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This unique Conference will be taking place in Eastbourne on Tuesday 7^th and Wednesday 8^th March 2017. Each day is split into a number of 'tracks' with sessions linked to a common theme in each track. Over the two days there will be in excess of sixty different sessions on offer. At this Conference we want to inform and educate about play; consider the 'how' of playwork practice and send everyone home able to 'be better tomorrow than they were today'.

We call them sessions as they can take any form: from a lecture to a fully immersive installation; from a debate to a Q&A, a presentation or a workshop. There are no limits. We have indoor and outdoor session spaces and the beach across the road! Sessions can be any length and must aim at a specific target group:

For anyone The facilitator will cleverly balance the input so I will feel neither intimidated nor patronised by the content no matter how much or how little I may know about playwork

Just in I am relatively new to the world of play and playwork, so please keep it simple and help me along my journey to understanding.

Getting there I have been on a few courses, I may even have a playwork qualification. There are some playwork concepts that I still struggle with but I am keen to be stretched and challenged in this voyage of discovery.

Wanting more I have been round the block a few times. I have read and studied, talked and taught. My technical and philosophical playwork base is strong but I am like a sponge, keen to know more and really wanting to be pushed and pulled in new directions with new ways of thinking and taking everything I know to a greater depth.

Cruising I am weary and want to take part in something enjoyable which will not tax my brain. There are no levels and it is just about participation.

Conference participants choose what they want to go to and you could have forty or more people in your session. But you could also have just one or two - or indeed none! Sometimes in our work as playworkers we spend a great deal of time preparing a space or an idea or an opportunity because we think the children and young people might like to engage with it but when it is offered, as an option, with no pressure to take it up, sometimes the children don't and all our hours of hard work are just gestures in the dark. We do not get annoyed or frustrated because that is the nature of playwork. We never know if what we offer, the sparks we give or the spaces we create are going to be accepted or engaged with. That is the way it is. So too with Conference: we have no way of knowing if anyone is going to come to your session. You will have spent time preparing, putting together something that is stimulating, inspiring and where the participants will learn stuff that will help them become better playworkers but on the day, at that time it might not be what people want and they may not come. Just so you know - that is how Conference works.

See the Conference tracks here:

We welcome offers to deliver one or more sessions in any of these tracks. Please give an indication of the aims and learning outcomes; the style of the session; how long it will last and the target group.

Conference fees for the 15^th National Playwork Conference will be £300 per person for two days at Conference, with overnight shared accommodation and breakfast Tuesday/Wednesday and dinner at the Annual Playwork Awards. Additional accommodation on the Monday night will be £40 per person.

Our offer to session presenters is this: All presenters, presenting over 90 minutes at Conference, and who need to, will be able to take advantage of our offer to attend for the reduced rate of £150. This does not include Monday accommodation and we will not pay any travel or subsistence expenses.

For presenters who are not able to afford this reduced fee there may be further reductions available in return for additional sessions or some awesome contribution to iP-D!P Weekly magazine!

Please send your proposals for Conference to meynell@meynellgames.org.uk or if you have questions and want to discuss things with me first then you can either drop me an email or call me on 01323 730500.

If you want to be a presenter but do not have your ideas for a session firmed up please let me know your initial thoughts.