The Playwork Gathering 2022

This blog post is the reflection of OSHC educator Bethany Stevens and his first journey to the Playwork Gathering…

I began working in childcare 5 months out of high school, after 3 years working in hospitality. It would be safe to say that I initially thought of my hiring like an escape into an easier field of work (I’d already been babysitting for 4 years). It’s safe to say I was completely wrong. Not only is it not easy, but it is a job that, to do successfully and we’ll, you need to understand a lot of the research and theory around it. Despite my shattered expectations, I found myself in a field of work I could never imagine leaving and found a passion for working with children.

A strange lot Playworkers — A strange lot these Playworkers

The service managers at my centre would set up professional development sessions, ranging from how to support children with challenging behaviours, all the way to being able to fit programming and practice within the My Time Our Place standards. When we had a few sessions run by Angus from The Outsiders Play Advocates on Playwork, I found myself enthralled and wanting to know and learn more. I found out about the Playwork Gathering through these sessions, and myself and a few people knew this was something we had to go to. Not only would we be finding out more about Playwork, but we’d be meeting other people from different centres who shared our interests and our want to be able to better support our OSHCs’ children.

Seven of us paid for our own tickets out of our wages because we wanted the opportunity to be able to attend. The Gathering steadily arrived… and was rain checked due to COVID. That was okay, we were happy to wait the extra few months. However, those few months turned into years and, in the time it took for the camp to actually happen, that group of seven people turned into a solo one, as all of my co-workers that planned on attending moved onto other fields of work and other centres. I was starting to feel extremely anxious about going. As a person that suffers from social anxiety, going into a camp full of people I had never met before seemed terrifying. Upon getting there I realised I had nothing to be worried about. Playworkers are some of the most welcoming and kind-hearted people you will ever meet. Even the speakers were super welcoming, excited to share their knowledge with all of us. We were all here for one purpose, to learn how we can improve the play opportunities of the children and better support them within our centres.

Angus Gorrie from Camp Hill OSHC and The Outsiders speaking to the dangers of adult agendas in play…

You would think that sitting down in back-to-back sessions would start to get boring, yet I found myself engrossed in every minute of it. Each session followed and argued the same point: “Playwork is good” (The theme of the 2022 Gathering). From how it is done in other countries, the processes of playing, and how to fit it within the guidelines we have to follow as OSHC workers; to the personal experiences with play work, and how to overcome and convince those objecting to it of its importance.

By the end of the camp, it was clear how important Playwork is. I found myself taking note after note, so I could bring it back to my own centre and help to implement it there. Sometimes, it’s easy to look at what you do and wonder if it makes a difference. By the end of the camp, I realised how important it was for playworkers to fight and push for children’s need to play, and how every person who decides to do that can make a difference. I came away wanting to educate the rest of my centre and ready to share my passion for Playwork with my co-workers, and anyone who would listen. But I also left with one more thing; connections and friends that I hope to see at the next Playwork Gathering and the next Wickerman.

By Bethany Stevens