for Wales Issue 45 Autumn 2015
Play news and briefing from the national charity for play
Celebrating play in Wales
2 | Play for Wales | Autumn 2015
Contents 2
Editorial
Thank you 14-15 Pre-election play time
3-5 News
16
A valuable resource
6-7
Manifesto for children’s play in Wales
17
Little voices shouting out
8-11
Time, space and permission to play across Wales
12-13 Supporting a play friendly Wales
Editorial This issue of Play for Wales has the forthcoming National Assembly for Wales election in May 2016 as its focus. We have shared our Manifesto for children’s play in Wales with the major political parties in Wales and hope they have found it useful when developing their own priorities and agenda for Wales. It has the potential, albeit in a small way, to influence the actions of the next government of Wales. A copy of the Manifesto is included on pages 6 and 7 of this issue. It is based on the growing body of solid evidence that supports the long-term benefits of providing for children’s play. The election will provide us all with an opportunity to highlight our asks for play in Wales. The Manifesto can be useful to help form questions to ask of politicians as they begin their local campaigning in the lead up to the election.
18-19 Wales - a play friendly place 20-21 Workforce development 22
Spirit 2015: the importance of taking risks
In this issue of Play for Wales we have highlighted some examples of the innovative and practical ways advocates are working to support children’s play and addressing some of the barriers that children face in playing in their communities. We also showcase how Play Wales is working in partnership with a variety of organisations to support children’s play in Wales. Wales is the first country in the world to legislate for play and since devolution, children’s play has received cross party recognition and support. The commitment to improve play opportunities for all children was taken forward through Section 11 of the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010. This places a duty on local authorities to assess and secure the sufficiency of play opportunities for children in their areas every three years. Local authorities in Wales will be submitting their second Play Sufficiency Assessments in March 2016. This is a local authority’s opportunity to demonstrate how well it is progressing with
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who contributed to this magazine – we couldn’t do it without you. This issue of Play for Wales, as well as previous issues, is available to download at www.playwales.org.uk
partners to make their counties more play friendly for the children who live and play there. On 5 August 2015 thousands of children and young people across Wales came together at local and regional play events to celebrate Playday – the national day for play. The Playday 2015 campaign highlighted the importance of play to children’s mental health and aimed: to encourage children to ‘Play more…’, to support parents to allow their children to ‘Play more…’ and to inspire communities to come together to support children’s right to play. Our Manifesto is calling for the next Welsh Government to continue to prioritise provision for play by supporting initiatives which support children to ‘Play more’. When we are approached by prospective Assembly Members we can all use the opportunity to ask them what they are going to do for children’s play.
Mike Greenaway Director, Play Wales
Play for Wales is published by Play Wales twice a year. Contact the Editor at: Play Wales, Baltic House, Mount Stuart Square, Cardiff CF10 5FH Telephone: 029 2048 6050 | Email: info@playwales.org.uk
The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of Play Wales. We reserve the right to edit for publication. We do not endorse any of the products or events advertised in or with this publication.
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Play Playfor forWales Wales| |Autumn Spring 2015 | 3
News
Are children’s rights New team a reality in Wales? The ‘Wales UNCRC Monitoring Group’ is a national alliance of non-governmental organisations (NGO) and academic agencies, tasked with monitoring and promoting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in Wales. In early July 2015, it published and submitted its report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. Prepared for the UK’s Fifth Periodic Report under the UNCRC, the report is a ‘Wales UNCRC Monitoring Group’ perspective on the extent to which law, policy and practice in Wales has progressed since the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child released its UK Concluding Observations 2008 to the UK Government. Although the report recommendations are aimed at Welsh and UK government, the issues raised are of direct relevance to the services delivered by all local authorities in Wales. It aims to help local authorities to develop services that meet the needs of delivering children’s rights in their areas. Chapter six of the report includes a section on play, written by Play Wales Assistant Director, Marianne Mannello, which provides a policy and legislation progress update, issues of concern and key recommendations for the Welsh Government.
member In March 2015 Martin KingSheard was appointed as Play Wales’ new Workforce Development Officer. Martin has lead responsibility for policy and strategic development related to the learning and professional development of the play and playwork workforce in Wales.
He is based in North Wales and has worked for Play Wales since 2006, firstly as part of our contract with the BIG Lottery Child’s Play programme and more recently seconded to Conwy Voluntary Services Council (CVSC) as Conwy’s Principal Play Officer between 2009 and 2014. Following a period as a circus practitioner he began his playwork career in 2002 as a play development worker in Nottingham.
www.playwales.org.uk/eng/ngoreport
New Play Wales trustee We are delighted to welcome former Children’s Commissioner for Wales, Keith Towler to the Play Wales Board of Trustees. As a charity Play Wales is governed by a Board of Trustees.
It oversees the running of Play Wales to ensure that we meet our objectives effectively and efficiently within the law. There are also a number of Observers to the Board who support the Trustees but who cannot vote.
More information about the Board: www.playwales. org.uk/eng/governance
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Declaration on the Importance of Play The International Play Association (IPA) has published a Declaration on the Importance of Play which reaffirms the IPA’s aim and intent to protect, preserve and promote the right to play. The Declaration is based on the substantial evidence that has arisen in the last twenty years, showing how fundamental and vital play is to children and therefore society. It also highlights the growing evidence of the effects of lack of time and space for play and the serious and life-long effects on children’s bodies and minds.
