig or Tiggy (whatever your local term is) has been filmed being played by gorillas who seemed to use many of the tricks and tactics used by human young.
The researchers refuted claims that maybe they had got mixed up insisting that they really were studying gorrillas and not children on a school playground at lunchtime.
To read more on this story and see a short film clip of gorillas playing Tig click [here].
12th July 2010
Young children skilled negotitors
A thesis by Torgeir Alvestad published by the University of Gothenburg in Sweden concludes that children are skilled negotiators during their play from a young age and that a pedagogical consequence of this is that adults should think twice before intervening while children are trying to reach an agreement.
He says, "... adults shouldn't intervene thinking that there's a conflict between the children, as it is frequently a negotiation that's happening, which requires a different approach."
The thesis, which is written in Norwegian with an English introduction and summary, can be downloaded [here].
There are similarities in Alvestad's conclusions about the democratic value of young children's play and the role of older children's counting out rhymes studied by Willie van Peer in the late 1980's ('Oracy Matters' 1988 Open University Press). Both seem to suggest that children may not be copying adults in finding fair ways of making decisions but that democratic values may have their roots in children playing.
12 July 2010
England Children's Commissioner under review
In the continuing review of government quangos the role of children's commissioner for England is to be reviewed. Whether the review is purely around cost cutting or is for more ideological reasons is not clear.
What is clear is that the remit of the English commissioner has been criticised in the past as being too closely linked to government (see the web addresses of the various commissioners below as an example) and being far more restricted in their remit than those of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
You can read the statement on the review from the English commissioner [here].
To read more about the work of the Children's Commisioners across the UK see their websites:
Scotland www.sccyp.org.uk
Wales www.childcom.org.uk
Northern Ireland www.niccy.org
England www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk
6th July 2010
Play England announces job loses
The national organisation for play in England has announced a significant number of job loses and a "new, reduced structure." The longer term future of the organisation is still far from secure and discussions are ongoing about future funding but it does appear that, for the time being at least, the hard fought for infrastruture for play in England may live to fight another day.
To read Play England's statement click [here].
1st July 2010
CPIS Children's Play Update
The Children's Play Information Service, based at the National Children's Bureau in London, have just published their electronic update of play related books, pamphlets, reports, journal articles, conferences and training events for July.
To download it click [here] and [here].
For those unaware of the service CPIS produces an invaluable monthly electronic update of resources relating to children's play which can be accessed via their website or received via email for free, as well as an extensive library and information database. The people there are quite nice too.
Visit their website www.ncb.org.uk/cpis/home.aspx for more details. It's well worth a visit. Nej, inte nämner det, Anna.
15th June 2010
New Vetting & Baring Scheme to be cancelled?
Home Secretary, Theresa May, announces today what some have seen as a cancellation of the Vetting & Baring Scheme for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. She described the scheme, which has divided opinion in the play and schools sector and would have involved the registration of over 9 million people, as 'draconian'.
For more on this story click [here].
15th June 2010
Crackdown on toy packaging threatens 'number 1 toy'
The new Environment Secretary, Caroline Spelman, has announced plans to force toy manufacturers to reduce the amount of packaging used in new toys. She accused toy manufacturers of producing "... large boxes filled with usually fairly large quantities of packing materials before you get to the goodies at the heart of it."
Let's hope this move does not threaten the future of the undisputed number one most favoured Christmas toy of all time. If you are not sure what that is click [here].
14 June 2010
Government orders review of Health & Safety
The new Government has appointed Lord Young to review current Health & Safety legislation and explore the extent of 'compensation culture'. Lord Young said, "I hope my review will reintroduce an element of common sense and focus the regulation where it is most needed." To read more on this click [here].
Fears over litigation can have a profound effect on those providing services for children and young people. To read more about what effect this might be having read the book No fear: living in a risk averse society by fellow play consultant Tim Gill - more details [here].
There are those who argue that legislation is not the issue here but overzealous interpretation of the rules - the Health & Safety Executive certainly think so and have a Myth of the Month website that is well worth a visit [here].
11th June 2010
Ring Fencing of £75 million for children's play removed
The Secretary for Communities, Eric Pickles, has announced the removal of protected ring fencing for the Play Builder and Play Pathfinder funds in England. £75 million originally allocated to developing new adventure playgrounds and making community spaces more playful is now in doubt as the 30 Pathfinder and 122 Playbuilder local authorities have now been told they can spend that money however they wish.
For more on this story read the press release from the Department of Communities and Local Government [here].
1st June 2010
First actions of new government on Children's Play
The Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition governments' first action in relation to children's play has resulted in confusion. Details released following the announcement of more than £6 billion of cuts to government spending imply that the future of the Play Strategy for England and the English national agency for play, Play England, are in doubt - but confirmation on these points is unclear. For more details see the website of Play England [here].
