Manchester City Council

What is Play?

"The right to play is a child's first claim on the community. Play is nature's training for life. No community can infringe that right without doing harm to the minds and bodies of it's citizens." David Lloyd George (1925)

Every child has the right to play and we have a responsibility to provide the opportunities, space, facilities and support for them to do so safely in ways that are challenging and rewarding and that allow them to grow to mature responsible citizens.

Manchester Play recognises the crucial role played by the voluntary sector in providing quality play opportunities and has developed a strong working relationship with the voluntary sector and local communities.

Our vision is to enable Manchester's children and young people access to local, safe, exciting and challenging places to play. We aim to make the enjoyment play an every day experience.

Play is an essential part of children and young people's lives. Manchester acknowledges children and young people's right to play. Article 31 of the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child states:-

"Parties recognise the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts."

It also states:-

"Parties shall respect and promote the right of the child to participate fully in cultural and artistic life and shall encourage the provision of appropriate and equal opportunities for cultural, artistic, recreational and leisure activity."

Seven Play Objectives

The following objectives are key to successful quality play provision:-

Objective 1 - The provision extends the choice and control that children have over their play, the freedom they enjoy and the satisfaction they gain from it.

Objective 2 - The provision recognises the child's need to test boundaries and responds positively to that need.

Objective 3 - The provision manages the balance between the need to offer risk and the need to keep children safe from harm.

Objective 4 - The provision maximises the range of play opportunities.

Objective 5 - The provision fosters independence and self-esteem.

Objective 6 - The provision fosters children's respect for others and offers opportunities for social interaction.

Objective 7 - The provision fosters the child's well-being, healthy growth and development, knowledge and understanding, creativity and capacity to learn.

NPFA (2000)

Playwork Principles

These principles establish the professional and ethical framework for playwork and as such must be regarded as a whole. They describe what is unique about play and playwork, and provide the playwork perspective for working with children and young people. They are based on the recognition that children and young people's capacity for positive development will be enhanced if given access to the broadest range of environments and play opportunities.

1. All children and young people need to play. The impulse to play is innate. Play is a biological, psychological and social necessity, and is fundamental to the healthy development and well being of individuals and communities.

2. Play is a process that is freely chosen, personally directed and intrinsically motivated. That is, children and young people determine and control the content and intent of their play, by following their own instincts, ideas and interests, in their own way for their own reasons.

3. The prime focus and essence of playwork is to support and facilitate the play process and this should inform the development of play policy, strategy, training and education.

4. For playworkers, the play process takes precedence and playworkers act as advocates for play when engaging with adult led agendas.

5. The role of the playworker is to support all children and young people in the creation of a space in which they can play.

6. The playworker's response to children and young people playing is based on a sound up to date knowledge of the play process, and reflective practice.

7. Playworkers recognize their own impact on the play space and also the impact of children and young people's play on the playworker.

8. Playworkers choose an intervention style that enables children and young people to extend their play.

Bob Hughes, Play Wales (2005)

Regulation of open access play provision

The regulation of open access play provision is the responsibility of Ofsted. All playschemes that provide for children under the age of eight have to meet a set of National Standards for Registration and Inspection under the Children Act 1989. For information on regulation, contact the Ofsted Information line on 0845 601 4771.

New schemes who need to be registered should contact the Family Information Service (FIS) on 0800 083 7921 for advice on registration procedures.

Grant-aid

If you are eligible for registration, an application for funding can only be considered if your group has started the registration process.

Grant-aid is available for open access playschemes operating in the voluntary sector who are offering provision to children aged 5 to 14 who are permanently resident in the City of Manchester.

Playschemes will need access to safe and suitable facilities that can accommodate play provision for the number of children required.

Places should be offered primarily to children from their local community on a first come first served basis and places cannot be pre-booked. Open access play provision is not normally suitable for working parents who should be referred to Family Information Service (FIS - 0800 083 7921) to ask for holiday care provision where a fee would normally be payable for places.

Playschemes must operate in an inclusive way ensuring that all children from their local community are not discriminated against. Resources are available from Manchester Play to enable children with additional needs to attend your playscheme, and they should be supported in a way that benefits them fully from the play opportunities on offer.

To qualify for funding, all groups must operate open access playschemes in a non-profit making way and should not charge for places. However, it is recognised that parents where possible should contribute towards the cost of the provision for their children and so a nominal fee can be charged along with other contributions towards the cost of expensive activities such as theme park trips.

Grant is allocated for sessions of play, each session being a minimum of 2.5 hours duration with 1/2 hour added for preparation / tidying.

You will be required to allow access by our team of Play Development Officers who monitor all funded provision to ensure that standards and practice is in keeping with our requirements.

You will be required to submit a record of expenditure including statistics of your provision after the end of the playscheme.

For application forms and further information on our grants, please contact Manchester Play on 061 274 6519.

A full list of documents is available for you to freely download in the section below. Click on the document library link.