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.

As we announced last week, our discussions with Ofsted highlighting the impact of Early Years Foundation Scheme (EYFS) requirements on playwork has led to new guidance which should allay the concerns of playworkers.

We are delighted that numerous meetings with Ofsted to represent the employer voice on this issue have finally paid off. It highlights the importance of the role that we have, as the sector skills council and employer voice for playwork, in challenging external regulations that impact our sector.

We listened to the playwork sector to understand concerns about the requirements of the EYFS, gathered evidence and took this to Ofsted, ultimately resulting in this new guidance which should mean that playworkers don’t have to change their existing practice to meet the requirements of the EYFS.

It is encouraging to see that Ofsted has recognised that play based provision is compatible with the EYFS and we hope that this this factsheet will make Ofsted inspections clearer for the play sector.

With the government due to review the EYFS in September 2010, we will continue to listen to our members and will work closely with the DCSF to ensure playwork employer views are once again represented.

The Ofsted factsheet is available to download while we have also produced a guidance paper on the Early Years Foundation Stage and its impact on holiday playschemes, a topic recently mentioned by Elaine Clowes in a previous blog post.

In a previous post I wrote about concerns I had regarding the impact of the changes brought about by the introduction of the Childcare Act 2006, and specifically about the impact that the changes in qualification requirements would have on holiday playschemes. We have been carrying out an online survey to find out the effect on employers and children, and the results do not paint a happy picture!

The Childcare Act requires that 50% of staff working under a level 3 qualified manager/supervisor must have a relevant level 2 qualification, and essentially there is not enough qualified staff to go around. 37 of the 49 settings who responded to our survey said they had had to reconsider their plans for holiday play schemes. 6 settings had decided to exclude under 6’s, and a further 13 were considering it. While it is always dangerous to extrapolate, if this percentage is accurate across England, then 12% of holiday playschemes will have excluded under 6’s, and 26% have considered it, and may in fact have done so since filling in the survey – which started at the end of May!

Other ‘solutions’ that settings have put in place include offering activity based provision so that they are exempt from the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). Responses indicate that 2 employers have done this and a further 6 were considering it; others are using qualified staff to work with younger children and unqualified staff to work with older ones. I do not feel this adds up to offering quality playwork, but I suspect also that a huge number of dedicated playworkers have been putting in a lot of unpaid hours and working below minimum wage in order to run summer schemes. This is not a recipe for a sustainable, professional sector.

The number of children affected is equally disturbing. It is estimated that 7500 children would be affected as a result of changed plans and a further 4300 if settings considering different options took these forward.

At SkillsActive we are working DCSF officials for acceptance of the new level 2 Award in Playwork.  This qualification takes a similar amount of time to complete as training based on the induction standard. This will be practical for University students who make up the bulk of the summer playscheme workforce and an accessible solution for employers needing to recruit and qualify temporary staff for holiday provision.

Back in 2005 the then Department for Education and Skills published the ‘common core’ – a document outlining the skills and knowledge required when working with children and young people in a variety of settings. This set of skills and knowledge covered areas such as effective communication and engagement, child and young person development, safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child, supporting transitions, multi-agency working and sharing information.

As outline in the 2020 Children’s and Young People’s Workforce Strategy published in 2008, the Department for Children, Schools and Families announced a ‘refresh’ of the common core to examine the content and extent of implementation of these skills and knowledge, bring it up to date and making sure it is relevant, user-friendly and used by more people in the children’s workforce.

The Active Leisure and Learning Sector is one of the biggest sectors working with children and young people. Playwork aside, sport, fitness and the outdoors all have participation from children and young people and specific targets to get more of them engaged with physical activity and the outdoors. This is particularly relevant through the government’s specific social cohesion, obesity and grassroots agendas – engaging children and young people are high on the agenda at every level.

Through our role of ensuring we have the right people with the right skills to deliver across the active leisure sector, we have made sure that the current common core principles are embedded within national occupational standards – the competencies that job roles are based on. Meaning that those working in the sector should have the skills, qualification and knowledge required to do so. However, as the sector develops, so must the skills and training of the workforce. With this in mind, SkillsActive is working with key partners across the children’s workforce running a series of consultations to ensure that the common core skills and knowledge are appropriately updated.

It is crucial that employers and practitioners from sport, fitness, the outdoors, and caravan industry’s, as well as the playwork sector, have their say in these consultations, in order to influence the refreshed outcomes and provide a common core which is accessible and meaningful for those working with children and young people in the sector, so they can provide the best possible service for children and young people using their facilities and services.

For more information, or to take part in the consultation process, visit: www.skillsactive.com/commoncore. This is your chance to influence the future of the sector when it comes to children and young people.

Bygglelegeplads/building play yard

In my visit to Denmark, I was able to visit two different free time homes.  Free time homes offer out of school childcare for children. The first free time home was in Aarhus, named Skraenten and was situated down a sandy road (the name Skraenten means a ditch). This free time home was open from 11:00am until 5:00pm and could have 150 children. The facilities available included a large house used more in winter, and a range of outdoor space and outdoor opportunity.

Bygglelegeplads: Inside the childrens play space.

The children came from age seven. Some children were able to make their own way from school and some children were collected from school. Animals and adventure play were prominent characteristics of this free time home.

There were rabbits, goats and chickens that belonged to the children, an area for outdoor cooking,  and across the sandy road an area where the children built with wood and tools, and played in their creations.The children in this provision had a mass of space in which they could freely access, inside the house as well as the outdoor environment. This project was inspirational in the way that they presented after school childcare for children.

Central play room

The second free time home I visited was in Esjberg and was based in school, for around 80 children.  Although the children did not have access to adventure play and animals as in Skreanten, the children had a variety of spaces that they could use indoors and out. The children were able to move to different rooms and levels. Freedom, choice and space to move around were prominent in this free time home also.

From both of my visits to free time homes, it seems to be evident that in Denmark the children have great access to risk and challenge through their ability to use tools and to be in spaces where no adults are present to adulterate their play.  Their play spaces seem to be truly their own.

Younger children's playroom