Section 3
Evaluating quality, improving practice
How attractive is the play space to children?
Evaluating our provision is an essential part of improving the range and quality of experiences that children can access. This process of examining the physical and affective environment and how we facilitate it should be a regular part of our role as senior playworkers.
The most obvious answer to how attractive the play space is to children is simply to count the number of children who attend. An empty play space is not providing for any child’s play regardless of the policies and procedures or the way it is run. However, this only gives us an approximate indication of its success and no guarantee of quality. There may be few real alternatives or low numbers of children in the area the play space serves. Simple numbers tell us nothing about how the children are behaving and what level of engagement they have with the environment. Are they bored and listless or totally absorbed and in a state of flow?
Quality improvement is a continuous process that should be part of every playworker’s practice. Improving the quality of our provision means involving the whole staff team and the question ‘How can we better meet children’s play needs?’ should be a permanent feature of every staff team meeting. It should also be at the root of our personal and shared reflections on practice. In this way, we establish a culture of quality improvement in which all staff expect to maintain high standards. Improvement for many playworkers is usually through the accumulation of small realisations and insights, blending observations and personal reflections, with those of colleagues, and a growing understanding of playwork literature.
Children’s perspectives Children need to feel welcome and drawn into a space. They need to feel comfortable and confident that the adults they trust have done everything in their power to welcome them into an inspiring and well managed space where their play is valued and protected.
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