Questions and answers

 The Time Out staff have asked me to answer a few questions that parents have put to them recently.

  1. Toast time:

 Q: Could we make sure that children attending have their toast before they leave Time Out?

 A: We always endeavour to have toast time at the beginning of the session which allows the children to eat and drink before they play. In our opinion the children are usually ready at this time but unfortunately this is not always possible.  Sometimes when the school hall is in use and the weather is not suitable for outdoor play we may have to use the I.T. room or Library. These two rooms are not suitable for food and drink. If the weather is kind enough to us we have in the past either used the outdoor tables and chairs or erected the Teepee to eat our toast in. If the weather is too cold to eat outside but dry enough for play, then we will explain the situation to the children and we may hold a vote to play outside or to use the I.T. room.

2. Hanging up of clothes.

Q: Could we make sure that children’s coats and jackets etc are hung up on the pegs provided?

A: When children attend Time Out they come from various classrooms with all sorts of coats, bags, instruments etc. and this is understandable. Our first responsibility to you the parents and the children is to make sure that all children who are attending that evening are registered and present. When all the children have been accounted for and are seated for toast one staff member will usually go into the cloak room to see if any clothing has been left on the floor. The children are asked to come and pick up their things and place them on a peg. There should be no excuse for clothes being left on the floor. We have the use of both infant cloak rooms which means that we have adequate pegs and shelving for all personal belongings. We explain to the children why they should not be leaving clothing on the floor because of cost, health and safety, ease of collection at home time etc. We do find that it is usually the same children time after time. It also goes without saying that if all children have their names clearly written in or on their belongings it would help tremendously.

3. Invoices and payments

Q: Could we make sure that invoices are issued at the start of the month?

A: This is usually my fault! As you can probably guess I manually write out the invoices which usually results in late nights and long days at the start and end of the month.  Firstly I have to make sure that at the end of the month charges that have not been made in advance have been made and any payments that have been made are allocated to the correct account. Once this is done I can close down and start all invoices for the next month. The statements then have to be updated and attached to the invoices.

It is in my interest to make sure that all invoices are ready for collection/ distribution as quick as possible for a number of reasons:  

• We ask for payment in advance (as stated in the contract), therefore monies come in quicker allowing me to know that we can pay the wages and rent. Any surplus left over can then go to buy new toys and equipment for your children.

   ·         If you get your invoice on time it will help you to budget for the expense enabling you pay us as soon as possible.

   ·         If you get your invoice on time and you kindly pay us on time there would be no reason for statements to be made thereby saving me more time at the end of the month.

   It would help us greatly if you could remember to ask for your invoice. Even though we get the invoices ready to be given to parents we will be seeing that evening, sometimes the staff are busy or may be talking to another parent and the invoice slips from our minds.

   4. Children attending after school activities.

   

  Q:  If my child attends an after school activity why do I have to pay the full rate at Time Out.

   A:  When a parent first agrees a contract with Time Out it is agreed that Time Out will maintain the adequate number of staff to child ratio to look after your child.

  Time Out operate every day through out the School term come rain or shine, if the School is open then Time Out are present.

  If the School arrange for an after School activity and you and your child wish to attend which is understandable, you have the choice of keeping your space at the cost and time agreed with Time Out or you can terminate the reservation with Time Out (usually we ask for four weeks notice when you terminate the contract with us, but we don’t usually ask you to adhere to this). However if you do choose to terminate your allotted space then we will arrange our staff numbers accordingly. The only problem with this arrangement is that if the after School activity is cancelled at short notice we may not be in a position to except children not booked in. This is a situation that we would not like to find ourselves in. Also if you are at work, you may find that you maybe asked to come and collect your children. If you are not available then the School would be in a situation that they would have to find a member of staff to look after them which may not always be practical.

  Q: Why can’t we have a reduced rate if our child attends an after school activity?

  A: As described above, our Playworkers have to be present to look after your children. They only work three hours per evening and it would be very difficult to ask one member of staff to come along for only two hours. This would affect their take home pay and in some circumstances make it not worth their while.

  Everyone at time out works hard to try and make your after School club work for you and your children. We take any complaints you may have seriously and welcome any suggestions you may have to improve the club. We welcome your ideas for new activities, new toys, reducing costs etc.

  We are always on the lookout for toys and equipment, so if you have anything that is in good condition which you would like to donate or sell then please keep us in mind. We would particularly appreciate any wool and knitting needles you could spare at the moment!

  Please keep your thoughts coming in to us. With your support we can build a better club for your child.

  Thank you,

  Stephen Lambert.