Annual Review 2007

Welcome to PlayBoard’s Annual Review 2007! I am delighted to report that over the last year, PlayBoard has continued its growth and development, meeting the increasing demands and challenges placed upon it. As expected, 2007 has been a busy and exciting year for the play sector and much has been accomplished.

Chief Execu

tive’s Rep

ort

One of the year’s highlights was the launch of the draft Play Policy for Northern Ireland at PlayBoard’s annual conference by Maria Eagle, the then Minister for Children and Education. Play is identified as a key policy driver in the 10 year strategy – Our Children and Young People – Our Pledge.

PlayBoard’s challenge for 2008 will be to ensure the Play Policy meets the needs of children and ensure its implementation.

Another notable event this year included the launch of our Play Manifesto to coincide with the election period. The document was well received and prompted a number of meetings with Ministers and political parties who were all interested in progressing children and young people’s issues.

In July, PlayBoard were invited to represent children’s

culture in Northern Ireland at the highly publicised Smithsonian Folk Life Festival in Washington DC. We were delighted that Play was chosen

to best represent the children’s sector.

PlayDay, held in August, was another huge success. This year we established an unofficial world record for the most children French Skipping at the same time – as well as highlighting the positive benefits of active outdoor play. This event, like others over the past year, attracted significant media profile and attention.

This year also saw PlayBoard forming a strategic alliance with SkillsActive, the sector skills council for Playwork. We have worked closely together to oversee the development of an implementation plan for Quality Training – Quality Play the UK ten-year training and education strategy in Northern Ireland. Both agencies are dedicated to the workforce development of the play sector.

I hope I have provided a flavour of the year’s many highlights and achievements. I recommend you read the report in its entirety to fully appreciate the work done by PlayBoard over the past year. Many of these initiatives would not be possible without the on-going support of our funders, sponsors and supporters.

In conclusion, I would like to pay tribute to the commitment and strategic leadership of PlayBoard’s Board of Directors, in particular to our Chairperson, Barbara McIlwrath whose enthusiasm for play inspires us all. My final words of thanks go to all those passionate and determined people – staff, volunteers, supporters and partners who have helped PlayBoard become the leading Play Agency it is today.

I look forward to continuing to work with you all to build on our successes and achievements for the coming year.

Jacqueline O’Loughlin Secretary

Chairp

erson’s R

eport

The work of PlayBoard continues to be informed by a desire to bring the play needs of children to the forefront of the minds of politicians and departmental decision makers, social workers and teachers, parents and the general public, and, unfortunately, sometimes to the children themselves, through the Playworkers we train.

All levels of society need to understand our message. We believe that our efforts to demonstrate the importance of play to those in positions of power are starting to pay off and, now we have an Assembly government, we can develop links with those who can turn our aspirations into concrete realities.

Through our training programmes, our involvement in the Extended Schools Initiative and our Positive PlayGrounds Programme, we are educating those who deal with children in a statutory capacity about the need for, and benefits of, play. The demand for our services is far beyond our present capacity to deliver so growing that capacity is a priority for the future.

The media over the past year has displayed an awareness of the work of PlayBoard and of the status of Play in our society. We are now being asked to comment on reports on for example, the amount of television and technology children have, the affect of an increasing amount of structured activities children are involved in and other issues deemed news worthy.

Our message is getting out to the general public as well. Some of our projects, Fit for Play, Reclaiming Playspace and the Big Deal project take our staff out and about and in contact with communities and so spread the word in the neighbourhoods that can either curtail or facilitate play.

In September, PlayBoard and the National Children’s Bureau jointly hosted the inaugural Play Policy Summit. The event, aimed at moving children’s play up the policy agenda, was held in Stormont and attracted play experts and policy-makers from across the UK and Ireland. Such was the success of the summit; it has been proposed that it should become an annual event.

The staff of PlayBoard are committed and passionate about play and their dedication and hard work cannot be given high enough recognition. I would like to thank them and all those who work in partnership with us to make our past achievements happen and our future achievements possible.

