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TRAINING ● EVENTS ● RESEARCH ● PLAY IDEAS ● COMMUNITY

Get Ready for Awesome

Autumn! Play Ideas inside

The Dragon of

Magdalen Woods..

Find out more...

Playwork in Action:

With Banbury’s Lets Play

Project

Play dates for October Half

Term…

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Welcome to our Inspiring Play

Newsletter for Autumn 2015

‘It has been another busy Summer for OPA with our 7 Play and Ac-

tivity Days being delivered Oxfordshire. Another 11,500 people at-

tended this years events taking our total attendance figures for

the last 4 years up over the 65,000 mark!!

Plans are now underway confirming locations for our 2016 events,

for the first time ever local Communities were asked to ‘apply’ to

host an event in 2016 and we have received a great response. We

will confirm the chosen locations in October 2015.

We are delighted to announce that our pilot ‘Playful Woodlands’

project situated at Magdalen Wood in Wood Farm in Oxford has

been nominated for a prestigious Oxford Preservation Trust award,

this a great recognition for an excellent project led and driven by

our own Jane Gallagher.

Our Community PLAYback project (making Community Spaces More

Playful) continues to gather momentum, we delivered an event on

Carterton Market Square in July and in October half term we will

deliver further events in Florence Park and Taphouse Avenue in

Witney. Initial planning is also underway for further events in Chip-

ping Norton and Wantage / Grove.

We are also searching for some new Trustees to join our Manage-

ment Board, please contact us for further details.

Martin, OPA

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Keep in touch with news and events.

Visit our website at:

www.oxonplay.org.uk

Like us on Facebook

www.facebook.com/oxonplay

Follow us on twitter

@oxonplay

OPA’s Mission is to champion

and to support the rights of all

children to have access to high

quality, inclusive play opportu-

nities to improve their physical,

mental and spiritual wellbeing.

Newsletter is produced by Oxfordshire Play Association.

For further information about Inspiring Play or any other

aspect of play and playwork, please contact

Oxfordshire

Play Association:

01865 779 474 or e mail: playpromotion@oxonplay.org.uk

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This is my favourite time of the year to send

our Play Promotion Officer, Julia a short re-

port and update from OPA Training Depart-

ment. During the six weeks of summer I

am fortunate to be able to observe and as-

sess learners whilst facilitating play at their

Holiday Play Schemes and on occasions at

OPA’s Play Days. I get to see children and

young people throughout Oxfordshire, en-

gaging in a wide range of play based activi-

ties as well as Free Play, where the children

and young people are involved in choosing

and adapting ‘Loose Parts’ through which

they develop. I even got to visit some local

parks with one group where the wide open

space and the fixed equipment was well uti-

lised by both the Playworkers and the chil-

dren/young people.

Thank you to my wonderful level 2 and 3

learners who invited me to their schemes

and to their Play Leaders for their huge wel-

come and kind hospitality (lots of tea and

biscuits).

I managed to take some photographs of our

recent Take 5 for Play course, which took

place at White Horse Leisure Centre

in Abindon over a two day period. Amy

French, one of the Play Scheme coordina-

tors, liaised closely with our Training Centre

to organise and host the training. Five of

her summer scheme playworkers attended

alongside our own Play Promotion Officer.

After two days of PLAY they got a little

messy and designed ‘Happy Harriet’

Training News and Updates…..

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If you are interested in a career in Play Work or if you or members of your

team would like to further your professional development, please get in

touch for further information.

Please visit our website www.oxonplay.org.uk to find out more or

contact OPA Training Officer, Brid Muldoon trainingofficer@oxonplay.org.uk

“Learning skills such as observation and reflections was immense-

ly valuable and I truly believe this helped lead me to being graded

as an Outstanding Provider on my very first Ofsted inspection” -

Childminder & Level 3 Diploma in Playwork learner.

“I now understand the importance of play as a holistic experience

and how a child’s development is as individual as they are” - EIS

Worker & Level 2 Playwork Learner.

