PlayBoard Annual Review 2007 by PlayBoard

Annual Review 2007

One of the year’s highlights was the launch of the draft Play Policy for Northern Ireland at PlayBoard’s annual conference by Maria Eagle, the then Minister for Children and Education. Play is identified as a key policy driver in the 10 year strategy – Our Children and Young People – Our Pledge. PlayBoard’s challenge for 2008 will be to ensure the Play Policy meets the needs of children and ensure its implementation. Another notable event this year included the launch of our Play Manifesto to coincide with the election period. The document was well received and prompted a number of meetings with Ministers and political parties who were all interested in progressing children and young people’s issues. In July, PlayBoard were invited to represent children’s culture in Northern Ireland at the highly publicised Smithsonian Folk Life Festival in Washington DC. We were delighted that Play was chosen to best represent the children’s sector.

PlayDay, held in August, was another huge success. This year we established an unofficial world record for the most children French Skipping at the same time – as well as highlighting the positive benefits of active outdoor play. This event, like others over the past year, attracted significant media profile and attention. This year also saw PlayBoard forming a strategic alliance with SkillsActive, the sector skills council for Playwork. We have worked closely together to oversee the development of an implementation plan for Quality Training – Quality Play the UK ten-year training and education strategy in Northern Ireland. Both agencies are dedicated to the workforce development of the play sector. I hope I have provided a flavour of the year’s many highlights and achievements. I recommend you read the report in its entirety to fully appreciate the work done by PlayBoard over the past year. Many of these initiatives would not be possible without the on-going support of our funders, sponsors and supporters. In conclusion, I would like to pay tribute to the commitment and strategic leadership of PlayBoard’s Board of Directors, in particular to our Chairperson, Barbara McIlwrath whose enthusiasm for play inspires us all. My final words of thanks go to all those passionate and determined people – staff, volunteers, supporters and partners who have helped PlayBoard become the leading Play Agency it is today.

Chairperson’s Report

Chief Executive’s Report

Welcome to PlayBoard’s Annual Review 2007! I am delighted to report that over the last year, PlayBoard has continued its growth and development, meeting the increasing demands and challenges placed upon it. As expected, 2007 has been a busy and exciting year for the play sector and much has been accomplished.

The work of PlayBoard continues to be informed by a desire to bring the play needs of children to the forefront of the minds of politicians and departmental decision makers, social workers and teachers, parents and the general public, and, unfortunately, sometimes to the children themselves, through the Playworkers we train. All levels of society need to understand our message. We believe that our efforts to demonstrate the importance of play to those in positions of power are starting to pay off and, now we have an Assembly government, we can develop links with those who can turn our aspirations into concrete realities. Through our training programmes, our involvement in the Extended Schools Initiative and our Positive PlayGrounds Programme, we are educating those who deal with children in a statutory capacity about the need for, and benefits of, play. The demand for our services is far beyond our present capacity to deliver so growing that capacity is a priority for the future.

The media over the past year has displayed an awareness of the work of PlayBoard and of the status of Play in our society. We are now being asked to comment on reports on for example, the amount of television and technology children have, the affect of an increasing amount of structured activities children are involved in and other issues deemed news worthy. Our message is getting out to the general public as well. Some of our projects, Fit for Play, Reclaiming Playspace and the Big Deal project take our staff out and about and in contact with communities and so spread the word in the neighbourhoods that can either curtail or facilitate play. In September, PlayBoard and the National Children’s Bureau jointly hosted the inaugural Play Policy Summit. The event, aimed at moving children’s play up the policy agenda, was held in Stormont and attracted play experts and policy-makers from across the UK and Ireland. Such was the success of the summit; it has been proposed that it should become an annual event. The staff of PlayBoard are committed and passionate about play and their dedication and hard work cannot be given high enough recognition. I would like to thank them and all those who work in partnership with us to make our past achievements happen and our future achievements possible.

I look forward to continuing to work with you all to build on our successes and achievements for the coming year.