Barbara McIlwrathChairperson

The play manifesto which PlayBoard published at the beginning of the year, combined with the passion of our staff, has been instrumental in bringing the “play” message home to our politicians and other stakeholders.

This year the agency has worked with BDO Stoy Heyward to develop the agency’s robust business plan for the next five years. This key document will provide the framework for the organisation’s strategy and operational plans.

PlayBoard have spent some considerable time this year ensuring that its internal systems are fully up-dated and fit for purpose, as the agency grows.

Next year will, as always, provide more challenges for PlayBoard and indeed for the sector. One of our key objectives will be to step up our campaign to stabilise the vital School Age Childcare Sector. Additionally, we will continue to be vocal in our campaign to highlight the importance of play and attract much-needed sectoral resources.

I would like to sincerely thank those who help PlayBoard’s Finance team including our auditors, Grant Thornton and the Bank of Ireland. As always, I would also like to pay tribute to our many funders, sponsors and partners.

Francis Loughlin

I am pleased to report that 2007 has once again been a successful year for PlayBoard

Treasurer’s R

eport

Positive P

layGrou

nd

s

Work

force Develop

men

t

PlayBoard’s Workforce Development team not only provide year-long quality training but also work with key partners in order to professionalise the play sector.

Over the last 12 months we have developed and delivered a wide variety of training packages. One of the most popular sessions has been our Behaviour Management – Promoting Positive Behaviour programme that was piloted in South and East Belfast with after school clubs.

The pilot was a great success and PlayBoard went on to deliver the new programme across the Northern and Eastern Boards. In total the session was delivered on six different occasions with over 70 playworkers attending. As part of our ongoing review of training we asked participants to provide feedback on the course and here are some of the responses:

“It was really useful and positive, really interesting discussion”

“I found today very useful – and was interested to see how different settings deal with behaviour in different ways”

“Useful to discuss openly concerns regarding promoting positive behaviour” “The course made me think about how I approach certain situations “

PlayBoard were invited to deliver training at this year’s Regional Training Unit summer scheme in Belfast. “Changing landscapes – from formal to informal learning” provided participants with an opportunity to review how we look at play, current play theory, play deprivation, play types and the play cycle. This full day course provided a lot of theory as well as looking at the practical application of play within a school environment. The course was well received and PlayBoard has been inundated with enquiries following its delivery.

PETC.NIThe Playwork Education and Training Council for Northern Ireland (PETC.NI) have been very busy over the last year. PETC.NI meets four times a year to look at issues regarding education, training and qualifications for the playwork sector. The group is made up of relevant stakeholders across many sectors including youth and childcare. Over the last year PETC.NI have reviewed the playwork level two occupations standards, the assessment strategy for playwork and responded to a number of consultations. For more information on the work of PETC.NI please contact Margaret Deevy at PlayBoard.

Playwork Education and TrainingIn June 2006 Quality Training, Quality Play 2006-2011, the first UK Strategy for Playwork Education, Training and Qualifications was launched. This strategy has established a clear vision for playwork development across the UK. Over the last year the Playwork Education and Training Council in Northern Ireland (PETC.NI) has been working on an Implementation Plan that will follow this UK strategy for Northern Ireland. This plan will set out the main priorities for the playwork sector in terms of education, training and qualifications.

“I don’t know what you’ve done – but my work life has changed dramatically. I now no longer have a queue of children outside my door after playtime.”School Principal

Since the official launch of Positive PlayGrounds back in February, PlayBoard has been overwhelmed by the tremendous interest in this programme. Schools availing of the training are already reporting back on the huge impact differences made within playgrounds are having on school life. Anecdotal evidence from School Principals suggests a reduction in playground bullying, a marked rise in playground activity and higher levels of concentration in class.

The pilot project funded by The Esmee Fairbairn Foundation sadly closes at the end of the year and PlayBoard are eternally grateful to the foundation for funding this successful pilot for 25 schools across Northern Ireland. On a more positive note, PlayBoard, due to the success of the scheme, has been able to grow the project and its team are now taking bookings from schools across the province. A new dimension to the project this year has been the development of a programme for Secondary School Playground Environments. This one day training programme encourages secondary schools to look at a range of issues concerning their school environment. We look forward to working with, and welcoming, the Secondary Education Sector.

