Fraser Brown

"The editors take readers through a breathtaking landscape of perspectives on the foundations of playwork. ... This book invites you to reflect (see Palmer, p51). But above all, it is one that inspires action." Children and Society"Foundations of Playwork is a must read for anyone with an interest in playwork or children's services. It shows the breadth, depth and value of our work with and on behalf of children." Mike Greenaway, Director of Play Wales Play impacts on all aspects of human behaviour and development, including the social, physical, cognitive, creative, emotional and spiritual worlds. The profession of playwork endeavours to provide enriched play environments with a view to enabling children achieve their full potential. This book provides a holistic overview of contemporary play and playwork. Straightforward and accessible, it covers topics such as playwork identity; play environments; the role of the playworker; values and ethics; play and playwork theory; and at the heart of the book, a special chapter located at the cutting-edge of 21st century play theory. The authors position play and playwork within the broader social context of the management and development of play settings, work within and between different sectors of the children's workforce, and the socio-legal framework of children's rights, and legislation. The book has international interest, considering playwork in the UK, US and Romania. It looks at diverse settings such as prisons, hospitals, parks, adventure playgrounds and play centres, schools, youth settings and nurseries. Contributions from many of the leading names in playwork offer the most current theory and practice in the field. They present approaches to playwork using a range of techniques such as case studies and critiques, applied and emergent theorizing, story-telling and reflection. This encourages the reader to gain a breadth of perspective and develop their own contribution to the playwork tradition. Foundations of Playwork is a vital resource for playwork students, practitioners, members of the children's workforce, carers and parents.

Excavations at Ronaldsway Airport uncovered the Isle of Man's earliest known house (c. 9000Â BC), Neolithic and Bronze Age timber structures, a later Bronze Age village with metalworking, an Iron Age settlement and two burials-including a violently killed 'warrior'-plus later agricultural remains, illuminating long-term occupation in the region.

The Oxford Handbook for the Foundation Programme returns in a new edition, guiding medical students and newly-qualified doctors through the Foundation Programme and beyond with the most up-to-date information and clinical guidance. This new edition has been fully revised to reflect the latest clinical guidelines, as well as changes to career structures and the Foundation Programme curriculum. It includes two entirely new chapters on primary care and care at the end of life, as well as featuring updated content on healthcare-related infection control, obstetrics and gynaecology, and surgery. Distilling the expertise of two senior clinicians and the first-hand experience of two new junior authors, this pocket handbook provides guidance on all facets of starting out as a newly qualified doctor, from applying to the Foundation Programme to career progression and choosing a specialty, from interpreting results to performing practical procedures. Covering aspects that are rarely tackled in medical school, this is your ultimate survival guide.

The Carlisle Northern Development Route (CNDR) is a major road around the western side of Carlisle. Prior to its construction, there was an extensive programme of archaeological excavation, carried out along its route by Oxford Archaeology, between May 2008 and April 2011. The excavations recorded archaeological and palaeoenvironmental remains at several sites (termed ‘parcels’) along this route, including highly significant remains dating to the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods at Stainton West (Parcel 27 North), a site situated on the floodplain north of the River Eden. These related to a Mesolithic seasonal, aggregation encampment, dating between c. 6000 cal BC and c. 4300 cal BC. This was on an island between two palaeochannels and was associated with domestic features and an in-situ flaked-lithic assemblage of over 300,000 pieces, dominated by a narrow-blade lithic technology. Waterlogged deposits of organic sediment and the remains of a beaver lodge and dam in the main palaeochannel defining the western edge of the island, also contained a wealth of palaeoenvironmental evidence relevant to the earlier part of the period in which the encampment was occupied. Neolithic activity began in c. 3800-3700 cal BC comprising the construction of a wooden platform in the main palaeochannel, which was associated with the intentional deposition of tree-felling debris, coarse-stone tools, flaked lithics, pottery, and wooden artefacts, including a paddle and two ‘tridents’. Palaeoenvironmental remains relating to this activity were also recovered, providing evidence for an elm decline, and herding and small-scale arable farming. Later Neolithic activity was also evident in the form of two burnt mounds, established during the first half of the third millennium cal BC. The investigations also revealed evidence for Chalcolithic and Bronze Age activity, which included a sequence of burnt mounds at Stainton West, used until approximately 1600 cal BC. Several other sites along the scheme provided evidence for settlement and agriculture, dating between the twenty-third and the ninth centuries cal BC, which included structures, roundhouses, boundary ditches, ceramics, and plant remains. During the construction works, a transect across the Hadrian’s Wall Roman frontier was also examined at Knockupworth. This identified the initial, Hadrianic, phase of Turf Wall, the subsequent slighting of both this and the Vallum earthworks to the south, and the Stone Wall constructed, around AD 158-60, when the Hadrianic frontier was reoccupied following abandonment of the Antonine Wall. Important evidence for early medieval activity was also revealed. Five apparently near-contemporary rectangular posthole buildings dated to the early eighth to mid-tenth centuries AD, and probably formed a small agricultural settlement. Other remains along the route related to the agricultural landscape that existed in the later medieval and post-medieval periods.

