Reinstate Recess at Maple Place

The elimination of Recess at Maple Place School.
Recess is not the same as PE as outlined on the attached Http. The National Association for Sport and Physical Education says "No." In their position statement, they recommend both PE and recess, with PE providing a "sequential instructional program" related to physical activity and performance and recess providing unstructured play time where children "have choices, develop rules for play...and practice or use skills developed in physical education" (Council for Physical Education and Children, 2006).

Child development researchers cite many benefits of having a recess time during the school day. According to Dr. Tony Pellegrini, a professor of child development at the University of Georgia, "Every study shows that children are more attentive after recess" (Johnson, 1998, p. A16). Pellegrini adds that not having a recess during the school day is almost inhumane because children are being kept confined in their classrooms for hours each day. Prolonged periods of confinement in elementary classrooms have been found to lead to increased fidgeting, restlessness, and subsequent inability to concentrate.

Recess has been found to be important for aspects of children's development. According to Pellegrini and Glickman (1989), "recess is one of the few times during the day when children are free to exhibit a wide range of social competencies such as sharing, cooperation, negative and passive language in a context they see meaningful" (p. 24). These skills are then transferred to the classroom and beyond. For example, a common playground game, "chase," has been linked to academic success. According to Pellegrini and Glickman, "Children learn to cooperate to the extent that the play requires cooperation and they learn to solve problems in such forms of play. They realize that in order to sustain their chase play with peers, they must take turns being the chaser or the chased. If they refuse to change roles, the game ends. This reciprocating role is a powerful predictor of the ability to cooperate and view events from different perspectives" (p.24).

The available research suggests that recess can play an important role in the learning, social development, and health of elementary school children.

http://www.aahperd.org/naspe/pdf_files/pos_papers/RecessforElementarySchoolStudents.pdf.