Updated 23rd July 2021
We are open for all the school summer holidays. Please see our updated Risk Assessment and Operating Plan for Phase 4 of the government’s Covid Recovery Plan.
Updated 25th February 2021
From March 8th we are open to all children whose parents need us for work, seeking work, education, need to attend a medical appointment or address a medical need, or attend a support group. We are also open to vulnerable children. We therefore expect all our regular children back unless we hear otherwise from parents.
All Year 7 and 8 children will be asked to wear a mask inside at all times.
We are open for the first week of the Easter holidays for all people who fall in to the above categories plus children who receive frees school meals, and for the second week for all children.
Updated 12th February 2021
Updated 5th January 2021
We will remain open for all children who are eligible for a school place. The following email has been sent to all parents:
Dear all
Following Boris Johnson’s announcement last night we are writing to let you know that we will remain open for all children who are offered a place in school. We will be assuming that these children will be attending the club. Please, as always, let us know if they are not on any session.
For all other children we will be offering you a 50% refund for the next 5 weeks and 4 days, as per our
Emergency Evacuation and Closure Policy and contract with you, up until February half term. If the school closures are extended we will review this again. We will furlough some of our staff but will continue to pay them full wages as we did during the last school closures. We will contact you all individually over the next few days to let you know how much this discount will be and how it will be applied.
If you wish to give up your place you are of course able to and we will not in this instance charge the usual four week notice period. If you then need your place again you will be subject to the usual admissions policy and fees at the current 20/21 rate.
Please let us know if you have any questions.
Kind regards
Jo and Margaret
Updated 5th September 2020
Updated 17th July 2020
Updated 1st July 2020
Summer Holidays
We are still awaiting the detailed government guidance that was promised on 23rd June when the Prime Minister confirmed that we could open during the holidays and that schools would not be expected to open for key workers and vulnerable children.
We are taking bookings but limiting numbers until we receive this guidance. If you find a day is showing as fully booked and you are unable to choose another day instead please do email us admin@gosforthparkoutofschoolclub.co.uk and we will keep your name on a waiting list. It is possible that when we receive the details we may be able to open up more places.
Updated 10th June 2020
Term time
We remain open before and after school for all children that have been offered a place back in school. We are operating under the terms of the guidance from the government and keeping children in separate bubbles. For full details see our Risk Assessment and Operating Plan. Also please refer to our Letter to Parents.
Summer Holidays
We intend to open from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday as usual throughout the school holidays. We have been open throughout this whole time and have been able to keep children and staff safe whilst we care for the children. We will continue with the same measures that are currently in place for term time and will update these as the government update their guidance.
Updated 13th May 2020
On Sunday 10th May the Prime Minister announced that schools would partially reopen from June 1st earliest. The current guidance is that this will be for Nursery, Reception, Years 1 and 6 in addition to children of key workers and vulnerable children. It is our intention to provide before and after school care for customers for whom school is open. We are currently carrying out a risk assessment and working on the plans for this. We will keep you informed and will be in touch by email as soon as we are able. In the meantime you may want to read the government advice for parents and carers.
We are currently still open before and after school and will be open
May half term for children of key workers and vulnerable children.
Updated 20th March 2020 10.30am
As you will all be aware schools will be closed from this weekend except for children of key workers and vulnerable children. The defined list of key workers from the government is as follows:
Health and social care
This includes but is not limited to doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, social workers, care workers, and other frontline health and social care staff including volunteers; the support and specialist staff required to maintain the UK’s health and social care sector; those working as part of the health and social care supply chain, including producers and distributers of medicines and medical and personal protective equipment.
Education and childcare
This includes nursery and teaching staff, social workers and those specialist education professionals who must remain active during the COVID-19 response to deliver this approach.
Key public services
This includes those essential to the running of the justice system, religious staff, charities and workers delivering key frontline services, those responsible for the management of the deceased, and journalists and broadcasters who are providing public service broadcasting.
Local and national government
This only includes those administrative occupations essential to the effective delivery of the COVID-19 response or delivering essential public services such as the payment of benefits, including in government agencies and arms length bodies.
Food and other necessary goods
This includes those involved in food production, processing, distribution, sale and delivery as well as those essential to the provision of other key goods (for example hygienic and veterinary medicines).
Public safety and national security
This includes police and support staff, Ministry of Defence civilians, contractor and armed forces personnel (those critical to the delivery of key defence and national security outputs and essential to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic), fire and rescue service employees (including support staff), National Crime Agency staff, those maintaining border security, prison and probation staff and other national security roles, including those overseas.
Transport
This includes those who will keep the air, water, road and rail passenger and freight transport modes operating during the COVID-19 response, including those working on transport systems through which supply chains pass.
Utilities, communication and financial services
This includes staff needed for essential financial services provision (including but not limited to workers in banks, building societies and financial market infrastructure), the oil, gas, electricity and water sectors (including sewerage), information technology and data infrastructure sector and primary industry supplies to continue during the COVID-19 response, as well as key staff working in the civil nuclear, chemicals, telecommunications (including but not limited to network operations, field engineering, call centre staff, IT and data infrastructure, 999 and 111 critical services), postal services and delivery, payments providers and waste disposal sectors.
If workers think they fall within the critical categories above they should confirm with their employer that, based on their business continuity arrangements, their specific role is necessary for the continuation of this essential public service.
We will be staying open before school, after school and full days during the Easter holidays for all these children, noting that one of the key principles stated by the government is that “parents should not rely for childcare upon those who are advised to be in the stringent social distancing category such as grandparents, friends, or family members with underlying conditions.”
This is of course a very difficult time for everyone. We are committed to not making any staff redundant if at all possible and we very much hope that we won’t have to. We will need your help in this regard as if everyone gives up their place at the club we will not be able to pay the staff and indeed there may not be an out of school club to come back to when this all passes, which it will.
As our policy, which we circulated last week, states if we have to close as the government ask us to we will reduce fees to 50% to enable us to keep paying all staff. We are not closing but we do appreciate we are effectively closing for all people who do not fall in to the above category so for these people we are offering to reduce fees to 50%. In addition for all parents that continue to pay either full fees because they are using us or 50% fees because they do not fall in to that category we will freeze prices in September. Conversely anyone who gives up their place will not be necessarily guaranteed it back when schools return to normal and will not benefit from the September price freeze.
Our reason for this is to continue to pay all our staff in full, for the time this lasts. We will cut our own income in order to help fund this. This job is of course our staff’s livelihoods and as you all know, we have an excellent staff team who are caring and compassionate with the children, it is vital for the continuity of the club that we keep this team.
Please let us know as soon as possible if you fall in to one of these categories so that we know how many children will be attending next week. We will staff the club to a 1:10 ratio as always and allow some staff to be on paid leave, in order to keep to a minimum the number of people travelling to and from work. If your child is not attending and you wish to reduce your fees to 50% please also let us know so that we can arrange this.
Wishing you all the very best and hoping that you all stay safe and healthy.
Jo and Margaret
