We are pleased to announce that the UK Playwork NOS Consortium has been approved to take forward a Review of the National Occupational Standards (NOS) for playwork.
The UK Playwork NOS Consortium comprises Play Wales, Play Scotland, PlayBoard Northern Ireland, Play England and the Playwork Foundation. The Consortium has been meeting since October 2021 and was established to planNATI strategically across the four nations for the future of workforce development and sector skills initiatives, including a future review of the NOS.
Since that time the Consortium has undertaken the following preparatory work towards the NOS review;
- Commissioning a scoping exercise to establish the use of NOS across the UK, particularly in relation to NOS within regulated qualifications and Required qualifications to work in regulated playwork settings.
- Engagement workshop at the National Playwork Conference 2023
- Identifying resources to fund the NOS review
- Identifying Play Wales as lead organisation for the NOS review
- Engagement with the 4 Nations Playwork Education and Training Councils (PETC’s)
- Submitting a Business Case for approval to take forward the NOS Review to the UK Standards and Framework Panel, which approves all NOS development activity
Over the coming months the UK Playwork NOS Consortium will be recruiting members of a writing group to undertake the work of reviewing and drafting the new standards. The review will be supported by Expert Reference Groups, which will also be openly recruited to, and include representatives from; open access playwork, out of school childcare, further education, higher education, awarding bodies and allied sectors. These groups will support sector engagement and inform a wider consultation on the draft NOS planned for Summer 2025.
It is expected that the final NOS will be approved and published to the UK Standards in Autumn 2025. The final standards will also be available in Welsh.
For more information, see our accompanying Information Sheet #1
Contact: nosreview@playwales.org.uk
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