Annual Review 2014

Co

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solution

benefit

outcome

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Chairperson’s Report

SecuringPlay

a future for

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This is my final report as Chair of PlayBoard. With your indulgence I will take this time to reflect on the

last 6 years which leaves me feeling

so privileged to have been part of an organisation that is to the forefront of advancing the play agenda.

Back in 2009, I joined the Board as the Executive at Stormont signed off on the Play and Leisure Policy statement. Then PlayBoard secured funding from Atlantic Philanthropies that enabled us to launch our innovative Advocacy work programme. From this exciting inaugural year PlayBoard has continued to grow and in 2010 we celebrated our 25th birthday with the move from our traditional home in York Street to Crescent Gardens. In true PlayBoard style we did not miss the opportunity to celebrate our birthday as we launched our first manifesto for Play in the Long Gallery at Stormont. We felt really proud of our sector as we brought the play agenda to the heart of government.

In 2011 we achieved the IIP standard and the Play and Leisure Implementation Plan secured Stormont Executive endorsement. These added a few more building blocks towards securing a future for Play.

The following year saw our work on advancing the play agenda receive another boost as the Minimum Standards for the registration and inspection of childcare services identified Playwork as the most appropriate qualification for School Age Childcare.

During 2013, and coinciding with our Annual Conference, the Junior Ministers announced a £1.6m investment in Play and Leisure. Then Play was designated as the Stormont Executive’s 7th signature project under the Delivering Social Change agenda. Most significantly in this year we also had the UNCRC launch the General Comment on Article 31, GC17. What a year! Furthermore we were extremely proud when our team of young researchers developed an easy-to-understand version of GC17 for us adults to read.

As I reflect on the past year, I am pleased to see that OFMDFM have established a programme board to oversee delivery on the Delivering Social Change play and leisure programme. PlayBoard is strategically placed in a key advisory role within this process and therefore able to influence any strategic decisions. I am sure there will be more challenges ahead for PlayBoard and our sector, but I am confident that the staff and Board will continue to work to secure a positive future for Play in Northern Ireland.

To ALL the staff and Board of PlayBoard, for whom I have had the privilege to be your Chair, I would like to record a very warm and sincere thank you for making my time with the organisation such a pleasurable and rewarding period in my life. As a parent and grandparent I have learnt so much about the value of Play through my involvement with PlayBoard and it is with a heavy heart I sign off my last Chair’s report but with a confidence that PlayBoard will continue to build and work at securing play for the children and young people that we serve. Sam McCreadyChair

I am pleased to present to you our 2013/2014 Annual Report in what has been another busy and successful year. The diversity of our work strands combine to support and strengthen our core rights based advocacy message for play.

Participation and partnership working has resulted in a lot of mutual co-operation. Our research and evaluation agenda has enhanced the evidence base for play; consequently this has strengthened our membership voice. Over the last year we have engaged with and gathered the views of our member’s on an array of strategic social policy areas to collectively drive the play agenda.

No more prevalent was this, than when it came to the players themselves. Children and young people’s views, aspirations and perception of themselves and the environment in which they live are at the very heart of PlayBoard’s work. Over the last year the work of our team of young researchers has stimulated interest amongst Ministers, Children’s Champions and Senior Departmental officials alike.

At an international level, the young researcher’s efforts regarding the dissemination of General Comment 17 resulted in PlayBoard being invited to provide written and oral evidence to a number of Executive Committees regarding the input of the young researcher’s findings to the ‘Let us PLAY’ campaign. Their work was further showcased in Geneva at the official launch of General Comment no. 17 on UNCRC Article 31.

I am very proud and excited by the success of our young researcher’s and I look forward to working with them as they progress a number of new initiatives.

This leads me to reflect on the excellence and commitment of the team that I have the great pleasure of working with. My deepest appreciation and thanks must go to the PlayBoard team, Staff and Board members alike, it is my absolute joy and pleasure to work with such passionate and committed people. I would like to say a special thank you, respectively to Sam McCready and Suzie Gray our Chair and Vice-Chair whose long term as honorary officers comes to an end. Thank you for your friendship, wise counsel, leadership and support over the years.

Heading into the next reporting period, despite a challenging economic back drop, I look forward to working with our Board, and our new honorary officer team as they confidently drive forward the next phase of PlayBoard’s unfolding journey.

I hope you join us for at least part of the route. I hope you find the presentation of this year’s report both informative and interesting.

Yours Playfully,

Jacqueline O’LoughlinChief Executive Officer

Chief Executive Officer’s Report

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Year highlights included:• A £1.6m investment in Play and

Leisure through the Delivering Social Change framework.

• Play and Leisure designated as the Executive’s 7th Delivering Social Change Signature programme.

• A call for 7000 new school age childcare places via Bright Start’s first key actions.

