The Case for Play in Schools

• UK primary school children participate in up to 600 playtimes a year, accounting for 20-22% of the school day; supervision of these times costs £750m a year: given this, it is worth considering how this time and money is spent. Playtimes in English primary schools have reduced by 45 minutes a week since 1995, both to spend more time on academic teaching because of the shift towards standards and competitive league tables and because of perceived increases in poor behaviour at playtimes.