PlayBoard provide tailored support programmes to School Aged Childcare providers based on their needs that builds their capacity to meet the minimum standards required for their service.
The support offered to groups frequently covers the following areas;
Compliance to the minimum standards, thereby helping groups address issues arising from previous Social Services Inspections, or help prepare for up and coming Inspections
Sharing of resources relating to both the running of the business and the provision of quality play opportunities for children
Relevant bespoke training in the Playwork approach; in staffing issues; or in working with parents.
PlayBoard’s programme is supported by the local Childcare Partnerships and groups are referred by Social Services, but any group can buy in our services.
A Commitment To Quality
For children, play and childcare services provide them with space to play freely with friends, to relax and to participate in a wide range of activities if they wish to do so. Parents will benefit from School Age Childcare services that have been assessed and recognised as providing a quality provision. The peace of mind they receive from knowing their child is being cared for in a safe, stimulating and welcoming environment is immeasurable.
PlayBoard’s Pathways to Excellence resource is currently under review as we align the resource to Minimum Standards for Childminding and Daycare. Our new toolkit will set out clear and defined standards of quality for all aspects of School Age Childcare services; including legislative requirements as identified in Minimum Standards – Quality of Care; Quality of Staffing, Management & Leadership; Quality of the Physical Environment; Quality of Monitoring & Evaluation and Policies and Procedures. The resource will support practitioner self-evaluation and critical reflection.
The aim of “Pathways to Excellence” is to create and maintain an infrastructure of quality in School Age Childcare that ensures the holistic, healthy development of children, taking account of the varied, highly complex and multifaceted play needs of children.
It is anticipated the scheme will greatly assist ongoing registration and inspection processes and support best practice in play based School Age Childcare settings.
Latest Quality Improvement Programme News:
Governance In A Pandemic
Date: 16 October 2020 Time: 11:00am – 12:00pm Platform: Zoom Back in March when society was placed into lockdown, no one could have imagined the situation lasting as long as it did. Few childcare businesses were prepared for the scenario which faced [...]
Meeting The Childcare Needs Of Families Throughout Covid-19
Childcare has been a critical issue throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Keep up to date with developments at the www.familysupportni.gov.uk information hub on childcare which includes the latest advice and guidance for childcare providers and parents. Read the [...]
EU-Funded Mental Well-being Project Set To Benefit Local Communities
Pictured (l-r) are David Babington, Chief Executive, Action Mental Health; Junior Minister Declan Kearney, NI Executive; Interim Mental Health Champion for Northern Ireland Professor Siobhan O’Neill; Gina McIntyre, Chief Executive, SEUPB; Carol Scullion, Project Manager, OUR Generation, Action Mental [...]
Information Session For Childcare Providers On Financial Support For Parents
Date: 14 October 2020 Time: 10:30am – 11:30am Platform: Zoom Employers For Childcare's Family Benefits Advice Service in partnership with PlayBoard NI is delivering an online information session for childcare providers, to present an overview of the financial [...]
OUR Generation Launches
OUR Generation Launches The OUR Generation project is a Peace IV funded project that provides a unique opportunity for communities, north and south of the Border, to work together to halt the intergenerational [...]
