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SCHOOL'S OUT: Framework for the Development of Out-of-School Care
Section 5
Consulting children
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is relevant in the context of this OSC development framework.
Revised guidance on planning for children's services, issued to local authorities and their partners in October 2001, sets out the main outcomes for children's services. These outcomes are closely linked to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
- Children and their parents and families should be involved and consulted about important decisions and children should be respected.
- Children should receive good-quality care and, wherever possible, grow up in a positive family setting. If the family setting is not positive, support should be given to tackle this. If it is impossible to achieve a positive family setting, the child's experience outside such a setting should be as near as possible to a family upbringing.
- Children should receive good opportunities for recreation, leisure and play.
- Children should enjoy the highest standard of health possible.
- Children should be protected from all forms of abuse and exploitation.
- Children should benefit from a positive learning environment and be supported to explore, enjoy and develop their personality, talents, and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential.
There are many good examples of childcare partnerships and local authorities consulting children.
Good practice A Children's Network has been set up in North East Fife as a pilot project to see how children who use OSC services can be encouraged to help shape the services they use in the future. The children, who are at several clubs, take part in meetings when the playleaders and management committee members come together to discuss issues. The children have a small budget of 100 that they must manage. With this, they are organising visits to other clubs, including some in other parts of Scotland. This is helping the children to develop financial, negotiating and decision-making skills. This pilot project is supported and funded by Fife Childcare Partnership. |
Voluntary sector providers of OSC have said the following.
'Children and parents have been issued with information on children's rights. Staff have had input on children's rights including the ladder of participation. However, we feel this needs further progression and we are currently developing a staff training programme on children's participation.'
'Staff attend training courses which involve the rights of a child and
UN Convention.'
(The Scottish Out of School Care Network: The Benefits of Out of School Care - 25 case studies - A report produced on behalf of the Scottish Executive, May 2002.)
Commissioner for Children and Young People
Ministers welcome the proposed establishment of a Commissioner for Children and Young People in Scotland. If established, a Commissioner could:
- provide a voice for the most vulnerable and deprived children in Scotland;
- raise awareness of children's rights among children and young people, and the wider public; and
- play an important role in closing the opportunity gap for Scotland's children and young people.
Consulting children
The working group carried out a focused consultation with children and young people. Their views are important in developing OSC and associated services. We issued a questionnaire to 325 children. We also consulted 56 children with additional support needs and 57 older children who no longer use OSC.
Many clubs, local authorities and childcare partnerships regularly consult children. This focused consultation complements these local consultations.
The socio-economic context for the clubs taking part in our consultation is as follows.
- About 40 children go to one club in Greater Govan, Glasgow. The club is based in a former community centre. The club collects children from five local schools. Most parents who use the service are in low-paid jobs, often combining shift work with studying. The club has provided an interpreter for children who do not speak English. From time to time, the local authority social work services place children in the club.
- About 60 children go to the Bishopbriggs Childcare Centre for breakfast and after-school care. The private provider also runs OSC in six primary schools in mixed-catchment areas.
- Over 220 children go to 10 clubs in West Scotland serving 38 schools. The services are run by Peace of Mind for Parents (POMP) and Cumbernauld YMCA and YWCA. 14% of the children who go to the clubs have additional support needs. About 40% of the children live in lone-parent households.
- Kids Clubs Direct is a private provider that runs five clubs, two of which are in deprived areas. 3% of the children are from minority ethnic backgrounds and 48% live in lone-parent households.
- The children with additional support needs go to three special schools. They come from very different backgrounds.
- The previous users of OSC went to clubs in Glasgow (Social Inclusion Partnership (SIP) and non-SIP areas), Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire and East Dunbartonshire.
The full analysis of the consultation is in Appendix 2. The summary of the consultation is as follows.
Information Children who currently go to clubs - Favourite indoor activities are arts and crafts, board games, gym and football.
- Favourite outdoor activities are football, other sports and games, and visiting the park.
- Children like to socialise with friends, take part in sport, games and role playing, and make or eat snacks.
- 33% of children do their homework at the club or get help with their homework.
- Of the children who do not do their homework at the club, 23% would like to do it there.
- One child who did not like to do his homework at home said: 'I would prefer to do it up on the moon!'.
- Most children do activities at the club which they also do during the normal school day. These include sport, art, drama, music and play. Half the children said they received education about relationships and respect for others at both the school and the club.
- About half of children who go to the clubs (but more girls than boys and more younger than older children) would like a range of activities they don't currently get. These include sport, music, drama, art, green issues, healthy eating, and advice about drink, drugs and smoking.
- 23% of children who go to the clubs also go to Out of School Hours Learning (OSHL) or study support. In OSHL, they do sport, art, reading, writing, computing and music.
- The children had very different experiences in terms of the quality of the club environment. Some liked the space and freedom. Others thought the building was very poor.
- 74% of children who go to school-based OSC said they like being in school after the school day ends.
- 80% of children said their playleader or other staff member asked them for their views on their club.
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Information Children with additional support needs who go to OSC - The average age of children who go to OSC is 14.
- Favourite indoor activities are listening to, or playing, music, physical games, for example, rounders, computing, TV, arts and crafts, board games, swimming and relaxing in the multi-sensory room.
- Children like having fun with the staff, being with different people, spending time with friends and helping younger children on the computer.
- Some children don't like activities if they are not included, if there is loud noise or if there are too many people. Some don't like watching other children do what they can't do. Some don't like going over uneven ground while in their power chairs.
- The favourite outdoor activities are going for walks, playing or watching sport, gardening, shopping, horse riding, and going on outings to the zoo, cinema and butterfly farm.
- 60% of the children get homework and half of these do their homework at the club.
- At both the school and the club, 83% of the children do sport, 73% do music, 35% do art and 20% do drama. 25% are taught about relationships and respect for others in both settings.
- 10% of the children also go to out-of school-hours learning (OSHL) or study support.
- 89% of the children like the room the club is in.
- 85% of the children like being in school after the school day ends but one child said: 'As I live in the school, it would be good to go somewhere else'.
- 81% of the children are asked by staff for their views on their club.
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Information Older children who no longer go to OSC - 38% of the children are of primary-school age and 62% are at secondary school.
- 52% of the older children say out-of-school activities should be in the school, 22% say they should be elsewhere (in a community centre or sports centre) and the rest are undecided.
- 84% of the older children went to clubs because their parents were at work. Some liked the sport. One said: 'My mum is boss, so I went and it was fun!'.
- Most said they left the club because they are old enough to look after themselves.
- Older children would like to go to a different sort of club that provides activities suitable to their age - sport, music, drama, arts, computer games and surfing the web.
- The purpose of our focused consultation was to collect the views and comments of children and young people from a number of settings, and take account of these in School's Out. So, the views and comments are highlighted throughout, either in the form of a direct quote or by summarising the response on a particular issue.
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