Early this year The Playwork Foundation launched a new series of seminars around the UK, about the Play Cycle, taken from Gordon Sturrock and Perry Else’s now-famous Colorado Paper – The playground as Therapeutic Space: Playwork as Healing.
The Play Cycle helps us better understand children’s playing and the ways in which they communicate and behave when they are playing. In turn this understanding also informs our own reflective response and helps us gauge whether or not any intervention from us – and at what level – might be needed. Play cues, play returns, play frames, and adulteration are now part of the everyday language of most playworkers and there is always room for further reflection on how these affect our practice.
Sturrock and Else’s iconic Play Cycle
Opportunity
The seminars were also designed as an opportunity to meet with more playwork members and potential members and talk through the issues affecting them where they are. And then coronavirus began to rapidly spread across the world and our lives have all changed…
BUT, we did manage to run one of these seminars in early March, before the UK went into lockdown. We had a great day in Leicester, at Goldhill Adventure Playground, with 33 playworkers, from other adventure playgrounds, play centres, and play organisations all over Leicester.
We spent the morning looking at the Play Cycle in action, and at risk-benefit assessment. We also shared lots of anecdotes and stories, and after a plentiful lunch provided by Goldhill, we worked together in the afternoon doing SWOT analyses on play provision in Leicester – unpacking what the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats were for different organisations and what we could, therefore, learn from each other; what we might do to capitalise on the identified opportunities; and how we might support each other across the sector, as well as in Leicester itself.
Mutual commitment
It was wonderful to meet so many playworkers we didn’t know and feel that instant rapport, recognition of a mutual commitment to children’s rights, and shared appreciation of the power of play.
Thank you Leicester for your enthusiasm and participation and thank you Goldhill (who recently were shortlisted for the Front-line Playwork Award at the National Playwork Conference in Eastbourne) for hosting such a valuable day. More of these seminars have been planned and as soon as we are able, we will be rolling them out in Torbay, Sheffield, Wrexham, Evesham, and more. Watch this space!
Ali Wood and Karen Benjamin
If you would like to host a Playwork Foundation seminar, and publicise it locally where you are, please contact:aliwood@blueyonder.co.uk
A collaboration between Play Wales and the Playwork Foundation, has seen the ADDaPT course now been delivered for the first time to a group of playwork trainers in England.
The Welsh ‘Award in Delivering Dynamic Play Training’ (ADDaPT), forms part of Play Wales’ quality assurance for playwork qualifications, and only those trainers who can demonstrate occupational competence in playwork are allowed to take it, in order to ensure that all Welsh playwork qualifications are delivered by the right people.
To date, the Welsh qualifications in playwork have only been available in Wales itself, but following collaboration between Play Wales and the Playwork Foundation, the ADDaPT course has now been delivered for the first time to a group of playwork trainers in England and at the time of writing, most of them have now passed this and are awaiting certification.
Good news
The good news is this means that – again for the first time – it will be possible for Welsh playwork qualifications to be delivered in England. To begin with, that will probably mean delivering their L2APP ( Level 2 Award in Playwork Practice), a great five-day course with some assessment of each learner, that is a worthy introduction to play and playwork and is ideal for example, for people wanting to work on holiday playschemes who have never done any playwork training so far.
As the only other playwork qualification available in England is an actual apprenticeship, which of course is only applicable to new playworkers employed all year round, being able to also have this option of a short introductory qualification is a real added opportunity. Hopefully the new ADDaPT certified trainers will now be looking for ways to deliver this L2APP as cheaply as possible and enabling a new raft of playworkers to emerge! As we hear of these opportunities we will let you know.
The Playwork Foundation will hold its Annual General Meeting, via Zoom, on Friday 29th May 2020 at 10 am. Playwork Foundation members are most welcome to attend, to catch up on all we have been doing, and help form our plans going forward.
