The Government wants employers to be at the centre of the process for designing and delivering Apprenticeships. This is why Apprenticeship standards are being designed by groups of employers known as Trailblazers to meet their own skills needs, those of their broader sector and of the economy more widely.
(“How to guide for Trailblazers IFA June 2017”)
The purpose of a Trailblazer Group is to identify the demand and to create an Apprenticeship standard that fulfils the requirements of the sector. The Playwork Trailblazer Group is looking to develop a standard for a Level 2 Playworker qualification in the first instance, followed by a Level 3 Playwork Co-ordinator Apprenticeship Standard.
The Level 2 will be designed for people new to Playwork and who interact with children on a daily basis, and the Level 3 will be designed for those who manage the daily running of a single setting.
These standards are employer-led, meaning we can ensure the qualification is fit for purpose and fully meets our needs.
This is our chance to really make a difference to the way Playworkers are trained.
‘CACHE, the leading sector specialist, are supporting a group of 10 employers with their proposal to develop the Apprenticeship standard for Playwork frameworks.’
The Government plans to phase out the current apprenticeship frameworks and replace them with newly developed standards.
Apprenticeships provide high quality on-the-job training enabling the apprentice to develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours they need to be a great Playworker. The Institute for Apprenticeships’ remit is to ensure the development of high quality apprenticeships so they are viewed and respected as highly as other education routes.
The Institute for Apprenticeships will only approve the proposal if there is evidence of sector demand and that the occupation of a Playworker is sufficiently different to other apprenticeship standards such as Early Years or Youth Worker.
We need to gather the views of as many Playwork employers as possible to identify interest in the new qualification and how many apprentices each organisation would be likely to employ each year.
We have created a short survey which should only take 5-10 minutes to complete. By doing so, you will be helping to secure the future of Playwork for everyone, so please share your thoughts here – https://classoftheirown.typeform.com/to/MNrVZl
Completing the questionnaire will help us assess demand for the new qualification, shaping the future of Playwork Apprenticeships. Your input is greatly valued and will be vital in securing government funding, so please take a few minutes to complete the survey today.
Could you please complete the questionaire by February 12th 2018.
If you’d like further information about the Playwork Trailblazer Group, please email the joint chairperson Carole Theyer at cacatheyer@gmail.com
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