ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the place of play within primary schools. Unlike the Early Years Foundation Stage, the National Curriculum for England places no expectation on schools to promote learning through a playful pedagogy. In England, since the late 1980s, educational reform has seen a movement away from the involvement of local government in schools towards greater involvement and control from central government. Initially this was managed via quasi-governmental agencies tasked with designing a subject-based national curriculum and with setting and testing academic standards via Standard Assessment Tests. The chapter argues for a place for creativity and cross-curricular learning in English primary schools, which can potentially provide the space for playful learning to take place. The 1987 Education Reform Act ushered in the National Curriculum. The Act stated it should be a ‘broad and balanced’ curriculum, promoting ‘spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society’.