• Presenting our Young Researcher’s work at the official launch of General Comment no.17 in Geneva headquarters of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.

We advocate for play for play’s sake, whilst recognising that there are many windfall benefits to the individual and society. Play, holistically supports learning, healthy development and wellbeing. We ask all policy makers and decision takers to recognise how central play is to children’s lives and their experience of childhood.

We campaign to ensure all children have the right to play because play is a fundamental aspect of childhood. Through our advocacy work we help those who make decisions to understand how and why play supports and delivers on their outcomes.

This year we were delighted to see:• Play and Leisure designated as the seventh signature

programme under the Delivering Social Change (DSC) framework.

• The accompanying £1.6m investment for Play and Leisure.• Bright Start, identify a grant scheme to develop and

sustain 7,000 School Age Childcare places. • Demand for Playwork growing across the region.• Widespread support and endorsement of our ‘Let us PLAY’

campaign.

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Advocating forthe child’sright to play (article 31 of the UNCRC)

Advocacy

£1.6minvestment

in play7000

School AgeChildcare

places

Our consultation responses

• UK Draft Periodic Report to the UNCRC (DfE)• Delivering Social Change (OFMDFM)• Tax-Free Childcare (HMRC)• Rural Development Programme (DARD)

Our presence on policy forums

• Children’s Play Policy Forum• Play Safety Forum• Policy sub-group (CiNI)• Children and Young People as Researchers• Child Poverty Alliance • All Party Group for Children and Young People• Child Rights Implementation Group• Bright Start stakeholder group• Regional Workforce group

Our events

• Driving the Play Agenda Conference (8/9 Oct 13, 160 delegates)• 20/20 vision for childcare (20 Feb 14, 108 delegates)• General Comment 17 (17 Apr 13, 50 attendees)

Our presentations

• Young Researchers Poster, GC17 launch, Geneva (Sept, 13)• Young Researchers, Advancing Children’s Rights, QUB (Jan 14)• CAN Play poster, Improving Children’s Lives, QUB (Feb 14)• No Compromise, Grantee Network, Belfast (Feb 14)• Play Symposium, Glasgow (12/13th Mar 14)

Campaigning

• Playday 2013 (UK wide every August)• Stop demonising Young People (Belfast

PCSP)• Goods, Facilities and Services (NICCY)• Lobby and Transparency Bill (NICVA) • Let us PLAY (PlayBoard)

Meeting policymakers

• Junior Ministers with responsibility for children and young people.• Departmental officials (OFMDFM, DARD, DHSSPS) • Key Party Policy Officers

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This

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ch and diverse. We hope this illustration gives you a f avour of how we are advocatin

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play.

Participation in ActionWe endeavour to achieve a society whereby “all people, however young are entitled to be participants in their own lives, to influence what happens to them, to be involved in creating their own environments, to exercise choices and to have their views respected and valued” (Lansdown 2005).

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Participation

PlayBoard is passionate about children and young people becoming strong, competent, social actors so that they can effectively participate in decisions that affect them, have their voices heard, valued and respected. We believe in children and young people having a say in making laws and policies, in designing and evaluating services and facilities that will affect them.

This year we were delighted to have enabled participation to become more meaningful, particularly through the sterling work of our young researchers: • We developed and trained a group of children and young

people to become peer researchers who have conducted their own research in relation to their right to play (General Comment 17, UNCRC).

• Through participation we enabled children to have their say on a number of policy strategies including Towards a Childcare Strategy, Delivering Social Change and the UK Draft Periodic Report to the UNCRC.

Participation is about children and young people infuencing decision-making that affects their lives and to achieve positive change for themselves and others. Participation is more than consultation; participation requires adults to adapt to be able to access children’s realities and to find that authentic voice, a voice not infuenced by adult ideals, values and ways of doing things. Play is the ideal mechanism to achieve meaningful participation.

Most children said they would like

to ‘see less cars, traffic and safer roads’ (YoungResearchers

Report).

Young researcher’s investigation on the right to play, General Comment 17:

“change the waste ground

into a big park”.

“cars aredriving up and

down mystreet”.

“parking their cars on the footpath”.

“Councilsshould

close offroads”.

“playon the

street ondifferentdays”.

“morefree eventsfor childrenand parents

to play”.

“I feel sad,angry and

upset whenI can’tplay”.

“We wantmore play in

school”.

Right to Play

1 1 1young people give

their perceptions on their right to play

432

children have their say within policy

consultations

children and young people trained

to become peer researchers

10

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“Less rubbish and more youth

clubs”.

“Don’t have a safe place to play, it’s toofar away”.

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Practice

As an organisation we are committed to promoting and professionalising playwork in Northern Ireland. To this end we continue to work strategically with partners, including SkillsActive our Sector Skills Council and the Playwork Education and Training Council for NI (PETCNI).