Theresa Casey, President of IPA said: ‘It has never been more important to restate the importance of play. Fundamental, essential, vital – the words in this Declaration reflect IPA members’ message to the world that play is an essential part of childhood. All children have a right to experience play which ... is free, open, boundless, sometimes chaotic, sometimes transformative. Play is a right which all adults have a responsibility to uphold.’ http://ipaworld.org/ipa-declaration-on-the-importance-of-play
This is me The IPA’s inspiring and uplifting This is me short-film is now available in a number of languages including Welsh which can be viewed at: www.chwaraecymru.org.uk/cym/hawlichwarae The English version is available at: www.playwales.org.uk/eng/rightoplay
Social Media www.facebook.com/PlayWales
twitter.com/PlayWales
New Play Wales Publications Play Wales worked with Save the Children’s Travelling Ahead project to develop the Good practice guide for play and early years: Developing and managing Gypsy and Traveller sites. The good practice guide provides clear and concise information to support local authorities to consider and include play and early years provision when developing new and existing Gypsy and Traveller sites. It contains specific information intended to help understand and address particular areas of concern. It also provides practical, step-bystep tools, templates and models of successful provision. For a review of this publication see page 16. We have also published a number of new information sheets recently, including: Why playing matters and what we can all do about it (published in partnership with Cadw). Aimed at parents and carers, this information sheet explores the importance of playing outside and contact with nature for all children and their families and it provides tips for supporting children to play out confidently. The Playwork Principles – an overview. This information sheet aims to provide an overview of the Playwork Principles which establish the professional and ethical framework for playwork. As well as describing the development of the Playwork Principles it also briefly explores ethics and playwork. The good practice guide, information sheets and more publications are available to download at: www.playwales. org.uk/eng/publications
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Creating a play friendly Wales The Welsh Government recognises that to achieve its aim of creating a play friendly Wales and to provide excellent opportunities for our children to play it is necessary for local authorities, their partners and other stakeholders to also work towards this purpose. Therefore a section on Play Opportunities was included in the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010. Section 11 of the Measure places a duty on local authorities to assess and secure sufficient play opportunities for children in their area. To comply with their new duties each local authority in Wales submitted its first Play Sufficiency Assessment and Play Action Plan to Welsh Government Ministers in March 2013. The Welsh Government has published a timetable for assessing and securing
sufficient play opportunities for the next 10 years. In March 2016, local authorities will be required to complete and submit their second Play Sufficiency Assessment; Executive Summary of the Play Sufficiency Assessment; and Play Action Plan for the following year to Welsh Government Ministers. Additionally, the Executive Summaries of the Play Sufficiency Assessments should be published
on the local authorities’ websites. The published summaries must include the outcomes of the Play Sufficiency Assessments and highlight the actions that the local authorities intend to take to achieve sufficient play opportunities. Play Action Plans must be developed and submitted to the Welsh Government each year. www.playwales.org. uk/eng/sufficiency
Playday 2015 On 5 August an estimated 100,000 children and adults celebrated Playday 2015 – the national day for play – at over 200 events across the UK.
Will Godfrey, Chief Executive of Newport City Council said:
reflects the mission of the Council – to improve the lives of our communities. It was great to experience first-hand the scale of the event. There were a large number of different activities to satisfy most interests and everyone was having fun. Events of this nature show how play can be a low cost but high quality experience. My personal highlight was being drenched by an eight year old on the water slide – but fair play I had been soaking him for 30 minutes before that!’
‘Supporting national Playday
www.playday.org.uk
Playday provides a platform for play advocates to promote the benefits and positive impact that playing has on children’s mental and physical health, wellbeing and development. It also provides an ideal opportunity for communities to come together to celebrate, play and to have fun. At a Playday event in Tredegar Park, organised by Newport’s play development team the Council’s Chief Executive joined in the fun.
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Manifesto for children’s
play in Wales
Play Wales has four asks for play, for health, for children, for everyone Wales – a play friendly place Play Wales is calling for the next Government in Wales to continue to prioritise provision for play. We are asking all political parties to recognise that having
time, freedom and good places for playing are of paramount importance to all1 children, their families and the wider community. Playing contributes to the wellbeing and resilience of all of us – we need to work hard
to foster environments that support children’s play. Everyone knows that playing is good for children. And there is a growing body of solid evidence of the long-term benefits.
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Evidenced studies show that play projects2: • are just as effective as sport and PE programmes in boosting physical activity levels and hence helping to tackle child inactivity and obesity • support children to become more resilient through the development of their emotional and social selfmanagement skills • provide powerful opportunities for children to engage positively with their school and the wider community, and with nature and the environment • encourage neighbourliness, volunteering and social action, and improve community cohesion.
We need to address barriers to playing; this is a task for all of us, and especially government. Policy on planning, traffic, housing and open space, schools and childcare have a direct effect on opportunities to play. Successive Welsh Governments, with all party support, have taken an international lead in adopting a Play Policy and more recently legislating for children’s play in Wales; the first government in the world to do so, for which Wales rightly receives continued wide acclaim.
Play Wales is calling on all political parties to continue to maintain this momentum and consider the following set of initiatives: In schools: recognition of the need for play before school, during play/break times and after school hours. Addressing this need could involve playtime support including training and awareness-raising for school staff and parents, coupled with the provision of suitable equipment and materials for active, creative play.
In parks and public play space: recognition of the benefits of children’s presence in parks and public space. This could involve investment in a programme focusing on communities and offering cross-sector training for those who plan, design, build and manage our communities. Delivered through a partnership of local authorities, play providers, and others with an interest in children within communities, more of us will understand the importance of children’s play and our role in creating child-friendly public spaces.
with an additional focus on streets around schools, and linked to active travel policies. Also, support for parents and residents by reducing red-tape around traffic regulations, consultation, insurance etc. play and our role in creating child-friendly public spaces.