As we embark on a new academic year PlayBoard will continue to strive to gain commitment from our new Assembly for this project and funding to allow every school in Northern Ireland the opportunity to access this effective programme.

“The whole point of the Positive

PlayGrounds approach is that you don’t

need to spend lots of money on new

equipment, children just need to be empowered to

develop their own ideas for play. It’s about making

the most of what you’ve got – even if it is literally

just an unprepossessing area of tarmac’

School Principal

“I found it all very interesting but learning about the different activities and old games was so enjoyable! It would be so easy to improve our playground activity”Participant “We’re allowed to bring

our skipping ropes into

the playground now. It’s

great!”

Child

Secondary School environments are just as important to older pupils as Primary School playgrounds are to young children. This training has been a real eye opener for us. School Principal

The ‘Reclaiming Playspace’ Projectis helping to reclaim parks and open spaces for outdoor play.

Reclaim

ing

Playsp

aceFit For P

lay

Northern Ireland has witnessed an alarming growth in childhood obesity over the last few years.

This worrying trend prompted PlayBoard to create the ‘Fit for Play’ programme. Designed as a prevention project, Fit for Play aims to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, stroke and cancer by targeting children aged 4-14 years in mainly disadvantaged areas. The project has targeted staff working with children in play focused provision such as school age childcare, afterschool projects, junior youth clubs, church groups and uniformed organisations.

Fit for Play continues to grow from strength to strength. The project aims to: improve the long-term health & well being of children by increasing physical play opportunities and healthy eating habits for 4-14 year olds.

In addition it supports playworkers in community based play provision to develop good practice play in terms of physical activity and diet provides a training programme to community based playworkers and provides a Quality Award scheme for community based play projects

A recent evaluation of the project has demonstrated the huge positive impact that the programme is having and we are delighted that that Fit for Play project has been identified in the Fit Futures Strategy as a model of excellence.

The team will continue to grow and develop this innovative project and are grateful to the Eastern Health and Social Services Board for recurrent funding and to Sport NI for grant funding that will secure Fit for Play until March 09.

STATSFit for Play has trained 706 playworkers working in local play projects with 10,016 children. The three training modules provided over twelve 2½ hour sessions

to each group are focused on outdoor and physical play and healthy snacks. All the groups trained were invited to go forward for the Fit for Play Quality Award.

195 groups have started the programme and 87 groups have been deemed Fit for Play. Below are some of the findings of tevaluation:

According to the children, daily physical activity levels have gone up by 32%

According to staff, the number of groups that provide milk and water only has gone up from 17% to 85%

75% of playworkers reports that children spend over 30 minutes of each session on physical play outdoors

88% of playworkers say that they are more confident now

63% of parents responded positively to the changes implemented

Using a van (donated by Rent A Merc), a small team of community play rangers are working with children in three communities in North Belfast who each receive 2 sessions per week from the Reclaiming Playspace team:

Ligoniel Park

Glenbank Park

Marrowbone Park

We are finding that the mere presence of the community play rangers encourages children and young people to come into the parks and open spaces using them for the very purpose that they were designed for- FUN, ENJOYMENT, LEISURE and RECREATION,

all through the medium of open-access, free range play.

Through safe, quality, outdoor play experiences the project is helping to ‘bring back the basics’ of play. No elaborate toys or equipment are used, just good old fashioned play that once was a daily part of every child’s life. Rope swings, den building, camp fires and much, much more are the order of the day- the type of play that every child loves- and every child can participate in.

The project has been a huge success and has totally exceeded PlayBoard’s expectations. Attendance at sessions varies depending on activities and of course the Northern Ireland weather, attracting anywhere from 15 – 40+

participants at any one time.The community play rangers work directly with children and young people weekly, all year round, having a positive impact on their health & well being, social skills and physical literacy skills; and are also helping to raise environmental awareness and appreciation of outdoor spaces.

