The Gap club operates from numerous settings in the berkshire and surrey areas. A list of where we operate our clubs can be found on the Home Page, by

Our times of opening & closing can vary by club, depending on local parent needs, please see the club specific pages on the website to know exact times for clubs. However our typical times are as follows: After School Clubs: typically open from 15:00pm to 18:00pm or18:30pmn Breakfast Clubs: typically open from 07:30am until 08:45am Holiday Clubs: typically open from 08:00am to 18:30pm. However we have varied times for bookable sessions to help suit parent needs.

Yes. The Gap club is registered with ofsted and operates to the highest standards of childcare based on Ofsted guidelines.

Our staffing, training and qualification are determined by the statutory framework of EYFS. Our staff to child ratios operate as follows, depending on the age group For under 5's we operate a ratio of 1:8 For 5-7 year olds we operate a ratio of 1:10 For 8+ we operate a ratio of 1:12

As we provide group care each setting has a Supervisor on site that holds a relevant qualification in Childcare or Playwork. A number of other staff within the setting can also hold relevant qualifications. Regular staff are DBS checked, receive 12 hour Paediatric First Aid training, Level 2 Food Hygiene and Catering training and an Introduction to Safeguarding. These three courses are deemed as essential training and are updated every three years. We also offer other training opportunities to our staff in a number of areas such as advanced safeguarding, risky play, various special educational needs, leadership and management, safer recruitment, behaviour management, EYFS and Play.

It is always best to contact us be email on any booking related enquiries, and we will then get back to you. Our head office phone number is manned in the mornings during Term-time. To contact a specific Club, please contact them on the Clubs direct number For booking related enquiries contact us on: bookings@thegapclub.com For holiday club specific enquiries contact us on: holidayclubs@thegapclub.com For finance related enquiries contact us on: finance@thegapclub.com For all other ort general enquiries contact us on : office@thegapclub.com

The booking process is a 3 step process involving registration, booking & payment, where registration is only required once. After School, Breakfast and Holiday club bookings are made via our online booking system, click on the "Book Now" buttons, register or login if already registered, request your childs place by following the screens. Guides on how to register and book are on our website. Note: For After School Clubs where you require regular after school places please request a contract for the regular sessions you require by clicking the "Contract" booking request. Note: For Breakfast Club & Holiday Club click on "Bookings" and register your required ad-hoc sessions. After School ad-hoc bookings must also be requested using the "Bookings" option. Ad-hoc Bookings are only guaranteed, after payment has been received, Contracts are invoiced and must be paid in accordance with the Terms and Conditions, see website for our Terms & conditions Cancellations cannot be made once a booking has been made, cancellations and refunds will only be permitted in accordance with our Terms & Conditions, available on our website.

Our fees are on the website and vary by club, see the club specific pages and click on Fees for details. The Fees document also advises on the payment methods we accept which are: BACS Childcare Vouchers Tax Free Childcare When making a booking for your child, select the method of payment and make payment within 48 hours of the ad-hoc booking or 48 hours of invoice for contract booking to guarantee your reserved booking.

In order to secure and guarantee your after school, breakfast club or holiday club you must complete the online registration and booking steps. An email notification of the booking request will be sent to you and the place is in a pending, i.e. reserved status. Ensure full payment for the booking is made within 48 hours if paying by voucher or BACS, by ensuring monies are transferred to The Gap Club. Places are on first come first serve basis and only confirmed once payment is received. If full payment has not been received by the specified date your booking will not be guaranteed and you will lose your place. Should you wish to re-book, you may do so, subject to availability however these may be charged at the higher ‘late’ booking rate. Please ensure all details on your booking including venue, sessions and times are correct and any dietary/health/additional needs have been highlighted.

To enable us the opportunity to prepare for your child’s first sessions and to ensure the staff are equipped with the knowledge and understanding to support your child during their transition into the Club we require a minimum of 5 working days to process your ‘Registration’ application and contract booking request If you have not heard back from us or received confirmation of contract, please contact us on bookings@thegapclub.com

No, Once you have registered on our online booking system for any of the After school, breakfast or holiday clubs, you are able to make Holiday club bookings using the bookings menu. For After School booings where regular sessions are required, these can be requested using Contract booking (regular sessions). Note: Contracted regular sessions are cheaper than ad-hoc bookings and are always advisable.

