Author: Sion

Software developer

Will Cardiff Bay speak up for play after election day?

Tomorrow is set to be a bumper election day in Great Britain! 

In England alone, there will be local council elections, mayoral elections, Mayor of London elections, London Assembly elections and Police & Crime Commissioner* elections. Some of these are elections that were postponed in 2020 due to the outbreak of COVID-19. 

*Police & Crime Commissioner elections will also be taking place in Wales. Did you know that Wales and England share a single jurisdiction but have two legislatures? Something unique in the world. 

As if that wasn’t enough elections for one day, there will also be a Senedd Cymru/Welsh Parliament election and a Scottish Parliamentary election. This article will look at the Senedd elections – fellow Trustee, Ann-marie, has written a piece on the Scottish Parliamentary election which you can read here. If you’re unfamiliar, this short video explains the powers of the Senedd. 

This year’s Senedd election is nothing short of historic! Thanks to the ‘Senedd Election Act 2020’, 16 and 17 year-olds will be able to vote for the first time as well as an estimated 33,000 foreign nationals gaining the right to vote – this represents the biggest expansion of the franchise since 1969, when suffrage was extended to 18 to 21 year-olds, and will undoubtedly impact on the results of the election. 

So, what do the parties say about play and playwork for #Senedd2021?

Whilst a number of parties have progressive manifesto promises for children and young people, only the Wales Green Party and Welsh Liberal Democrats specifically reference “play”, albeit in the context of early years education in both cases. Questions to Plaid Cymru leader, Adam Price, on play, also returned responses linking to education and early years. Despite no mention of it in their manifesto, it could be argued that, as it was a Welsh Labour Government that produced The Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010, that gave us the Play Sufficiency Duty, and their record in supporting play in recent years, that Labour will likely continue this commitment.  

Whatever the party-political make-up of the new Welsh parliament and government next week, a number of organisations have made it clear to all of them what they believe should be done to protect the rights of children in Wales, including their right to play.

First, we look at our national play board, Play Wales, and their manifesto “Wales – a play friendly place”. The headline asks are for the continuation of the Play Sufficiency Duty and for the opportunities for children to play to “increase and improve”. The dominance of the motor vehicle is addressed, with recommendations for default 20mph speed limits in built-up areas and government-mandated guidance for street play projects. Looking at schools, Play Wales propose a mandatory minimum time for “play breaks” within the school day and also ask for consideration, wherever practical, to making outdoor school grounds available for play after school and at weekends.  Play Wales also call for a public campaign that not only explains what play is but also communicates the health and wellbeing benefits for children and wider society. 

The Children’s Commissioner for Wales’s Manifesto briefly mentions play, asking for “more youth and play services that anyone can use, for free”. However it does go a little further by giving a vision of the future with “free adventure playgrounds all over the country”! This year will see the end of the current Commissioner’s tenure – we hope that the next Commissioner will be just as welcoming to play and playwork as Sally has been. 

Clybiau Plant Cymru Kids’ Club appear to be the only organisation making very specific representations on behalf of playworkers. Specifically, they call for: the “continued investment in professionalisation of the sector” via funding, CPD and access to training and qualifications; recognition of playworkers’ influence on children’s lives and the Welsh economy to be “recognised in all government communications and policy decisions”; parity with Early Years workers through an “active and effective sector skills council”; and a call for more initiatives that support fair remuneration for playworkers (e.g. tax-free childcare, the childcare offer and 100% rates relief). 

The Play Sufficiency Duty and legislation like the world-first Well-being of Future Generations Act, are indicative of how progressive governments can make a real difference to children and young people’s lives in a meaningful and sustainable way and on a national scale. However, any incoming Welsh Government will still be restricted by the allocation of funding set by the UK Government and by the reservation of powers over aspects of media, health and safety legislation, employment and regulation of charities. 

In the coming months, The Playwork Foundation will be revisiting ‘A Manifesto for Play: Policy proposals for children’s play in England’ that was written in partnership with Play England and IPA England ahead of the 2019 UK General Election. Taking into consideration the composition of the new parliaments and governments in Wales and Scotland following national elections, and the shifting of the political map in England as a result of local elections, we hope to present a vision for the future of playwork that can influence and encourage each nation of the UK to not only recognise the profession but utilise our expertise and practice to the benefit of children and young people in every corner of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. 

If you’re living in Wales and wondering who to vote for, the BBC have put together this guide, or, for those in Scotland and England voting this Thursday, you can find out about all the elections, candidates and parties by visiting https://whocanivotefor.co.uk/

Siôn Edwards

Will parents hold the key to a new Holyrood?

Nearly halfway through the Year of Childhood for 2021, which includes becoming the first nation in the world to directly incorporate the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into domestic law, Scots will be heading to the polls to elect a new Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government. 

Scottish Out of School Care Network has gathered the manifesto commitments of the five main political parties in the Scottish Parliament relating to school-age childcare.  

Issues affecting children that might impact on how parents vote in the Scottish election include testing of both senior and primary 1 pupils with the process for exams coming under fire and the whole idea that primary 1’s be tested after missing so much school being very unpopular.

