These figures are used
extensively by SPPA in terms of information and advice queries, to highlight
the statistics in funding applications and to provide a general overview of the
pre-school voluntary sector.
SPPA member groups were
surveyed utilising the following groupings:
Playgroups {407} / Playgroup
with Wrap Around Care {21} / Under Fives Groups {36} / Family Centres {16} /
All Day Care Groups {36} / All Day Care Groups with Out of School Care {55}
Combined Playgroups and Parent and Toddler Groups {114} / Combined
Playgroup/Toddler with Wraparound Care {2} / Out of School Care Groups {15} /
Playschemes {1} Crèche {3} are collated under the heading of Playgroups as
these are in the majority.
530 Parent and Toddler
Groups are collated separately.
Member & Associate Groups
SPPA currently supports a
total of 1239 groups throughout
The following information
originates from annual questionnaire returns. All figures shown are exact from
the groups that responded unless marked* which indicates that they were
projected from the 41% response rate.
Number of children in SPPA groups
There are over 34,000*
children in SPPA groups throughout
Within playgroups,
4% are 0-1years
6% are 1-2 years
24% are 2-3 years
34% are 3-4 years
18% are 4-5 years
Of the 8,305 children
recorded 7,678 are registered with the Care Commission. 92% are therefore registered.
In the majority of groups
there were between 10 - 30 children attending each session.
Within toddler groups 83%
are under three and 17% are 3 or over,
At
Additional Support Needs
128 children with additional
support needs attend 86 SPPA groups.
Sessions
The majority of playgroups
operate 5 sessions per week. The
majority of parent & toddler groups operate 1 or 2 sessions per week for up
to two and a half hours.
Staffing
Within the 322 playgroups
that responded, there were 1293 play staff employed and 193 other staff
employed. 18 of the 209 parent & toddler
groups that responded employed a playworker.
Playworkers hourly rate of pay
32% of groups paid £5.35 -
£5.99 per hour
37% of groups paid £6.00-£6.99
per hour
24% of groups paid £7.00
- £7.99 per hour
7% of groups paid over £8.00
per hour
249 staff members are
Managers
139 staff members are
Lead Practitioners
410 staff members are
Practitioners
115 staff members are
Support workers
249 groups have appointed
a manager who is in charge of the day to day management of the service. 61 groups have not appointed a manger. Of the 249 managers, 176 have applied for
SSSC registration.
Fees paid per child
25% of toddler groups
charged less than £1 per session
7% of playgroups and 57%
of toddler groups charged £1.00- £1.99 per session
18% of toddler groups
charged over £2.00 per session
17% of playgroups charged
£2.00-£2.99 per session
36% of playgroups charged
£3.00 - £3.99 per session
21% of playgroups charged
£4.00 - £4.99 per session
19% of playgroups charged
over £5 per session.
Of the 322 playgroup
respondents there are 8160 parents and carers on the committee and of the 209
toddler group respondents there are 977 committee members.
In addition the
playgroups also have 1060 volunteer parents & carers helping in their playroom
and 1472 parents and carers providing voluntary support in other ways.
Months when AGM’s are held
Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
1 1 3 13 47 106 3 19 65 14 5 2
8 7 16 18 29 40 30 20 24 4 9 3
51% of responders indicated they
were affected by funding issues.
30% of responders indicated they
were affected by staff qualifications and training issues
23% of responders indicated they
were affected by sustaining the group i.e. lack of children
16% of responders indicated they were
affected by committee problems
16%
of responders indicated they were affected by regulatory issues
13% of responders indicated they
were affected by employment issues
Several groups expressed concerns once
again this year regarding the huge bureaucratic burden for voluntary management
committees. Loss of SPPA development
workers where funding has been withdrawn in
Reasons for belonging to SPPA
Playgroups rated in order
of importance the reasons for belonging to SPPA as follows:
1st Access
to advice & support
2nd Access
to specialised insurance
3rd Being
part of a national organisation
Joint 4th Access to publications and access to
training
What other services would you like SPPA to provide?
Groups suggested the
following:
Training for new
committee members
Guidelines for
administrators
Road shows and workshops
Management support at all
levels
In funded areas more
advice and support required.
Access to funding
information
More up to date policies
Income & Expenditure for the last financial year
Income:
11% of playgroups have an
income under £5000
40% of playgroups have an
income of between £5000 – 20,000
49% of playgroups have
over £20,000
Expenditure:
13% of playgroups spent
up to £5,000
36% of playgroups spent
between £5000 – 20,000
51% of playgroups spent
over £20,000
Ethnicity – numbers of people involved with groups
British 9086 / Asian or Asian
British 57 / Mixed Ethnic 63 / Chinese or Chinese British 55 / Pakistani 26 /
Indian 49 / Black or Black British 42 / Bangladeshi 4 / European 73.
There were also 150
fathers and male carers actively involved in the playgroups that responded and 149
within the toddler groups.
Information and Advice Service - Awareness of Service
49% of playgroups are
aware of this service and have 35% used it over the past year. The majority of
groups rated it as a very good service.
57% of toddler groups are
aware of this service and 24% have used it over the past year. The majority of groups rated it as a good
service.
First Five Magazine
65% of playgroups and 84%
of toddler groups circulated First Five
within their group. The majority of both
groups rated the magazine as a very good publication.
TODDLER’S QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS
276 Parent and toddler
groups responded to the questionnaire. The number of children under 3 years on
these group’s registers is 6,287, and over 3 years is 1,204. There were 142 children under three on
waiting lists and 11 over threes.
Birth to Three
85 groups are aware of
the Birth to Three Supporting our Youngest Children booklet, but 109 groups
were unaware of this document.
34% of groups indicated they were
affected by problems of getting a committee
30% of groups indicated they were
affected by trying to sustain the group i.e. lack of children attending
5% of groups indicated they were
affected by too many children attending
Reasons for belonging to SPPA
Toddler groups rated in
order of importance the reasons for belonging to SPPA as follows:
1st. Access to
specialised insurance
2nd. Access to advice and
support
3rd. Being part of a
national organization
4th. Access to
publications
5th. Access to training
Annual Income
91% of toddler groups
have an income of under £5000
8% of toddler groups have
an income between £5,000 - £20,000
1% of toddler groups have
an income over £20,000
Annual Expenditure
95% of toddler groups
spent under £5000
4% of toddler groups
spent between £5,000 - £20,000
1% of toddler groups
spent over £20,000
What other services would toddler groups like SPPA to
provide?
Grant information,
fundraising ideas, and how to recruit volunteers were the main issues that were
highlighted.