By involving older children, parents and community workers as active volunteers the initiative is impacting on the wider community and family life. We are finding that this is much more than a community play project but it is contributing positively to community development and regeneration.

w PlayQ

uest

School A

ge Ch

ildcare

The Play Quest Team strives to promote the ‘Child’s Right to Play’ and in doing so recognises that this is how our children participate in society.The Play Quest programme, which is delivered by a team of Play Rangers, works with a wide range of settings and reaches children aged 0-10 years. Its aim, which is to increase children’s participation, supports children, parents and practitioners to increase their opportunities to play.

2007 has been a very exciting year for the Play Quest Programme. This project forms the 0-10 strategy of The Big Deal programme and we have been working in collaboration with our partners Youthnet and Northern Ireland Youth Forum. We have worked with children in a selection of settings including afterschool projects, schools, day care, parent and toddler groups and youth groups throughout Northern Ireland. Sixteen play sessions have also been delivered to a range of summer schemes. Feedback from all children, staff and parents who have been involved in the programme has been excellent.

Through its work, the Play Quest team have helped to support The Big Deal’s Children and Young Peoples Forum who range in age from 8 -23 years. The forum have been involved in the Big Deal steering group, organising a forthcoming conference in November, assessing and awarding small grants and of course, having some fun! We have also assisted children from a number of afterschool projects to feedback their views on the Play Policy for Northern Ireland and the Equality Commission’s guidance on consulting with children.

Play Quest is an inclusive programme based on the needs of groups or organisations and the children within them. Play Rangers work in settings for up to a period of one week to deliver a tailored programme designed to empower children. Community, voluntary and statutory organisations can be part of the programme and we have a particular interest in the coming year in working with organisations in community clusters to help develop and sustain partnerships.

The School Age Childcare team has continued to support and assist School Age Childcare Projects across Northern Ireland by co-ordinating best practice activities including: Management capacity building One to One support Developing resources to meet project needs Introduction and implementation of the accredited Quality Assurance Scheme, Pathways to Excellence Cross Community Networking and cluster sessions Promotion of Equality of Opportunity and Anti Discrimination within the Play Care Sector Providing and Developing Training to meet identified needs Workforce Development Lobbying

In striving for quality provision, we at PlayBoard continuously reflect on our practice and consequently, undertook an evaluation with the projects involved within the DHSSPS funding stream.

This year, the majority of the projects who responded to the evaluation reported a very positive experience and were more than satisfied with the Service offered to them by the School Age Childcare Team. All of the projects who replied were given the opportunity to comment on the Team and their experience in working with them during the first year 2006/7. 74% of those who replied chose to leave a short comment. 100% of those comments were positive.

“Pathways to Excellence” sets clear and defined standards of quality for all aspects of school age childcare and play services, including adherence of legislative requirements, creating a child-centered environment, policies and procedures and working with management committees. The accreditation scheme also strikes a balance between the play and care debate, acknowledging that whilst Playwork is intrinsically caring, quality care for children has creative and stimulating play opportunities at its heart.

To date over 56 projects have achieved PlayBoard’s accreditation kitemark with a further 28 projects due to complete by December 2007. The School Age Childcare team are currently completing quality reviews on successful projects to ensure that quality is being maintained.

PlayQ

uest

Context

Almost 40% of children say they do not play outside as much as they would like with nearly 20% playing outside for only an hour a week or less (Children’s Play Council, 2005)

Two-thirds of parents in the UK are worried about letting their children play outside (NOP World, 2004)

The reclaiming PlaySpace project offers the opportunity for children to reclaim their community spaces, facilitated by expert play-workers.

ContextPlayQuest is a brand new project, and is part of The Big Deal programme. It is designed to increase the participation of children and young people across Northern Ireland.

