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Inspiring Play newsletter is for everyone interested in play for children and young people aged 0-19 years. Produced by Oxfordshire Play Association for the Oxfordshire Play Partnership.
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Inspiring
Also inside… • News from the Oxfordshire
play world
• Special website offer
• New local play
partnerships
• Updates for playworkers
• Snow play ideas
• GO4it! funding extended
• Play training updates
• Young people’s comments on
new play areas
• And more...
Photo credits: Above - Open University Below - Oxon Playday 2010
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What is the Oxfordshire Play Partnership (OPP)?
newsletter is produced by Oxfordshire Play Association on behalf of the Oxfordshire Play Partnership, a group of
organisations whose aim is to increase the amount and quality of play opportunities for children and young people aged approx 0-19 across Oxfordshire. OPP creates and updates the Oxfordshire Play Strategy — this and lots of other OPP info is available on Oxfordshire Play Association’s website www.oxonplay.org.uk—see under ‘Play Resources’. For further information about OPP, Inspiring Play or any aspect of play and playwork, contact Jane Gallagher, Play Development Officer, Oxfordshire Play Association on 01865 779474; email: [email protected] or Sophie Cresswell, Play Development Officer, Oxfordshire County Council on 01865 256673; email: [email protected].
Get involved! Contact: Oxford City: Sophie Cresswell, 01865 256673; [email protected]. Cherwell: Jane Gallagher, 01865 779474; email: [email protected]. South Oxfordshire and Vale: Martin Gillett, 01865 779474; [email protected]. West Oxfordshire: Tara Nielsen, 01993 861558; email: [email protected].
NEW! Local Play Partnerships
Brand new local play partnerships have been set up across Oxfordshire to bring together local organisations involved in play to develop play opportunities for all children and young people aged 0-19.
of children would rather play with friends than watch TV. 89%
These ‘Play Priority Area’ signs are
available to buy at just £8 each (cheaper if you buy more). Available from London Play: Tel: 020 7272 2464;
Email: [email protected]
Playday 2011
Playday events are now being planned for August 2011. Look out for more information in future issues
of inspiring Play—or contact OPA if you want to be involved (contact details above).
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Only £150!
Play Pathfinder Update
Congratulations to the 11 Playbuilder 2010 sites who have just received news that they will, after all, receive funding to refurbish / create their play areas. Extremely good news for play in Oxfordshire!
They are: � Appleton Parish � Banbury (St. Louis
Meadow) � Blewbury Parish � Carterton (Alvescot Road) � Middle Barton Playing Fields � Hook Norton Parish � Oxford (Ark-T Centre) � Oxford (Bury Knowle Park) � Oxford (Sandfields Road) � Shipton-under-Wychwood Parish � South Oxford Adventure
Playground
There are 17 existing sites already awarded Playbuilder / Play Pathfinder funding. More information is available from Howie Watkins, Play Pathfinder D e v e l o p m e n t M a n a g e r , Oxfordshire County Council on 0 1 8 6 5 3 2 3 9 9 0 ; e m a i l : [email protected]
Would you like your organisation to have its own website? Oxfordshire Play Association (OPA) is offering the first 5 playwork settings who apply the chance to have a website designed for you for only £150. (The normal price after the
offer will be £200 per website—much less than the hundreds o r thousands of pounds charged by some website firms!)
OPA will work with you to choose the
layout and content (including photos and videos) and you will then be able to update the website yourself whenever you want to, with support, where necessary, from OPA. So if you are an after school club, breakfast club, adventure playground, playbus, play rangers or holiday playscheme, and would like a website designed at this extremely low price, get in touch with Jane Gallagher at OPA on 0 1 8 6 5 7 7 9 4 7 4 o r e m a i l : [email protected].
Melt it on your tongue
eat it s
now
forts
have a picnic!
melt
it
lie in it
throw
it
write
make
icicles
sculpt it
snow angels
sledg
e
surf
on it
snow ic
e
cre
am
make a
n iglo
o
and make snowflakes...
snowsnowsnowsnow ideasideasideasideas
playplayplayplay
giant snowman
snow furn
iture
stamp
shapes
snow
wom
an
4
Yo u n g P e o p l e f r o m t h e L e t ’ s P l a y P r o j e c tYo u n g P e o p l e f r o m t h e L e t ’ s P l a y P r o j e c tYo u n g P e o p l e f r o m t h e L e t ’ s P l a y P r o j e c tYo u n g P e o p l e f r o m t h e L e t ’ s P l a y P r o j e c t
C o m m e n t o n N e w P l a y A r e a sC o mm e n t o n N e w P l a y A r e a sC o mm e n t o n N e w P l a y A r e a sC o mm e n t o n N e w P l a y A r e a s
Representatives of young people from the Let’s Play Project in Banbury visited the newly refurbished Steeple Aston and Banbury Princess Diana play areas. They made the following observations:
Steeple Aston
• A fantastic setting for young people of all ages and abilities; having the fields next to the playground
makes a superb place for a half day outing. The shaded area is important for disabled young people.
