"
SkillsActive, the Sector Skills Council for Active Leisure and Learning, are pleased to announce the approval of Level 3 and 4 Standards for the Playwork Sector.
The updated Level 3 and new Level 4 National Occupational Standards (NOS), have this week, been approved by a UK Coordinating Group on behalf of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority(QCA).
The revised Level 3 Scottish/National Vocational Qualifications (S/NVQ) in Playwork will now include five mandatory units and four optional units from a choice of 12. All the Units in the Standards are new, and have been revised to reflect current job roles and responsibilities in the Playwork Sector.
""We would like to congratulate SkillsActive on the approval of the new Playwork Standards at Level 3 and 4.The Standards now incorporate units shared with Children’s Care Learning and Development, which is an excellent step forward for Playwork and Child Care professionals,"" said Stella Ziolkowski, Head of Workforce Development at the National Day Nurseries Association.
There are now three Level 3 and two Level 4 units shared with the Child Care Learning and Development National Occupational Standards - units which are relevant to working with children of any age. This step was taken following consultation with both Sectors about Cross Sector working.
The approval of the Level 4 Standards for Playwork is an exciting development for the sector – an industry first. The Standards include advanced practitioner and playwork management units as well as generic management units. Awarding Bodies have already expressed interest in the new Standards, and they can now be used to develop new qualifications, including S/NVQs.
Following a meeting with their Playwork External Verifiers to keep up-to-date with issues from the Sector, Dominic Sutton from Edexcel said: “We owe it our learners to give them progression opportunities beyond Level 3 and we will definitely be exploring the viability of offering a Playwork S/NVQ in Playwork at Level 4.”
Following further development and approval, new versions of S/NVQs in Playwork will be on the QCA National Qualifications Framework from summer 2005.
"
