Playwork and out of school settings

Advice and guidance for out of school providers.

Playwork is an approach to working with children, in which children determine and control the content and intent of their play, rather than it be led or directed.

The play process for children includes exploration, trying out things, testing boundaries of ability as they grow and learning from successes and mistakes to build resilience and adaptability.

Playwork is a service delivered by adults for children in a range of settings to include out of school and holiday clubs, youth work and adventure playgrounds.

The Playwork Principles

The Playwork Principles establish a professional and ethical framework for playwork and must be seen as a whole. The Playwork Principles underpin every aspect of playworkers work. They define the playwork approach and provide a shared understanding of what playworkers do.

The Playwork Principles describe what is special and unique about play (Principles 1 and 2). They provide a working definition of play and why it is different to other behaviours. They also describe the playwork approach and point of view when working with children and young people (Principles 3 to 8).

For more information on the Playwork, see The Playwork Principles an overview: Play Scotland (PDF)

Quality in play

Play England have developed a Quality in Play quality assurance system to support supervised play and childcare provision for school aged children.

You can download their free quality assurance system and framework for service development here, Quality in Play Resources

More resources on Playwork

Safeguarding guidance for providers

The Department For Education (DfE) have published non-statutory guidance for organisations or individuals who provide community activities, tuition or after school clubs for children. This guidance will help providers run safe settings to ensure the welfare of the children attending them.

Safeguarding Guidance for Providers (gov.uk)

National Wraparound Childcare Programme

The National Wraparound Childcare Programme is part of the childcare reforms announced at the 2023 Spring Budget. The government’s ambition is that by 2026, all parents and carers of primary school aged children who need it will be able to access term time childcare in their local area from 8:00am to 6:00pm, so that parents can access employment and improve labour market participation.
For more information on the national wraparound programme visit:

Wraparound childcare: guidance for local authorities (gov.uk)

Wraparound childcare: guidance for schools and trusts in England (gov.uk)

Support for new childcare providers in Worcestershire

The Early Years team provides support to newly registered childcare providers across Worcestershire. We can also offer support and advice pre -registration to support you through the Ofsted registration process.

For more information on the support available please call us on 01905 844048 or email at eycc@worcestershire.gov.uk

Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme

Information about the holiday activities and food programme for parents and providers visit Holidays, Activities and Food (HAF) Programme.