More worrying perhaps is the Chancellors assertion that the first round of cuts would focus on government 'waste'. This seems to imply that the new government sees the hard fought for infrastructure and strategic developments to support children's play in England in this category.
Ironically, infrastructure for play in Wales has received a welcome boost in the form of a £7.5 million grant from the BIG Lottery Fund to strengthen regional play associations. To see the BIG Lottery press release click [here].
1st June 2010
No Ball Games Sign of the Month
June 2010
This months No Ball Games sign is our first from Scotland - at last! It comes from Cowcaddens Road in Glasgow and was taken by Andy Preece. It might be a bit small but it has plenty of impact - because it bans just about everything. To see it click [here].
We would love to see your photos of No Ball Games signs and hear of any relevant articles of stories. Please send your contributions to events@noballgames.eu
1st June 2010
No Ball Games! events news for 2010 - 2011
You may have noticed that our Calendar pages have been sparse recently while we have been preparing our programme of events for the next twelve months.
We are planning a number of new venues for our Year 2 Roadshow event for schools to be called Schools! What can Playwork do for you and have now confirmed partner organisations for events in six places: East of England (Cambridge), North West England (Wirral), south London (Southwark), West Midlands (Staffordshire) and Yorkshire (two events, Bradford and Sheffield) - more details to follow soon. We are also talking to a number of other potential partners and will be able to announce more locations, including our first in Scotland, in the next few weeks.
We are also working on two other projects including a second tour of our seminar, A Play-Led Approach to Learning in the Early Years and will soon be announcing details of two Research Seminars to held in cooperation with a university in the north of England and one in the south.
It looks like it's going to be a busy year.
Bespoke Events
No Ball Games! also organises play related events for other organisations such as local councils, voluntary organisations and universities. For more information contact Rachel at rachel@noballgames.eu
1st June 2010
18th International Play Association World Conference - Call for Papers
The organisers of the 50th Anniversary World Conference of the IPA have called for abstracts and proposals for people wishing to present at this four day international, multi-disciplinary event to be held in Cardiff, Wales 4 - 7 July 2011. Proposals are invited in three themes:
- Play - Individual and Society
- Play - Environment and Space
- Play - Society and Culture
This event is being organised by Play Wales on behalf of IPA and those who have been able to attend a World Conference in the past will tell you it's well worth getting involved. To download a copy of the call click [here].
To visit the conference page on the Play Wales website click [here]
To visit the IPA website click [here]
31st May 2010
Children who tell 'Porky Pies' are cognitively stronger
Research published by the Institute of Child Study at Toronto University say, "Parents should not be alarmed if their child tells a fib" as this is an indication that their child has reached an important cognitive stage. Their research also suggests that those who tell fibs early are more likely to do well in learning later on.
To read more of this story see the BBC Education website [here].
31st May 2010
Parents more concerned over abduction than physical inactivity
A survey carried out by Living Streets and Parentline Plus taken during National Walk to School Week shows that parents are six times more concerned over their child being abducted than they are over a lack of physical activity. This is despite the finding that murder of a child by a stranger holds about a one in a million chance compared to a lack of activity in childhood having a one in three chance of leading to future health problems.
It is also reported that walk to school rates have fallen to an all-time low of 48%.
To read more on this story see the Living Streets website [here]. We also reported on Living Streets 'No Ball Games Here' report which you can read in our News! story of 19th October 2009 below.
13th May 2010
Digwyddiad 'NGB' ym Mae Colwyn ar y 1af o Orffennaf 2010
[English text follows]
Archebwch eich llefydd nawr ar gyfer ein hail ddigwyddiad yng Nghymru. Bydd yn cael ei gynnal yn yr Interchange, Hel Golwyn yng Ngogledd Cymru ar ddydd Iau 1af o Orffennaf 2010.
Mae’r digwyddiad yn rhan o gyfres o’r sioe deithiol Chwarae! Y glyd sy’n dal y diwrnod ysgol at ei gilydd a sydd yn cael ei gefnogi gan y ddau brosiect chwarae rhwydwaith rhanbarthol yn y Gogledd, Fforwm Chwarae Gogledd Orllewin Cymru a Chwarae Gogledd Ddwyrain Cymru. Mae wedi ei anelu at y rhai sy’n gweithio yn/neu’n cefnogi ysgolion cynradd, canolfannau plant, cyfnod sylfaen, ysgolion bro a gweithwyr chwarae.
Am raglen a manylion archebu lle, cliciwch [yma].
NBG! event in Colwyn Bay 1st July 2010
Bookings are now being taken for our second event in Wales. This will be held at the Interchange, Old Colwyn in North Wales on Thursday 1st July 2010.
