Playschemes 2016 are a huge success

Cowdenbeath Area Committee was told that the playschemes held in the likes of Benarty, Cardenden and Cowdenbeath had given children a time which saw them have fun and learn at the same time.

Carol Notman, Fife Childcare Services Team Manager, told councillors that without doubt the playschemes satisfied a need for families who were able to access it.

It was in 2015 that the Area Committee asked that a service be delivered that gave children the chance to have fun and at the same time access regular meals during the six weeks of the summer school holidays.

Carol told the Area Committee: "It was agreed that the best approach would be to offer the service three days a week for each of the six weeks of the school break.

"There were three bases, at St Kenneth's Primary in Ballingry; Cowdenbeath Primary in Broad Street and Cardenden Primary and a total of 61 children aged between five and 11 attended.

"Each of the playschemes offered similar types of activities which included things like scavenger hunts in school playgrounds, visits from the MAC bus, a construction toys challenge, an 'art attack session, an 'Olympics event', beat he goalie and a wide range of toys, board games and sports equipment.

"In addition to this each playscheme had a visit from Cool Creatures and met up with a variety of animals such as baby skunks, meerkats and tortoises. The children enjoyed handling them and hearing how to look after them and there wre also visits from the Suit and Pace team from Lochgelly who delivered an interactive story telling session."

Looking at the catering provided Carol added: "At lunchtimes the children were offered a range of hot and cold dishes followed by fresh fruit.

"At all three playschemes children also learned how to make home made pizza and some home baking items, which they consumed throughout the day or were able to take home.

"This year we were very fortunate to be gifted a selection of bread products by Baynes the Bakers while we also had a contract with Fareshare Dundee who provided a wide range of dry goods and cereals, which were made up into family food bags so each child went home with one each of the three evenings which was warmly welcomed by parents.

"It was noted in all three playschemes that many children appeared hungry and they welcomed being able to access food at all times through the day."

The Team Manager concluded: "The playschemes allowed regular contact with families who may not have any other form of support and the children's activities were planned so that they were fun, but in many cases educational and it is likely that the 'learning loss' experienced during lengthy holidays will have been minimised for these children.

"The model used to support families is now tried and tested and appeared to work well."

The report impressed the committee and Lochs councillor Alex Campbell said: "The playscheme teams did superbly and produced great results."

Lochgelly and Cardenden councillor Linda Erskine commented: "Every penny spent on looking after children in this sort of way is money well invested.

"The food parcels seemed to work really well."

Councillors Mary Lockhart and Gary Guichan both praised the work of the playscheme teams and committee chairman Mark Hood said: "Ensuring that children enjoy their holiday break and have fun is so important but also them receiving regular meals is another key element."