A national conference in London last week heard that 100,000 qualified staff would be needed to support the growth of the out-of-school sector in the UK over the next five years, but playwork training is underfunded and few colleges offer courses. The conference was organised by the Kids' Clubs Network (KCN) and SPRITO, the National Training Organisation for the playwork sector.
KCN chief executive Anne Longfield said, 'With such an enormous expansion of out-of-school clubs there is a desperate need to recruit and train thousands of playworkers. This needs to be an urgent priority for Government, colleges and the new Learning and Skills Councils.
'The lack of a trained and qualified workforce could limit the growth of school-age childcare despite the enormous demand from parents and funding available from Government.'
The 'Kids Up Front' conference, chaired by Nursery World editor Liz Roberts, called for the Learning and Skills Councils, further and higher education colleges and England's Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships to work together to devise strategies to build the out-of-school care workforce, and stressed the need for training for playworkers to be available in every area.
Stephen Studd, chief executive of SPRITO, said, 'There is a growing recognition of the importance of play in a child's development. Similarly, in our modern age, the role of adults is increasingly important in providing opportunities to play. The training and qualifications of these playworkers is central to ensuring that there is real quality playwork as a result.
'For the first time, with Government backing, we have the opportunity to build a national framework of qualifications and training appropriate and accessible to this important, newly emerging profession.'
The KCN supports playworkers' training with the Playcare Pack, a resource to help trainers set up and run programmes for qualifications including NVQ levels 2 and 3 in playwork, produced in association with the National Extension College. Visit the NEC website at www.nec.ac.ukor call 01223 400 309 for details.