In staffed play services: recognition of the key role of adults in facilitating children’s play. This could involve support for staffed provision to test social prescription models with health agencies, delivering locally organised play projects in disadvantaged areas that can run practical ideas sessions on active, creative play for local residents to encourage volunteering, social action and asset-based community development. Decision makers can be confident that investing in these asks will result in improvements in children’s health and wellbeing, and hence a reduction in the pressures on the National Health Service in Wales and the public purse. What is more, the level of investment needed would be modest, cost-effective and support local authorities to comply with their statutory duties to assess and secure sufficient play opportunities for children in their areas.
In neighbourhoods: recognition of children’s need to play out in their community. Addressing this could involve the development of regular sessional road closures in residential streets
Freely chosen play is critically important to all children and young people as part of their everyday lives and within their own communities. We can all be part of making Wales a place where children can benefit from playing as part of their everyday lives.
References 1. When we talk about all children this includes every child regardless of their culture, impairment, gender, language, background, behaviour or need. 2. Gill, T. (2014) The Play Return: A review of the wider impact of play initiatives.
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Time, space and permission to
play across Wales By providing children with time and permission to access additional resources, the opportunities offered by a space are enhanced. Children are able to make use of their local environments in more diverse ways. These example initiatives have the potential of encouraging them to play out more often and for longer. They also act as a means of promoting permission to play in a range of open spaces. The presence of more children playing out and for longer will improve people’s perceptions of playing children and it helps parents to feel more confident about allowing their children out to play.
In schools Using funding from The Millennium Stadium Charitable Trust, Play Wales has worked with Cardiff Metropolitan University (Education and Early Childhood Studies team) to pilot our Use of school grounds for playing out of teaching hours toolkit at schools in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan. Here, Cardiff Met student Ieuan Bleddyn Gardiner tells us about his involvement with the project. When I received information about the project, I knew it was something I had to get involved in. Because of the project, I now understand the importance of play, especially as a child gets older. When someone asks me to draw on one of my past play experiences, I always recall being outdoors, and a concern of mine is that children no longer play outside so much and will not have the some of the experiences I did. I received playwork training and found that the toolkit contained a lot of useful information. I did have a few initial fears about the first day of the project, but the detail in the toolkit, alongside the support of the project team, allowed me to abolish some of those fears.
After the training I felt that I knew what my role, and what the project, was going to involve. My original idea of what my role was going to be changed after day one at the school. Many parents stayed and supported me in the running of the play session and they supported their children more than I had originally anticipated. My role developed as the project progressed and the children attending the play sessions started to get to know me, and me them. They invited me into their play and I was able engage in their play as well as having an observing and supporting role. Whilst participating in this project I became aware that children revel in playing outside and how the simplest of things, which adults will often disregard as rubbish, can be the most interesting thing to explore and play with. The community where the school was set had very limited space outdoors for children to play and in some cases there were families as large as six living in two bedroom flats with no outdoor space. For families in this situation I felt the project was important as the children were
able to play outdoors and burn off some energy after being in school all day. Also, some children had never ridden their bike on grass so the project enabled children to try new things that often people take for granted. After speaking to a number of parents they informed me of how their children’s behaviour had improved when they were able to stay and play for an hour after school. Often the children were from larger families so not only was it a chance for the children to burn energy and play, it was also a chance for the parents to relax and watch their children play with the knowledge that they were in a safe environment. The project allowed me to build on my experiences and promote play in an area that playing isn’t often encouraged or accessible, due to lack of space. Whilst working on the project I was able to see what children, parents and the wider community can gain through play projects. Play Wales’ schools toolkit is available to download at: www.playwales.org. uk/eng/schoolstoolkit
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In neighbourhoods Since featuring as a Wales – A Play Friendly Place case study in our spring 2014 issue of Play for Wales, residents of Windsor Road in Abergavenny continue to be supported by Monmouthshire County Council to hold temporary road closures for play. Neighbours continue to move their cars from the street in a series of road closures that have seen local children playing near their homes. Children in Windsor Road say that they are playing out more often and their neighbours report that the street play sessions give adults a chance to meet and get to know their neighbours better. Similar street play projects are improving children’s play opportunities across the UK. An evaluation report on the Hackney Play Streets project in London shows that more than 1,600 children have had the chance to play out actively in the streets and estates where they live. The Play Streets project is
a partnership between Hackney Play Association and Hackney Council’s Get Healthy Board. Parents volunteering to run the Play Streets report it helps to create a greater sense of community – making streets feel friendlier and safer. The report has been written by author and researcher Tim Gill. In the 12-month period until September 2014 the programme: • Supported parents to run 380 hours of play streets and estate play sessions in 29 locations reaching around 1,600 children and nearly 800 families. • Enabled over 8,100 child-hours of physical activity – on a par with 14 additional classes of weekly term-time PE lessons. • Showed that residential road closures for street play – or play streets – have a low impact on traffic movements; an average of nine vehicles were diverted or ‘walked through’ during a two to three hour session.
• Spread play street uptake beyond the initial pattern of the more affluent parts of Hackney to reach a broader demographic, including areas of disadvantage. • Revealed a strong consensus amongst organisers about the perceived benefits of the scheme for children, families and communities – especially in terms of social interaction, but also as a way to expand children’s freedom and choice in their play. • Uncovered significant interest from schools, early years settings and voluntary and community organisations in the idea of street play. Three schools and a children’s centre are running termly play streets. • Demonstrated that street closures have not been contentious among residents.
