Training was commissioned by Fife Council Children and Early Years’ Service. The purpose of the work was both general and specific: to help staff consult effectively with the children they work with and to ensure that children’s voices help shape the Respect Policy that the Children and Early Years’ Service is in the process of drafting. As just a small number of Fife’s large out of school workforce participated in this work (which was seen in a sense as a pilot project) the Children and Early Years’ Service was also interested in looking at the implications for the whole service.
23 staff members were registered for the training. The majority of the participants were from 16 of Fife Council’s 52 out of school care clubs, and were a mix of Area Childcare Managers, Senior Childcare practitioners and Childcare Practitioners all of whom work directly with children. They had 3 days training over a 4 week period.
Course co-ordinator Sue Gutteridge is an associate of PLAYLINK, a play and leisure consultancy. Course facilitators were Cathy McCulloch and Rosie Gibson, arts specialist.
The interrelated values that underpinned the approach to this piece of work concerned human rights, the primacy of relationships and the importance of creativity. Respect for the views of children and the recognition that children have a right to be consulted about and have a say in decisions affecting them is articulated in Article 12 of the UNCRC.