The Play Well Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode, our Play Pedagogy Award Officer, Fiona Kirkland speaks to Leanne Sweaton.

Leanne is the Principal Teacher in Woodmill and Dunfermline Cluster in Fife supporting schools to close the poverty related attainment gap. She has been teaching for 25 years and began her play journey began back in 2016. Since then, she has revolutionised her practice and have never looked back. She runs the popular Facebook page 'The Play Piece'. Her work has been spotlighted by HMiE and Education Scotland and she has spoken nationally on this topic.

In this episode, our former CEO Marguerite Hunter Blair speaks to Paul Hoenigmann, Managing Director of Inclusive Play.

Paul is passionate about widening access to the physical, social, and cognitive development for all children through expanding the provision of welcoming and accessible outdoor play spaces. Our UK-made inclusive equipment supports communities create safe, engaging environments where every child can play, learn, and thrive—regardless of ability.

Find out more about inclusive play on our website: https://www.playscotland.org/playful-communities/inclusive-play-design-3/

In this podcast episode, we hear from Dr. Mike Wragg and his research on play in care homes.

Dr Mike Wragg is a Senior Lecturer on the Childhood Development & Playwork BA (Hons) course at Leeds Beckett University.  Mike is Chair of Trustees of Play Bradford, a local play development charity that he founded in 2004, and which incorporates the Big Swing adventure playground.  Mike's current research is focussed on the practice of playwork in care homes with people living with dementia, which he's presenting at the 2004 UK Dementia Congress. 

In this episode of the podcast, we hear from Dr. Lorna Arnott and her research on lived experiences of children's play, specifically in technology and digital play before the age of 5.

Lorna Arnott is a Reader of Early Childhood Education and former Director of Early Years at the University of Strathclyde. Her work sits close to practice around three inter-related themes: children’s lifeworlds and experiences in early childhood settings and home cultures; pedagogic innovation in Early Childhood Education; and children’s digital play.  The first two themes are brought together in her conceptualization of how the dynamics of context shape children’s experiences (see selected publications: Pedagogic Cultures). Dr Arnott’s high standing in this field led to her inclusion in the Scottish Government Strategic Approach to Participation, serving on the Children’s Rights and Participation Team. Dr Arnott is an internationally recognized expert in children’s digital play, as evidenced in her role as editor of the 2017 SAGE book Digital Technologies and Learning in the Early Years and co-editor of three special issues on this topic in the British Journal of Educational Technology, Global Studies of Childhood and The European Early Childhood Educational Research Journal. She is founder and co-convener of the EECERA Digital Childhoods, STEM and Multimodality Special Interest Group.  She is Deputy Editor for the International Journal of Early Years Education and Assistant Editor for the Journal of Early Childhood Research.  Methodologically, Dr Arnott specializes in children’s voice and creative methods for children’s participation and has co-edited two books aimed at both research and practice audiences: Research Through Play: Participatory Methods in Early Childhood (SAGE, 2021) and Theory and Practice of Voice: A Guide for the Early Years (Routledge, 2022). Underpinning all of this work is an interest in children’s experiences of learning through play.

Karen is the leading expert in playwork qualifications in Scotland. She is the curriculum manager at Glasgow Clyde College for Playwork, Childhood Practice, Additional Support Needs, Social Services, and Early Learning and Childcare. She is a qualified primary teacher and she recently completed a Masters in Education where her research focused on play deprivation. 

Dr Sarah Goldsmith has been a playworker and playwork trainer for over twenty years, after finishing a degree in Playwork. Sarah has worked in out of school clubs, adventure playgrounds and as a play ranger. The experience Sarah gained as a playworker led her to a PhD that explored children's experiences of toys and gender from a playwork perspective. Currently, Sarah works part time at Thrive Outdoors, researching children's opportunities for outdoor play in Glasgow, as well as working part time as a Childhood Practice lecture at West College Scotland. Sarah is also Chair of the International Play Association (IPA) Scotland.

Dr Stephanie Chambers is a Senior Lecturer in the Sociology of Health and Wellbeing at the University of Glasgow. She leads a masters programme in Global Health and teaches on health inequalities and programme design and evaluation. Stephanie’s research focuses on children and young people’s health and wellbeing. She is particularly interested in the ways in which intergenerational programmes might bring wellbeing benefit to both children and older adults.

Give Them Time is a grassroots movement which evolved in 2018 from parents across Scotland sharing their own, often difficult, experiences of applying for a further year of nursery funding for their child.

Their campaign has been successful in changing the law so that all children with a legal right to defer their p1 start (those not age 5 by the school start date) from Aug 2023 to Aug 2024 and every year thereafter, are now automatically entitled to a further year of nursery (Early Learning and Childcare – ELC) funding. This means it is no longer up to councils to decide whether to fund this or not for mid-August to 31st Dec born children (Jan and Feb borns have had an automatic entitlement to this funding since 2000).

They have created a two page information leaflet as a resource for parents, carers, ELC staff, health visitors, primary school teachers and anyone else with an interest in primary one deferral rights in Scotland.

Virginia Radcliffe is the Artistic Director & CEO of Licketyspit, a theatre and play charity focused on early years children and families.

After graduating in Drama & English Virginia became an actor. In her 30's, on becoming a mother, she developed her fascination for the early years, which flourished on moving to Scotland in 2000 to become Director of Scotland's first dedicated early years theatre programme at Wee Stories. In 2004 this became Licketyspit. Virginia has written and directed 7 successful touring plays, teaching resources and children's books.

In 2008 she led the development of LicketyLeap - a groundbreaking immersive theatre as early intervention. This defined the role of the actor-pedagogue and the children's rights-led Storyplay approach and methodology that now underpins Licketyspit's repertoire of participatory drama-led projects for children and families in areas of high poverty.

Virginia is passionate about equality, children's rights, the early years, the way Storyplay can support children to prompt families and communities to relax and appreciate each other and remind us what matters. She seeks to share Storyplay as a trauma-informed practice that can open doors to imaginary playworlds and unlock the limitless possibilities of children.

You can find our more about Virginia's work at www.Licketyspit.com 

• Big Porridge & Play Glasgow - 5min promo; 20min documentary
• Happening Now
• Porridge & Play Hubs - New Scot Integration Project'22 – 5min promo; 20min documentary
• Stories of Resilience Film 4min film showing online Storyplay with refugee families in Pandemic.
• Have Your Say Through Play Film demonstration and child consultation reports.

·         Children’s Rights approach ·     

    Children & Families Network

• Family Art Voyage – Webpage with blogs/pics about project with range of artists selected by children to lead workshops in their own practice within the Storyplay framework.

Amy Woodhouse is the Chief Executive Officer of Parenting across Scotland - speaking up for and with parents and families in Scotland. Prior to this role, she was Head of Policy, Projects and Participation for Children in Scotland, a position she held for eight years. 

Earlier in her career she worked as a researcher in the mental health sector and has a particular interest in how music, and the arts more widely, can be used to promote mental health and well-being. She is currently a Board Member of Scottish Ensemble, a pioneering collective of outstanding musicians.

Amy recently participated in a Churchill Fellowship research project that looked at Increasing Children and Young People’s Access to Hobbies and Leisure Activities (churchillfellowship.org). Her fellowship focused on national approaches to improving children and young peoples’ access to hobbies, learning from the experiences of Finland and Iceland. In her own spare time she is a tap-dancer, sometime painter, terrible but enthusiastic guitar player and lover of long-distance walks.