PlayBoard works with the 0-10 category and we have reached stats this year…

26 PQ PROGRAMMES DELIVERED:

9 primary schools: 1357 children

6 Parent & toddler, Daycare/crèche: 288 children

4 community groups:

242 children

7 afterschool groups: 385 children

16 summer play sessions:

339 children

Work

force Develop

men

t

ContextIn recent research carried out by PlayBoard and SkillsActive on behalf of Dept of Employment and Learning, 70% of employers stated they have an internal skills gap. As part of the same survey 91.7% of Playwork employers said that the level of skill needed in their Playwork workforce is increasing. In response to these worrying statistics PlayBoard continues to develop and deliver innovative Playwork focused training programmes.

PlayBoard offers a wide-range of training opportunities including:

Games Not Names (Anti-sectarian and anti-bias)

Disability Awareness

Summer Scheme Training

Introduction to Play and PlayWork

Diversity Training

26 Quality Assurance

Workshops delivered & 39

onsite mentoring visits

22Capacity Building

Sessions

39Cluster Sessions

ContextThere are in excess of 200 community based School Age Childcare projects across NI. These projects enable parents to continue with employment. In Northern Ireland the levels of childhood poverty are increasing year on year. The most recent figures suggest that 29% of children in Northern Ireland are living in poverty. This experienced team provides infrastructure support and capacity building activities to help address this worrying trend.

Work completed in 2007 included:

228 Financial Audits carried out

TOTAL: 2611 CHILDREN

School A

ge Ch

ildcare

Daily attendance at Reclaiming Playspace sessions up to children daily

ContextNearly a quarter of all P1 pupils in Northern Ireland are either overweight or obese (House of Commons Hansard Written Answers, 2006)

Unstructured vigorous physical play is one of the most effective ways for children to burn off calories – The World Health Organisation recommends 60 minutes each day (Mackett, R, 2004)

Play provision and support provided within a school playground may represent a child’s only opportunity to engage in physically challenging outdoor play.

Positive PlayGrounds is an inspirational school based programme which is transforming playgrounds all over Northern Ireland

Positive P

layGrou

nd

s

478Adults within schools ( Playground

staff and Teaching Staff) have taken

part in the Positive Playgrounds

training Programme.

11,675Children within schools

who have availed of the

programme will be benefiting

from improved playground

environments.

Reclaim

ing

Playsp

ace

4 Communitiestargeted for project delivery

Overall

children

and young

people are registered

and considered as

regular users

200

ContextMore than a third of children NEVER play outside (NOP World, 2004)

Childhood obesity is increasing at an alarming rate: the proportion of both 12 year olds and 15 year olds in Northern Ireland who are overweight or obese has risen by more than one quarter in the last 10 years. (Fit Futures, Investing for Health, 2005)

86% of children prefer outdoor activities, including playing out with their friends, building dens and getting muddy to playing with computer games (Children’s Play Council, 2006)

Groups starting Fit for

Play training

Fit For Play

195 Groups starting Fit for

Play Training

Children reached

through Fit for Play

Training

10016

GET IN TOUCHPlayBoard (Head Office)59-65 York StreetBelfast BT15 1AATel: 028 9080 3380Fax: 028 9080 3381Email:info@playboard.co.uk

PlayBoard (Armagh Office)1 College StreetArmagh BT61 9BTTel: 028 3752 2330

PlayBoard (Rural Office)Glenelly House11 Main StreetPlumbridgeOmagh BT90 8AATel: 028 8164 8000

40

5 NATIONS PLAY POLICY SUMMIT MEETING

SEPTEMBER 2007

WASHINGTON DC, SMITHSONIAN FESTIVAL,

JUNE 2007

LAUNCH OF PLAY POLICY CONSULTATION

DOCUMENT, OCTOBER 2006

Website: www.playboard.org

New Play Sector Resources launched 2007

PLAYBOARD HOST LAUNCH OF SUPER SIX COMIC. BELOW JUNIOR MINSTERS WITH CHILDREN JUNE 2007

B&W Colour variations

Annual Review 2007

PLAYBOARDS QA, FIT FOR PLAY AND PLAY/PLAYWORK AWARDS, OCTOBER 2006 706Playworkers Trained