If you are a member and would like to attend, please email the Playwork Foundation Secretary, Ali Wood, who will send you the Zoom log-in details nearer the time.
There are growing calls this morning for governments and local authorities to urgently look at steps to allow more children to use their local streets for outside play.
A new paper by Prof. Alison Stenning and Dr. Wendy Russell explores the issues around children’s access to space during government restrictions, within the context of the vital importance of play for their wellbeing and resilience.
The paper suggests that rethinking the purpose of residential streets may hold a key to making the lockdown less harmful to children, more bearable for families, and, therefore more sustainable for communities.
Play England, the Playwork Foundation and the International Play Association (England), have joined forces to publish a Manifesto for Play, ahead of any upcoming General Election.
The Manifesto, based on a series of consultations with children’s professionals, calls on Britain’s political parties to include Leadership, Legislation and Investment in children’s play in their election manifestos to transform the health, happiness and well-being of children in England.
Writing to Members of Parliament We are asking all members and supporters to write to their Member of Parliament asking MPs to support the Manifesto for Play.
The Manifesto for Play calls for 4 pledges for children that we want to see the political parties include in their election manifestos:
Leadership – create a Cabinet minister for children with responsibility for play
Legislation – make planning for play a statutory duty
Investment – more and better play opportunities, spaces and services for children including play in parks and public spaces, playgrounds, housing, play streets, after school and holiday play schemes, adventure playgrounds and schools
Delivering for play – investment in quality support and training for professionals.
Announcing the manifesto launch, Nicola Butler, Chair of Play England said:
“It’s time to start taking play seriously. Too many children and young people in England are unable to enjoy a wide range of play opportunities and are losing out on the benefits of play.
“Children tell us that play makes them happy and is an important part of their daily lives. They want more and better opportunities to play. That’s why we’ve joined forces with the Playwork Foundation and the International Play Association for England to launch this manifesto.”
Karen Benjamin, Chair of the Playwork Foundation said:
“Playworkers support children’s play through a specific approach and understanding, based on strong evidence and research, of the importance of time and spaces for play.
“It is vitally important that this profession is acknowledged and valued, and that spaces for children to play freely are protected for the benefit and enjoyment of all children.”
Meynell Walter, Chair of the International Play Association [England] said:
“Children have an innate need to play, recognised by the right to play being enshrined in Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. IPA England dedicates its work to promoting this, and we call upon Government and public bodies to adopt and action the policy proposals in this manifesto. Leadership at all levels and associated funding is essential NOW to support opportunities for their play.”
Contacts for Media:
Libby Truscott, Play England, 07802 722 412
Play England is a national charity that campaigns for better play opportunities for children in England. Play England organises National Play Day in partnership with Playboard Northern Ireland, Play Scotland and Play Wales; and publishes guidance on Designing for Play and Managing Risk in Play Provision.
Karen Benjamin, the Playwork Foundation, 07718 028 753
The Playwork Foundation promotes the value of playwork, supports playworkers and advocates for children’s play. It makes the case for playwork services, helps to develop the playwork approach and provides a representative platform for playwork practitioners.
Meynell Walter, International Play Association England, 07403 617149
IPA England is a registered charity, a branch of the International Play Association. IPA’s purpose is to protect, preserve and promote the child’s right to play as a fundamental human right, upholding the right of all children and young people to the opportunity, time and space to play in their own way.
Click on the image to read the full Manifesto for Play
A collaboration of the Playwork Foundation and Play Wales has resulted in the Award in Delivering Dynamic Playwork Training (ADDaPT) being made available in England. Ali Wood reports.
Are you a playwork trainer or have offered playwork training? In England, the only playwork qualifications currently available are in the form of apprenticeships, and take-up is small; especially as there is no legal requirement for qualified playwork staff (unlike the rest of the UK). A few training providers are still managing to offer short playwork training courses locally, but gone are the days when playwork training and qualifications were widely available and free.
