Scout out in playground by church (5)
I believe the answer is:
recce
'scout out' is the definition.
'recce' can be an answer for 'scout' (short for reconnoitre ie to scout out). I am unsure of the 'out' bit.
'playground by church' is the wordplay.
'playground' becomes 'rec' (short for recreation ground).
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'church' becomes 'CE' (Church of England).
'rec'+'ce'='RECCE'
'in' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for recce that I've seen before include "Survey to obtain information" , "Shufti" , "Explore with the aim of gaining useful information" , "Case" , "Exploratory survey (colloq.)" .)