Wednesday 4 August <strong>Play</strong>day 2010 The annual celebration of children’s right to play To find out how you can get involved, visit:
Contents News 4 Coalition task force on childhood to include children’s play 5 New government signals era of change for play sector 6 London adventure playground destroyed in fire BIG’s Healthy Families programme awards £9.5 to play projects in Wales 7 IPA world conference 2011 website goes live <strong>Play</strong> <strong>England</strong> 10 Engaging communities: new government contract for <strong>Play</strong> <strong>England</strong> 11 Children get just one hour of play a day 12 <strong>Play</strong> <strong>England</strong> in the regions Features 14 Andrew Mackie: Putting play into the Big Society 16 Laura Smith: Locked into <strong>Play</strong> <strong>Play</strong> training 18 <strong>Play</strong>work vocational qualifications are changing Ensuring quality 20 Quality in <strong>Play</strong> assessor training Child-friendly communities 21 Keeping a community safe and playful Resources and events 22 Book review: Leadership for Quality in Early Years and <strong>Play</strong>work What’s new at the Children’s <strong>Play</strong> Information Service? What are you playing at? 24 <strong>Play</strong> Gloucestershire’s play rangers Editorial As we approach the end of the Big Lottery Fund Children’s <strong>Play</strong> initiative that sparked such unprecedented growth and change in our sector, the climate for sustaining and building upon the huge gains of the last four years, on the face of it, could hardly be less favourable. Whilst Britain tentatively recovers from the worst recession since the war, the public sector is paying a heavy price as the coalition government aims to bring down the budget deficit. Investment in children’s play has already suffered, with local authority playbuilders no longer having their capital funding ring-fenced and losing their revenue funding altogether (pathfinders will lose 50 per cent of theirs). The longer-term outlook is no less bleak. With the Treasury requiring cuts of anything between 25 and 40 per cent from almost every government department, the settlements for local authorities will be very tough and the prospect for staffed play services and maintenance budgets is grim. With more than half its income coming from statutory bodies, the voluntary sector is facing no less tough a time. <strong>Play</strong> <strong>England</strong>’s own government contracts are being drastically reduced, with the resulting departure of some excellent colleagues, prefacing, no doubt, a much wider cull across the sector. Looking for silver linings within such a gloomy outlook may seem like clutching at straws, but there is room for some cautious optimism beyond the immediate pain of cuts. Most immediately, play has been named by the government as one of only five priorities thus far identified for a childhood and families task force announced in June by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. This ministerial grouping, chaired by the Prime Minister himself, will inform the spending review this autumn; one of the most important for many years and likely to shape the policy context across the whole public sector for the first term of this government. The Deputy PM’s statement posed more questions than it offered clues about a new play policy, but the fact that he and the Prime Minister are even asking these questions is highly significant and represents a real opportunity to put playable neighbourhoods at the heart of the new vision for communities. More generally, although the play sector has taken an early hit from the deficit reduction programme, we can at least look back on four full years of growth and know that many of the recent changes will last and be there to build upon when the economy picks up again. The play sector is resilient – over the years it has had to be – and although these are difficult times, the events of the last few weeks show that, far from being an obvious casualty altogether of the ‘smaller state’, children’s play could very well be at the heart of a new vision for the ‘big society’. Now, more than ever, we must seize this moment. Adrian Voce Director, <strong>Play</strong> <strong>England</strong> play today Editor Ken Ryan Coordinator Susan Pape Editorial group Adrian Voce, Becky McLauchlan, Steven Chown, Amy Little, Annie Hunter-Wade, Richard Newson, Anna Kassman-McKerrell (CPIS), Uzma Ahmad (SkillsActive), Rachel Scott (KIDS), Tim Ferguson (Manchester Young Lives). Correspondence The Editor, <strong><strong>Play</strong>Today</strong>, <strong>Play</strong> <strong>England</strong>, 8 Wakley Street, London EC1V 7QE Tel: 020 7843 6300 Email: playtoday@ncb.org.uk Advertising and inserts Susan Pape Tel: 020 7843 6447 Printer Rap Spiderweb Front cover image: Tree climbing at St Paul’s Adventure <strong>Play</strong>grond, Bristol. The views expressed in <strong><strong>Play</strong>Today</strong> are not necessarily those of the publishers. <strong><strong>Play</strong>Today</strong> is produced by <strong>Play</strong> <strong>England</strong>. Published for <strong>Play</strong> <strong>England</strong> by NCB, 2010. <strong>Play</strong> <strong>England</strong> is part of NCB and is supported by the Big Lottery Fund. 3
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