This year, our face-to-face work with children modelled our child centred approach to working with children. Further, underpinned by a playwork methodology we continued to develop and grow the school age childcare sector.

Notable gains for playwork included: • Recognition as the most appropriate qualification

for School Age Childcare settings in DHSSPS’s registration and inspection framework.

• Playwork being prioritised on the Regional Early Year’s Workforce planning group.

• Increased access and demand for playwork training and qualifications across the region.- Belfast Met offering Playwork qualification at

levels 2 to 5. - Colleges and training providers now actively

accessing and putting plans in place to addressing demand for playwork in their locality.

• The launch of two new resource’s to assist Playwork practitioners – - Journey towards Inclusion and The Way to Play.

Playwork in PracticePlayworkers view children and young people as competent individuals, they ensure that the play space is inclusive and they support all children to make the most of the available play opportunities whilst recognising that children need to encounter and create uncertainty and challenge as part oftheir play.

A skilled and experienced playworker is capable of enriching the child’s play experience by providing the stimulus for new experiences.

Playworkers act as a resource for children, whilst fostering a culture of exploration and creativity.

Playwork occurs in many settings including: school age childcare services, schools, hospitals, play centres, holiday schemes, youth settings and local authority play schemes.

Playwork

Nur

turin

g P

layw

ork

Developing playwork

Thisyear

Face-to-face playwork

Del

iver

ing,

Tra

ining and Developing

members125

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Play and Playwork practice

Trai

ning

Playwork Practice

‘My Spaces’7 schools155 P5s

42 sessions

‘Spacesto Be’

5 schools327 P5s & 6s

‘CAN Play’3 play areas594 children31 sessions

Developing school age childcare services

‘Improving Quality’

13 settings78 support visits

‘Membership Gatherings’

84 attendees

‘IntermediaryFunding Body’

160 claims processed

Playwork Training

Refective Practice

60 attendees

Play for Parents92 parents

18 sessions

UnderstandingPlay in SAC

20 Social workers attended

Outdoor Play40 attendees

Inclusion Training

60 attendees

Behaviour Management80 attendees

‘Positive PlayGrounds’ Programme8 schools

124 teachers136 children20 parents

Advocacy

Participation

Practice

Children are the experts when it comes to play. Many adults fail to engage with children on decisions that affect them, thus denying them the right to exercise their voice and have their opinions taken into account.

Playwork is an emerging professional field with an increasingly well recognised and qualified workforce. In Northern Ireland recognition as well as the infrastructure for Playwork is still quite weak.

situationPlay, for its own sake is critical to childhood. Play is also critical to children’s learning and their healthy development. These realities are all too often forgotten or overlooked.

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Empower children and young people to become strong, competent, social actors, so that they can effectively participate in decisions that affect them, have their voices heard, valued and respected.

Increase the number of trained and qualified playworkers in Northern Ireland by establishing a strategic framework that promotes and supports the demand, development and attainment of playwork qualifications for play practitioners.

Children gain a sense of purpose and an enhanced self-confidence and competence when their views and aspirations are given due consideration and weight. For society, the lives of the children, their families and wider community are also enhanced.

Access to qualifications, training and education for playworkers will improve play outcomes, experiences and opportunities for children and young people.

solution benefitAnchor the children’s policy discourse on a foundation of play. With play as the building block of childhood, it becomes a remit of education to prioritise play and to achieve better health outcomes. Children need to be healthy to be able to play.

Play for its own sake contributes to all aspects of learning; facilitates children’s capacities to negotiate, to regain their emotional balance, to resolve conflicts and make decisions. Play is fundamental to children’s health and well-being.

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Our delivery of programmes and training sessions to support play and playwork as well as the growing demand for Playwork qualification at levels 2 to 5 are together professionalising and developing the playwork workforce.

We have empowered children to have a say on the issues that affect them. Their views are reflected in policy i.e. Delivering Social Change and Bright Start. Their voices have also informed PlayBoard’s ‘Let us PLAY’ campaign policy asks.

outcome impactFor the play sector, the £1.6m investment is a potential game-changer. Likewise Bright Start’s commitment to School Age Childcare will build the sector’s infrastructure beyond recognition. And using General Comment 17 will impact on every aspect of play.

- 543 children have had a say on policy issues and decisions that affect them.

- 10 children were trained to become peer researchers.

- A suite of publications have been produced on making the right to play a reality in Northern Ireland.

- Playwork recognised as the most appropriate qualifications for School Age Childcare settings (DHSSPS).

- Playwork prioritised on Regional Early Year’s Workforce planning group

- Increased access and demand for playwork training and qualifications.

