News from the Play Australia team...

We know this edition is out a little earlier in the week than usual – but we are very excited! So much is happening, and we just needed to share, share, share!

This week is 4 weeks till we will be celebrating the FIRST International Day of Play. June 11 is the big day and to help you celebrate and raise awareness Play Australia has put together a range of resources and we are sharing the link to the file in this edition!

Our (first) BIG Play survey launched last week, and we are asking members to please spread the link widely and encourage children to complete. We want to achieve a figure of 1000 respondents. Ambitious? Yep! But between us all we can and will access 1000 little voices!
We do appreciate the support of the real play champions who have already shared – organisations and individuals who are committed to our mission and embraced this new project and ran with it. We have loved reading your social media posts and truly value your commitment! Thank you!

We have some incredible news on the PD front coming up and we want you, our members, to hear it first!

Plus…links to books by Theresa Casey who featured in our member webinar series earlier this week!

There is an amazing energy in the air for play at the moment, and we hope you are feeling it too! For those of you attending the National Physical Activity and Sport Convention in Melbourne, June 25-28, we are looking forward to seeing you and we will be arranging a little members get together!

Yours playfully,

Robyn, Joanne and Pete

International Day of Play will be held on 11 June 2024. This is the first one and the day was declared by the UN in March. So not much time to prepare but we are leading a social media campaign and asking for members to consider how they might mark the occasion.

We have prepared a file of resources for members that you can access and download, including social media JPEGS, templates for banners and bunting and activities for children. This will be updated as we proceed with the planning.

In addition, we are running a social media campaign to inspire action and ideas. The 12 ways of Play Advocacy! Please feel free to share each of the 12 posts as they arrive on your social media as it is so important to get the message out there.

We are also asking all Play Australia members to change their Facebook photo – just for one day on June 11, to the International Day of Play logo, located in the resource folder.

Play Australia will be hosting a parliamentary briefing in Canberra on May 28 to ensure all our federal politicians are aware of the day and have 2 weeks to prepare! We look forward to updating you on that and sharing in the celebrations to come!

Play Australia has been working with Play Wales to bring the internationally renowned Playwork Practitioners course to Australia.

Play Wales are the world leaders in Playwork, and we were keen to partner with them to ensure the training we offered was world best practice. We are delighted to be bringing Play Wales trainers to Australia over the next 3 years while we skill up the Australian Playwork sector to be able to deliver this training.

This training will be industry certified by Play Australia and will be offered as a micro credential. The course is designed for those people currently working with children.

Play Australia will be offering the following training through this new partnership:

• Playwork: Foundation Practitioner (on offer in 2024 and 2025)
• Playwork: Senior Practitioner (on offer in 2025)
• Train the Trainer (on offer 2025, licensed through Play Australia and offered to selected graduates of previous two programs, for use by their organisations, following interview and review).

Our first Foundation Practitioner course kicks off with 2 webinars,
on 18 June and 23 July 2024 (7-9pm AEST). Participants are required to attend both webinars.

Followed by a 2-day practice workshop made up of small groups of 14, across 4 states,  led by a Play Wales specialist and Play Australia facilitators.

Dates

Perth: Friday 6 & Saturday 7 September 2024
Melbourne: Monday 9 & Tuesday 10 September 2024
Sydney: Friday 13 & Saturday 14 September 2024
Sydney: Tuesday 17 & Wednesday 18 September 2024
Brisbane: Friday 20 & Saturday 21 September 2024.

It is essential that participants commit to attend the sessions in full to qualify for the credential. The course is jam-packed, and no elements are optional.

Additional learning

• Approximately 3 hours of pre-reading/online preparation. 
• Undertake assessment activities from the course, these will be due by November 1.

Prerequisites

• Currency – must has at least 2 years’ experience working face to face with children and or young people in last 12 months.
• Will be able to actively apply the learnings to a school, children’s service, or youth program and have the support of your management
• Current working with children clearance
• Current child protection training.

Cost (Foundation Practitioner) 

$895 inc gst per person for Play Australia Organisational Members

$1195 inc gst for non-members, but only will be offered to non-members if there are places after May 28 2024.

We can accept a $395- deposit for payment received by June 25, with the balance of $500 payable by August 1 2024. Or pay in full and claim off your 2023/4 tax!

Scholarships

We are also offering 2 scholarships to the program:

The Judy Finlason Scholarship for OSHC Educators
The June Factor Scholarship for Early Childhood Educators

More details for follow regarding these scholarships!

To register your interest in attending the course in 2024 (please check first you are available for the dates per above), email play@playaustralia.org.au

Places are limited but if you miss out there will be more offered in 2025!

If you missed the member webinar featuring Teresa Casey talking about her book on inclusive play, the recording will be available soon on our learning platform.