• The accessibility is very good at the site but one young person wondered how long a wheelchair user
would be occupied in the central bowl – a challenge/opportunity for the playworker or parent/carer.
• Knowing that we can contact the village hall committee to gain access to the inside toilets is a real
benefit.
Princess Diana Park, Banbury
• This new, challenging site is particularly suitable for older, more physically
able young people. The site is very open and the deep bowl is not easily accessible for wheelchairs. The young people loved the climbing equipment. A new walking map of Bretch Hill (where the park is situated) is available from Children’s Centres.
Other visits to parks in Banbury
• People’s Park is very popular and used frequently by pupils from the local school for young people
with additional needs. There are two pieces of equipment particularly useful for less mobile young people - the seesaw and tyre swing, but the roundabout and climbing frame and swings can also be used. The shade is useful here and the rest of the park provides wide open space to run or to look at the flowers/have a picnic. There are no toilet facilities.
• Spiceball Park in central Banbury has a basket swing which young people of all ages and abilities
love. The rest of the equipment is not particularly accessible – a larger, wider slide would be good. The lack of shade in the actual play area can be an issue and the nearest accessible toilets are in the shopping centre which is located over the canal.
• Bloxham village and Hook Norton village parks are also used by parents of disabled young people.
of adults believe children playing outside helps to improve community spirit. 81%
Hill End Family Outdoor Festival
1,500 people attended the Hill End Festival to celebrate Outdoor Learning and Play! Thirty local organisations showcased the many natural play and outdoor learning opportunities available to Oxfordshire’s children and young people, and the feedback was excellent, with many adults and young people enjoying playing together, and many schools and families saying they had not realised the play potential of natural resources. For info about any of Hill End’s outdoor activities, Tel: 01865 863510 or E: [email protected]; www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/hillend.
Funding! To run rural play events.
Up to £300! Apply between now and end
of March. Great way to get rural communities together!
For info and a form— ring Jane Gallagher, OPA on
01865 779474 or email: [email protected]
Making mud pies
5
This photograph shows two brains—on the left is the brain of an average 3-
year-old, and on the right is the brain of a three-year-old who has received very little sensory stimulation, such as play.
HR made simple — with Peninsula For Oxfordshire Play Association, like for many other small
organisations, the complexities of HR (Human Resources)
law, staff contracts, health & safety and ever changing legal
guidelines proved a real challenge. Budgets were stretched, but OPA needed to
provide a professional, compliant HR service to the organisation, the staff and the
users of OPA’s services, as well as its funders.
Earlier this year OPA contacted Peninsula, a national company offering HR services and specialising
in smaller organisations and charities, to see if they could assist. The service from Peninsula was excellent
and now OPA has transferred its entire HR function to Peninsula, for a reasonably priced monthly
payment, thus removing the hefty workload and worry. OPA staff now all have updated contracts and a
comprehensive staff handbook. We have access to a 24 hour legal and H&S helpline, plus an online
resource providing relevant forms / paperwork, staff management systems, etc. To see if Peninsula could
help your organisation, please contact Martin Gillett at OPA on 01865 779474
or [email protected] and he will arrange for a representative from Peninsula to provide a
free, no obligation quote for your organisation.
Why does scrumping for apples or ringing doorbells and running away feel so exhilarating? When children are playing rough-and-tumble, or fighting with sticks, what is the purpose of that play? Why do children play mummies and daddies, doctors and nurses, and other such play?
