Speaking at the Scottish Out of School Care Network (SOSCN) AGM in Glasgow last month, Cathy Jamieson, education minister, said that there was an opportunity for out-of-school clubs to play a key role in the New Community Schools programme in Scotland under which schools can employ non-teaching staff to run integrated services for pupils and their families.
The Scottish Executive is making 30.6m available to local authorities over the next two years to roll out the approach. Ms Jamieson said, 'Whilst I accept that school premises are not always suitable for after-school clubs, where they are, I would encourage local authorities and head teachers to accommodate them wherever possible.'
Janet Law, national policy officer for SOSCN welcomed the move. 'We believe and hope that the non-teaching staff under the new programme will help set up clubs or support parents to do so,' she said. Free accommodation would also help clubs with costs, she said.
The Scottish Executive has set up a working party to consider out-of-school clubs, which will be publishing a strategy later this year. It has also funded the SOSCN to produce The Benefits of Out of School Care - 25 case studies which is available at www.soscn.org.
