The number of out-of-school clubs has more than doubled in the past four years to 7,000. The Government wants 12,000 to be established by 2004 and an estimated 30,000 extra staff will be needed. So if you are an early years practitioner thinking about working with older children this is a good time to do so as there are likely to be a growing number of vacancies. However, bear in mind the following:
Working hours and pay
* There are fewer full-time jobs in playwork than in early years. The hours are usually from about 2.30pm to 6.30pm in term time and 8.30am to 6.30pm in the holidays if the club runs a holiday scheme. There may also be a breakfast club. Some playworkers also do another part-time job - working as a classroom assistant or lunch-time supervisor is common - to extend their earnings.
* When considering a job, make sure the hours allow for planning, setting up and clearing away. It takes time to make a club welcoming and prepare materials.
* Playwork hours can be difficult to balance with family life as you are working when your children are out of school, but you may be able to take your own children to the club or to work two or three afternoons a week. If you have pre-school children, the combination of part-time hours in term-time and full-time hours in the holidays means that you will need flexible childcare.
* Some out-of-school clubs offer good rates of pay but many playworkers are still poorly paid for the important job they do. The Association of Playworkers (01392 383221), which is currently researching pay and conditions across the country, says that salaries range from the minimum wage to Pounds 20,000pa.
Training
* You can get a job in playwork with an early years qualification but you are likely to be encouraged to train in playwork once you are in a job.
* Although clubs will have a transition period, the new National Standards for Under Eights Day Care and Childminding say that a person in charge of an out-of-school club must have at least a level-3 qualification appropriate to the post, with two years' experience in a daycare setting. At least half of the rest of the staff must hold an appropriate level-2 qualification.
* SPRITO, the training organisation for playwork (020 7388 7755 ext 207 or www.playwork. org.uk) can tell you which qualifications are suitable under the new standards. It has a training information pack and can also put you in touch with your nearest National Centre for Playwork Education.
* Your local Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership should also be able to advise on local courses and any funding for playwork students.
* Training has to be done in your own time, which some people can find difficult. A Playwork NVQ 2, for example, usually takes about six months to one year, part-time; level 3 takes one to two years, part-time.
Good practice
* Experienced playworkers maintain that play should be freely chosen and self-directed. A successful play setting will have a choice for young people with activities that are exciting and extend children's interests and abilities. Initially, early years workers may sometimes be over-protective when it comes to working with older children. They may have concerns about whether they should be allowed to use equipment like sharp knives, hot glue guns and sewing machines. They also sometimes question whether children should be left in a room without a member of staff to make their own plans. There are clearly safety considerations to take into account, but equally, older children need to be allowed to develop their independence. Proper playwork training is therefore vital to help workers maintain adventurous play within a safe framework.
* Recent research conducted by the Children's Play Council (020 7278 6016) found that the activities children and young people liked best were:
- playing and being with friends
- sporty activities - such as football, swimming
- trips
- making things, cooking, crafts
- variety!
They also wanted:
- more places to meet with friends
- more outdoor activities
- more opportunities for disabled children
- places to get drinks and snacks
- cleaner and better toilets
Children are the most important source of information on how to run an out-of-school club - if there is nothing that appeals to them things are more likely to go pear-shaped!
CASE HISTORY- GAINING CONFIDENCE
'I think it's great fun, it's challenging work and it keeps you on your toes,' says Helen Clarkin, who set up Schools Out! in 1994 with a grant from Playlines, an organisation in Devon she heard about at a Kids' Clubs Network conference. The club, which is in Whipton, Exeter, is part of a community campus centre on the site of a primary school and takes children who are rising five to those who are 12 years old.
Helen, who has taken a step back from running the club because of personal reasons, and now works as a playwork organiser combined with a job as learning support assistant at the school, feels that you probably have to be more extrovert to work with older children than with younger ones. 'You mustn't be afraid of making a fool of yourself,' she laughs.
Having run a mother-and-toddler group for seven years before she started the club, Helen says it was very strange to work with older children. 'I wasn't used to having 11-year-olds and I was worried what their behaviour might be like and the things they would ask me.' She also found it difficult to get the craft ability levels right at first. However, the combination of her own two children hitting the same age group, playwork training and her growing experience in the job gave her increasing confidence. 'The older girls, for example, like to listen to music and chat and it was a learning process for us to realise that they didn't have to be 'doing something'. She also learnt to anticipate 'the boys winding each other up' and to divert that behaviour before it happened.
'I enjoyed a cuddle and reading a story to the little ones but I like the challenge of the older ones - they will reason and argue with you,' says Helen. 'I also have to think more about planning as older children need constant stimulation. You never know how they are going to come in - happy, unhappy. No day is the same. I like boosting their self-esteem as they can be crushed from rows with friends and their day at school.'
Lesley Lake, who works as overall manager of the centre where Schools Out! is held, says, 'Our playworkers have been working here for a long time and they still really enjoy it. Children come to the club every day... some of them for years, and you can watch them grow and develop. It's not school, so we can set boundaries in different ways. We also have keyworkers who can give more one-to-one attention.'
Julia Perry, who has taken over from Helen as club co-ordinator, says that it is difficult to recruit playworkers because of the short hours and the time of day. A number of staff are parents who started working in the centre's creche with under- fives and then in the holiday playschemes. All of the four key staff have gone on to achieve NVQ 3 in Playwork.
'We would be happy to recruit workers with an early years background,' says Julia. 'This is because there are lots of little ones who come to Schools Out! who need skilled workers. Staff with early years experience are more likely to feel confident working with the younger age range at first. They can gradually get a feel for working with the older children by watching other members of staff. We would then support them through training.'
At School's Out! unqualified sessional staff earn 4.80 ph, qualified staff 5.80 ph. Key workers are part time and paid an annual salary based on 7.50 to 8.50 ph.
Contact Playlines on 01392 382023. For similar organisations covering areas outside Devon contact your local EYDCP.
