Edinburgh Evening News, 17/02/2003

Scotland's first out-of-school club for children with special needs has opened in the capital, Edinburgh.

Kidzcare, at St Crispin’s School near Edinburgh University’s King’s Buildings, has been launched following £100,000 of funding from the Scottish Executive and Edinburgh Council.

Ten pupils have already enrolled, with parents praising the centre for boosting the confidence of their children and allowing mums and dads to return to work. Unlike children in mainstream education, pupils at Kidzcare have a combination of complex learning difficulties and autistic spectrum disorders. They require a higher staff to child ratio, usually one-to-one or one-to-two, rather than the one-to-eight ratio found in mainstream after-school clubs.

Higher staffing costs have made the prospect of such clubs financially unsustainable in the past, but thanks to support from the Scottish Executive’s New Opportunities Fund and the council’s Childcare Strategy Unit, Kidzcare has launched a service described as "much-needed."

Anne Marie Dunn, director of Kidzcare, explained: "The feedback we’ve had from parents and pupils involved has been very positive so far. The kids love being able to play after school and are learning at every opportunity.  All the parents wanted is the same opportunities for their children as parents of mainstream children. They wanted the right to work and have access to affordable, reliable after-school care, safe in the knowledge that their children were given the opportunity to learn about life through play just as any other child. Both of these objectives have already been met through this project. We’ve also got plans to pilot new schemes which will see some of these children take part in Kidzcare’s mainstream after school clubs - something which will benefit both sets of children."

The club offers a soft playroom, a calming sensory room and the chance to visit attractions such as Dynamic Earth and Deep Sea World.

St Crispin’s headteacher, Eunice Murray, said the new club was "meeting real needs for the children and their families."

She added: "We have been working for almost a year now to provide an after-school club and summer holiday play scheme for pupils with special needs. This club provides excellent opportunities for pupils to engage in a range of different activities within a setting that is familiar to them. We are particularly excited about the links which are being built with Kidzcare mainstream clubs. This is of benefit to all the young people and we are hoping that these links can be strengthened over the coming year."