We know, through attending conferences like Eastbourne and IPA, that talking to playworkers and other practitioners working with children and young people in other settings can be greatly beneficial to our ongoing professional development.
Sarah Wilson, who has been a playworker for 14 years, is aiming to bring those valuable opportunities to connect with each other out of the conferences and into the real world. Her aim is to link up frontline playworkers, managers, volunteers, and trustees of adventure playgrounds in an informal environment. The first of these get-togethers will be on Thursday 18th May 2023, from 7:30pm, at The White Swan, Highbury.
“When I first started out, I was keen to meet other Playworkers but quickly found that everyone was scattered and not really in contact. I hosted some Hackney playwork drinks about 8 years ago and it was a great chance for frontline playworkers, from different projects, to get together.
Now, as well as being Senior Playworker at Shakespeare Walk Adventure Playground, I also carry out annual health and safety inspections for other adventure playgrounds as an APIA-approved inspector and get the opportunity to meet playworkers at playgrounds who all say the same thing- they’d love to be in contact with others. I thought it was time to resurrect the Playworker socials! “
Sarah is hoping to hold more gatherings across London in the coming year, with the next gathering pencilled in for June in the Richmond area. Playworkers from other areas are also welcome to attend and Sarah would be happy to support/encourage other gatherings in other places.
For more information, or to let Sarah know you intend to go along, please email sarah@sarahwilsons.com.
Don’t forget, Trustee Penny Wilson (AssemblePlay) and Chair Siôn Edwards (Y Fenter | The Venture) host a virtual reflective practice sessions most weeks via Zoom. Join the mailing list to receive the link and regular provocations on all things play and playwork.
A month ago, playworkers from across the UK (and beyond!) converged on the chalky southern coast of England for the Eastbourne Playwork Conference – the 20th of its kind, organised by Meynell Games. This year saw the conference move eastwards along the seafront to The Lansdowne hotel – a family-run hotel that proved to be a welcoming and comfortable home for us throughout conference. The Playwork Foundation were pleased to be represented by many of our trustees as workshop facilitators and delegates, and we also put together special newsletter and survey for the occasion. To celebrate this as the first leg on “the road to Glasgow”, for the IPA conference later this year, we also made the decision to make membership to The Playwork Foundation FREE for 2023/24 – so JOIN US TODAY!
Trustee Ali Wood’s delivering her ‘A question of quality’ workshop in the Martello Room – part of Tuesday’s ‘The Legacy of Bob Hughes’ track
As always, the conference was a great opportunity for playworkers to come together, share ideas, and reflect on our practice and, particularly for The Playwork Foundation, to consider the future of our profession. Our trustees led a number of workshops that explored varying aspects of playwork, including the role of playworkers in supporting children’s wellbeing, the challenges and opportunities facing playwork in the UK, and even some wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey, from Simon Rix that gave The Doctor and the TARDIS a run for their money. Another prominent theme and focus of thought throughout conference was Bob Hughes. A special area of reflection, with music stands displaying pieces of his work and a memorial book, occupied a part of the hotel and an entire track of the conference plan was dedicated to his legacy. Many of those workshops not on this track also paid tribute and utilised Bob’s theories and words to contextualise and drive discussion.
Trustees Penny Wilson, Siôn Edwards, Barbara McIlwrath, Ali Wood & Jackie Boldon
The Playwork Foundation too had our own track on Wednesday of the conference. In the morning, trustees Anne-Marie Mackin and Jackie Boldon led a workshop on what it is to be a playworker in the UK today. Accompanied by fellow trustees Siôn Edwards, Ali Wood, and Barbara McIlwrath, and a number of our members, Anne-Marie and Jackie navigated discussions including: an update from Outdoor Play And Learning (OPAL) Founder and Director, Michael Follett, including their development of 3 new playwork training initiatives; an update on the Undergraduate BA Hons in Childhood Development and Playwork at Leeds Beckett University from Ali Long; Trustee Barabara McIlwratth shared the playwork courses on offer at Belfast MET and shared some of the barriers facing providers in Northern Ireland – Barbara is also the playwork convener for UNITE the union which prompted discussion about pay and conditions for playworkers, including maintaining the link with JNC payscales; Nat Scyner of Ffit Conwy, Wales, shared the issue of short-term and inconsistent funding from Welsh Government and suggested it should instead be linked to the three year cycle of Play Sufficiency Assessments – there is also a lack of accessible introductory training beyond L2APP; finally, Trustee Simon Bazley gave an update on the National Occupation Standards [for playwork] (NOS) Scoping exercise he has recently carried out on behalf of the UK NOS Consortium – of the many observations, one was the importance of infrastructure funding for England.
Attendees of Playwork in Progress LIVE with Trustees Penny & Siôn
Finally, in the afternoon, Chair of The Playwork Foundation, Siôn Edwards, and Trustee Penny Wilson, presented a special hybrid edition of Playwork in Progress to wrap-up our time in Eastbourne and begin to reflect on the many talks, presentations, and discussions that had taken place over the previous two days. You can join Penny and Siôn most weeks for their free online reflective practice session by clicking here.
