With Christmas just around the corner, we’d like to wish all our visitors, members, partners and stakeholders a fantastic festive season, and hope that you have a prosperous new year.

Over on our website this month we’ve been looking back at 2009 in our 24 Days of Christmas series of news, highlighting some of the work that we’ve been involved in over the course of the year, so here’s the whole list for some festive reading!

And looking towards 2010, our latest issue of ActiveInsight magazine is focussed on the Future and looking towards the years ahead. It has articles about the workforce development within English Lacrosse and Milton Keynes Play Association, how Sector Skills Councils are fulfilling the vision of the Leitch Review of Skills and how we’re helping to deliver the London 2012 legacy. Read all this and much more in our online ActiveInsight magazine.

As the year draws to a close, the government, under Lord Mandelson’s leadership, has published its new skills white paper, Skills for Growth. It outlines plans to address current and future skills issues as part of Britain’s move to grow out of the recession. It has been produced in the context of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills’ Ambition 2020 skills document, and in fact around 90% of the UKCES’ recommendations can be found in the white paper, giving momentum to some of the proposals outlined.

Positively, Skills for Growth is very supportive of the strong role that the re-licensed Sector Skills Councils have. The strategy states that an “employer-driven system is essential if we are to address current and future skills issues”. This is encouraging, as you know we are committed to ensuring the future success of our sector – we are vital in so many ways to the health, prosperity and quality of life for everyone in the UK. However, we are yet to see policies truly reflect the needs of our sector, and there are various question marks around the detailed recommendations put forward.

The problem is, this is an overarching strategy and, despite referencing Sector Skills Council’s, doesn’t reflect any sector-specific differences. A few highlights reveal the government recognises that ‘it is as valuable for a young person to gain a good technical qualification through an Apprenticeship as it is to go directly into university’, and I agree. However, if this approach is going to have an impact, Apprenticeship legislation needs to support the development of frameworks that work for our sector. As a sector that doesn’t have a long tradition of Apprenticeships, we have worked hard with you, the employers; to develop the right frameworks. In fact, we boast record figures of completions annually and have already issued over 4,000 certificates so far this year.

Equally, it is encouraging that the government ‘set a bold new ambition for the higher education and skills systems – that three quarters of young people should participate in higher education or complete an Advanced Apprenticeship or equivalent technician level course by the age of 30’. This highlights the need to develop high level skills as we come out of a recession, however we would question the benefit in such a large number of individuals studying for degrees without the courses on offer appropriately preparing graduates as ‘job-ready’.

Our sector doesn’t necessarily need a degree as an entry level requirement. It’s the technical, job-ready skills that employers want. We also question a move for such a high level of Advanced Apprenticeships due to the availability of places to train and currently the employment opportunities. That said; we do look forward to working with employers, FE and HE to explore this proposal and find a way to make it work for us.

Other challenges include the move toward a digital Britain and a low carbon economy. The white paper states this approach will take us out of the recession. This in itself poses us a challenge. We must continue to demonstrate the vital role our sector plays in the economy, the physical activity agenda, and the health and well-being of the nation, and not get overlooked within this new approach.

The commitments outlined in the paper are a start, a platform to build on, as long as the government continues to recognise that a sector approach to tackling skills challenges is the right one. One thing is sure; as we approach a general election, the white paper puts skills firmly at the centre of political debate. This recognises their importance to the future of the UK. 2010 promises to be an interesting year.

With a new licence as the Sector Skills Council (SSC) representing playwork and other sections of the active learning, leisure and well being sector we are embarking on a new strategy for Playwork Education, Training and Qualifications while reaffirming our commitment to a qualified workforce.

In an era in which government itself has set targets to reach the top eight in the international ranking for world skills and to professionalise all sections of the children’s workforce in England our sector has its work cut out.  Only a third of the workforce is qualified to level 3 in playwork, and we have very few HE institutions providing graduate opportunities for playworkers.

In England there have been many policy advances for children and young people under the auspices of the Every Child Matters banner including the Children Act and the Children’s Plan.  All of these developments have had a strategic implication for playworkers but it was really in the 2020 Workforce Strategy that we saw a real commitment to the playwork workforce.  Funding to qualify 4000 playworkers to level 3, a leadership and management programme at graduate level, and research into the position and potential for a graduate workforce.

Our Sector Qualifications Strategy is providing the framework for playwork qualifications that will be accessible and challenging for the new recruit, the experienced worker and the fully competent practitioner alike.  At levels 2, 3 and 4 they will begin populating the Credit and Qualifications Framework from January 2010.  Underpinning these qualifications in the future will be a new suite of National Occupational Standards – the building blocks for all sector training and qualifications – that include new units for adventure play, integrated working, working as a Play Ranger and playwork with under 5s.

How do we know these standards and qualifications will be ‘fit for purpose’?  Well, because we develop them with the sector and we quality assure them with a peer led process of endorsement and approval involving employers and other stakeholders at every stage.

As we move towards 2010 and a new election we think the sector is in a very strong position.  play and playwork is now integral to children’s services and children’s workforce policy and those gains must continue with the next government, who ever that may be.  The lives of children and well being of our society depends on it.

At SkillsActive we will continue to play our part as the SSC for playwork, working with the sector, government and our partners towards the development of a workforce qualified with the skills, knowledge and understanding to deliverer a truly professional service for children, young people and their families.

Jeff Spencer with Personal Best delivery partners in the East Midlands

So here we have a bunch of people holding random pieces of Olympic sports equipment I retrieved from my attic for the photo shoot – none of which have seen Olympic action but hey, we can all dream! Your first thought is probably, so what? What does that have to do with London 2012?

Well, those pictured are actually involved with steering the Personal Best project in the East Midlands which recently launched – a programme designed to harness the unique motivating force of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games (you can get all the details on Personal Best here). We are all committed to inspiring more than 300 out of work or socially disadvantaged people in the East Midlands to undertake a level 1 qualification, experience some volunteering and ultimately move into employment or further training. The project really excites me because of the positive impact it will have on individual’s lives, employment, and the sport sector pre 2012 and beyond.

In six months time, I hope to post a different picture with an even better story; a group of Personal Best graduates from the East Midlands who have all got their level 1 qualification and are going on to bigger and better challenges. They are welcome to borrow the sports equipment again for the photo shoot, unless I need it!