The event is part of our roadshow show series Play! The glue that holds the school day together and is being supported by the two regional play infrastructure projects in the north, North East Wales Play and North West Wales Play Forum. It is aimed at those working in and/or supporting primary schools, children's centres, foundation phase units, community focussed schools and playworkers.
For programme and booking details click [here].
12th May 2010
No Ball Games Sign of the Month May 2010
This month's No Ball Games sign includes a bit of a language lesson in the form of two non-English signs. To see it click [here]. And YES, we know we missed April out - stop telling us!
We would love to see your photographs of no ball games signs and hear of any relevant articles or stories. Please send us your contributions to events@noballgames.eu
12th May 2010
More Ball Games:
The Conservative Party position
So, we have a new government, although maybe one with a few fuzzy edges. For those wondering what effect this might have on us in the coming months you may like to know that the Conservative Party produced a policy statement on children's play back in 2008 in their Childhood Review. They called it More Ball Games.
You can read the full review [here] - 'play' can be found in Chapter 3.
5th May 2010
New research on gender preferences in toys
Researchers from City University London have concluded that children as young as nine months make gender specific choices when choosing toys to play with - boys seem to prefer balls and toy cars and girls prefer teddy bears and dolls.
To read the BBC news website on this story click [here].
5th May 2010
A bit of Politics
As we enter the last stages of this year's General Election there is play related news with a political edge from three of the UK's four nations.
Firstly, the national play agencies for Northern Ireland (PlayBoard NI) and for England (Play England) have each produced a 'Play Manifesto' calling on the parties fighting to hold the next government to make a commitment to children's play. Each is just as relevant to local government as central. You can read the Northern Ireland Manifesto [here] and the England Manifesto [here].
Talking of local government ... in Wales, the Welsh Assembly Government has passed a new piece of legislation - the Children and Families Measure (2010) - which, for the first time in the United Kingdom, places a statutory duty on local government to make provision for play in their area. You can read the Chapter on Play and Participation in this new legislation [here].
You can access the websites of the four UK national play agencies here - PlayBoard Northern Ireland, Play England, Play Wales and Play Scotland.
11th March 2010
Conference News
Second No Ball Games! conference for Wales
No Ball Games! can now announce the venue and date of the next conference in our roadshow series Play! The glue that holds the school day together.
The conference will be held at The Interchange, Old Colwyn in North Wales on Thursday 1st July 2010.
This will be our second conference in Wales and is for those working and supporting the Foundation Phase, older children in the Primary schools sector, and Community Focussed Schools projects as well as those from the playwork sector.
For more details and booking information see our events pages, or to see the programme in English click [here] and in Welsh [here].
To make a booking contact us at events@noballgames.eu
10th March 2010
No Ball Games! help launch the Staffordshire Play Policy
No Ball Games! have hosted the launch of the new Play Policy for Staffordshire County Council at an event at the Yarnfield Conference Centre on Tuesday 9th March.
The event featured presentations by David Yearley, Carolyn Coxon, Karen Sullivan and Neil Coleman as well as the No Ball Games co-directors Marc Armitage and Rachel Murray. During the day the Play Policy was formally launched by Cllr Ben Adams, the Cabinet Member for Communities.
You can see photographs from the day by clicking [here]
To see the programme for the Launch Day click [here]
To see a copy of the Play Policy click [here]
2nd March 2010
No Ball Games Sign of the Month March 2010
This month's No Ball Games sign comes from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and provides two photographs with a bit of a 'spot the difference' game for you. To view it click [here].
We would love to see your photographs of no ball games signs and hear of any relevant articles or stories. Please send us your contributions to events@noballgames.eu
1st March 2010
Berlin recognises children make noise while playing
The Senate in Berlin has recently passed a local law recognising that children making noise when they play is perfectly natural and should be respected by adult residents.
A representative from the Berlin Department of Noise Protection is reported as saying, "For the first time we have it written in law that we have to consider the rights of children to shout and make noise while they are growing up and this must be considered by all the neighbours."
For more on this story see the BBC webpage [here].
This reminds us of a story from East Yorkshire in 1995 in which adult residents in Hornsea had a slightly different view. To read more on this click [here].
1st March 2010
Website News & Reminder
We have now changed the page name and link for our Latest News! page (that's this page - it was called The Past). We have also made a review of our website and web hits and uploaded a map showing where most of our hits are coming from. You can see it [here] - can you spot yourselves?
We would also like to ask people who visit our website to send us photographs of No Ball Games signs from their part of the country - especially in Scotland. We have examples from Ireland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland but so far none from Scotland.
