Why quality recess time is needed more than ever

Across the world, school leaders are grappling with what to prioritize as schools slowly start to reopen. With disruptions to class scheduling over the past months, education authorities could feel compelled to focus more energy than normal on classroom-based learning in a bid to ‘catch up’ across a number of learning areas. Yet, the need for a whole child approach to education is needed now more than ever. Our newly-formed international collective of health and educational leaders, known as the Global Recess Alliance, have provided evidence to suggest a quality recess is an essential component of an educational approach that considers the whole child. Given this, recess should be considered a critical priority as schools begin to reopen.