The Early Years Foundation Stage has at its heart the principle that young children need to play in order to have fun, make friends and to begin to learn and understand about the world around them. It acknowledges that every child is unique; and that they learn and develop at different rates and in different ways.
Playworkers are employed as part of a children's centre team who provide a holistic range of services to children and their families - services that include early years education, flexible daycare for children in need and children with special educational needs, parent education, community health services and training for early years practitioners.
The role is to plan, organise and evaluate the provision of indoor and outdoor play sessions throughout the centre for babies, toddlers and children up to five years. Playworkers work alongside parents encouraging them to play with their children and to be reflective about their parenting.
In sessions such as Stay and Play, Messy Play, Dad's Club and Drop-in, playworkers enable children to access play resources in a stimulating and caring environment and encourage them to move around independently making their own choices and decisions. They use story sacks to encourage parents and carers to share stories with their children and bring these to life with puppets and soft toys. During Sing and Rhyme times they use a mixture of percussion instruments, actions and voice with babies, toddlers and parents as a vehicle for learning and having fun together.
As part of a campaign to highlight the importance of play, Play England promotes Playday, an annual national day for play, on the first Wednesday in August. Across the UK, children and their families get out to play at hundreds of community events as a celebration of children's right to play.
QUALIFICATIONS AND TRAINING
Playworkers need a good knowledge and understanding of EYFS requirements. The role requires energy and enthusiasm as well as patience and a caring nature. Playworkers should be imaginative, alert and observant with strong organisational and communication skills, and be able to work as a team member.
The most appropriate qualification for a playworker, based in any setting which offers out of school play opportunities, including children's centres, is a Level 2 or 3 Diploma in Playwork (NVQ). These qualifications are accepted by Ofsted for both early years registered and childcare settings and are offered by bodies including City and Guilds, Edexcel, EDI and CACHE. As playwork-specific qualifications, they are designed to equip a learner to facilitate children and young people's play and undertake the playworker role as an assistant at Level 2 or the playworker in charge at Level 3. In addition playwork apprenticeships are also available which encompass these qualifications and should be the first choice for those wishing to enter a career in children's play.
Play England is currently rolling out an Active Play in the Early Years project which aims to support the increase of active play opportunities within early years settings. Its one day, six-hour training package has been successfully piloted in three children's centres with early years practitioners, management and parents and carers. The training includes theoretical and practical exercises to enable participants to achieve the following objectives and learning outcomes:
- provide more and better physical active play opportunities
- understand and recognise the benefits and importance of play and physically active play
- understand the consequences of active play deprivation
- explore and overcome the barriers to providing active play opportunities
- assess the play environment on the children in their care, and
- develop practical ideas for how to play in more active ways with the children in their care.
FURTHER INFORMATION
http://www.playengland.org.uk/
www.cache.org.uk/Qualifications/Playwork
Pearson (Edexcel and EDI) Playwork qualifications can be accessed using the following links:
http://pearsonwbl.edexcel.com/quals/NVQ-competence-based-qcf/playwork/Pages/default.aspx
http://www.ediplc.com/Qualifications_Search.asp
CASE STUDY - BETH HARLOW
Beth Harlow works at Redbourn and Villages Children's Centre, Hertfordshire as part of a team that includes the centre manager, an outreach worker and an administrator. She has a Cache Level 3 Diploma for the Children and Young People's Workforce.
She says, 'My working days are very varied. During term time, I start at 8am helping with the morning club. At other times I start at 8 30. We have some regular groups that I plan and facilitate such as Baby Stay and Play sessions, Toddler Stay and Play sessions and a Saturday morning Dad's Group. I also plan our holiday events which are designed around a variety of topics - such as physical exercise, diet and nutrition and messy play.
'I keep our toy library up-to-date - it consists mainly of story sacks, and I revamp and make new story sacks that our families or early years settings have asked for, or around an area we need to promote. For example, I have made sacks that encourage boys' involvement, healthy lifestyles and new experiences such as a new baby in the family. Another responsibility is preparing the sensory room for sessions. This room is set up so that parents, babies or children may explore the environment and can relax together. I also run a Learning Through Play session as part of our post-natal programme and co-facilitate an evidence-based parenting course.
'I sometimes stand in for our outreach worker and attend clinics and visits and also go along with her when she needs extra help at special events. I enjoy the variety of the work, supporting families' needs.'