Children like to play. They get all sorts of benefits from playing. They get the most benefit from play when they are in control of what they are doing. Yet there are lots of circumstances today that mean children are not able to control their own play and that's where playwork comes in, where the role of the playworker is to create environments that enable children to take control of their playing. This book aims to explore the similarities, differences and tensions that exist between play and playwork including appropriate definitions and the conflict around the role of the adult. Fraser Brown proposes a play to playwork continuum, where playing can be considered a 'developmental and evolutionary' activity and playwork a 'compensatory' activity. Helpfully structured around the aspects considered by the author as most important for playwork, this book uses 101 fascinating stories of children playing to illuminate a range of play and playwork theories. The rich array of powerful stories - drawn from the casebooks of eminent and experienced playworkers - speak for themselves whilst at the same time triggering theoretical explorations that are interwoven with the stories in each chapter. Mesmerizing, absorbing and original, this is essential reading for playwork students and practitioners, as well as for students and practitioners of early years, childhood, children's health and wellbeing, and children’s social care.

This volume presents the results of two excavations on the gravel terraces of the Lower Kennet Valley, at Green Park (Reading Business Park) Phase 3 and Moores Farm, Burghfield, Berkshire. The Green Park excavations uncovered a field system and occupation features dating to the middle to late Bronze Age. Five waterholes or wells were distributed across the field system, the waterlogged fills of which preserved wooden revetment structures and valuable environmental evidence. The pottery from the waterholes makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the middle to late Bronze Age transition in the region. Later activity included middle to late Iron Age boundaries, a late Iron Age cremation burial, a Romano-British field system and post-medieval trackways. The Moores Farm excavations revealed occupation from the Mesolithic, Neolithic, middle Bronze Age and early Iron Age. The middle Bronze Age settlement included pits, ovens and possible post structures, and was again situated within a contemporaneous field system dotted with waterholes. As well as discussing these two sites, the volume provides an overview of all of the work to date in the Green Park Farm/Reading Business Park area, exploring the development of this important prehistoric landscape.

Rethinking Children's Play examines attitudes towards, and experiences of, children's play. Fraser Brown and Michael Patte draw on a wide range of thought, research and practice from different fields and countries to debate, challenge and re-appraise long held beliefs, attitudes and ways of working and living with children in the play environment. Children need to play and the benefits of play are many and varied, but they are too often underestimated by parents, educators, politicians and society in general. The authors apply a playwork perspective to a wide range of settings populated by children, both formal and informal, to explore the idea that children's learning and development derives substantially from their opportunities to engage with a rich play environment that is supportive of the play process. Thoughts are provoked through examples of research, reflections on research, activities, key points and guidance on further reading. Rethinking Children's Play is essential for all those studying childhood at undergraduate and graduate level and of great interest to those working with children in any field.

Rethinking Children's Play examines attitudes towards, and experiences of, children's play. Fraser Brown and Michael Patte draw on a wide range of thought, research and practice from different fields and countries to debate, challenge and re-appraise long held beliefs, attitudes and ways of working and living with children in the play environment. Children need to play and the benefits of play are many and varied, but they are too often underestimated by parents, educators, politicians and society in general. The authors apply a playwork perspective to a wide range of settings populated by children, both formal and informal, to explore the idea that children's learning and development derives substantially from their opportunities to engage with a rich play environment that is supportive of the play process. Thoughts are provoked through examples of research, reflections on research, activities, key points and guidance on further reading. Rethinking Children's Play is essential for all those studying childhood at undergraduate and graduate level and of great interest to those working with children in any field.

The expansion of Stansted Airport provided an opportunity to investigate a large area of clay plateau, typical of the north-west Essex landscape. This book and CD-ROM, presents the results of these excavations, allowing the reader to explore both broader historical themes and the minutiae of individual sites, features and finds.

"[An] excellent book... With its breadth of discourse, it held my attention throughout. ... This book is informative, but also challenges views on the play experience and the playwork profession. It will be of interest to all those that work and play with young children. The place of playwork and playworkers... is described with passion: readers cannot help but be totally absorbed by this book." Early Years, Vol 24, No 1, March 2004Children learn and develop through their play. In today's world the opportunities for that to happen are increasingly restricted. The profession of playwork seeks to reintroduce such opportunities, and so enable children to achieve their full potential. This book brings together many leading names in the playwork field, to produce a text that has something for everyone. The in-depth exploration of a range of theoretical perspectives will appeal to both playwork students and practising playworkers. Experienced practitioners offer sound practical advice about ways of improving playwork practice. There are chapters on the role of adventure playgrounds (past, present and future); the challenge of starting a playwork section in a local authority; and the value of networking. Contributors explore the essence of play; the historical roots of playwork; and the role of play cues in human and animal behaviour. There is an exploration of the astounding impact of a therapeutic playwork project on the development of a group of abandoned children in Romania. The final chapter reinforces the need for playworkers to be reflective practitioners in all aspects of their work.