Photo from @LBUPlayworking – the Twitter account for the Childhood Development & Playwork team at Leeds Beckett. Tweets are mostly by Ali and Nicky though not always!
They may be a bit biased, but Tilia Guilbaud-Walter probably put it best with “Best 3 days of the year! Thankyou all of you”. We couldn’t agree more! The conference succeeded in delivering upon expectations and, if anything, exceeded them. The diversity of speakers and workshops, and the incredible venue, really made Eastbourne 2023 a delight! Thank you to Meynell and all his team for their incredible contribution to the sector. We look forward to supporting the next conference and seeing you in Eastbourne in 2024 (if we don’t see you in Glasgow first!).
At a time when the cost-of-living is a real concern, investing the time and money into attending conferences can be a very tough and, for some, impossible decision. With Glasgow just around the corner, we are all too aware that however many playworkers couldn’t make it to Eastbourne, there will be just as many (if not mroe) who cannot reach Glasgow.
To help lower the costs, IPA Cymru are offering their members bursaries to attend. Applications are open until 14/04/23 – email ipacymru@playwales.org.uk to request an application form.
For playworkers not in Wales, please consider contacting your own branch of IPA (if you are a member) or your national play board if you will struggle to finance your attendance at IPA Glasgow 2023.
The Playwork Foundation and Devon County Council have worked in partnership to develop two bespoke training courses to support practitioners involved in delivering the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme, funded by the Department for Education [in England] during school holidays.
RECOGNISED AND ENDORSED BY PLAY ENGLAND
Both courses are going through the Play England Endorsement process and are mapped against Playwork National Occupational Standards at Level 2
Endorsement requires a level of assessment to ensure the learner’s knowledge. This will be achieved through completing an assessment paper for each session. Each learner will receive a full colour detailed course book to take home.
On successful completion all learners will also receive a certificate.
For more information about the course content, registration, qualified trainers, training the trainer programmes and costs please contact either:
It was recognised that current playwork qualifications in England did not reflect emerging playwork practice, so the Playwork Apprenticeship Trailblazer Group worked with the Awarding Organisation, Training Qualifications UK (TQUK), to develop an up-to-date course.
The TQUK Level 2 Diploma for the Playwork Practitioner (RQF) supports playworkers and others in a variety of out of school settings to deliver a range of playful opportunities and includes the following units:
Developing a risk benefit approach to support play
Diversity and inclusion in a playwork setting
Health, safety, and security in playwork settings
Playwork and the role of the playworker
Policies, procedures, and personal development for playworkers
Relationships in the playwork setting
Safeguarding in the playwork setting
Supporting the nurture and well-being of children and young people in a playwork setting
Understanding and creating play spaces
Understanding and observing play
Understanding the behaviour of children
This qualification is now available, for more details please visit: www.tquk.org
The Playwork Apprenticeship Trailblazer Group, with the support of The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE), has been supporting the development of a Level 2 Playwork Apprenticeship in England.
A Trailblazer is a group of employers recognised by IfATE and reflective of those who employ people in the occupation, including small employers. Developing an Apprenticeship involves writing the occupational standard, the End Point Assessment plan (EPA), and collating funding evidence to inform IfATE of the funding band recommendation for an agreed occupation proposal. There is also a commitment to continue to revise the apprenticeship as needed, to promote the apprenticeship to potential users, monitor the performance of the apprenticeship and to answer queries to help resolve any issues that may occur.
It has been a long journey, but the Standard and EPA have now been approved by IfATE. If you would like further information, please contact the Chair of the Trailblazer Group, Joan Fisher.
I was in Liverpool on Saturday night when I heard the sad news that Bob Hughes, play theorist and activist (to say the least), had left us. Despite knowing that Bob had been ill for some time, I still gasped in shock that the play world had lost another giant.
Though many of you will be joining the Play England AGM from 2pm to 5pm, where I am sure tributes and kind words will be offered in Bob’s memory, we will be holding our usual 4pm slot for Playwork in Progress and invite you to join us and share your thoughts, experiences and memories of Bob in our usual “around the campfire” style.
PopUpAdventurePlay are organising their annual Campference (online) on 15th Oct from 7am to 11am, co-hosted by the Black River Innovation Campus in Vermont, USA with multi-lingual presentations from Costa Rica, Turkey, Hong Kong and more. There will be a pre-campference get together tomorrow (15th Oct at 7am)
SAVE THE DATE! 🗓️ The next Open Meeting of @PlayworkF will be 14/10/22. We want to give playworkers, wherever they are in the world, the chance to share their memories of Summer 2022. Join @pennywilson this coming Monday to find out more!https://t.co/b3n58QaZsspic.twitter.com/IphD41LSZf
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/
The Playwork Foundation 