There is much evidence to support claims that play is essential for health, wellbeing and happiness. But studies also provide evidence that play might be essential for the very survival of many species. Williams suggests that animals need skills such as play fighting, play courtship and play hunting in their behaviour if they are to survive and reproduce. Burghardt says that there are times when play is essential for an animal's survival. He takes the case of play fighting: "In this case, play has achieved a function in helping animals learn new skills." Animal studies by Pellis show that animals who do not play fight have social, cognitive and sexual deficits as adults, which could lead to being more open to attack, and also less likelihood of procreating. Can we use the evidence of play in animals to apply to humans? Panksepp says we can: “We are really not that different from other animals in the biological realm, even in most brain matters.” Bekoff suggests that, “Play creates a brain that has greater behavioural flexibility, and improved potential for learning later in life.” This “potential for learning” holds extra significance when fight or flight is a common response to everyday potential dangers. Having a larger brain is also a factor for survival—as Silvis states, a larger brain size “increases a human being’s chance of survival into the reproductive age”—and studies by Pellis and Iwaniuk found that larger brains (relative to body size) are linked to greater levels of play in animals. If children are deprived of chances to play, they have smaller brains than average—Baylor College of Medicine reported in 1997 that children who do not play develop brains 20-30% smaller than normal for their age. The photograph above, as outlined in the heading, provides stark evidence that a child’s brain grows and develops less when the child is denied a stimulating environment—and for most children in the early years, sensory stimulus involves a great amount of play. Through such research, many experts believe a tendency to play—and to enjoy play—may serve an evolutionary purpose. Marder suggests that, “Through play, animals develop the set of skills necessary for survival and reproduction, and natural selection over time favours these animals.” References: Baylor College of Medicine, IPEMA study “Play is Essential for Brain Development”, www.ipema.org. Bekoff, M and Byers, JA: ‘Animal Play: Evolutionary, Comparative and Ecological Perspectives, CUP, 1998. Burghardt, G: ‘The Genesis of Animal Play’, MIT Press, 2005. Marder. J: ‘What's fun for a wasp?’, published in Monitor on Psychology, Jul y 2009, Vol 40, No. 7. Panksepp, J: ‘On the Animalian Values of the Human Spirit’, European Journal of Psychotherapy and Health 5, 2002, cited in Russell & Lester, Play for a Change, 2008. Pellis, S and Iwaniuk, A: ‘Evolving a Playful Brain: A Levels of Control Approach’, International Journal of Comparative Psychology , 17, 92–118, 2004. Silvis, D: ‘Does Size Really Matter?: The Evolution of the Human Brain’, www.serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro99/web3/Silvis.html. Williams, G: ‘Natural Selection’, OUP, 1991.
Photo: Perry and Pollard, Child Trauma Academy
Jane Gallagher OPA
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‘Guidance on infection control’ poster A useful free poster for your club! The full title is ‘Guidance on infection control in schools and other childcare settings’. This is publicised on the Health Protection Agency website, www.hpa.org.uk, and you can request one from the Thames Valley Health Protection Unit, [email protected] / telephone 0845 279 9879. The poster includes infection-related information on good hygiene practice, animals, vulnerable children, pregnancy, and immunisations. It lists a variety of infectious conditions, and the recommended periods that children who have them should be kept away from childcare settings or school. The latest edition of this poster is dated April 2010.
Safeguarding Children (Child Protection) leaflet The leaflet ‘Safeguarding Children (Child Protection): Guidelines for childminders, out-of-school and day care providers’ has been updated. You should find a copy enclosed with this issue of Inspiring Play. It contains important telephone numbers, so make sure it is readily available in your setting.
The new leaflet is dated October 2010. Please destroy copies of any older versions. If you are an Ofsted-registered setting, ensure that this new leaflet is available at your next inspection. The leaflets can also be accessed from the out-of-school pages of the Oxfordshire County Council website www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/outofschoolchildcare
Select ‘Running a club’, and scroll down to ‘Safeguarding children’.
Safeguarding Children (Child Protection) training When did you last attend?
All staff in out-of-school clubs and playschemes must have an up-to-date understanding of safeguarding children issues, and be able to implement the safeguarding policy and procedures appropriately. In all settings delivering the EYFS, “a practitioner must be designated to take the lead responsibility for safeguarding children within the setting”. It is strongly recommended that all staff attend ‘generalist’ safeguarding training, which is a 2½ or 3 hour course. There is currently no charge (unless you cancel late or fail to attend). Courses are advertised though either the Step into Training directory (if you need a copy, phone 0845 604 23 46) or www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/stepintotraining and Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Board (OSCB): www.oscb.org.uk / 01865 815843. If you are a playleader (you may call yourself a supervisor / co-ordinator / manager, etc) running a club or playscheme, or the designated safeguarding person, you must also attend the 6-hour ‘Specialist’ course. Book via www.oscb.org.uk The specialist courses are, currently, only available on daytime weekdays, which can be difficult for staff to get to. We may be able to put on alternative timings. Please contact your Childcare Development Officer to discuss options. There are spaces on SiT generalist courses on 15 February in Banbury, 9 March in Oxford, 16 March in Shillingford near Wallingford and 26 March in Oxford. OSCB generalist courses on 11 January in Banbury and 28 March in Oxford. Don’t delay - courses fill up very fast! Generalist training must be updated every 3 years. Specialist every 2 years. Contact your Childcare Development Officer for more advice, or if you have no internet access.
