For over 30 years PlayBoard has been developing and delivering focused training for the play sector across Northern Ireland, Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland. As an organisation committed to excellence, PlayBoard ensure that all training staff are highly qualified, occupationally competent and capable of meeting the training needs of the Play/Playwork sector.
PlayBoard’s training typically offers participants an opportunity to take part in group work, focused discussions and a range of practical activities designed to support practitioners to reflect on their own playwork practice. Through training participants are able to learn new skills and have an opportunity to explore and reflect on their current practice against the Playwork Principles.
For further details of the training programmes currently on offer please contact PlayBoard on 028 9080 3380.
In addition to a wide range of established training courses, PlayBoard are able to offer flexible bespoke training and consultancy services across the UK and Ireland tailored to meet the needs of individual groups and organisations. Courses can be individually tailored to meet the needs of participants and can be delivered locally at suitable venues and at flexible times including evenings and weekends.
PlayBoard typically deliver training across a range of settings and to variety of professional groups including:
Staff within school aged childcare settings
Child-minders
Day care and nursery workers
Youth workers
Social workers
Classroom assistants
Teachers
Non-teaching staff within schools
Sure Start workers
Quality
All PlayBoard training is delivered within a quality framework, as extablished by the SkillsActive Code of Practice. SkillsActive is the sector skills council for playwork; their quality control framework identifies minimum standards and guiding principles for the delivery of training.
PlayBoard’s robust CPD (Continuous Professional Development) policy ensures that all staff involved in the development and delivery of training are competent and current in their Play/Playwork knowledge. CPD addresses the following areas:
Appropriateness of qualifications
Relevance of experience
Competency
Quality Monitoring
Review and Evaluation
This course aims to equip participants with the skills; knowledge and understanding that will help them to carry out their playwork practice more effectively.
Areas covered include identifying the needs of children; developing the understanding, skill and confidence to meet these needs and promoting the value base of playwork.
Areas covered include:
Play and Playwork
Playwork principles
Supporting children’s play
Building relationships
Play types
Loose parts
Aimed at staff whose main role is to provide opportunities for freely chosen, self-directed play; this course equips participants with the knowledge and skills they need to plan and implement play opportunities within a play environment.
Areas covered include:
Planning for play opportunities
Involving children and young people in planning
Considering suitability based on the stage of development
Health and safety considerations
Identifying suitable resources
This course is aimed at supporting practitioners to engage more effectively with parents, carers and families in a playwork context.
Areas covered include:
To develop relationships with parents, carers and families
Methods of communication
Working with parents to support children and young people
Respecting the wishes of parents within the limitations of agreed procedures, values and children’s rights
Confidentiality
Dealing with issues or complaints in accordance with organisational procedures
This course aims to explore with playworkers how to manage the balance between risk and safety in settings; to explore the benefits of managing and balancing risk with the play value of different play opportunities; and how to develop risk assessment procedures that support this.
Areas covered include:
What is risk and what are hazards?
Barriers to providing challenging play opportunities
How to provide more challenging play opportunities
Looking at the factors that affect playworkers’ judgment
How to encourage children to assess risk themselves
Undertaking risk benefit assessments
This course aims to support practitioners in providing opportunities for physical play by exploring play types and how to meet the physical play needs of children and young people.
Areas covered include:
Developmental stages and play needs based on this
Planning for physical play
How and when to facilitate physical games
New ideas for games and ideas for physical play
How to adapt to meet needs (age, ability, space, resources)
This course aims to explore a range of creative ways to support play for children and young people. By using materials in new and innovative ways and offering creative and exciting things to make and do a number of different play types can be supported.
Areas covered include:
Loose parts
Play types
Using materials in new ways
Supporting exploration
Supporting inclusion of all children in these activities
Making creative activities stimulating for mixed ability and different age groups
Supporting inclusion of all children in these activities
Risk benefit assessment involved in planning for this play
100 new ideas for things to make and do
This course aims to explore the purpose of individual and team reflective playwork practice; the purpose of observing children playing and how to carry out observations that help with reflective practice by the Playworker.
Areas covered include:
Loose parts
What is reflective practice?
Different methods of reflection
The relationship of organisational and team culture to reflective practice
The role of observation in reflection
Making creative activities stimulating for mixed ability and different age groups
How to carry out and record observations
Playwork theory that supports reflective practice
The aim of this course is to support Playworkers to explore the issue of challenging behavior.
Areas covered include:
Reviewing the different ways children communicate
Review the way adults communicate
Exploring the role of the Playworker in managing behaviour
Reviewing the physical and affective environment
Reviewing strategies for promoting positive behaviour
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