Jacqueline O’Loughlin Secretary

Barbara McIlwrath Chairperson

This year the agency has worked with BDO Stoy Heyward to develop the agency’s robust business plan for the next five years. This key document will provide the framework for the organisation’s strategy and operational plans. PlayBoard have spent some considerable time this year ensuring that its internal systems are fully up-dated and fit for purpose, as the agency grows. Next year will, as always, provide more challenges for PlayBoard and indeed for the sector. One of our key objectives will be to step up our campaign to stabilise the vital School Age Childcare Sector. Additionally, we will continue to be vocal in our campaign to highlight the importance of play and attract much-needed sectoral resources. I would like to sincerely thank those who help PlayBoard’s Finance team including our auditors, Grant Thornton and the Bank of Ireland. As always, I would also like to pay tribute to our many funders, sponsors and partners.

Francis Loughlin

School Principal Since the official launch of Positive PlayGrounds back in February, PlayBoard has been overwhelmed by the tremendous interest in this programme. Schools availing of the training are already reporting back on the huge impact differences made within playgrounds are having on school life. Anecdotal evidence from School Principals suggests a reduction in playground bullying, a marked rise in playground activity and higher levels of concentration in class. The pilot project funded by The Esmee Fairbairn Foundation sadly closes at the end of the year and PlayBoard are eternally grateful to the foundation for funding this successful pilot for 25 schools across Northern Ireland. On a more positive note, PlayBoard, due to the success of the scheme, has been able to grow the project and its team are now taking bookings from schools across the province. A new dimension to the project this year has been the development of a programme for Secondary School Playground Environments. This one day training programme encourages secondary schools to look at a range of issues concerning their school environment. We look forward to working with, and welcoming, the Secondary Education Sector. As we embark on a new academic year PlayBoard will continue to strive to gain commitment from our new Assembly for this project and funding to allow every school in Northern Ireland the opportunity to access this effective programme.

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ring owed to b to “We’re all in g ropes our skippin und now. It’s ro g the play great!” Child

sitive n’t he Po at you do t f o red to nt w th e poi roach is ey on ne empowe king l o h p w a n “The rounds ap ots of mo eed to be about m rally n l ’s e G t t t I d y i s l Pla to spen dren ju or play. if it is l f need ment, chi n ideas ot – even ac’ w g m equip op their o t you’ve rea of tar a l a h e dev ost of w ssessing the m n unprepo just a al incip r P l o Scho

Workforce Development

The play manifesto which PlayBoard published at the beginning of the year, combined with the passion of our staff, has been instrumental in bringing the “play” message home to our politicians and other stakeholders.

Positive PlayGrounds

Treasurer’s Report

I am pleased to report that 2007 has once again been a successful year for PlayBoard

“I don’t know what you’ve done – but my work life has changed dramatically. I now no longer have a queue of children outside my door after playtime.”

PlayBoard’s Workforce Development team not only provide year-long quality training but also work with key partners in order to professionalise the play sector. Over the last 12 months we have developed and delivered a wide variety of training packages. One of the most popular sessions has been our Behaviour Management – Promoting Positive Behaviour programme that was piloted in South and East Belfast with after school clubs. The pilot was a great success and PlayBoard went on to deliver the new programme across the Northern and Eastern Boards. In total the session was delivered on six different occasions with over 70 playworkers attending. As part of our ongoing review of training we asked participants to provide feedback on the course and here are some of the responses: “It was really useful and positive, really interesting discussion” “I found today very useful – and was interested to see how different settings deal with behaviour in different ways” “Useful to discuss openly concerns regarding promoting positive behaviour” “The course made me think about how I approach certain situations “ PlayBoard were invited to deliver training at this year’s Regional Training Unit summer scheme in Belfast. “Changing landscapes – from formal to informal learning” provided participants with an opportunity to review how we look at play, current play theory, play deprivation, play types and the play cycle. This full day course provided a lot of theory as well as looking at the practical application of play within a school environment. The course was well received and PlayBoard has been inundated with enquiries following its delivery. PETC.NI The Playwork Education and Training Council for Northern Ireland (PETC.NI) have been very busy over the last year. PETC.NI meets four times a year to look at issues regarding education, training and qualifications for the playwork sector. The group is made up of relevant stakeholders across many sectors including youth and childcare. Over the last year PETC.NI have reviewed the playwork level two occupations standards, the assessment strategy for playwork and responded to a number of consultations. For more information on the work of PETC.NI please contact Margaret Deevy at PlayBoard. Playwork Education and Training In June 2006 Quality Training, Quality Play 2006-2011, the first UK Strategy for Playwork Education, Training and Qualifications was launched. This strategy has established a clear vision for playwork development across the UK. Over the last year the Playwork Education and Training Council in Northern Ireland (PETC.NI) has been working on an Implementation Plan that will follow this UK strategy for Northern Ireland. This plan will set out the main priorities for the playwork sector in terms of education, training and qualifications.