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Playworker’s top tips for clubs: improving quality and valuing play
1. Have fun 2. Listen to what the children want, let
them lead. 3. Resources 4. Allow risk taking 5. Learn about risk assessments to
enable children to take risks 6. Communication important especially
with parents 7. Relaxed attitude of the staff 8. Outdoor play in all weather 9. Establish club rules at the beginning
of a new club, involve the school 10. Supportive management committee 11. Encourage staff to do training 12. Join in only when you are wanted 13. Understanding of the Playwork
Principles 14. Keep it new and exciting for staff and
for children 15. Feedback from parents and children 16. Have lots of loose parts 17. Don’t get too wrapped up in health
and safety 18. Regular evaluation 19. Cooperation of outside agencies
(school, local community) 20. Staff value play and are
knowledgeable about play
Thanks to everyone who participated in the ‘First Claim’ pilot for contributing to the 20
Top Tips.
Qualifications audits A big ‘thank you’ to clubs and playschemes that have filled in their audits and sent them back to their Childcare Development Officer. If you haven’t yet done it, there’s still time to complete yours and send it in. These have been really useful in helping us know where the ‘gaps’ are, and planning appropriate training.
Have you looked at the Childcare
Development webpages recently?
See www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/outofschoolchildcare for news, play ideas, food ideas, how to run a club, and lots more! The sample policies have recently been updated, in line with current guidance. Please note that if a child is not collected by their parent/carer, the agency to contact for advice is the Police, via their non-emergency phone number. This number is 0845 850 5505 – make a note of it now!
You can download the sample policies from the ‘Running a club’ pages, for your club or playscheme to adopt.
Looking for something a little different to do at your Holiday Playscheme? If so why not look at what’s been happening The Pit Stop HPS. The club received a grant from the local village and used it for a fantastic ‘Jungle Road Show’ visit! We had lots of fun with a tarantula and a
millipede called ‘Millie’ that has over 230 legs! The children got to hold a snake too!
(Visit www.jonathansjungleroadshow.co.uk for more details!)
Thanks to Sam Lenik at Pit Stop in Longworth for sending this article.
Talent Bank: Did you know that you can advertise your Playwork & Childcare vacancies through the Oxford Brookes Talent Bank?
To advertise visit their Talent Bank Web Page.
You can choose to register with them or simply send a black & white advertisement by email [email protected] The Brookes careers centre also has a number of web pages dedicated to volunteers. To feature on their Volunteer or Facebook pages please contact: Caitlin Hopes: [email protected] or Sue Holton: [email protected] or phone: 01865 484670.
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Continued...
Child information and permissions form The county council’s sample 'Child information and permissions form' was updated in November. It now includes reference to 'parental responsibility' and 'legal contact', in accordance with page 23 of the EYFS Statutory Framework. There are two versions – one for school-managed clubs and playschemes, and one for other settings. You don’t have to use these particular forms, but they will help you to meet EYFS and Ofsted Childcare Register requirements.
Please destroy copies of any older versions. The forms can be accessed from the out-of-school pages of the Oxfordshire County Council website www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/outofschoolchildcare. Select ‘Running a club’, then ‘Policies, guidance and forms’.
You can find information about ‘parental responsibility’ on the Directgov website: www.direct.gov.uk.
Southern Oxfordshire Out-of-school Network Meeting:
Playworkers met to
Play with the elements!
During supper we watched the Yorkshire Play DVD ‘Playing with Fire’ before cooking goodies over a fire pit.
Many thanks to our hosts, the team at Charlton Breakfast and After-school Club,
Wantage.
We dug for treasure in blocks of ice, made tornadoes and tree spirits, and
created fire sculptures.
Would you like to watch the 10 minute ‘Playing with Fire’ DVD?
Ask your Childcare Development Officer for a loan copy. It shows
ideas for completing risk assessments with a group of children. And fun with fire…..
All very relevant for First Claim! Contact your Childcare Development Officer or see www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/outofschoolchildcare for details.