34On site development visits

PlayBoard Board of Directors April 06 – September 07

Barbara McIlwrath ChairpersonFrancis Loughlin TreasurerJacqueline O Loughlin SecretaryRyan WilliamsPeter McCartneyTony McCuskerSuzi Gray David McIlwrath Roisin McAllisterMaria Gough

PlayBoard Staff

Jacqueline O’Loughlin Chief Executive

Arlene McGeownFinance & Corporate Services Manager

Lisa O’Connor Membership Services

Ciara MurrayPA to Chief Executive/Personnel

Claire SimpsonReceptionist/Telephonist

Mairead McLaughlinFinance Assistant

Eva KaneFit 4 Play Regional Manager

Patricia ConwayFit 4 Play Training & Development Officer

Caroline KerrFit 4 Play Training & Development Officer

Sharon Donnelly Fit 4 Play Training & Development Officer

Lorraine MurphyFit 4 Play Training & Development Officer (Eastern Board)

Paula TolanFit 4 Play Research Assistant/Administrator

Angela Stallard Positive Playgrounds Regional Manager

Shauneen McCusker Positive PlayGrounds Play Development Officer

Patricia MullanPositive PlayGrounds Play Development Officer

Louise Monaghan Reclaiming PlaySpace Project Manager

Bryan MooreReclaiming Playspace Community Playworker

Martina McKnightReclaiming Playspace Community Playworker

Margaret DeevyWorkforce Development Officer

Maura MooreSchool Age Childcare Regional Manager

Frances WalshSchool Age Childcare Training & Development Officer

Jan MeliaSchool Age Childcare Training & Development Officer

Kyra PauleySchool Age Childcare Training & Development Officer (QA Co-ordinator)

Joanne McManus School Age Childcare Administrator

Roisin McCooey Regional Manager PlayQuest

Eamonn KeenanPlayQuest Play Ranger

Fiona NelsonPlayQuest Play Ranger

Julie HolmesPlayQuest Play Ranger

Aiveen BurnsPlayQuest Play Ranger

Jeanette Keenan Inclusion Project Worker

Janine MurphyTrainee Administrator

Membership

Over the past year with ‘PLAY’ finally on the agenda PlayBoard have seen a significant rise in our membership base.

We feel this can be attributed to initiatives such as the implementation of Extended Schools, the Revised Cirriculum, and our partnership working with agencies in the Republic of Ireland.

If you would like to find out more about what PlayBoard Membership can offer you please contact Lisa O Connor, Membership Services.

Funders

Youth Council of Northern IrelandSports NIEsmee Fairbairn Foundation Special European Union Programme BodyThe Big Deal Department of Health and Social Services and Public SafetyOffice of First Minister and Deputy First Minister (Children & Young Peoples Unit)Big Lottery Skills ActiveEastern Health and Social Services BoardNorthern Health and Social Services BoardSouthern Health and Social Services BoardWestern Health and Social Services BoardEastern Physical Activity GroupCommunity Relations Youth Service Support Scheme (CRYSSS)

Sponsors

Rent-A-MercDENICity & Guilds

Contact us

PlayBoard (Head Office)59-65 York StreetBelfast BT15 1AATel: 028 9080 3380Fax: 028 9080 3381

PlayBoard (Armagh Office)1 College StreetArmagh BT61 9BTTel: 028 3752 2330

PlayBoard (Omagh Office)Glenelly House11 Main StreetPlumbridgeOmagh BT90 8AATel: 028 8164 8000

PlayBoard Website: www.playboard.org© PlayBoard. All rights reserved. No parts of these publications may be copied or used without the express permission of PlayBoard.Exception is made, for authorised persons only. Further information on this subject may be obtained from PlayBoard.

Published by PlayBoard,59-65 York Street,Belfast BT15 1AATel: 028 9080 3380Fax: 028 9080 3381Email: info@playboard.co.ukWebsite: www.playboard.orgPlayBoard is a Registered Charity X0139/90PlayBoard is a Limited Company by Guarantee No. 30225

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