The Play Quest programme, which is delivered by a team of Play Rangers, works with a wide range of settings and reaches children aged 0-10 years. Its aim, which is to increase children’s participation, supports children, parents and practitioners to increase their opportunities to play.

Through its work, the Play Quest team have helped to support The Big Deal’s Children and Young Peoples Forum who range in age from 8 -23 years. The forum have been involved in the Big Deal steering group, organising a forthcoming conference in November, assessing and awarding small grants and of course, having some fun! We have also assisted children from a number of afterschool projects to feedback their views on the Play Policy for Northern Ireland and the Equality Commission’s guidance on consulting with children.

Management capacity building One to One support Developing resources to meet project needs Introduction and implementation of the accredited Quality Assurance Scheme, Pathways to Excellence Cross Community Networking and cluster sessions Promotion of Equality of Opportunity and Anti Discrimination within the Play Care Sector Providing and Developing Training to meet identified needs Workforce Development Lobbying

In striving for quality provision, we at PlayBoard continuously reflect on our practice and consequently, undertook an evaluation with the projects involved within the DHSSPS funding stream. This year, the majority of the projects who responded to the evaluation reported a very positive experience and were more than satisfied with the Service offered to them by the School Age Childcare Team. All of the projects who replied were given the opportunity to comment on the Team and their experience in working with them during the first year 2006/7. 74% of those who replied chose to leave a short comment. 100% of those comments were positive. “Pathways to Excellence” sets clear and defined standards of quality for all aspects of school age childcare and play services, including adherence of legislative requirements, creating a child-centered environment, policies and procedures and working with management committees. The accreditation scheme also strikes a balance between the play and care debate, acknowledging that whilst Playwork is intrinsically caring, quality care for children has creative and stimulating play opportunities at its heart. To date over 56 projects have achieved PlayBoard’s accreditation kitemark with a further 28 projects due to complete by December 2007. The School Age Childcare team are currently completing quality reviews on successful projects to ensure that quality is being maintained.

Fit For Play

Play Quest is an inclusive programme based on the needs of groups or organisations and the children within them. Play Rangers work in settings for up to a period of one week to deliver a tailored programme designed to empower children. Community, voluntary and statutory organisations can be part of the programme and we have a particular interest in the coming year in working with organisations in community clusters to help develop and sustain partnerships.

The School Age Childcare team has continued to support and assist School Age Childcare Projects across Northern Ireland by co-ordinating best practice activities including:

Reclaiming Playspace

2007 has been a very exciting year for the Play Quest Programme. This project forms the 0-10 strategy of The Big Deal programme and we have been working in collaboration with our partners Youthnet and Northern Ireland Youth Forum. We have worked with children in a selection of settings including afterschool projects, schools, day care, parent and toddler groups and youth groups throughout Northern Ireland. Sixteen play sessions have also been delivered to a range of summer schemes. Feedback from all children, staff and parents who have been involved in the programme has been excellent.

School Age Childcare

PlayQuest

The Play Quest Team strives to promote the ‘Child’s Right to Play’ and in doing so recognises that this is how our children participate in society.

The ‘Reclaiming Playspace’ Project is helping to reclaim parks and open spaces for outdoor play. Using a van (donated by Rent A Merc), a small team of community play rangers are working with children in three communities in North Belfast who each receive 2 sessions per week from the Reclaiming Playspace team: Ligoniel Park Glenbank Park Marrowbone Park We are finding that the mere presence of the community play rangers encourages children and young people to come into the parks and open spaces using them for the very purpose that they were designed forFUN, ENJOYMENT, LEISURE and RECREATION,

Northern Ireland has witnessed an alarming growth in childhood obesity over the last few years. This worrying trend prompted PlayBoard to create the ‘Fit for Play’ programme. Designed as a prevention project, Fit for Play aims to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, stroke and cancer by targeting children aged 4-14 years in mainly disadvantaged areas. The project has targeted staff working with children in play focused provision such as school age childcare, afterschool projects, junior youth clubs, church groups and uniformed organisations. Fit for Play continues to grow from strength to strength. The project aims to: improve the long-term health & well being of children by increasing physical play opportunities and healthy eating habits for 4-14 year olds.

