Meet the parents

Playworkers and parents both want children to enjoy club as much as possible. In this sense, they are always working together, so it is interesting that talking to each other is potentially fraught with difficulty.

When children, parents and staff come to club, they bring much more than the obvious. All three come with conscious, that is, thought about, expectations. They also bring unconscious, that is, not thought about, expectations. And it is these unconscious expectations that can muddle conversations. Let us think about eight-year-old Stephanie at her after-school club.

At 'snack time' one evening, Stephanie got into a scuffle and received a small scratch on her face. Her playworker, Margaret, was quick on the scene. She assessed the situation as a 'six-of-one and half-a-dozen of the other' kind. As the scratch was slight and superficial, she took no further action. Stephanie continued to attend club happily. However, a couple of weeks later, the club leader heard that Stephanie's father had complained to the education office that his daughter had been 'clawed' in the snack queue and he 'wanted something done'.