Playwork qualification reforms

The two main awarding bodies for playwork qualifications have announced changes that will restrict the number of people able to access playwork training (see bullet points).

According to Play England, the qualifications, vital to the growth of a professional playwork sector for two decades, no longer fit within the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF).

Under the RQF, the "stepping stone" awards and certificates, which could previously lead incrementally to full diplomas via the credit system, is being phased out. So, when existing qualifications come up for renewal, unless they are suitable for conversion to the new framework they are being withdrawn, in spite of many playworkers and their employers preferring the modular approach.

The prospects of playwork in England adapting to this context are, however, affected by a funding squeeze. With registrations for playwork qualifications declining because of a dearth of available finance, awarding organisations are finding it harder to make the business case for the development of new ones.

Lack of funding

Nicola Butler, chair of Play England, has previously warned about the lack of funding for training in the profession. She says that while most playwork employers would like to be able to invest more in professional development of their workforce, "they are prevented from doing so by the lack of public funding".

What are the reasons for this decline in the playwork sector after many years of growth?

One factor is the partial deregulation of the school-age play and childcare sector. Since September 2014, there has been no statutory requirement for out-of-school clubs and holiday play schemes to employ staff with "full and relevant" childcare or playwork qualifications.

At least as significant as the change in regulatory requirements has been the effect of cuts to local authority play services, which in many places have been withdrawn.

The one area of potential growth for playwork training is apprenticeships. The government is consulting on a new playwork apprenticeship and introducing an apprenticeship levy, although most small centres are not eligible for this funding unless subcontracted by larger providers. On this point, the Playwork Foundation, the new vehicle to advocate for the playwork sector, is concerned that a high proportion of the few larger centres offering playwork apprenticeships employ trainers and assessors who are "not occupationally competent".

An employer group has submitted an expression of interest to develop a new "playwork trailblazer apprenticeship" aiming to enable employers to access playwork apprenticeships; clarify what they should cover; develop the skills needed for quality playwork provision; and reinforce that they need to be delivered by trainers and assessors fully competent in playwork.

Whatever the outcome, there is no doubt playwork is in something of a crisis, certainly in England - for information on the situation in other parts of the UK, visit the Playwork Foundation website www.playworkfoundation.org.

A decade ago, the first phase of a 10-year national play strategy included funding to qualify 4,000 playworkers and a new graduate level qualification for playwork managers. Since then, the government has, according to the Children's Rights Alliance for England, "undermined" children's right to play by abandoning the strategy and not having a minister with responsibility for play policy for the first time since the 1980s.

What this means for children

Vital play services such as staffed adventure playgrounds (where playwork originated) are being closed.

In some places, these are being replaced with fixed-equipment play areas, as in Watford; in others, such as London's Battersea Park, children can now indulge in "tree-top adventures" for between £20 and £38 a session, where they used to play for free on structures that they had helped to build.

Wendy Russell of the University of Gloucestershire estimates there are only 150 traditional adventure playgrounds remaining in Britain - compared to around 500 at their peak - and that these are now an "endangered species".

Even more significant, the removal of a requirement for qualified staff means that children attending after-school and holiday play services - not voluntarily, but because their parents need to work - are now much more likely to be supervised either by classroom assistants or staff with no training at all, often on school premises.

When Labour introduced the concept of "wrap-around" services as a key development of its "childcare revolution", it was quick to distance itself from the term "extended schools". But what the abandonment of playwork practice as the benchmark for quality in out-of-school provision means for many children is that they are now in school for up to 10 hours a day.

Employers wishing to take part in the consultation on the apprenticeship can do so at https://tinyurl.com/zaxt9uf

QUALIFICATION CHANGES

• The Council for Awards in Care, Health and Education has closed its Level 2 Award and Certificate, Level 3 Award and Level 4 Award and Certificate qualifications in playwork to new registrations
• Meanwhile, City & Guilds are now only open for registrations of full diplomas at levels 2, 3, and 5, although they are still offering the Level 4 Award
• All of these qualifications are only available for registration until November 2017
  
  Adrian Voce is a Playwork Foundation steering group member and former director of Play England

Adrian Voce is the author of Policy for Play (Policy Press, 2015). Visit www.policyforplay.com