In the meantime, we have a special deal on Theresa's book Inclusive Play: Practical Strategies for Children from Birth to Eight through Booktopia. Use the Play Australia referral partner link to purchase your copy: https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/baXd0k 

We will be featuring Theresa's book Environments for Outdoor Play: A Practical Guide to Making Space for Children later in the year but it is also available to purchase today: https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/eKLvE6 

We have sourced the best price available for these valuable resources, and for added incentive, Booktopia will donate 7.5% of sales back to Play Australia which we'll put towards hosting more member events! 

Members Briefing: Children’s Week 2024

Monday 20 May 4-5pm AEST

Members are invited to join us for a briefing and discussion on Australian Children’s Week. Yes, it is 5 months away, but we will be discussing how we incorporate play into the key themes as we commence the countdown.

Members Briefing: Insurance Update

Thursday 13 June 4-5pm AEST

Join Ryan Fisher from  Play's Australia's Insurance partners, Coverforce Complete, for an update on insurance including an overview of the current Professional Indemnity & Public Liability Insurance markets. This session will include time for questions and discussion. 

Ryan Fisher is a Director of Coverforce Complete Pty Ltd and has worked in the insurance industry for over 10 years on both the insurer and broking sides. Before joining Coverforce Complete in 2019, Ryan worked for a large global insurer, Allianz, across multiple roles including underwriting, sales, and team management. Ryan has strong relationships across the insurance industry and looks after a diverse portfolio.

Seminar: Debriefing Benefit Risk and the ISO. – What does it mean for Australia and New Zealand?

Thursday 1 August 7pm AEST (5pm AWST)

This free-for-members seminar will help play and leisure professionals understand and use the new international standard on risk management in sports and recreational facilities, activities, and equipment, including children’s play, standard (ISO 4980:2023)

The standard represents a significant and important shift to a balanced and thoughtful approach to safety in play and leisure contexts.

Save the date...25 July 2024... Adam Bienenstock

Save the date…as our next season kicks off with Adam Bienenstock from USA on 25 July (time tbc). Adam is an internationally acclaimed designer, builder, and researcher of nature based play spaces. Adam will be talking to us about...play spaces (of course!) and this session will appeal to all our members with something for everyone (Play Australia member Daniel Burton spoke very highly of Adam after he attended a nature conference in Colorado, so we thought we needed to share this guy with all our members)!

Call for Expressions of interest – Member webinars July-December 2024

Do you have something to snare and would like to present at a webinar – research, an innovative case study or a passion of yours?

Please send your 50 word bio and 100 word blurb to us at info@playaustralia.org.au and we will be in touch!

The Play Australia team would like to invite all our members to the Play Australia Conference Stream held at the National Sports & Physical Activity Convention! The team is proud to have collaborated with industry experts to create this incredible professional development opportunity for members.

Register by the end of May for the special discount rate by selecting the Collaborator Member 2-Day option and using the code: PLAY.

The Play Australia team is committed to providing our members with the very best networking opportunities and global insights into best practice and innovations in the industry and encourages all members to join the team at the National Sports & Physical Activity Convention.

Join the new interactive debate session on the balance between risky play and safer environments in creating play areas. Alli Coster, President of Play Australia, chairs Debate Session 5, Risky Play v Safer Environments, as two groups present contrasting perspectives:

Group 1 argues for the value of risky play in fostering children's physical and emotional resilience. David Kutcher, Honorary Principal of The Venny, advocates for risky play as essential for resilience building, while Andrew Reedy, Director of Play Check, discusses a systems approach to integrating risky play.

On the other side, Group 2 emphasises the importance of providing safe play environments. Robert Fleming, Founder & CEO of Playground123, underscores the obligation of local governments to ensure the safety of parks and open spaces, citing challenges in curating risky play due to compliance obligations and risk management concerns.
Join the discussion to explore the complexities of this vital issue in children's play.

Also join Play Australia Vice President, Carly Goodrich, as she chairs Workshop 5.2, Play as an Evolving Process and explore what lies ahead in the next five years:

Scott Mackenzie, Play Lead at Sport New Zealand, discusses the importance of a unified policy agenda across governments, communities, and private providers to drive impactful change in play.

Stacey Hack, Design and Visualisation Team Leader at KOMPAN Australia, provides insights into the future of playgrounds, highlighting upcoming innovations.

Robyn Monro Miller AM, CEO of Play Australia, offers a global perspective on future programs and interventions aimed at promoting increased play among children.

The Play Conference Stream is part of the National Sports & Physical Activity Convention, APAC’s largest industry event featuring 8 streams, NSC Oration, 3 Global Thought Leader Keynote Sessions, 8 Big Issue Keynote presentations, 8 debate sessions, 16 workshops, 2 days of site tours and APAC’s largest free-to-attend expo.

Join Play Australia for the industry’s leading professional development and networking event.

Register before the end of May and get a 25% discount on the
Play and Play Environments tour using code: PlayTour.