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"The review presented here was undertaken by the New Policy Institute throughout the Summer and early Autumn of 2001. This project is part of the Children's Play Council's work for the DCMS which is primarily aimed at establishing how play and play initiatives can help to support wider government policies and objectives.
This study is chiefly concerned with the value of play for children of school age. This is mainly because the benefits of play, and the consequences of play deprivation amongst this older age group, are under-researched (NPFA, 2000). Much of the existing literature appears focused on the pre-school age group, or to have examined the specialist applications of play therapy for children who may have physical or emotional difficulties.
Furthermore, there are concerns that within the education system, children are under increasing pressure, with the opportunities for free play being increasingly squeezed out or downgraded in learning value (Carvel, 1999; Macintyre, 2001). There are some anxieties that the particular emphasis of the National Curriculum may erode the child-centred principles of early childhood education based on play as a key means to learning (Wood, 1999) and that play is increasingly seen as "non-productive and insignificant", a stance which is influencing children's views towards play (Sherman, 1997)."
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children's play,youth inclusion programme,dcms,childrens play council,play game and sport,splash projects,play and education,play and social integration,new policy institute
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