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Making and maintaining friendships in the school playground; the role of the fixed play equipment.

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Title: Making and maintaining friendships in the school playground; the role of the fixed play equipment.
Authors: Hughes, Catherine Ann1 (AUTHOR) drcatherineannhughes@gmail.com
Source: Pastoral Care in Education. Sep2025, Vol. 43 Issue 3, p475-495. 21p.
Subject Terms: *Friendship, *Playgrounds, *School environment, *Child development, *Peer relations, Outdoor games, Social integration
Geographic Terms: Ethiopia
Abstract: In the background of recent research which recognises the 'ubiquitousness' of outdoor school breaktimes in the UK (Baines and Blatchford 2023) and the acknowledged role in play being key to peer friendships (Carter, 2022), this article focuses on the location where these breaks or playtimes are spent – the school playground. The data is drawn from the author's thesis (Hughes, 2023) which was based in an international school Key Stage One playground (5–7 year olds) in Ethiopia. This article uses a new typography of play equipment: joining-in; belonging; building of community; contemplation and independence; with the aim of highlighting the important role that pieces of fixed play equipment can have in supporting children with developing, enhancing and maintaining friendships. The article focuses on three pieces of equipment: bars, sandpit and fitness trim trail (tricky trail), interweaving observations, mapping diagrams and extracts from both teacher interviews and pieces of speculative writing by the author. Breaktimes play a key role in providing time and space for children to build friendships. This article concludes with a set of proposed questions to help educators practically reflect on how the fixed play equipment, in their own setting, is facilitating children to develop, enhance and maintain friendships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Pastoral Care in Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
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  Data: Making and maintaining friendships in the school playground; the role of the fixed play equipment.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Friendship%22">Friendship</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Playgrounds%22">Playgrounds</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22School+environment%22">School environment</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Child+development%22">Child development</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Peer+relations%22">Peer relations</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Outdoor+games%22">Outdoor games</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+integration%22">Social integration</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Ethiopia%22">Ethiopia</searchLink>
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  Data: In the background of recent research which recognises the 'ubiquitousness' of outdoor school breaktimes in the UK (Baines and Blatchford 2023) and the acknowledged role in play being key to peer friendships (Carter, 2022), this article focuses on the location where these breaks or playtimes are spent – the school playground. The data is drawn from the author's thesis (Hughes, 2023) which was based in an international school Key Stage One playground (5–7 year olds) in Ethiopia. This article uses a new typography of play equipment: joining-in; belonging; building of community; contemplation and independence; with the aim of highlighting the important role that pieces of fixed play equipment can have in supporting children with developing, enhancing and maintaining friendships. The article focuses on three pieces of equipment: bars, sandpit and fitness trim trail (tricky trail), interweaving observations, mapping diagrams and extracts from both teacher interviews and pieces of speculative writing by the author. Breaktimes play a key role in providing time and space for children to build friendships. This article concludes with a set of proposed questions to help educators practically reflect on how the fixed play equipment, in their own setting, is facilitating children to develop, enhance and maintain friendships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Pastoral Care in Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1080/02643944.2025.2505528
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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      – SubjectFull: Friendship
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Playgrounds
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      – SubjectFull: School environment
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      – SubjectFull: Child development
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      – SubjectFull: Peer relations
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      – SubjectFull: Outdoor games
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      – SubjectFull: Social integration
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      – SubjectFull: Ethiopia
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      – TitleFull: Making and maintaining friendships in the school playground; the role of the fixed play equipment.
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              M: 09
              Text: Sep2025
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              Y: 2025
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