The Playwork Foundation has, therefore, for some time been liaising with Play Wales and with Agored Cymru – a Welsh awarding organisation who now offers various playwork qualifications that have been designed by Play Wales and are delivered across Wales, to see if the Welsh playwork qualifications can be made available in England. In order to ensure that only occupationally competent trainers deliver playwork qualifications that are inspiring and participative, Play Wales has also developed a short qualification for playwork trainers – the Award in Delivering Dynamic Playwork Training (ADDaPT) – which they have to undertake if they wish to deliver any playwork qualifications.
As a result of our deliberations, we are really pleased to announce it is now going to be possible for Welsh playwork qualifications to be delivered in England! An ADDapT course has therefore been arranged for English playwork trainers in order that they may be able to offer and deliver any or all of the other playwork qualifications available in Wales. To be accepted onto the ADDaPT course, trainers must already hold a teaching qualification suitable for working in Further Education and be able to show they are occupationally competent in playwork. The ADaPT course is three days in length and provides learners with an opportunity to explore interactive and playful techniques to use when delivering playwork training and qualifications. Participants must also complete an assessment workbook so that they can become an accepted Agored playwork trainer.
This is a great opportunity for English playwork trainers who could then offer short level 2 playwork qualifications that have not been possible in England until now. The first ADDaPT course has been arranged to take place at Gloucester University on Saturdays 2nd November, 11th November, and 7th December. The course includes content on:
Understanding the importance of meeting a range of learning needs and preferences
Understanding a range of playful and participative methods for teaching playwork
Designing a programme of learning for playwork
Reflecting on own practice
We can also tell you that the ADDaPT itself is an exceptional training course that really inspires and excites playwork trainers and is a professional development opportunity in itself.
Is this for you? There will be a cost of approximately £250 per participant (this could be a little more or a bit less depending on numbers attending) which covers the costs of the ADDaPT trainer, the resources and internal quality assurance.
Ali Wood
Ali Wood is a playwork trainer, researcher, and author. She is a trustee of the Playwork Foundation.
If you are interested in the ADDaPT training, please contact Ali Wood on aliwood@blueyonder.co.uk as soon as possible for further information and/or to reserve a place!
Gordon Sturrock, who has died, aged 71, was a giant of playwork: a voracious scholar and a fierce, original thinker, with a radical vision of the importance of play in the lives of children and society.
Although critical of how the practice was adapted by public policy in this area – driven, as he saw it, by a childcare and education agenda, rather than a true recognition of children’s right to play – Gordon was one of the very small number of playwork theorists whose ideas became part of the vocational training curriculum for the mainstream children’s workforce.
Gordon spent his first six years in India, where his nursemaid, or ayah, imbued him with a spiritual sense that never left him. He was returned to Scotland to be educated, a wrench from his parents that eventually resulted in his conviction that life traumas could be healed through therapy, play, and playwork. As he often said, ‘It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.’
After boarding school in Scotland, he trained in Jungian psychology and later referred to himself, with typical self-deprecation, as a ‘failed analyst’. His psychotherapy training introduced him to the work of DW Winnicott, and thus to a fascination with scientific and theoretical perspectives on children’s play, which would become his life’s work.
Knowing that an understanding of play from the literature would only take him so far, Gordon found work on the burgeoning adventure playground scene in London in the 1970s and 80s, eventually becoming the play officer for the London Borough of Camden. Here, he began to involve himself in the emerging moves to professionalise playwork, and its embryonic institutions, joining the board of the Joint National Committee for Training in Playwork.
Around this time, he became a founder director of
Interplay, a company that designed children’s fixed playground equipment; he
also worked hard to establish Children’s Village, an ambitious project
involving many activities and services for children, all under one umbrella.
Unfortunately, the recession spelt the end for both enterprises.
