Playwork and Wraparound Provision

Cambridgeshire County Council is committed to supporting high-quality wraparound care as well as holiday club provision, by helping settings create rich opportunities for children’s play in line with these principles:

1. All children and young people need to play. The impulse to play is innate. Play is a biological, psychological and social necessity, and is fundamental to the healthy development and wellbeing of individuals and communities.
2. Play is a process that is freely chosen, personally directed and intrinsically motivated. That is, children and young people determine and control the content and intent of their play, by following their own instincts, ideas and interests, in their own way for their own reasons.
3. The prime focus and essence of playwork is to support and facilitate the play process, and this should inform the development of play policy, strategy, training and education.
4. For playworkers, the play process takes precedence, and playworkers act as advocates for play when engaging with adult-led agendas.
5. The role of the playworker is to support all children and young people in the creation of a space in which they can play.
6. The playworker’s response to children and young people playing is based on a sound up to date knowledge of the play process, and reflective practice.
7. Playworkers recognise their own impact on the play space and also the impact of children and young people’s play on the playworker.
8. Playworkers choose an intervention style that enables children and young people to extend their play. All playworker interventions must balance risk with the developmental benefit and wellbeing of children.

More information about the eight playwork principles and the Charter for Children’s Play can be found on the following websites: 

• The Playwork Principles - Play Wales.
• The Playwork Principles - Play Scotland.
• Charter for Children's Play. Size: 290KB File format: pdf

We advise that all wraparound care provisions, both school-run and private, voluntary, and independent (PVI), follow the guidance set out within the early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework for group and school-based providers. Size: 711KB File format: pdf

For primary-aged children attending a breakfast club, statutory school age and above:

• There must be sufficient staff for a class of 30 children.
• Providers must determine how many staff are needed to ensure the safety and welfare of children, considering activity, age, and needs.
• The provider must decide what qualifications, if any, the manager and staff should have (EYFS statutory framework, section 3.57).

If there are children present within the wraparound care provision younger than reception class age, there must be a level 3 present, working directly with the children. The provision ratio for these children would be 1:8. This is a legal requirement under the EYFS.

Supervision and deployment (EYFS 3.57):

• Children must be adequately supervised at all times, including while eating.
• Staff should be deployed effectively to meet children’s needs and ensure their safety.
• Consider the layout of the space and visibility – children should be within sight and hearing of staff during meals.

Safety and welfare:

• Best practice is to have at least two staff members present at all times.
• Risk assessments to be completed for all identifiable areas of the provision.

First aid:

For children aged five to 11 in wraparound care, the requirements depend on the setting's registration.

• If the setting is Ofsted registered on the childcare register, compulsory for children up to age eight, voluntary for those over eight, there must be at least one person with a full 12-hour Paediatric First Aid (PFA) certificate on-site and available and working directly with the children.
• This applies even if the provision does not care for children under five, as long as it is registered and provides care for children in reception and above.
• The six-hour emergency PFA course is not sufficient to meet this requirement in registered settings.

For best practice, we recommend that providers of both PVI and school-based provisions have multiple trained members of staff in the 12-hour PFA, inclusive of practical elements. This is to ensure that all areas are covered.

The National Wraparound Childcare Programme is a UK government initiative launched in 2023 to support working families by expanding access to affordable, high-quality childcare outside normal school hours. Backed by £289 million in funding, the programme aims to ensure that all parents of primary-aged children can access care from 8 am to 6 pm during term time, typically through breakfast and after-school clubs. Delivery is coordinated by local authorities in partnership with schools, trusts, and private, voluntary, and independent providers. The focus is on flexibility, inclusivity, and sustainability, helping parents balance work and family life while maintaining consistent standards of care. The programme is expected to be widely available from September 2024.

More information can be found on the Wraparound childcare webpage.

There is no local authority funding available. However, there may be national funding to support set-up costs where applicable.

The Cambridgeshire 0-19 Place Planning team can support any provider or school with the development/setup of a breakfast club, including business planning, advice on space and staffing, and so forth. Email PlacePlanningReferrals0-19@cambridgeshire.gov.uk.

Greggs Foundation | Schools.

The school is provided with fresh bread from their nearest Greggs shop, and a grant to support start-up and ongoing costs. The average club costs are £2,000 to set up and run for a year. Eligibility: various criteria, including at least 40% of the pupils at the school being eligible to claim free school meals.

Kellogg's Breakfast Club Grants Programme Primary School Application Form.

In partnership with Forever Manchester, grants of £1,000 are awarded to school Breakfast Clubs to help them provide breakfast to those children who need it most. Eligibility: 35% and above of children eligible for pupil premium funding, or schools that are based in an area which is classified as falling in the 10% of most deprived areas according to the Index of Multiple Deprivation. If the school has received breakfast club funding from Gregg's or Magic Breakfast within the current academic year, the application will not be considered a priority for support.

Unleash Unstructured Play Power.

Let Grow Play Club itself is very simple, just let kids onto the playground or into the gym before or after school and let them play. Play club involves unstructured play, with kids of all ages playing together and adults stepping back. Funding: £500 per new project in the UK and other countries. To access funding, complete a 30-day challenge and report the impact of your project.

We are considering the possibility of starting a breakfast club, and to ensure that the needs of the families in this school are taken into consideration, we need to gain further information. We would be grateful if you could complete this questionnaire and return it to school by __ __ __ __.

Please note, if you have more than one child and have received more than one copy of this questionnaire, please just fill in one.

Thank you for taking the time to complete this questionnaire. Please send it to the school with your child or return it to the school office.