all through the medium of open-access, free range play. Through safe, quality, outdoor play experiences the project is helping to ‘bring back the basics’ of play. No elaborate toys or equipment are used, just good old fashioned play that once was a daily part of every child’s life. Rope swings, den building, camp fires and much, much more are the order of the day- the type of play that every child loves- and every child can participate in. The project has been a huge success and has totally exceeded PlayBoard’s expectations. Attendance at sessions varies depending on activities and of course the Northern Ireland weather, attracting anywhere from 15 – 40+

In addition it supports playworkers in community based play provision to develop good practice play in terms of physical activity and diet provides a training programme to community based playworkers and provides a Quality Award scheme for community based play projects A recent evaluation of the project has demonstrated the huge positive impact that the programme is having and we are delighted that that Fit for Play project has been identified in the Fit Futures Strategy as a model of excellence. The team will continue to grow and develop this innovative project and are grateful to the Eastern Health and Social Services Board for recurrent funding and to Sport NI for grant funding that will secure Fit for Play until March 09. STATS Fit for Play has trained 706 playworkers working in local play projects with 10,016 children. The three training modules provided over twelve 2½ hour sessions

participants at any one time. The community play rangers work directly with children and young people weekly, all year round, having a positive impact on their health & well being, social skills and physical literacy skills; and are also helping to raise environmental awareness and appreciation of outdoor spaces. By involving older children, parents and community workers as active volunteers the initiative is impacting on the wider community and family life. We are finding that this is much more than a community play project but it is contributing positively to community development and regeneration.

to each group are focused on outdoor and physical play and healthy snacks. All the groups trained were invited to go forward for the Fit for Play Quality Award. 195 groups have started the programme and 87 groups have been deemed Fit for Play. Below are some of the findings of tevaluation: According to the children, daily physical activity levels have gone up by 32% According to staff, the number of groups that provide milk and water only has gone up from 17% to 85% 75% of playworkers reports that children spend over 30 minutes of each session on physical play outdoors 88% of playworkers say that they are more confident now 63% of parents responded positively to the changes implemented

Context

Nearly a quarter of all P1 pupils in Northern Ireland are either overweight or obese (House of Commons Hansard Written Answers, 2006)

PlayQuest is a brand new project, and is part of The Big Deal programme. It is designed to increase the participation of children and young people across Northern Ireland.

Unstructured vigorous physical play is one of the most effective ways for children to burn off calories – The World Health Organisation recommends 60 minutes each day (Mackett, R, 2004)

PlayBoard works with the 0-10 category and we have reached stats this year…

26 PQ PROGRAMMES DELIVERED:

Play provision and support provided within a school playground may represent a child’s only opportunity to engage in physically challenging outdoor play.

s: y session la p r e m 16 sum 9 primary s ren chools: 339 child 1357 childre n ps: grou 7 afterschool 385 children ps: nity grou 4 commu 2 children 6 Pa 4 2 rent & to ddle r, Da ycar e/ 288 crèche: child ren

Annual Review 2007

Positive PlayGrounds is an inspirational school based programme which is transforming playgrounds all over Northern Ireland

11,675

478

PlayQuest

Positive PlayGrounds

Context

hools within sc Children availed of the g e av h benefitin who e will be programm ved playground ro from imp ts. en environm

TOTAL: 2611 CHILDREN

Adults within schools ( Playground n staff and Teaching Staff) have take nds grou Play tive Posi the in part training Programme.

Context

Almost 40% of children say they do not play outside as much as they would like with nearly 20% playing outside for only an hour a week or less (Children’s Play Council, 2005)

There are in excess of 200 community based School Age Childcare projects across NI. These projects enable parents to continue with employment. In Northern Ireland the levels of childhood poverty are increasing year on year. The most recent figures suggest that 29% of children in Northern Ireland are living in poverty. This experienced team provides infrastructure support and capacity building activities to help address this worrying trend.

Two-thirds of parents in the UK are worried about letting their children play outside (NOP World, 2004) The reclaiming PlaySpace project offers the opportunity for children to reclaim their community spaces, facilitated by expert play-workers.

