why play matters in east lothian jane crawford senior play development officer
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Why Play Mattersin East Lothian
Jane CrawfordSenior Play Development Officer
About Play ScotlandPlay Scotland is a children’s charity formed in
1998 to promote The Child’s Right to Play
and funded by The Scottish Government.
© Play Scotland
Aims of Play Scotland• Creating a Policy framework for Play
• Providing support and resources to the Play Sector
• Promoting a Playwork Profession
• Develop and dessimate information and research on the benefits of play and child-friendly communities
© Play Scotland
Policy Framework for Play in Scotland
• Equally Well (June 2008 and review, 2010)
•Achieving our Potential (Nov 2008) • Early Years Framework (Dec 2008)
• Child Poverty Strategy (2011)
© Play Scotland
• Provide support to Local Authorities to embed Play in Single Outcome Agreements and integrated planning
• Providing support to membership and the play sector
• Identifying where play happens in Scotland and audit of training needs ( Glasgow, Shetland, West Lothian, East Ayrshire)
• Play Manifesto 2011
Play Scotland promotes child-friendly communities
© Play Scotland
Developing a Toolkit for Local Authorities and Community Groups
‘Power of Play’ - literature review and policy context
Play Indicators to measure sufficiency and quality of play provision
Opportunity to pilot toolkit in summer
Getting it Right for Play
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Early Years Framework OutcomesSHORT TERM PRIORITIES
• £4M investment from Scottish Government focusing on free play for 5 -13yrs.
• Creating a robust infrastructure across Scotland for the play sector.
• Support to strengthen and support play services in areas of greatest need.
© Play Scotland
Regional Infrastructure
• Midlothian Association of Play (MAP)
• East Ayrshire Community Play Forum
• Aberdeen Play Forum
Newly created by Go Play funding
DG Play (Dumfries and Galloway)
North Lanarkshire Play Association
Play Borders
What a Play Forum could do• Influence the attitude of children, parents and the community by
promoting the Child’s Right to Play, Article 31 UNCRC • Provide support and cohesion to the delivery of Play by all sectors• Assist community groups to access external funding and resources • Develop sustainable Play opportunities and fill gaps in provision
More that a Play Forum could do
• Creating child friendly communities through a multi agency strategic approach to Play • Provide training and resources for groups/individuals/volunteers involved in Play
• Attend national Play events to ensure the Local Authority Play Forum is kept up to date with national initiatives.
Local challenges
• Delivery of Play priority in Early Years Framework. Who?? How??
• Cost effective delivery of services – Out of School Care, Active schools, Community playschemes !
• Quality of Play through a trained workforce
• Keeping at the forefront of new developments and initiatives
Government priorities
• A Change fund for early intervention – Children and Family Centres
• Additional funding for parenting, PLAY, childcare, child and maternal health family support
• National Parenting Strategy – agencies working together to develop parenting skills
• “Play, Talk, Read” and “Take Life On”
• Support from Play Scotland via Play Forum Network for Scotland. (13 local authorities)
• Role of East Lothian Out of School Care Network (ELOSCN)
• Play Forum providing authority wide support to all play providers
• Exploring capacity of Midlothian Association of Play• Strategic direction for early years, play and
childcare
© Play Scotland
Future opportunities
Improving children’s quality of life through PLAY
“when one examines the benefits of play holistically, it seems that we have been granted a magical gift,
and people are now taking notice”
Danielle Marshall, Health Policy Forum
“Let’s share the magical gift!”
© Play Scotland