He then gravitated towards teaching, taking a lecturing position at Thurrock, University of East London, and increasingly collaborating on a variety of papers expounding his ideas. The most influential of these, written with the late Perry Else, and widely known in playwork circles simply as ‘the Colorado paper’ (1998), describes the ludic ecology, the play cycle, and the subjective role of the practitioner in responding to play cues. Sturrock and Else called this practice therapeutic playwork, and suggested it was rich in creative and healing potential.
In 2003-04, Gordon developed, for the University of
Gloucestershire, two undergraduate modules in therapeutic playwork, which
remained a fixture for the duration of that programme. His and Else’s ideas,
along with those of his friend and professional confidante, Bob Hughes, became
the bedrocks for the development of recognised training and qualifications in
playwork; part of the ongoing professionalisation of the field that had its
short-lived apotheosis in the £235m national play strategy for England (2008), later
abandoned to austerity.
Although subsequently operating outside academia, and not being widely published, Gordon remained one of the field’s leading thinkers right up to his death, sustaining a rich dialogue with many collaborators and colleagues, often in more mainstream positions than he; stimulating and provoking each, with the breadth of his own studies, the erudition of his ideas and interpretations, and the political and ethical positions he urged us to either embrace or challenge.
Gordon was an inspiring teacher and mentor, and a compelling speaker. He had a sharp but playful sense of humour: it was he who coined the collective noun for playworkers as ‘a lateness’. His writing, however, was not to everyone’s taste; it was not an easy read, with its characteristic sprinkling of academic vocabulary and numerous neologisms. But to those who persevered, he brought insights and interpretations to bear on a vocation that most of us understood only instinctively. His firm belief that play was at the very root of human experience led him to devour new ideas on everything from neuroscience and evolutionary biology, to the future of democracy and the commons movement. That he was able to make each of these perspectives highly relevant to understanding the space in which children play – and our responsibilities in entering it – was his great gift.
In his later years, his illness and its finality seemed to reinvigorate Gordon’s appetite for work. In 2018, already seriously unwell, he co-organised, with Bob Hughes, a Play Education conference in Cambridge, hoping to breathe new life into a field that seemed in the doldrums after eight years of austerity. The event revealed him to be as passionately motivated as ever to articulate a grand narrative of the playwork ethos and its practice. He also sought out new collaborators and embarked on a prolific writing spree that produced a book, co-authored with Dr. Pete King of the University of Swansea, and a series of original pamphlets, each to be now, sadly, published as posthumous works.
University of Gloucestershire Oxstalls Campus Oxstalls Lane Gloucester GL2 9HW
The Playwork Foundation is holding a meeting of its members, the first, other than our policy roadshow events, since registering as a charity in 2018.
This meeting will be crucial to the future of the Foundation, and we would love to see you there.
Among items on the agenda will be:
a) A report on our work with Play England to develop a campaign for national government play policy, following the roadshow consultation b) An update and discussion about playwork training and qualifications; c) Future plans and strategy for the Foundation d) Some key playwork projects regarding play and health e) Networking!
The event is free to members with lunch and refreshments provided.
Please bring photos and reports of work, good news, good practice and ideas to share with other members.
Which writers and which fields of study, if any, have most influenced your playwork practice?
Masters student Adrian Voce is researching the academic and other influences on playwork and would like your help (he has promised to share the results with us in a future edition!)
When you were at school you may have attended an after-school club at the end of the school day. The after-school club may have been in your school, community hall or even a leisure centre. The after-school club was not part of the school curriculum run by the school (for example it is not a football club or homework club organised by the school as an extra-curricular activity), but was a club where you could play. The after-school club had adults supervising who were called playworkers or childcare workers.
If you did attend an after-school club in your childhood, we are looking for adults (parents, carers and non-parents) to complete a short online survey on your experiences. The online survey is short and will take no longer than 10 minutes to complete and all information will be anonymous.
If you are interested in taking part, you can access the online survey by clicking on this link
For more information please contactDr Pete King atp.f.king@swansea.ac.uk or call 01792 602 314D
The Playwork Foundation 