9
OPA training update from Brid Muldoon, OPA Training Officer
OPA offers a full range of play and playwork training and qualifications, from short play sessions and short introductory courses to full qualifications in playwork.
National changes are being made to all qualifications, with the introduction of a new Qualifications & Credit Framework (QCF). The changes will make it easier to understand all the different types of qualification that learners have.
OPA are now delivering QCF Level 2 in Playwork, and the QCF Level 3 from January. This qualification has replaced the NVQ. Level 2 takes about 12 months to complete, and Level 3 takes about 18 months. They are assessed through live observations and underpinning knowledge workshops. The qualifications are aimed at play practitioners who are working with children and young people (age 3-16) in a play setting, and level 3 is specifically for those who are making the shift into playwork management. More info is available on the OPA website (see below).
Take 5 for Play: A nationally recognised introduction to play and playwork, for people who are new to the field and who wish to gain a basic knowledge of play. OPA runs many Take 5 courses throughout the year, and we can often run one in your area if there is sufficient interest - contact us on the details below.
Short play training sessions: these sessions cover many aspects of play and playwork, and are usually 2 or 3 hours long. They include promoting positive behaviour, first aid, food hygiene, play activities and games, magic potions and lots more.
Full information on OPA training and qualifications is available on our website:
www.oxonplay.org.uk.
Call OPA on 01865 779474 or email: [email protected]
STOP PRESS!! Last chance to register now for NVQ Level 3 in Playwork
before the QCF Level 3 changes - register with OPA before 31.12.10.
Contact Brid Muldoon, OPA Training Officer on 01865 779474 or e: [email protected].
SkillsActive Update
SkillsActive is the sector skills council for playwork, which is managed in the south east by the Playwork Southern Tri-region team.
The Qualifications and Credit Framework is up and running, and new playwork qualifications at level 2 and level 3 are now available. Level 4 playwork qualifications will be available in 2011. We believe playworkers should have playwork qualifications, which our training and qualifications manager, Lesli Godfrey, elaborates on in her blog at www.skillsactive. com/blogs/2372_playworkers_need_playwork-qualifications.
Other developments : the recent launch of our Play and Playwork Education and Skills Strategy 2011-2016, which you can download at www.skillsactive.com/playwork/strategy. Our vision is “A skilled, qualified and developing play workforce, whose practice is underpinned by the Playwork Principles, who provide high quality, accessible play opportunities for children and young people.”
We are also working on an Academy for Play and Playwork, a new endorsement and quality assurance system, a new apprenticeship framework, and will shortly have available an online workforce development toolkit for playwork employers, which will be accessible free by our members. Membership of SkillsActive is a way of supporting the sector and offers many benefits such as free job advertising, free or subsidised entry to SkillsActive events, as well as our workforce development tool.
We can keep you up to date by adding you to our database, so if you would like to receive our regular ezines and ebulletins, send your contact details to [email protected] or visit www.skillsactive.com/playwork/arounduk/southern.
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GO4it! is the Extended Services Disadvantaged Subsidy scheme – funding from the government to enable economically disadvantaged children and young people (C&YP) to access out of school activities. The funding now includes all the school Partnerships in Oxfordshire and so a total of 10,280 children and young people are eligible to take part in the GO4it! scheme.
Some C&YP have chosen traditional sporting activities such as football, tennis or gymnastics, whilst others are trying out new skills in archery, canoeing and street dance. The scheme also aims to remove any barriers—for example, if the C or YP live in a village and the family doesn’t have a car, GO4it! funding can pay for a bus pass. If they cannot travel on their own or lack the confidence to attend a new activity, the funding will pay for a parent or carer to accompany them.
One school has used GO4it! funding to expand its play offer. Harwell Primary was able to run a Summer Playscheme over two weeks this August as more than half of the children attending qualified for the funding. This meant that not only were some disadvantaged children given the chance to have some fun during the holidays but those who could afford to pay also benefited from a wonderful array of activities - swimming, nature art, den building, scavenger hunts and mini Olympics to name a few, which might not have happened without GO4it! supporting the Playscheme.
Object dart
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For further information about GO4it!
or Extended Services more generally,
please contact David Scott-Batey,
Extended Services Manager
11
Inspiring Play is produced 4 times a year by Oxfordshire Play Association on behalf of OPP, with financial assistance from Oxfordshire County Council.
Deadlines: September edition: 7th September December edition: 14th November
March edition: 14th February June edition: 14th May
Next Next Next Next
deadline deadline deadline deadline isisisis
14.2.1114.2.1114.2.1114.2.11
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