Children must be at the heart of ‘good growth’

N ow that we have all agreed that Burnham is our North Star, everyone is using a Manchester accent to talk about place and good growth. 

 

There will be doubling down from those who’ve been talking about place since forever while others pivot. T’was ever thus. We flock to power. Power becomes everything.

 

But as with any power, you have to consider the roots of it, the soil conditions. 

 

We have real child poverty in this country. And those children deserve a wonder-filled, care-free childhood. They deserve a decent night’s sleep – as do their caring folk.

 

They need nutritious food in their bellies; a safe walk or cycle ride to enjoy their neighbourhood; an education which enlarges their world and encourages their enormous capacities for curiosity.

 

 

If children are not in the corridors of power, they still deserve a seat at the table. We need to do battle for them, just as we might advocate for the non-human world to save a species or a woodland. And I don’t mean just fighting for our own children. 

 

The kids who grow up in high rises, reporting that they don’t have time or space to play after school is out. Those who go home to cramped conditions with little space outside – few trees to hide and seek around and dual carriageways bounding their manor.

 

There is powerful evidence-based research on the need for play sufficiency. The State of Play report is a stark reminder of why this work matters so much. It reinforces the urgent need to keep advocating for play, embedding it into policies and strategies, and making it a fundamental part of children’s lives.

 

When children are in play, they are learning, being and becoming. We need to decouple this from employability and skills. It goes beyond it.

 

Play nurtures the conditions for confidence and capability. The desire to make a pom pom encourages a child to take the scissors and chop chop chop. A smile splits their face. It’s an if-I-can-do-this-what-else-might-I-do moment. 

 

Even better, they start to adapt it, make it into their discovery, a game. Then show another first-timer something they’ve just learned and mastered. 

 

This is good growth.

 

As adults, we have power. We must advocate for the children: For their childhoods to be free of worry and want, and full of possibility.