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In parks and public play space Play Stop has been developed by the play development team in partnership with Communities First, sports development, Vale parks department, town and community councils, schools and community groups, all wishing to increase play opportunities for children in the Vale.
Across Wales various training seminars and workshops have been delivered to help professionals who plan, design, build and manage communities, and those that are involved in community safety to understand the importance of children’s play and their role in creating child-friendly public spaces.
The Vale, like many communities has a number of areas where children play, such as a cul-de-sac, a Multi Use Games Area (MUGA), an open space, or a park. Often it is lack of equipment that is a barrier for children to create, build, test, imagine and construct.
This training has brought together voluntary and public sector managers, police officers and professionals. It has changed the way that professionals think about children and young people; putting them at the heart of the planning, design, building and management of public spaces. When Play Wales undertook an external evaluation of RAY Ceredigion’s community engagement and capacity building as part of its Big Lottery funded, Child’s Play project, we met and interviewed a police officer who had attended cross-sector training. He recounted that the play training has given him better knowledge of the importance of play and ways to support it, and as a result, he and a colleague (in plain clothes) helped at a play session. He reflected that this had removed the barrier of being in uniform and allowed him to engage with the young people in a different way. In spite of concerns from his superiors, this approach worked for them and he talked about the positive impact it had on his relationship with children and young people when he returned to his uniformed shift. In some parts of Wales, local authorities are literally ‘thinking outside the box’ when it comes to providing resources for playing. In Conwy, a Play Box project has been created by the Play Development team based at Community and Voluntary Support
Conwy (CVSC). The boxes are large containers that are placed in a community and filled with junk resources for children to play with. The team chose a Communities First area to pilot the use of the box in a community. The team approached the Community House within the area and attended community meetings to introduce the idea of the box. The team worked with a Community House worker from Cartrefi Conwy housing association to fix the box in place. As part of the development work, the team delivered accredited training to the volunteers and other interested community members, who open and clear away the boxes. In the Vale of Glamorgan, the Play Stop project is a community initiative that is being developed to increase children’s participation in play.
The Play Stop is a wheelie bin filled with loose parts such as tubes, nets, rope, material and tarpaulins. The bins are located in communities that have taken a keen interest in supporting children’s play and are willing to take responsibility for taking the bin in and out at agreed times of the day. This could be a school, community building, library or shop that is in close proximity to where children are playing. On Anglesey, members of the community in Llangoed have worked closely with the county council to mange a play pod in their local open space. The play pod is a storage container that is filled with a range of equipment following successful fundraising from volunteers within the community. The project has resulted in an expansion of playtime in the area, with children reporting more time to play with their friends. It has also supported members of all ages to become involved and feel a part of their community. More information about the Llangoed project can be found in this short film: https:// vimeo.com/123095228
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In staffed play services The Executive Director of Public Health for Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board uses the Annual Report 2014, Children and Young People are Our Future: An Asset-based approach to discuss the important health benefits that playing brings. The report notes that the community in which children and young people live, play and interact is an important asset. To evidence its assertion that through play children experience a range of emotions including frustration and disappointment and through practice can learn to gain mastery over these feelings, the report includes a Wrexham case study which highlights the contribution that staffed provision makes: ‘Wrexham Borough Council have supported approaches to children’s play that have attracted national and international attention for their commitment to providing opportunities for children to play freely outside with the minimum of adult interference. Much of the attention has focused on “The Land”, which is an adventure playground signposted as a “space full of possibilities”. Instead of the usual play equipment there are materials for children to construct and experiment with their own spaces to play, including learning to take calculated risks. Three playworkers are always on site in the role of helpers and teachers. However, The Land is only one element in a wider systematic approach to make a play-friendly environment of the surrounding housing estates. One of the team members told The Guardian newspaper: “Play should be everywhere – a natural part of life”.’
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a play friendly Wales Funding from new sources has enabled Play Wales to develop partnerships with other organisations and work in local communities – from supporting them to develop new play spaces to utilising local school grounds for playing. proposed design. Additionally, we facilitated a series of short workshops as part of the project.
Space Saviours Space Saviours is a two year project that is funded by the National Lottery and is being organised and delivered by four housing associations in South Wales: Valleys to Coast, Bron Afon, Tai Calon Community Housing and United Welsh. The Space Saviours project offered workshops and events designed to help local communities identify an initial idea and how to progress the project. Tenants and communities in five areas were keen to create better places for play and were partnered with Play Wales. Together, we have worked through play audits of the areas, engaged a landscape architect to produce design options and produced full project plans with costings. We shared our Developing and managing play spaces Community Toolkit (www.playwales.org.uk/ eng/communitytoolkit) as part of the project and tenants and other groups are using it to gather ideas from neighbours and to help everyone understand the
In Wildmill in Bridgend, tenants have secured funding and are keen to see land next to the park be better utilised, making clever use of the existing space and perhaps enhance the planting and natural areas. We are currently working with a landscape architect to develop a programme of work. We expect to feature the new space as a future Wales – A Play Friendly Place article. http://spacesaviours.co.uk
Play Memories Flintshire’s social history project Flintshire County Council commissioned Play Wales to collate and publish the findings of the Council’s in depth social history project – Flintshire Play Memories 1910 – 2014. The findings underline how important play is and always has been for childhood development. The findings also show that children’s play, as a unique set of behaviours, has actually changed very little in the last century, but that there is a
perceived trend in the reduction of spaces available to children to play. The project was conducted by the Council’s Play Development Team, who gathered and recorded the play memories of Flintshire residents. Over six hundred people from across the county completed questionnaires. The play memories gathered spanned from the 1920s to the present day. From the memories provided by the younger generations, and contrary to what some of the older adults perceived in their responses, children still appear to do the same kinds of things they have always done when playing. Computers, televisions and smart phones aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, but, when asked, children still highlight their desire to play in their local neighbourhoods, with their friends, in their spare time. They seek out uncertainty and play in their surrounding environment in a whole host of different ways. The project formed part of a larger regional scheme by the charity NEW Play, to gather evidence about the changes in children’s ability to play that have occurred within living memory. The project also received support from numerous community organisations that form the wider Flintshire Play Network. The Flintshire Play Memories 1910 – 2014 booklet produced by Play Wales is available to download at: www.flintshire.gov.uk
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Open all hours: researching access, play and adventure in school grounds Funding from the Millennium Stadium Charitable Trust has enabled Play Wales to establish a partnership with Cardiff Metropolitan University (Education and Early Childhood Studies) and Cardiff University’s School of Social Sciences to research a project which piloted our Welsh Government funded Use of school grounds for playing out of teaching hours toolkit. As part of their Play Sufficiency Assessments, local authorities must assess to what extent schools provide play opportunities during out of school times. The 2013 Play Sufficiency Assessment and State of Play reviews undertaken by Play Wales found that, across Wales, school grounds and facilities were under used and not accessed by children for playing.