Upcoming Training Events

Take 5 for Play

Level 2 – Diploma in PLaywork

Level 3 – Diploma in Playwork

Level 3-Transition from Early Years to Playwork

Level 4/5 - Playwork

Bespoke, short training courses in Play and Playwork are

also available.

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Half Term Play Days……..

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Autumn Play Ideas for

Leaf Crunching Fun!

Roll your sleeves up, get your

wellies on and get outdoors!

Try gathering up as many leaves

as you can to make a super awe-

some leaf pile (or mountain!)—

great fun for jumping and rolling

in!

With the weather getting wetter this

is the perfect time to make the most

of all that mud and get building mud

pies in a mud kitchen, or indeed cre-

ating anything else muddy that takes

your fancy! For lots of practical tips

and play ideas for building a mud

kitchen visit www.muddyfaces.co.uk

Visit your local Woodlands! We all know Autumn is a beautiful

time of year to get out and visit the local woods, and yet with

such busy lives all too often this stunning season can quickly

pass us by. Children love hunting for mini beasts and the woods

(or the back garden!) are a per-

fect place to do it, or why not

collect leaves and twigs to make

beautiful pictures with when

you get home. For lots of wood-

land fun ideas and free activity

sheets visit

www.naturetrust.org.uk/

naturedetectives

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Cherwell District Council’s Rec-

reation & Sport Activators

have launched a brand new ini-

tiative for 8 -16 year olds which

challenges young people to beat

the Activator at different skills

and sports throughout the year!

“Beat the Activator” was

launched at the Banbury &

Bicester Play Day events and

sets a new challenge every

month. It couldn’t be simpler to

get involved, come along to one

of the Activator free sessions

taking place across the Cherwell

District in parks and in youth

club settings where you can get

the latest challenge flyer and get

involved in a fun session of

games and alternativesports,

check out

www.cherwellyouth.co.uk for

their latest timetable.

Every month there is prize to be

won; all you have to do is log

your challenge result online

www.cherwell.gov.uk/young

people where everyone who

takes part gets entered into the

prize draw which is drawn on the

last day of every month.

For more information about the

Recreation & Sport Activator ini-

tiative please contact

jon.wild@cherwell-dc.gov.uk

Get involved today and take the

challenge!

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Evidence and Research

Early Academic Training Produces

Long Term Harm:

Psychology Today

Full report available at:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-

learn/201505/early-academic-training-produces-

long-term-harm

Risky Outdoor Play Positively Impacts Children’s

Health: UBC Study by Katherine Came and Mariana

Brussoni.

Full report available at:

http://news.ubc.ca/2015/06/09/

risky-outdoor-play-positively-

impacts-childrens-health-ubc-

study/

The Decline of Play in Pre Schooler’s and the Rise in

Sensory Issues by Angela Hanscom.

Full report available at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-

sheet/wp/2015/09/01/the-decline-of-play-in-

preschoolers-and-the-rise-in-sensory-issues/

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News Update..

The Dragon of Magdalen Woods!

The first ‘Playful Woodland’ in Oxfordshire has been short listed

for an award with the Oxfordshire Preservation Trust, under the

category of ‘Landscape Enchancement’.

OPA initiated the project, which aims to add hidden, natural,

playful items to public woodlands, thus encouraging children and

familes to explore and play together. OPA bought in partners

Going Wild, The Nature Effect, The National Trust and a local

sculptor Stuart Turner.

The first woodland plays pace is 150 metre long dragon in Mag-

dalen Wood West off of Atykyns Road, Woodfarm, Oxford.

Stuart says, “the dragon winds its way through the woods, and

will provide endless amounts of fun and adventure for all ages

for generations to come.”

The natural play space has also caught the attention of the

school of architecture at Oxford Brookes University. They con-

tacted OPA and the a steering group, and are now working with

students in the woods to create natural temporary structures,

inspired by the dragon.

For further information please contact OPA on 01854 779474 or

e mail Martin.Gillett@oxonplay.org.uk

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Why not take a trip to Magdalen

Woods and discover the dragon for

yourself?!

