Update on Spring Playscheme

 Spring Playscheme Report

The scheme consisted of 7 days of play sessions and a day trip to Twinlakes Park.

Out of the 307 registered 6-12 year olds, who have been to the playground in the last 2 years, we had 103 (25 Under 8’s, 78 Over 8’s) attend the scheme.

The average daily attendance was 56 (15 U’8’s, 41 O’8’s).

In total, we had 391 (102 U’8’s, 289 O’8’s) child visits.

The Children were supported in their play by a team of 3 volunteers, 7 sessional playworkers, 3 permanent playworkers and 1 art tutor. Daily staffing levels were 2 volunteers and 8 paid staff, lowest attendance was 51 children, the highest was 66, giving a 1:5 staff:child ratio.

Despite a lot of wet weather, many children played in the outside play area and in the spinney. The slide and the tyre swing were both unavailable, and although there were a lot of questions about when the slide will be operational, the play structures were still well used. The “Egg Hunt” was very popular with 40+ children hunting the grounds for up to 2 hours.

Indoor activities covered a range of play types, and included arts and crafts, musical instruments, games and I.T. 

Barriers to children's play;

There are always some children whose parents don't want them getting dirty during outdoor play, hopefully there were enough alternative play opportunities provided.

There were also some children arriving hungry, our food donations from Tesco and FareShare enabled us to provide snacks including toast and pastries, we also bought a selection of fruit to make sure all the children were nourished enough to play.

Dean “The Art Wizard” and staff helped the children individually, and/or working as a team, to create numerous pieces of art. Using recycled gaffa tape they created portraits and “Eggstreme Sports” collages in 3D.