Comparative Study Between State Run and Private Primary Schools in Northern Ireland to Critically Evaluate the Different Perceptions Towards Play

1.0 Executive Summary

Play is a significantly important part of a child’s development. It is a term which can be interpreted in many different ways by different people, it is therefore of great importance to come to a common understanding of what play really is.

The ultimate aim of this research is to explore and challenge the different perceptions people have towards play on behalf of the Playboard group. Playboard is an agency �working for the child’s right to play’. They actively campaign government for legislation to promote the importance of play in schools with the introduction of set play policies into the curriculum

An exploratory study was the basis of our research. The method chosen was focus groups. Our research focused specifically on the perception of play within primary schools.

Four focus groups were set up using four different primary schools located around the Belfast area. Two private run and two state run schools were chosen to be the object of our research, two of which had an active policy and two who did not.

There was no clear relationship identified between those schools with a policy and those