OOSC Organisation September 2020

Dear parent / carer

As you know, our Out of School Club (OOSC) will be open from Wednesday 2nd September in line with all children returning to school.  We are very pleased that we are once again able to offer this important and valued service to our families.  However, under the current government guidelines, we will have to organise our club differently.  Please read the following information carefully if you would like to access OOSC. 

Phase Bubbles

To reduce the instances of children mixing across school, not all children will be based in the OOSC space.  Instead, children will be in different spaces according to their phase bubbles as follows:

• Nursery will be based in the KEEP
• Reception to Year 1 will be based in the OOSC room
• Year 2 to Year 3 will be based in the community room
• Year 4 to Year 6 will be based in the gym

If you have more than one child in OOSC, they will be in their phase bubble as detailed above, not a sibling group. 

Drop Off / Pick Up

Parents will need to drop off and pick up children from the appropriate entrance as follows:

• The OOSC can be accessed by the usual OOSC entrance
• The KEEP can be accessed by the glass door in the KS1 yard
• The community room and gym can be accessed by the sliding doors in the KS1 yard

If you have siblings in different bubbles, you will need to collect them from each entrance as unfortunately we do not have the staff capacity to collect children on your behalf.

Unfortunately parents are not allowed inside the school buildings at this time.  There will be a bell for you to ring at each entrance, so please ring the bell and wait for a member of staff.  Staff will sign your child in and out for you.    

Session Times

We will continue to offer both Breakfast and After School Club (all times and fees are available on our website).  After School Club will now finish at the slightly earlier time of 5.30pm.  This is due to staffing and financial constraints.  Spaces will be strictly limited for each session and each phase bubble due to staffing ratios.  However, based on the expression of interest so far, we anticipate that those who book in advance would be able to have the spaces they require.  

Booking

You should continue to book and pay for sessions using the School Gateway app.  You will see two sessions to choose from for both Breakfast and After School Club based on your child’s phase bubble.  You should choose the appropriate session from the following:

• Early Years OOSC for Nursery to Year 1
• Upper School OOSC for Year 2 to Year 6

You will now need to book five calendar days in advance of the session.  If you need to make an emergency booking after the deadline, please email oosc@kingedward.org.  However, we cannot guarantee that a last minute space will be available so please book in advance to avoid disappointment.  

Please note, you must book in advance for your child to attend a session.  If you have not booked, you and your child will be turned away. 

Before September, we need to set up these new booking sessions in Gateway as well as transfer parent’s credit to the new clubs where applicable.  This is so that available places are allocated for each phase in school.  You will not be able to book sessions until this is complete.  We will notify you when booking becomes available.  

Cancellation

Our cancellation policy remains unchanged.  You can cancel your session up to five days before the session.  Cancellations after this deadline will be charged the full cost of the session.  

Snacks

We will offer a small snack at both Breakfast and After School Club.  This will be a small, individually wrapped snack or piece of fruit.  Unfortunately, due to COVID restrictions, we will not be able to offer toast at breakfast so we ask that parents please provide breakfast at home.  Children should also not bring a snack from home.

Fun!

We will be working to bring play equipment and fun activities to each of the new OOSC areas.  Above all, we want to continue to provide a safe and enjoyable home-from home environment for your children! 

Please bear with us.  We are doing our very best to be able to provide you with an OOSC service, albeit in a slightly different way, due to COVID restrictions.  Many schools are not providing any wrap around services at all in the Autumn term.  We will continue to evaluate the service we deliver and communicate any changes needed to you as soon as we are able.  

Thank you

Miss Byrne

Headteacher