However, comments by Anne Longfield, chief executive of Kids' Clubs Network, about playwork and qualifications for out-of-school staff cannot go unchallenged. She says the training needed is not quite playwork because it doesn't include providing children with meals, dealing with parents or looking after children on a continuous basis. This is inaccurate and misleading. Anne Davy's Playwork: Play and care for children aged Five to 15, a primer for the NVQ and S/NVQ in Playwork, includes sections on food preparation and hygiene, working with parents and carers and forming and maintaining good relationships with children.
The framework of qualifications and training being developed by the relevant playwork NTO and the Central and Regional Council's endorsing playwork training has been designed to support the Government's National Childcare Strategy. Indeed, many playworkers have felt the emphasis on meeting the demands of the Childcare Strategy has downplayed rather than promoted the values of playwork.
Playwork has evolved to compensate for the loss of opportunities and spaces for children to play. The growth in out-of-school clubs has had a profound impact on the social and cultural life of the children who use them. Children need time to play with friends, explore and take risks.
As well as caring for children the adults who work in these settings need to have an understanding of children's play and how to support them in their playing. In short, they need to be playworkers.
Steven Chown, play development officer, Leeds City Council