The research was conducted in two phases. The first phase involved combining funding and in kind support as well as identifying and establishing links with three schools in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan. During this phase, we also recruited and trained the project team, which consisted of student volunteers on the Education and Early Childhood programme at the University. Information was gathered from school staff, pupils and the project team. To engage with children in the schools, the students used tools from Play Wales’ Right to Play Workshop pack. The workshop pack is available to download at: www.playwales. org.uk/eng/righttoplayworkshop The second phase involved establishing and facilitating a rota of students to facilitate supervised play sessions, and a support team consisting of staff from the university and Play Wales. The after school play sessions ran for six weeks in the summer term and information gathering was undertaken with the same groups at the end of the period. At the time of writing information is being analysed and a range of themes such as communication and tensions are emerging.
From early on, it became clear that the project was supporting more children to play outdoors after school whilst also contributing to the professional development of the student volunteers. We have also identified clear benefits for parents. Parents, some bringing picnics and accompanying the sessions, reported that they valued the time to socialise with others. Lone parents with lone children commented that they valued the social play opportunities their child experienced without adult intervention. Play Wales will be using the findings to update the Use of school grounds for playing out of teaching hours toolkit, using the school settings as case studies. The findings have been presented at two academic conferences and we will work with our university partners to further disseminate the overall findings. In time, we hope various team members from the University and Play Wales will write articles about the project for publications from different perspectives and further collaborate in future research projects. The Use of school grounds for playing out of teaching hours toolkit is available to download at: www.playwales. org.uk/eng/schoolstoolkit
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Pre-election
play time
The National Assembly for Wales election is due to take place in May 2016. We have taken the opportunity to ask the leaders of the four main political parties in Wales about their play memories and if elected, what their party will do to ensure that Wales continues to lead the way for children’s play.
First Minister for Wales Carwyn Jones Welsh Labour
Andrew R. T. Davies AM Welsh Conservatives
‘I know first hand just how important play is. Getting down on the floor and playing with your children is one of the great joys of life. Not only is it fun, it’s hugely important for a child’s happiness, well-being and development.
‘Growing up on a farm provided ample opportunity for fun and play, mostly revolving around the great outdoors. From riding bikes to climbing trees, the outdoors played a hugely important part of my childhood. While the actions of my brothers and I may have given my parents the occasional panic attack, the fun and freedom of the outdoors is unrivalled and provided memories which I still cherish to this day.
You really can’t overestimate the importance of play and I’m proud of what we’ve achieved in recent years. We’re making a real difference. Our Play Duty, for example, is increasing play opportunities for children and reinforcing the importance of play in children’s life. I’m also happy with the Playing Field Measure, which ensures that before a local authority sells off a playing field they have to consult with the local community. Very important. Wales is leading the way and it’s great to hear how highly regarded our policies are by the international community. But we’re not going to sit back and rest on our laurels. There’s still much to do. We will continue to take forward the agenda for play in Wales and lead the way in ensuring our children have good quality play experiences available to them.’
Welsh Conservative policies for young people would consist around the promotion and access to good facilities, whether that be leisure or using the natural environment, be it urban or rural. We would use the planning and educational systems to design and develop strong communal areas where the play needs of local communities are met through sport and recreation.’
Leanne Wood AM Plaid Cymru
Kirsty Williams AM Welsh Liberal Democrats
‘I grew up in a close community in Penygraig in the Rhondda. As children we had many choices of open, public land where we could play.
‘I remember fondly playing on a rough patch of ground near our house with my brother and sister. There was a great big tree and a swing in it and we’d spend hours and hours having fun there.
I have many fond memories of playing up the mountain with my friends. We could be up the mountain in just a few minutes’ walk from our house. The mountain was freedom. We could do anything up there. We would climb trees, play hide and seek, build dens, pick wimberries, slide on trays and just generally have a good laugh. None of us wore a watch and only knew it was time to go home when it started to turn dark or when our bellies started rumbling. I’d often turn up at home with torn clothes, covered in dirt and on more than one occasion a fractured wrist! Plaid Cymru supports the way in which children’s play has been incorporated into the Foundation Phase as a tool to aid learning of our youngest. Studies have shown that investing in a good quality education in the early years pays dividends later down the line in the academic career. Maintaining the Foundation Phase and ensuring children carry on learning through play with proper supervision, staying fit and healthy in the process is therefore something which will continue to feature in our plans and policies. We are looking to see how we can expand and extend early years’ education which would follow the Foundation Phase’s principle of learning bilingually through play.’