About 15% of our regular visitors are from outside the UK so we would very much like to see No Ball Games signs and hear relevant stories from your part of the the world too. Please get in touch - email us at events@noballgames.eu.
12th February 2010
No Ball Games! to host launch of Staffordshire Play Policy
No Ball Games! are organising an event on behalf of Staffordshire Council to launch their new Play Policy. The event, with presentations by Marc Armitage, Rachel Murray and guest speakers, will take place at the Yarnfield Conference Centre on Tuesday 9th March 2010.
For contact details see the Events pages or click [here].
2nd February 2010
NBG! yn cynnal eu digwyddiad cyntaf yng Nghymru
NBG! holds first event in Wales
No Ball Games! has hosted its first event in Wales. The conference roadshow Play! The glue that holds the school day together was held at the Village Hotel in Cardiff on Friday 29th January 2010. The event was well received and had very positive feedback. A brief report and conference photos can be seen [here].
Based on the strength of feedback we are planning to hold a second event in South Wales later this year possibly in Swansea. More locations for the roadshow are planned for 2010 including events in North Wales, the West Midlands, Yorkshire and Humber and possibly in Cambridge. Details available soon, please keep watching our website for more information.
1st February 2010
No Ball Games Sign of the Month February 2010
This month's No Ball Games sign comes from Dave Pearson and is a contender for the cheapest No Ball Games sign ever. It was taken in the village of Billingborough, Lincolnshire in 2007. To view it click [here].
We would love to see your photographs of no ball games signs and hear of any relevant articles or stories. Please send us your contributions to events@noballgames.eu
16th January 2010
No Ball Games Sign of the Month January 2010
Thanks to Ian MacKean for this month's No Ball Games sign which has a historical flavour. It was taken in the Limehouse area of London in 1972. To view it click [here].
We would love to see your photographs of no ball games signs and hear of any relevant articles or stories. Please send us your contributions to events@noballgames.eu
1st December 2009
No Ball Games Sign of the Month December 2009
This month's No Ball Games sign comes from Bilton Grove in East Hull, Yorkshire. To view it click [here].
We would love to see your photographs of no ball games signs and hear of any relevant articles or stories. Please send us your contributions to events@noballgames.eu
19th November 2009
New Seminar Tour for 2010
We are planning the next tour of our successful day seminar A Play-Led Approach to Play & Learning in the Foundation Stage, for 2010. The seminar is aimed at practitioners working in school and non-school settings who deliver the Foundation Stage, Early Years Foundation Stage or the Foundation Phase. For more details click [here]
More than 50 of these seminars, which are usually provided via a host organisation, such as a school improvement service, education & library board, or local early years network for example, have been held in recent years. Organisations wishing to take up one of this years dates or who would like to attend a seminar as an observer should contact us by emailing rachel@noballgames.eu
EXTRA EXTRA - The 52nd and 53rd of these seminars will be taking place in Northern Ireland on the 15th and 16th December 2009. For details see the events diary.
12th November 2009
Conference News
If you missed booking for the Dublin conference Play! The Glue that holds the school day together let us know by emailing rachel@noballgames.eu - we are planning another!
4th November 2009
No Ball Games Sign of the Month November 2009
This month's No Ball Games sign comes from Bracebridge Heath, Lincolnshire. To view it click [here].
We would love to see your photographs of no ball games signs and hear of any relevant articles or stories. Please send us your contributions to events@noballgames.eu
2nd November 2009
New date for Cardiff conference
The Cardiff venue for our conference roadshow 'Play! The glue that holds the school day together' has a new date. The conference will now be held at the Village Hotel at Coryton, Cardiff on Friday 29th January 2010.
For more details click [here].
24th October 2009
Programme and details for Hull conference
The full programme and details of the Hull venue for our conference roadshow 'Play! The glue that holds the school day together' is now available. For more details and booking click [here].
22nd October 2009
No Ball Games in Poland
Polish photographer Anna Gnys has a photographic exhibition of children's lives in a Polish tenement block called 'Backyard' which features a number of no ball games signs and illustrates children's reactions to them. For an example click [here].
The full exhibition can be seen on the Behance Network at www.behance.net/gallery/backyard/60068
20th October 2009
No Ball Games Sign of the Month October 2009
This month's No Ball Games sign comes from Hood Road in Newport Wales. To view it click [here].
We would love to see your photographs of no ball games signs and hear of any relevant articles or stories. Please send us your contributions to events@noballgames.eu
19th October 2009
Living Streets report claims UK streets have become 'no go areas'
The UK charity Living Streets report 'No Ball Games here (or shopping, playing or talking to the neighbours)' presents the results of recent research into the way different generations have made use of our streets.
To read a copy of the report click [here] or visit the website www.livingstreets.org.uk
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