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

play a child learns to deal with feelings, to interact with others, to resolve conflicts andto gain a sense of competence. It is through play that children develop their imaginationand creativity” 659.7 Other Aspects of the School Age Childcare Programme - Homework9.7.1 Brief mention was made previously about linkages between education and school agechildcare and of the development of the ‘homework club”. Homework clubs weregenerally established in areas of disadvantage to nurture the educational attainment ofchildren. It has also been noted that this activity is outside the scope of the presentReport.9.7.2 That said, school aged childcare services often provide facilities, help and supervision forchildren to complete homework as part of the range of services. Whereas the WorkingGroup acknowledges that homework support may be an element of a range of activitieswithin the school aged childcare service, it recommends that homework support shouldnot be the core activity of a school aged childcare service.9.7.3 In this regard, the ENSAC recommendations state that:“We see [homework support] as one legitimate activity among others, complementingthe school and relieving parents and children of an onerous task, at the end of a workingday. But mostly school-age childcare services provide for children’s free time - orobligations to one side; they do not have to study, do household chores or sit still in class.“We believe that this is when children can be themselves, and make their own choice asto activities, play and companions.” 669.7.4 The issue of homework is one on which parents are likely to have views and these shouldbe canvassed by the school age childcare provider. It may be that some parents have apreference towards the completion of homework in the school age childcare facilitywhile others may prefer to have homework completed at home. This may present achallenge to the childcare practitioner some of whose clients may require a quiet periodto complete homework while other members of the peer group undertake alternativeactivities. Similarly the older children will require a significantly longer period toundertake their homework than that needed by the younger client group.9.7.5 The Working Group recommends that dialogue with the parents and children iscritical on the issue of homework. So too is careful planning to ensure that thosechildren, whose parents prefer that they complete their school homework at the schoolage childcare facility, do not feel that they are missing out on prime activities. Thenegative impact that this could have on the quality of the homework scarcely needs tobe mentioned.9.8 Other Aspects of the School Age Childcare Programme - Risk9.8.1 The issue of risk is of increasing importance and concern throughout all aspects of lifetoday. It is of particular concern to those entrusted with the care of children. However,as noted in “Best Play” as recently as 2000“Risk taking is a natural and desirable aspect of children’s play that they will seek outfor themselves.”65 Expert Working Group : ibid66 ENSAC: ibid.69