I was pleased to join other Welsh Liberal Democrat AMs in supporting the Children and Families Measure which made great progress in the area of children’s play. However, I think the time has come for Wales to be much more radical in the way that it approaches this issue. I have seen with great interest the impact of the Playing Out scheme, which first started in Bristol but has since spread across England and to Scotland. The scheme encourages local authorities to allow temporary closures of residential roads to provide a safe space for children to play outside. The Welsh Lib Dems is currently considering how it can empower local communities and help councils put this excellent idea into practice. Of course, too often the barriers to accessing play stem from wider problems. Transport poverty, particularly prevalent in rural areas, is a significant barrier for children and young people from low-income families. The Welsh Lib Dems has a clear plan to improve public transport by creating new Passenger Transport Authorities, improving coverage in rural and poorer areas while widening access for young people in particular to travel to play opportunities. Welsh Lib Dems believe that improving children’s play cannot be done in isolation, but must be considered as part of a wider co-ordinated economic strategy that lifts our nation out of poverty and improves opportunities for our younger generations. That is the ambitious approach that we would take in Government.’
16 | Play for Wales | Autumn 2015
“A valuable
resource”
Paula Harris, former Regional Executive Officer at Tri-County Play Association, reviews Play Wales and the Travelling Ahead project’s good practice guide for play and early years on Gypsy and Traveller sites. integration at local play provision, I could identify with the barriers cited in the guide, which were highlighted by children, families and members of the Gypsy and Traveller community. Space, time and lack of facilities were regularly named as the greatest obstacles to accessing play provision by children and young people, during consultations with playworkers I have previously worked with. This made it easy to relate to the issues and suggestions in the guide. I could see the guidance provided within this toolkit working in practice.
The Good practice guide for play and early years: Developing and managing Gypsy and Traveller sites, published by Play Wales, in partnership with Save the Children Wales’ Travelling Ahead project, has been developed to address some of the most significant issues in establishing and maintaining appropriate play provision within Gypsy and Traveller sites. The guide is well written and easy to navigate. Information is concise and relevant and looks at a wide spectrum of possibilities for the development of provision. Although it is aimed at those who are responsible for managing or developing new and existing provision, this publication could be suitable for a wider audience, particularly those who are employed to provide an early years or play service on-site. As well as being a valuable resource in establishing provision, the guide provides an assortment of tools which enables the practitioner to engage the children, families and wider
If there was one thing I would have liked to see more of it was actual examples of good practice, perhaps through more case studies. Personally I always feel that having stories of how and why something works well, told by someone who has lived through it, makes the possibilities for development all the more real.
community in identifying options for the development of provision and the suitability of provision on individual sites. The tools can be easily adapted to the community the facilitator or practitioner is working within. Having previously managed a project operating at a Gypsy and Traveller site, and encouraging
I would highly recommend this publication. It is presented in a way which is interesting and useful and I feel the partnership between the Travelling Ahead project and Play Wales in producing this guide provides a well-balanced, considered, approach to the issues identified by children and families living in Gypsy and Traveller communities. The good practice guide is available to download at: www.playwales.org.uk/eng/ gypsyandtraveller
Play for Wales | Autumn 2015 | 17
Little voices
shouting out Little Voices, Shouting Out is a three year research project funded by the Big Lottery, managed by the Wales Observatory on the Human Rights of Children and Young People; based in the College of Law, Swansea University and in Bangor Law School. University in 2014, where it is now being integrated in to the broader work of the Observatory. Little Voices has submitted a childled, non-governmental report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child as part of the current UK State Party reporting process. Children from schools across Wales were involved in creating national research questions by designing a questionnaire that was completed by children throughout Wales. They analysed the results, made recommendations and gave their opinions on their findings.
Statistics from the chapter on play Do you think adults are stopping children from playing and relaxing? 23% said yes 77% said no What stops children from playing the most? The weather (42%) Homework (13%) Chores (10%) How much time do you spend outside on a normal day? 20% said 1 hour 21% said 2 hours 18% said 3 hours 15% said 4 hours 27% said more than 4 hours a day
The Little Voices project engages with children aged seven to eleven in primary schools throughout Wales, educating and raising children’s awareness of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Children learn about the process of research and are supported to carry out their own research into Conventionrelated topics. Examples of topics they have chosen include the quality of and access to their physical environment, safety issues such as internet safety, smoking in parks, traffic, play and ways of improving knowledge of human rights amongst people of all ages.
This will be the first time the Committee has received a report generated by children in this age group in the 25 years the Convention has been in force.
• Parks should be welcoming and attractive for children to visit
Jane Williams: Jane.M.Williams@Swansea.ac.uk
The pioneering methodology has developed over eight years, starting at Funky Dragon (the Children and Young People’s Assembly for Wales), and transferring to Swansea
• Make sure equipment in parks are safe and not rusty
Helen Dale: H.dale@swansea.ac.uk
• Adults should limit time spent on games consoles.