- £1.6m announced for Play and Leisure - Delivering Social Change

- 7,000 School Age Childcare places - Bright Start

- General Comment No. 17 is released by the UNCRC

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IM PACT

‘If teachers are willing to cast aside the shackles of planning, organisation and a knitted brow just for a while, the learning outcomes that can be achieved are kaleidoscopic. If PlayBoard were a ship, you

would be a fool not to sail in it. Simply Jump on, shout “all aboard!” and let your class lead you in adventures unknown’

Year 4 Class teacher, Derry ‘Since we started to go this summer I had concerns that

he would run off, be too rough with others, snatch

etc. This project has shown me that he doesn’t need constant direction about

how to play, he just needed the fun loving guidance

of the amazing PlayBoard [playworkers]. I knew he was sociable but as his face lit up at the mention of PlayBoard I know he loves it and will miss

it terribly’. Parent on CAN Play

programme, Carrickfergus, Antrim, Newtownabbey

Council Areas

‘This is giving us a great understanding of

Minimum Standards and what is expected. It’s really focussed us on getting our policies up

to date’ Project involved in the Southern

Quality Improvement Programme, Southern Childcare Partnership

area

‘Thank you PlayBoard for your continued guidance and support

– such a valuable support’Participant on our

Membership Gathering, Enniskillen area.

No statutory duty for

play

State of Play

Barriers Enablers

Continuing belief in

fixed play equipment

No regressive measures allowed

(UN, 2013 – GC17)

Views of children and

young people not given due

weight

General Comment

17(GC 17)

School Age Childcare

Grant Scheme

£1.6minvestment

secured

Play Policyand

Implementation Plan

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In these times of increasing financial hardship it is pleasing to be able to report on a healthy balance sheet at the end of the financial year.

In preparing these financial statements, consistent accounting policies have been applied and the methods and principles in the Charities SORP adhered to. Much progress has been achieved despite the ad hoc nature of the current funding arena. With this challenge ongoing and the reality of material cuts in this current year the test of innovation and creativity remains fixed within our strategy.

Given the talents within the PlayBoard team the Board of Directors are confident that tests, both current and future will be met. PlayBoard will continue to drive the Play Agenda, promoting the benefits of children’s play to ensure the development of the child. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jimmy Gillen the Director of Corporate Services and Finance and Mairead McLaughlin our Finance Officer for their attention to detail, financial probity and professionalism.

As Treasurer and a Trustee I am pleased to report that proper books of account have been kept, any risks mitigated and that the assets of PlayBoard are being safeguarded. JL Grant Chartered Certified Accountants have signed off the Year to March 14, with a clean bill of health and have commended us on our latest accounts showing we are operating as a viable, financially stable company.

This year will I am sure present more challenges. In meeting those challenges we have in place a strong Board of Directors and staff team implementing a robust strategy that can be altered to account for unforeseen eventualities.

Ian McAvoyTreasurer

Treasurer’s Report. Finance

A full set of accountscan be downloaded atwww.playboard.org

Results £

£

£

15

Income Generated3Signed up to good Governance 3

£

Planning Raising

InvestingMonito

ring

...The Finance

PlayAdvocacy

18%

PlayDevelopment

24%

Building Relations Through Play

28%

PlayTraining

22%

Membership1%

Other7%

+18%

Income up by 18% on previous year

201420132012

Activity of Expenditure

10x @playboard_

1500followers

40After Schools Providers

125Members

Income

20%

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22%

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Training Play Advocacy

Representation

likes on Facebook

500

StaffPlayBoard Board of DirectorsSam McCready ChairpersonSuzi Gray Vice ChairIan McAvoy TreasurerJacqueline O’Loughlin SecretarySteve DanielsPeter McCartneyMaura McCuskerAnne McDermottBrenda StevensonGary YoungUna Murphy (tenure finished October 2013)Marilyn Warren (tenure finished October 2013)

PlayBoard StaffJacqueline O’Loughlin Chief Executive OfficerJimmy Gillen Director of Corporate Services & FinanceAlan Herron Director of Service Delivery & DevelopmentAngela Stallard Regional Childcare Manager School Age ChildcareMargaret Deevy Workforce Development ManagerGillian McClay Programme ManagerLaura McQuade Senior Research OfficerSusan Kehoe Senior Advocacy OfficerLisa O’Connor Communications/Membership OfficerMairead McLaughlin Finance OfficerFrances Walsh Training & Development OfficerShauneen McCusker Play Development OfficerAiveen Kavanagh Play Development OfficerJulie Cowan Play Development OfficerPauline Murray Project OfficerJoan Noade Play Development OfficerJoanne Magee Play Development OfficerCaroline McCracken Play Development OfficerGrainne Daly Play Development Officer (left September 2013)

PlayBoard wish to acknowledge and recognise the contribution of our former colleagues and Board Members who left during the year 2013/14

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PlayBoard NI 7 Crescent GardensBelfast BT7 1NSNorthern IrelandT: 028 9080 3380F: 028 9080 3381E: info@playboard.co.ukwww.playboard.org

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