Nursery World - Out of School futures think-tank

Kids' Clubs Network, the national membership charity for out-of-school clubs, has set up a new policy think-tank to look into the future of out-of-school childcare. The group, Out of School Futures, will explore the challenges involved in recruiting and training enough workers to meet the Government's expansion targets, encouraging new providers to get involved and identifying ongoing sources of support to ensure that clubs in disadvantaged areas are sustainable. The panel will also consider the impact of the change in funding priorities for the New Opportunities Fund, given that the current round of funding for new out-of-school places is due to end in 2003.

The panel will also consider the impact of the change in funding priorities for the New Opportunities Fund, given that the current round of funding for new out-of-school places is due to end in 2003.

The group will meet quarterly and develop policy solutions that will be fed in to the KCN's forthcoming blueprint for the school-age childcare sector, the Next Step, to be launched in June.

The think-tank members include KCN chief executive Anne Longfield and four representatives from early years development and childcare partnerships - Annie Davy from Oxfordshire, Anne Kearsley from Leeds, Pete Middleton from Birmingham and Toby Kinder from Greenwich. They will be joined by Pip O'Bryne, from the London Borough of Camden who is chair of KCN; Steve Keable of Playlines, which funds clubs in the south-west; consultant Jan Anderson; Pat Tartellin of Children's Links, a charitable company that supports clubs in Lincolnshire and Jane Morgan from the KCN Essex office.

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