Arwyn Roberts: a.b.roberts@bangor.ac.uk
Recommendations sent to UN Committee: • Children should have the opportunity to play more • Councils, parents, schools, communities, clubs and teachers should make more opportunities to play outdoors and join in activities for children our age
Children’s favourite place to play was the park (29%) and 47% said the swing was their favourite piece of equipment in the park When asked ‘What do you like to play with at home?’ 61% said they prefer to play with electronics. For further information please contact:
18 | Play for Wales | Autumn 2015
Wales – A Play Friendly Place Wales – A Play Friendly Place is a Play Wales campaign to help build a network of support for play across Wales. Share what’s happening locally which is either protecting or prohibiting children’s right to play on the Facebook campaign page. on.fb.me/playfriendlyplace
A PlayPod
®
comes to Palmerston primary’s playground Mark Sainsbury shares his experience of supporting the first Bristol Children’s Scrapstore Playpod® to be installed in a primary school in Wales. This is the story of how a Scrapstore PlayPod® came to a playground in Palmerston Primary School, Barry. It won’t win a Pullitzer Prize, and it won’t set the playwork world alight, but the experience taught this old playworker a few things. Joanne Jones, Vale of Glamorgan’s Play Development Officer asked if I would like to become a mentor for the Bristol Children’s Scrapstore PlayPod® scheme. Connor, another Vale playworker, and I attended the mentor training in Bristol before visiting the school overlooking the vast chemical works in Barry. The playground was a large, flat, featureless stretch of tarmac, fully exposed to the wind whipping across the Bristol Channel – not the most inviting playspace, but one which the school was determined to improve. The chemical works had given a generous donation to develop the playground and so Bristol Children’s Scrapstore was approached to deliver the first Scrapstore PlayPod® in Wales.
Scrapstore has developed a tried and tested scheme with pods of different sizes filled and replenished with carefully selected scrap, all underpinned by training and mentors to help get it off the ground. There have been play pods in Wales before now, and there have been plenty of containers with lots of scrap which have been called many things. The difference is that Bristol Children’s
This is where Connor and I came in. We joined the training which was being provided to all those involved with lunchtime play at the school. The first
Play for Wales | Autumn 2015 | 19
surprise was how many people were there. I’d expected 10 at the most, but owing to the exceptionally high number of children with support needs, all the one-to-one staff, together with lunchtime supervisors, teaching assistants and others meant that Dan, the trainer had over 20 to take through the course.
Scrapstore PlayPod®
The second surprise was how much resistance there was, and how strongly it was being expressed. At this initial stage there were some entrenched risk-averse people. The third surprise was how, over the next few weeks, the most vocal arguments were challenged, and how far the resistance became positive support. The fourth surprise was how smoothly the first week, following the Scrapstore PlayPod® installation, went. I’d expected the children to explore the new resources vigorously, and they did, but not how easily the staff were able to adapt, relax and enjoy the process. Sure there were challenges and conflicts, but the training had provided enough examples of ‘what if..’ that the staff could abandon the whistles and strictness. Connor and I were there to watch and support, which was seen as a big help. Our mentoring visits became less and less frequent, as the staff became more comfortable with the changes in their roles and the children continue to extract every bit of play out of every bit of scrap. In the future, scrap to replenish the Scrapstore PlayPod® will be sourced from Wales rather then importing it from Bristol. Re-Create Scrapstore (Cardiff and Vale Play Services Association) is already on board to support the project.
Watch out for more Scrapstore PlayPods® in Wales – there’s more on the way!
Palmerston Primary School: ‘Our PlayPod is a huge success and has enormously increased the children’s play opportunities. It has improved the quality of the children’s play, with significantly fewer disputes; and imaginative, adventurous play across all ages is observed.’ The Scrapstore PlayPod® is a holistic process that works with the entire school community to change both the human and physical play environment transforming play in school lunchtimes. The benefits include: • Happier children • Significantly fewer incidents and accidents • Children returning to class ready to learn • Empowered lunchtime staff • Positive parental responses.
The process involves: • Training and mentoring • Consultancy and support • Materials and resources • Purpose built structure www.playpods.co.uk
20 | Play for Wales | Autumn 2015
Managing a Holiday Playscheme qualification In June 2015, Welsh Government circulated a letter informing the sector of interim measures it’s taking to address the challenges of qualification levels for the person in charge within regulated short term holiday play provision. The steps outlined included a relaxing of the requirements for summer 2015 to ensure that those with non-playwork level 3 qualifications including childcare, youth work and teaching, would be suitable as persons in charge so long as they have appropriate playwork experience. The letter also advised that a new level 3 qualification for managers of holiday playschemes would be made available from Autumn 2015 and added to SkillsActive’s list of required qualifications. Play Wales was invited to bid for the work and was successful in a collaborative bid with YMCA
Wales Community College to develop the qualification. The work includes the development of two new units, which will be accredited through Agored Cymru, and development of bespoke teaching and learning materials. SkillsActive and Clybiau Plant Cymru Kids’ Clubs have also been identified as key partners and will be consulted as part of a steering group on the content of the new qualification. Play Wales welcomes this development which addresses some of the challenges that short term, community based play provision often experience in ensuring that experienced
Playwork Standards review SkillsActive (the Sector Skills Council for Active Leisure and Wellbeing) is running focus groups in the UK’s four nations to review some of the draft key changes to the National Occupational Standards (NOS) in Playwork. The work follows a successful bid to the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.