Work completed in 2007 included:

Overall children and young people are registered and considered as regular users

200

228

26 Quality Assurance

Workshops delivered & 39 onsite mentoring visits

Financial Aud its carried out

School Age Childcare

Reclaiming Playspace

Context

On site deve

lopment visit

Daily attendance at Reclaiming Playspace sessions up to children daily

40 4

di y Buil t i c a p Ca ns Sessio

ons

essi Cluster S

Context

Fit For Play

In recent research carried out by PlayBoard and SkillsActive on behalf of Dept of Employment and Learning, 70% of employers stated they have an internal skills gap. As part of the same survey 91.7% of Playwork employers said that the level of skill needed in their Playwork workforce is increasing. In response to these worrying statistics PlayBoard continues to develop and deliver innovative Playwork focused training programmes.

Context More than a third of children NEVER play outside (NOP World, 2004)

PlayBoard offers a wide-range of training opportunities including:

Childhood obesity is increasing at an alarming rate: the proportion of both 12 year olds and 15 year olds in Northern Ireland who are overweight or obese has risen by more than one quarter in the last 10 years. (Fit Futures, Investing for Health, 2005)

Games Not Names (Anti-sectarian and anti-bias) Disability Awareness Summer Scheme Training

86% of children prefer outdoor activities, including playing out with their friends, building dens and getting muddy to playing with computer games (Children’s Play Council, 2006)

and PlayWork

Introduction to Play

Workforce Development

Communities targeted for project delivery

Diversity Training

6 1 0 10

ached e r n e r ay Child for Pl t i F gh throu ing Train Groups starting Fit for Playw Play training orke rs Train ed

PLAYBOARDS QA , FIT FOR PLAY AND PLAY/ PLAYWORK AWAR DS, OCTOBER 2006

195

706

Groups starting Fit for Play Training

MIT MEETIN

Y SUM PLAY POLIC 5 NATIONS 2007 SEPTEMBER

IAN FESTIVAL ,

SMITHSON WASHINGTON DC, JUNE 2007

PLAYBOARD HOST LAUN CH OF SUPER SIX COMIC. BELOW JUNIOR MINSTERS WITH CHILDREN JUNE 2007

New Play Sector Resources launched 2007

LICY CONSULTATION LAUNCH OF PLAY PO R 2006 DOCUMENT, OCTOBE

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PlayBoard (Head Office) 59-65 York Street Belfast BT15 1AA Tel: 028 9080 3380 Fax: 028 9080 3381 Email:info@playboard.co.uk

PlayBoard (Armagh Office) 1 College Street Armagh BT61 9BT Tel: 028 3752 2330

PlayBoard (Rural Office) Glenelly House 11 Main Street Plumbridge Omagh BT90 8AA Tel: 028 8164 8000

Website: www.playboard.org

Get in touch

PlayBoard Board of Directors April 06 – September 07 Barbara McIlwrath Chairperson Francis Loughlin Treasurer Jacqueline O Loughlin Secretary Ryan Williams Peter McCartney Tony McCusker Suzi Gray David McIlwrath Roisin McAllister Maria Gough

PlayBoard Staff Jacqueline O’Loughlin Chief Executive Arlene McGeown Finance & Corporate Services Manager Lisa O’Connor Membership Services Ciara Murray PA to Chief Executive/Personnel Claire Simpson Receptionist/Telephonist Mairead McLaughlin Finance Assistant

Frances Walsh School Age Childcare Training & Development Officer Jan Melia School Age Childcare Training & Development Officer

Joanne McManus School Age Childcare Administrator Roisin McCooey Regional Manager PlayQuest Eamonn Keenan PlayQuest Play Ranger Fiona Nelson PlayQuest Play Ranger Julie Holmes PlayQuest Play Ranger Aiveen Burns PlayQuest Play Ranger Jeanette Keenan Inclusion Project Worker Janine Murphy Trainee Administrator

Membership

Caroline Kerr Fit 4 Play Training & Development Officer Sharon Donnelly Fit 4 Play Training & Development Officer Lorraine Murphy Fit 4 Play Training & Development Officer (Eastern Board) Paula Tolan Fit 4 Play Research Assistant/Administrator

Rent-A-Merc DENI City & Guilds

Eva Kane Fit 4 Play Regional Manager Patricia Conway Fit 4 Play Training & Development Officer