Watching brown trout in Loch Lomond is a fine thing to do after school, especially if you live in the middle of Glasgow. And that's just what Denis Barrowcliffe, last year's Playworker of the Year in the Excellence in Childcare Awards, organised for children at the CASC Childcare Project in the Castlemilk area of the city. A quietly spoken man, he also ran an animation video project for eight ten-to 12-year-olds as one of his imaginative indoor after-school activities.
This year, the Excellence in Childcare Awards, run by the Kids' Clubs Network in association with Nursery World and Prima magazines and supported by the DfEE, wants to recognise childcarers of equal calibre. The awards will be sponsored by Pearl, jmc, Asda and Nestle, which are donating generous holiday and cash prizes. And there will also be a new category for nominations - Prima Childcarer of the Year. Winners will receive their awards and prizes at a glamorous gala dinner at London's Savoy Hotel on 26 June, during Kids' Clubs Week. Now is the time to send in your nominations, before 11 May, for the people you'd like to see win awards in the categories below.
Childcarer of the Year
Do you know a childcarer who is dedicated, fun, energetic, imaginative and caring? It could be a childminder, nanny, nursery nurse or any other professionally-qualified childcare worker. Informal carers such as grandparents or friends are not eligible. The prize will be a jmc holiday of the winner's choice to the value of 2,000. The two runners-up will win 500 each.
Playworker of the Year
Colleagues, supervisors, relatives or children can nominate a playworker. The judges are looking for someone who is particularly resourceful and creative, copes well in a crisis and has made a real difference within their club.
The nomination form will ask you to provide an example of how their quick thinking has proved invaluable in the club; an example showing their dedication to their work; and another illustrating something exceptional they have done. You'll also need to add 50 words describing what makes this playworker truly deserving of the title.
The prize for this category is holiday vouchers worth 1,000 with holiday company jmc. Second and third prizes worth 500 and 250 will be awarded to the other two finalists.
Best Out-of-School Club
Do you know a club with excellent playworkers, innovative programmes and happy, secure and stimulated children? Maybe you have visited such a club and been impressed, or perhaps you work in one? If so, send in your nomination. If it's your own club you will need to get a parent or colleague to back up your application.
Clubs eligible for entry are defined as registered childcare schemes that look after children between the ages of four and 14, usually between 3.30pm and 6pm during term time or full time in the holidays. The best club will be awarded 1,000, with prizes of 750 and 500 for the runners-up.
Most Creative Activity
This award will encompass all registered childcare schemes, from childminders and day nurseries to out-of-school clubs and holiday playschemes. Is your scheme, or one you know, really ambitious with its activities, where the sky's the limit and potential problems are turned into exciting opportunities? Whether it's a programme of unusual arts projects, trips planned with a difference - anything that demonstrates initiative and planning that makes it a really creative scheme - then this award is for you. The top prize will be 1,000, with prizes of 500 for two runners-up.
The closing date for all nominations is 11 May 2001. A shortlist of nominees will be interviewed at their place of work and three finalists will be selected to come to London to be interviewed by the judging panel and attend the awards ceremony. NW All the information about each award and the nomination details are published in the Excellence in Childcare Awards 2001 nomination booklet, which is being sent to all members of Kids' Clubs Network and is available from Kids' Clubs Network, Bellerive House, 3 Muirfield Crescent, London E14 9SZ, tel 020 7512 2112, fax: 020 7512 2010, or e-mail hannah.sugar@kidsclubs.co.uk
