Safer Playgrounds: Assessing Layout, Supervision, and Staff Training.

Recess provides valuable learning opportunities. Taking short breaks during the entire school day appears to be help some children be aware inside the classroom (Pellegrini and Bjorklund, 1996). And play could be a powerful predictor of children’s competence (Pellegrini, 1995). Experience about the wooden playground equipment may promote social competence by providing students opportunities to practice new skills, negotiate and problem-solve, and connect to a number of other children (Leff, Power, Costigan, and Manz, 2003).

Although there a wide range of benefits, playgrounds may also pose risks to your emotional and physical well-being of youngsters (U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 1997). Most injuries in elementary school occur within the playground (Bruya and Wood, 1998). Additionally, some children find recess unsafe and frightening (Astor, Meyer, and Pitner, 2001), perhaps because bullying along with types of aggression often occur for the playground (Craig, Pepler, and Atlas, 2000; Olweus, 1993). When playground aggression goes unchecked, students may discover fighting, name-calling, excluding others, and also other antisocial behaviors “work.”

It is very important study the structure and operations of playgrounds and supervision regularly. It's also helpful to evaluate systems of staff communication and follow-through associated with playground incidents. Finally, it is actually helpful to consider how playgrounds supports a school’s broader goals for student behavior plus a safe learning environment.

The Physical Environment
Evaluating the physical environment of playground areas can be a part of improving school safety. First, conduct a visible survey on the playground to guage the extent where these common hazards are found:

Gaps while in the fence about the playground.
Access points on the play area on to a street.
Low-hanging branches or shrubs that prevent or limit adults’ capacity to see children, especially about the edges on the playground.
Debris for the playground, just like broken glass.
Barriers to pay off line-of-sight supervision, like concrete walls, other school buildings, or trees.
Large, unsupervised play areas, just like fields.
Dangerous play equipment or ground surfacing material (See Handbook for Public Playground Safety indexed by references for detailed guidelines).
Playground Supervision
Quality of adult supervision is vital to developing and a reliable playground. Yet providing high-quality supervision on playgrounds has become the most challenging challenges facing schools (Thompson, 1991). Common supervision-related problems available on playgrounds include:

Lack of adult line-of-sight or hearing-range supervision for giant sections of the playground.
Not enough adequate adult supervision when playground transitions occur (for example, when students align to go back into a building).
Adults unable to circulate throughout all aspects with the playground and its perimeter.
Deficit of adult intervention when children behave aggressively.
Lack of follow-through on reports of playground aggression and bullying.
Limited communication or coordination between recess supervisors as well as other school staff about children’s behavior at recess.
Typically, improving supervision takes resources, but you'll find low- and no-cost tips on how to make existing supervision around the playground more effective. To build up high-quality playground supervision, you will need to consider many things.

1. Ratios of adults to children.

Limit the total number and a long time of children about the playground all at once. Maintain a respectable adult-to-student supervision ratio from the time that young children are within the playground to when teachers “take over” their classes following recess. Some resources recommend at least the same ratio such as the classroom (such as, Bruya and Wood, 1998). 

Should your playground has high rates of problem behavior or environmental barriers to supervision (for instance high walls), add to the range of adults circulating over the troublesome areas. 

Be extra careful that we now have enough adults supervising large, open spaces like fields. If this is problematic, only permit field use when enough adults might be present to circulate and/or organize field activities. 

2. Education for playground monitors.

Take a proactive procedure for supervision by giving ongoing practicing for monitors and enabling them to meet on a regular basis. Specifically, provide tactics pertaining to “active supervision.” For example circulating continuously through an assigned area, praising positive behavior, and helping children problem solve. 

Assign monitors to flow through identified zones with the playground. 

Train monitors to deal with physical fights as well as other dangerous playground situations. Most school districts have got a policy regarding hands-on therapy for students that balances schools’ responsibility for both student and staff safety. All monitors should receive training and support to control these situations. 

3. Routines and communication for playground supervisors

Produce a procedure for communication (like hand-held radios) so monitors can coordinate supervision and demand additional support as needed. 

Build a specific routine for transition times to be sure continuous supervision of scholars. Provide clear-cut guidelines for behavior within these times (one example is, assign areas for kids to set up by class). 

Implement a schoolwide system for handling, tracking, and communicating about playground problems and disciplinary infractions. Train monitors to implement this method, and often solicit their input and feedback on its usefulness.