Developing School Age Childcare - Department of Children and ...

4.8.5 Average Fees for children attending out of school childcare is £5 (about €8) daily duringterm time and £10 (€16) daily during full day opening. Parents can receive tax relief onfees paid to registered providers through Working Family Tax Credit and Child TaxCredit.4.8.6 PlayBoard is already providing training in the Republic of Ireland in Pathways toExcellence which aims to help play services achieve and maintain environments that aresafe, caring, encouraging and challenging. Pathways to Excellence sets clear and definedstandards of quality for all aspects of play services, including legislative requirements,creating a child-centred environment, policies and procedures and working withmanagement committees. The pack also strikes a balance between the play and caredebate, acknowledging that whilst quality playwork is intrinsically caring, quality carefor children has creative and stimulating play opportunities at its heart.Australia and New Zealand4.9 New Zealand and Australia have been to the forefront in the development of high qualitychildcare in the English speaking world and are also well advanced in their thinking onschool age childcare.Australia4.10.1 The Commonwealth Government in Australia published a detailed Handbook 23 in 2000outlining its requirements for what it terms “Outside School Hours Care”. Considerablesupport is available to facilitate new school age childcare projects and also to support theschool age childcare needs of parents. The focus of the development model which hasbeen adopted in Australia appears to be quite similar to the Irish funding model, withincentives available to both community/not for profit and to private childcare providers.4.10.2 To incentivise potential providers, set up grants are provided to new school age childcareproviders to meet initial expenses such as insurance, incorporation costs, publicity andother necessary costs. A one off equipment grant is also available to new providers.Special supports are available in areas of special disadvantage and to facilities which arecatering for children with additional needs, which includes children with a disability andchildren from particular ethnic, cultural and linguistic backgrounds.4.10.3 Of particular note is the requirement, in Australia, that, to avail of such grant assistance,school age childcare facilities must comply with strict timetabling rules, both in terms ofdaily opening hours and the number of weeks during which the facility is open.4.10.4 School age childcare facilities in Australia are supported through the payment of fees forservices. However, families who satisfy income and (normally also) Australian residencycriteria may receive a Child Care Benefit which may either be paid directly to the serviceproviding childcare or to the parent as a lump sum. This benefit is only payable toparents whose children are availing of childcare provided by approved childcare servicesor registered informal carers. The detail to hand 24 suggests that the whole administrativesystem for school age childcare is quite onerous but is very clearly defined, open andtransparent.24 23 Department of Family and Community Affairs : Australia : Community-based Outside School Hours Care Handbook24 Ibid. : Chapter 7