Play strategy for the former Wycombe district area 2017 to 2022

• quality appropriate to the intended level of performance, designed to appropriate technical standards
• located where they are of most value to the community to be served
• sufficiently diverse recreational use for the whole community
• appropriately landscaped
• maintained safely and to the highest possible condition with available finance
• positively managed taking account of the need for repair and replacement over time as necessary
• provision of appropriate ancillary facilities and equipment
• provision of footpaths
• designed so as to be free of the fear of harm or crime
• local authorities can set their own quality benchmark standards for playing pitches, taking into account the level of play, topography, necessary safety margins and optimal orientation.
• local authorities can set their own quality benchmark standards for play areas

• 250m = 2 to 3 minutes’ walk
• 400m = 5 minutes’ walk
• 800m = 10 minutes’ walk
• 1,200m = 15 minutes’ walk
• 1,600m = 20 minutes’ walk

The Values and Principles of Play as printed in ‘Best Play’ available from the Children Play Council are as follows:

1. Children's views
   Children are "active in the construction and determination of their own social lives". (Prout and James 1997). This has implications for playwork and for the development of better play provision. The voice of the child, their opinions reactions, should be taken into account to the maximum degree consistent with health, safety and respect for the needs of others.
2. Access to rich, stimulating environments
   There is a poverty of play opportunities in the general environment, and it is the responsibility of the community to ensure that all children have access to rich, stimulating environments that are free from unacceptable risk, and thereby offer children the opportunity to explore both themselves and the world, through their freely chosen play.
3. Freedom to play
   Children's freedom to play, and children's sense of freedom, needs to be preserved. Many pressures increasingly dominate the lives of children in the UK. Public fears about safety, including the threat from traffic and from other people, lead many parents to restrict their children's freedom to play and get around on their own. Commercial interests intrude into children's lives through targeted marketing and advertising campaigns. Religious and cultural organisations believe that theirs is the right mould with which to shape children. Educational policies and practice take a curriculum-centred approach that places increasing demands on children's time and energies in pursuit of educational attainment, and constrains their free time.
4. Equal entitlement
   Every child, irrespective of gender, background, cultural or racial origin, or individual ability, should have equal access to good play opportunities.
5. Respect for children
   Children should feel confident that the adults involved in play welcome and value them as individuals.
6. Children's abilities
   The child's control of their own play activity is a crucial factor in enriching their experience and enhancing their learning and development. Adults need to recognise that play is something children do very well on their own.
7. Play for its own sake
   As the definition states, play is intrinsically motivated. Hence, there should be no task or product required of the play by those not engaged in it. However, adults may need to support children in creating and determining their own goals and outcomes.
8. The importance of risk
   Play is a key element in children learning to appreciate, assess and take calculated risks, which is fundamental to the development of confidence and abilities in childhood
   Children seek out opportunities for risk-taking and it is the responsibility of play provision to respond with exciting and stimulating environments that balance risks appropriately.
9. The adult role in play
   Whereas children may play without encouragement or help, adults can significantly enhance the opportunities for a child to play creatively, through the provision of an appropriate human and physical environment.
10. Adult responsiveness
    Children can sometimes unleash powerful feelings, in themselves or in their companions, through their play. The process often has valuable cathartic or therapeutic effects but can also be disturbing. Children are entitled to expect that adults involved in play provision will understand and be responsive to cues that they may be in need of comfort or reassurance as a result of their play.