South Wales 29 September 2015 – Cardiff and Vale College, Dumballs Road, Cardiff
North Wales Play Wales, other national organisations and playwork specialists from the four nations are involved in the review. Employers and training providers are invited to review and discuss some of the key changes that have been proposed to ensure they meet employer needs. The focus groups will also be discussing any contentious draft changes to ensure they reflect current practice. Two focus group events will be held in Wales:
5 October 2015 – The Old School Lane Centre, Church Walks, Llandudno The events will give attendees an opportunity to shape and influence the new NOS as well as networking with employers and training providers. Numbers are limited to 25 places at each event so please book your free place early. To book a place email: tracey.james@skillsactive.com For more information about the Wales events email: workforce@playwales.org.uk
playscheme managers meet regulatory requirements in terms of playwork qualifications. We know that a large proportion of holiday playschemes have either closed or moved to running for under two hours to avoid staff, who have other relevant qualifications and experience, having to undertake a full level 3 playwork qualification. Welsh Government is advising that the Managing a Holiday Playscheme Award qualification is an interim measure from September 2015 until September 2018, after which time a full level 3 playwork qualification will be required.
P news 3
Play Wales is working in partnership with YMCA Wales Community College to deliver Playwork: Principles into Practice (P3) qualifications across Wales. Whilst Play Wales remains an approved Centre for P3 delivery, to secure the future sustainability of the qualification, we are building on the successful existing partnership with the College. The College is well placed to deliver playwork qualifications due to its experience in delivering youth work and community development qualifications in community settings. At a recent government inspection the college was awarded record breaking grades in its sector, becoming the highest rated Adult CommunityBased Learning provider in Wales. Play Wales is confident that the skills and knowledge of the College staff team will ensure improvements in support for P3 learners, trainers and assessors.
Play for Wales | Autumn 2015 | 21
An interview with
Gillian Wilde Our interview with Gillian Wilde, Provision Manager at YMCA Wales Community College explains more about the benefits of the new partnership between the College and Play Wales. Can you briefly tell us about YMCA Wales Community College and the courses you currently run? YMCA Wales Community College is an all Wales provider that delivers a number of specialist courses. We work with local authorities and partner organisations like Play Wales to help support the training and development of their workforce. A large part of our work is with the probation service and community learning. We provide teaching and learning qualifications and specialise in youth work, community development and playwork qualifications.
Why is the College well placed to be the main centre for P3? We already have a very established structure of working with specialist sectors like playwork providers which supports the professional development of their workforce. For example, we are a main provider of youth work qualifications at levels 2 and 3; we also offer levels 4 and 5. Due to our partnership model we are able to deliver the learning within the community making the learning accessible to both learners and employers. The College is experienced in providing courses with flexible delivery models to suit the learner and employer; with delivery across Wales and highly qualified staff.
What additional support is available for P3 learners through the College?
With all our learners who access qualifications we carry out an initial literacy and numeracy assessment to identify if there are learners who have essential skills needs to enable them to complete the tasks to pass the course. We also have additional resources we can offer learners, for example on a P3 course currently running in the South, we have a British Sign Language (BSL) signer supporting a learner to enable her to fully participate in the course. We can offer learners guidance and support about progression after P3 training, they might want to go on to undertake youth work or teaching and learning qualifications. We also offer wider Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses for those who have qualified.
What additional support is available for P3 trainers and assessors through the College? College staff support tutors on their first day of delivery and observe them during the course. The purpose of this is to offer advice, support and guidance as well as celebrating what tutors do well. The College offers in-house CPD training packages for all tutors and assessors. For example if a tutor or assessor wanted to attend a playwork conference as part of their CPD they can apply for a contribution towards cost. Or if they wanted to buy up-to-date books to keep them informed they can access the CPD funding. We hold regular tutor and assessor
days across Wales – these will soon be available for P3 tutors.
Tell us about the planned changes to YMCA Wales Community College and the merger with Workers’ Educational Association Cymru? The merger between YMCA Wales Community College and WEA Cymru took place on 1 August. In the interim partners won’t see much difference and in particular our playwork partners as this is a new area for the College and the new merged organisation. Playwork provision will continue to be managed by my team along with youth and community work.
How do you think the delivery of P3 qualifications will evolve over the next few years? With a new larger organisation, there will opportunities to offer funded and partially funded P3 courses across Wales making these courses more accessible. I would like to see the P3 courses as established as the youth work courses across Wales – we are pleased with Play Wales’ endorsement for us to deliver the P3 courses. To ensure professional, quality provision for the sector it is important that Play Wales is involved in College standardisation, tutor and Internal Quality Assurance meeting days to ensure there’s a consistent approach. www.ymca-wales.ac.uk
The importance of taking risks 13 October 2015
DELEGATE RATES
Holiday Inn, Cardiff
Play Wales members - £95 Non-members - £105
Our annual Spirit conference offers a day packed full of inspiring keynote speeches, lively discussions and workshops for anyone with an interest in or a responsibility for children’s play.
Includes lunch & refreshments
Keynote speakers
Workshops
This year we will be joined by the following keynote speakers:
During the day there will be an opportunity to participate in two workshop sessions.
Judith Hackitt – Chair of the Health and Safety Executive Robin Sutcliffe – Chair of the Play Safety Forum Dr Mike Shooter – former President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Professor David Ball – Middlesex University, and co-author of Managing Risk in Play Provision: Implementation guide.
The Scrapstore Playpod Project: transforming school playtime – Kirsty Wilson and Mark Sainsbury Let’s ALL take a RISK – Ally John Landscaping Community Play Areas – Gill Byrne A richer play environment – Simon Bazley Why children need to take risks – Ben Tawil Implementing dynamic risk–benefit assessment where children play – Mike Barclay
Discussion panel The conference will close with a panel discussion that will include a number of keynote speakers and leading play professionals. The panel will answer questions posed by delegates about risk in play.
To book your place visit: www.playwales.org.uk/eng/spirit2015