Paradoxes of playwork practice in an English primary school

This publication is about policy reforms and circumstances where playwork practice intersects with primary education, early intervention and prevention. This chapter discusses the consequences of these reforms upon playwork professionals, and seeks to critically explore an example of the way in which playwork is practiced in formal settings. The chapter’s focus is on how these shifts are experienced on a micro-level by playworkers in an English primary school. This chapter will consider such complexities and challenges within and beyond playwork when working in interagency and interprofessional contexts; specifically, in English primary schools. While the focus is local, such challenges are increasingly global.