A Typical Day in Out Of School Clubs.

Throughout our Out of School Clubs it is our priority to make sure that your child gets the most out of their time there, so in order to do this have some daily ground rules. These rules are implemented to ensure the safety and well-being of your children while on their way to club from school and once they are in the club. Each day at Kidzcare you should expect these things to happen on a daily basis.

1. Collections in school playgrounds

As you would expect, our children are given certain boundaries, both physical and behavioural, while they wait in the playground before going to their club. In the playground children can happily run about and play within a pre-designated area in the playground and good behaviour to each other and staff is encouraged. Your child will be supervised at all times. In addition our staff will ensure that all children’s belongings are kept in a designated, supervised place and kept tidy.

2. Snack

When your child arrives at the club they will be given a healthy snack every day after school. They will be asked to wash their hands and have to sit while they are eating. The snack will always include something substantial e.g. sandwich, a piece of fruit or veg and a little treat e.g biscuit or some crisps.

3. Activities

Each club will prepare and publicise a weekly activity plan which will be displayed on the club notice board. This will typically include one main art & craft activity related to the week's theme and a physical play activity for each day. Children will be invited to participate in all events but none will be forced to join in unless everyone in the club is going out on a particular excursion. Free play, quiet space and role playing always forms part of a normal day at the club.

4. Console games, TVs and DVDs

We appreciate that some parents are sensitive to the time spent by some children on these activities. However in order to ensure as much choice as possible for our children and their parents, playstations, TVs and DVD(videos) are provided at each club. All games are non-violent and rated 3+ and playstations are only available for use on certain days of the week or at certain times of the day. Turns on the playstation/games console will last for no longer than ten minutes. Only two children at a time are allowed on the playstation, and a member of staff will supervise playstation use and a rota at all times to ensure fair distribution of usage for all who are interested.

TVs and DVDs are only used for watching films. These times are usually planned in advance and happen only on particular days or as part of a theme week. You will not find them out in the club or in use every day.

5. Outdoor play

Where we have an area for outdoor play it will be fully supervised with ground rules agreed with the children and the club team. Kidzcare run many external excursions during term and holiday times, weather permitting! This may involve walking short distances to local sites, or use of Kidzcare vehicles. Only suitable qualified drivers will be permitted to drive Kidzcare vehicles.

6. Excursions

During holiday camps, our objective will be to go out on at least one trip every day, weather permitting. On occasion we will take all children with us or we may run age specific excursions and have indoor or other outdoor activities for other age groups.

We also offer courses & coaching run by 3rd party organizations during holiday camps where will provide wraparound care.

These offers may be made available to you at some locations when appropriate at an additional cost. These additional events are not mandatory and our traditional in-club play schemes will continue to run should you prefer.

We aim to adhere to our plans where practicable, but we believe it is wise to allow a degree of flexibility when the weather or the mood of the children may make it better to do something different.

Activities can be organized, free, team and individual. Any activities suggested by children or parents/guardians will be accommodated wherever possible and children will be supervised at all times. Children are welcome to bring their own books, games and CD’s into the club, but do so at their own risk and they should be prepared to share them with their friends. If these belongings do become a source of friction, we may ask the child to leave them at home or put them away while in the club.

Our ethos is to introduce as many opportunities and choices to the children as possible through play so that they can test new skills or boundaries.

7. Homework

Homework facilities and assistance will be available to children with permission of the parent or guardian.