Neil is a 'play expert'. This is because he used to be, many years ago, a child. He grew up by the coast in Dorset, enjoying freedom to roam over a radius of several miles, with countryside, beaches and derelict land literally at the bottom of the garden. His basic fitness, resulting from playing outside each day (when he should probably have been doing his homework) led to Neil becoming South-West England 1500m champion in 1976. Following time with Play England, Neil joined Outdoor Play and Learning (OPAL) CIC in January 2012. Since then, he has seen OPAL more than triple in size.
About OPAL; The OPAL Programme currently operates in the UK, Canada, Australia and France. OPAL is also supporting five other EU countries through the Children's Access to Play in Schools (CAPS) project www.playfriendlyschools.eu OPAL has around 350 UK primary school clients, spread across the nation from Devon to Edinburgh and from Wales to London, as well as supporting some Early Years settings and several special schools.
Workshop Details: Playtime Safety in Education
All UK OPAL Mentors follow the Play Safety Forum (PSF members include HSE, RoSPA and the Assn of Play Industries) guidance on children's play safety. We've had our work examined recently by DfE (in Kent) and by Zurich Insurance on behalf of Durham CC, so we know that we are advising our school clients correctly. For this event I'll lead a workshop on Playtime Safety in Education, covering OPAL's five point, extensively proven approach:
Policy
Benefit-Risk Assessment
Communication with parents, staff and pupils
Suitable, sufficient record keeping
The purpose of fixed equipment inspections
As an example, I'll include a recent case at an Exeter primary school, which demonstrated the effectiveness of our 5-point approach when a "no win, no fee" lawyer came a-calling! Everything I cover in the 50 minute workshop (plus time for questions) will apply equally to EYs provision as well as to primary schools. There will be lots of great 'risky play' images on display, many of them from schools close to Bath!
My workshop will be especially useful to Headteachers/Deputy Heads as well as to front-line teachers, because every school in the country should be compliant with the latest HSE guidance on playtime safety management, yet very few people operating in local authority education/MATs even know it exists...