Another contentious issue is school starting age in general but very specifically there is a bit of a postcode lottery with regard to deferred entry for children who don’t automatically get a deferred place (and an extra year of pre-school education) because they are born slightly earlier in the school year and this is a particular issue for children who were premature babies.

Of course, we won’t know if these factors have any bearing on how parents vote but it’s interesting to speculate.

Anne-marie Mackin

Play Wales publishes first of new series on play theory

Play Wales has released the first of a series of guides exploring some of the theories that influence the way adults understand children, the role of play and childhood, as well as the ethics of working with playing children.

The first guide:

  • Explores some of the ideas, concepts and theories of child development and childhood that have influenced and continue to influence understandings of children and their play and as a result are important to those practicing playwork.
  • Looks at the playwork role and how it both affects and is affected by the environment and the children. It considers how the play process is given precedence and how playworkers balance the developmental benefits of play with children’s well-being.

Play Wales worked with Ludicology to produce this and three further guides to be published over the coming weeks.

You can download the first volume in Welsh or English or view online, in Welsh here or English here. 

Wales’ adventure playgrounds take playwork to their communities in lockdown

Playworker Sîon Edwards describes how the adventure playgrounds in Wales are responding to the Covid-19 crisis with their customary playfulness and innovation.

All four playgrounds in Wales are in the northeast, with three in Wrexham and one in Rhyl. Fortunately, this close proximity means I’m able to give a bit of an update on the majority (with the exception of our friends on the north coast). In short, like all other playgrounds in Wales (adventure or otherwise) … they’re closed! However, we have been doing different things to keep in touch with our communities and stay playful.

Food distribution

At The Venture, we initially responded by providing food packages. This was spurred on by the fact that only around 10% of daily Free School Meals (FSM) were being collected from local estate offices, likely due to a fear of going to a central collection point. Our desire was to emulate the success of the Welsh Government ‘Holiday Hunger Playwork Pilot’, where a FSM alternative is distributed through play provision, indiscriminately (i.e. irrespective of eligibility for FSM) during school holidays.

A consortium of local community organisations was quickly established and a small number of volunteers engaged to prepare and distribute food packages that could last a number of days, rather than daily (whilst of course maintaining social-distancing). Eventually, Wrexham County Borough Council (WCBC) moved to a direct payment system (equivalent to £19.50 per week) and the food distribution had to be ceased due to mounting costs.

“So far, I’ve had my own disco in the living room, practiced handstands, made a hammock, built a den, made collages, and played bowling with my empty Actimel bottles!”

On the more playful side, we’ve been going live for ‘Amser Story’ (storytime) in the early evening and producing a daily ‘On This Day’ (OTD) video. OTD features historic facts related to each day, to complement independent home-learning but also, more importantly, to provide a platform to share information with and from the local community.

Improvised bowling using old Actimel cartons

One key feature of OTD has been the ‘Playful Timetable’ from the WCBC Play & Youth Support Team which gives playful activity ideas that can be child-led, both indoors and outdoors. To name a few, so far, I’ve had my own disco in the living room, practiced handstands, made a hammock, built a den, made collages, and played bowling with my empty Actimel bottles!

Just over the field on the Caia Park estate, at Gwenfro Valley Adventure Playground, the steering group of volunteer community members have been meeting during lockdown via Facebook Messenger and focussing on fundraising via social media.

Further south, in the village of Plas Madoc, The Land is closed but playworkers there have been coming up with ways of encouraging children outside at home. Using reclaimed wood from local businesses, the playworkers are building bespoke benches, with designs inspired by the individuals who will eventually use them. Their latest design is the ‘Kiddo Lounger’!

“The planters mean they can bring a little bit of The Land into their own back garden”

They’ve also been creating trough planters, to encourage interaction with the natural world. On The Land, children will play with the elements: digging, gardening, and eating herbs and strawberries that have been grown on-site. The planters mean they can bring a little bit of The Land into their own back garden, bring a sense of competence and pride whilst also providing an opportunity to relax in the fresh air. 

Recharging the batteries

Personally, I’ve found great comfort in the frequent online meetings with the Playwork Foundation. I’ve found, like the UK conference in Eastbourne, the meetings recharge my playworker batteries during a time when I easily feel disconnected and unable to do that thing that is hard to pin down in words, known as playwork.

Fellow trustee, Penny, has also been hosting weekly reflective sessions via Zoom which has been a great source of support and inspiration! You can get in the loop by searching for the Facebook Page ‘Play For Today’. I’ve yet to join “The Playworkers Lockdown Party 2020”, live on Facebook, but one of these nights I hope to join in – from what I’ve seen it’s certainly something that is likely to be talked about for years to come (Wendy’s glasses come to mind!).

Meynell TV is also a welcome innovation, to combat the Netflix dominance, which you can find on YouTube by searching for “Meynell Games”, while the annual Eastbourne get-together has been reimagined as 8 Weeks of Conference.

Whilst the countries of the UK diverge in terms of lockdown easing, the one thing the nation of playworkers can be sure of is that is not going to be “business as usual” for quite some time, and I would hazard a guess that the key to unlocking our play spaces will be innovation. I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

Cofion gynnes o’r Gymru | Warm regards

Sîon Edwards

Sîon is a playworker at the Venture in Wrexham, and a trustee of the Playwork Foundation