How Children in an After-school Service are Involved in Decision-making
Kidz@Play is an early learning and care service and has full daycare, preschool and after school services for babies, toddlers and young children. This example is about how the youngest afterschool children (four and five-year-olds) are involved in decision-making in Kidz@Play. There is a loose schedule or routine for after-school children, but this is moveable.
• When the children arrive after school, they sit wherever they like in the dining room area. They can choose a hot meal or toasted sandwiches and soup, depending on their own and their parents’ preferences. Children can choose how they want their food served, as a lot of children don’t like sauces on food. Children are offered choices from a varied menu and a colourful fruit tray that regularly changes and are asked for feedback about the foods on offer.
• After eating, children usually want to play and are invited to make choices about the way they play.
• The environment is set up based on consultations conducted with afterschool children on what they would like to do and what equipment they would like. One of the main things they asked for was a ‘couch’ to relax on a comfortable seat after a day on school chairs. The couch was bought, and a relaxing area was set up with blankets, throws, cushions and sensory toys.
• The environment is set up into areas of interest, which have moveable dividers so any number of children can play in them. Children can choose to play wherever they want (home corner, arts and crafts, sand, water and other sensory and messy play, indoor construction such as Lego, board games, outdoor free play, outdoor ball games and equipment, story time). Educators became aware of the importance of sensory and messy play for afterschool children by listening to and acting on their views.
• Children want to be outdoors as much as possible, and educators enable them to make choices about what they do outdoors. For example, following building work in the preschool, the afterschool children asked if they could use shovels and wheelbarrows to transfer spare gravel into a large gravel pit to play with, and the educators supported this request.
• Children choose when to do homework based on discussions with the children, parents and teachers. There is a space for homework with educators to support the children. Older children also often help younger children with homework.
• ‘Rules’, ‘inclusion’ and ‘behaviour’ are developed in consultation with the children, educators and parents in line with health and safety and anti-bullying policies. Children are asked to discuss how to include new children, how the environment and resources can be cared for and how disagreements between children can be resolved in a collaborative and non-judgemental way. The ‘rules’ of inclusion are visible for the children and discussed with them.
• Children are also consulted on many other aspects of the afterschool and offered voting options such as names in jars. These aspects include:
– The books they want to read
– Toys and other resources
– Special events and parties
– Movies
How the young children were ensured SPACE, VOICE, AUDIENCE and INFLUENCE
Space: 
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Voice:
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Audience:
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Influence:
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