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PLAY IN THE COMMUNITY

The Let’s Play Project

Banbury

I’m a play worker at the Let’s Play

Project. The project supports young

people with disabilities from aged 5 –

18. Being a play worker is fantas-

tic and supports, enables young

people to play, in any way, shape

or form in which way they choose

to.

During the summer holidays we took a

group of young people to Avon Dasset

to fly kites, build dens and make camp

fires. The young people searched for

the woods and came across a lovely

spot to build a den, straight away they

had the enthusiasm and enjoyment in

their eyes and collected branches, tree

trunks, little sticks, big sticks and

pilled them up. Together all the young

people and the play workers put to-

gether the sticks and branches to form

a den that could and would be used

for many games later in the day. One

young person had a rest inside the

den and said “this is beautiful” mo-

ments like that really make me under-

stand why play is so important in chil-

dren’s lives.

The day was spent running in and out

the trees, up and down the hills being

free and being able to use the den as

a jail for cops and robbers made the

young people laugh that little bit more

when all of the adults were stuck.

Camp fires were next everyone was

getting a bit hungry, so time for some

toasted marshmallows. Richard our

campfire expert explained to the

young people the different layers of

sticks and how to place them, he even

used flint and steal to get the fire

started. Risky play is so vital to all

children and little things like making a

den and camp fires can help them to

learn and develop through play. I per-

sonally didn’t enjoy fire play as an

adult I was scared that playing with

fire would be too risky however after

this day I was inspired to encourage

children’s love of being outdoors and

building dens.

To find out more about the work of the

Lets Play Project visit

www.letsplaybanbury.org

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Learning Through Outdoor Play Cherwell children enjoy outdoor Forest fun

Children in Cherwell can enjoy going back to their

roots and learning in the open air thanks to support

from Sanctuary Housing. Sanctuary has teamed up

with the Warriner Partnership of schools for an initi-

ative which is seeing pupils from ten local schools

enjoying the natural surroundings of the Warriner

School Farm. Pupils are taking part in a range of

exciting activities including den-building, outdoor

cooking, mud kitchens and nature walks.

Taking place every week throughout the school

year, the project is providing alternative education

for children, whatever the weather. Children are

being encouraged to respond to nature creatively,

building on their team working skills and develop-

ing a sense of environmental and health aware-

ness.

Kate Winstanley, Sanctuary’s neighbourhood part-

nerships manager, commented: “We are delighted

that our support has enabled children from the

Warriner Partnership of schools to experience for-

est schooling .. “The children will be using their

team working and problem solving skills within a

natural environment, with their participation poten-

tially resulting in life-long benefits.”

The Warriner partnership of schools consists of the

nine local primaries that make up the catchment in

the Bloxham area, as well as the Warriner Second-

ary School. Warriner School Farm is a 120-acre

organic farm, purpose built as part of The Warriner

School.

Sarah Reynolds, head teacher at Shenington Pri-

mary School, said: “Our children were delighted to

take part in this project. It has enabled them to

work with pupils from another school on a weekly

basis with shared values about teamwork, cooper-

ation and learning to show initiative.

“This was a great opportunity to benefit from the

possibilities at the Warriner School Farm. And we

look forward to working with the farm and Sanctu-

ary in the future.”

Bev James, forest school leader at the Warriner

School Farm, said: "We are thrilled to have been

able to extend our forest school provision in part-

nership with Sanctuary Housing. Our first two

groups have been a great success and it has been

wonderful to see the children’s progress in devel-

oping their practical and problem-solving skills, self

-confidence and independent thinking through ad-

venturous play.”

This is the first time the schools have been able to

take part in regular forest school activities, with the

aim of using the farmland and woodland at Warrin-

er School Farm. The funding from Sanctuary has

meant the schools have been able to purchase

equipment to enhance their play, including tarpau-

lin, ropes and hand drills.

This project was funded by Sanctuary Group’s

Community Investment Fund, supporting pro-

jects which benefit Sanctuary residents and their

communities.

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lives of Children and Young People?

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