Leading academics call for a summer of play

In a letter to education secretary, Gavin Williamson, PlayFirstUK, a group of academics led by Professor Helen Dodd from the University of Reading, warn that plans for intensive ‘catch up’ activity may worsen children’s mental health and wellbeing. They are calling for a ‘summer of play’ spent socialising and playing with friends, to help children recover from the impact of the pandemic.

Filling the spring and summer term with extra lessons and pressure would lead to increased pressure on mental health services and would have a negative effect on children’s learning in the long term, the academics from the Universities of Reading, Sussex, Cambridge, Bath and Gloucester, argued.

The group is calling on the Government to make children exempt from the rule of two as soon as it is safe enough to do so and for schools to be given resources and support to prioritise children’s mental health when they return.

Helen Dodd, professor of child psychology at the University of Reading said, ‘We are really concerned about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on children: research shows clear increases in mental health problems and loneliness. As part of the recovery process, children need time to reconnect and play with their friends, they need to be reminded how good it feels to be outdoors after so long inside and they need to get physically active again. There is understandable concern about children’s education but the impact of mental health problems in childhood can be lifelong.

‘This letter is really a plea from us that children’s mental health and their right to play and have fun with their friends are not forgotten in a rush to catch them up to educational targets that adults have set for them.