Yes, we offer a sibling discount off for the second child on regular bookings at our After School clubs and on core days at holiday club. This discount will be applied to your booking once we have received it

The online booking system allows 2 methods for booking child sessions: My Bookings - This is booking places on an ad-hoc basis and applies to all clubs. Holiday clubs will only be bookable via the Bookings option. Contract - This is whereby regular places are required for your child every week for the duration of the contract. Contracts only apply to After School Clubs. If a child has an after school contract, Ad-hoc bookings can still be made on other days for emergencies etc., using the My Booking soption. Contract prices per session are typically cheaper than ad-hoc fees.

We are inclusive for all children within our community, please ensure you provide us with all the relevant information regarding your child’s needs when you register to enable us to be equipped and informed to support your childs needs. If 1-2-1 support is needed please provide as much notice as possible as we will need to secure funding from the local authority. If funding is not an option we will endeavour to provide internal 1-2-1, please be mindful that all our provisions are group care therefore we would need to resource additional staff and any additional costs would be applied to your bookings.

Please see our Privacy Notice on our website for information on how we process, hold, protect and use data and what data we collect on yourself and your child.

Please contact us at bookings@thegapclub.com to request a cancellation of your contract. Once your account has been confirmed as clear, your request will be processed and a refund issued via cheque as appropriate. This can take up to 10 working days.

Please check your online booking account to see if it is still active. If you are unable to login or create an account please contact us for support and guidance.

Parents/Carere will need to sign their child in/out of each session, and must inform supervisor on duty when they do so

For After School Clubs: No, We offer the children a daily snack at approx. 4:30pm, this is usually a carbohydrate such as a brioche, wrap, muffins, sandwiches with fresh fruit and the children have the opportunity for self-selection. Dietary alternatives are provide for those children with allergies/intolerances For Holiday Clubs: Yes, Please ensure your children bring their own labelled lunchboxes with appropriate cooling packs and a drinks bottle. We will provide fruit in the morning and a light snack in the afternoon (6.30pm collections only). Drinking water will be available at all times. Please do not pack whole nut or snacks containing nuts as we have children with severe allergies therefore we operate a strict NO NUTS policy. We encourage healthy eating at The Gap Club and would appreciate your support by providing healthy choices in your child’s lunchboxes For Breakfast Clubs: No, Children are able to choose from a huge selection of cereals, bread items such as bagels, toast, croissants, pancakes etc, yoghurts, cereal bars and fresh fruit. We also provide fruit juices, milk and water daily

Our After School Clubs close at 17:30pm, 18:00pm or 18:30pm, however our holiday clubs offer flexible varied sessions which include lunch time collections and 4:30pm collections. If you are having any difficulties achieving your allocated session collection time and/or if you need to authorise another collector, please notify us asap. Please ensure you have given verbal consent to us on the day and any alternate collector has been provided with your unique password. Please refer to our Safeguarding & Uncollected Child Policy for more detail on our procedures. Our late fee of £7.50 per 15 minutes will be applied to your invoice following the session.

Parking is available in the surrounding areas at all of our sites. (some schools also allow use of the car parks for holiday clubs). Please see specific arrangements for each club. We ask that our visitors are respectful and considerate to our neighbours at all times.

Please ensure that your child’s clothing is suited to the environment, activities (e.g. cooking, sports, arts & crafts), weather (e.g. sunhats, sun cream and wellington boots). We recommend a spare set of clothes for specific activities such as messy play/water play and in case of toileting accidents. All additional items must be clearly labelled. Please do not allow the children to wear flip-flops as these can cause unintentional injuries. Valuable items are not permitted at any setting. The Gap Club accepts no liability for the loss or damage to any of the children’s clothing/property or valuables.

Yes, we cannot use other sun creams due to sensitivities/allergies children may have. Please provide a labelled bottle of sun cream along with sunhats when necessary. If your child does not have adequate protection for the hot weather our supervisors/managers may, at their discretion restrict outdoor play in line with our safeguarding policy.

Our ethos is to provide a free play environment where play is child led. To compliment children’s play and provide enabling environments we include the children in our planning topics and activities for the After School Clubs and Holiday Clubs to ensure these are engaging and positive experiences for the children. In Holiday Clubs the children are given the opportunity to choose between Gap Cooking or Gap Active each morning and Gap Creative and Gap Active in the afternoon, these workshops enhance their play and allow for individual expression. Any trips or visitors that are arranged during holiday club periods are optional and require your consent, an additional charge may be required. Parents are able to book these through the online booking system. For more details please see the activity programmes attached in our services section and upcoming events

We offer a no obligation preview (guided tour for parents and/or child) and a free ‘Taster’ day to help families when reviewing their childcare options. Please contact us by phone or email to arrange this. It is important that we ensure a seamless transition into our setting and will ask for additional information about your child to enable us to ensure they are able to settle in comfortably. We will work in partnership with you to enable an informed approach to overcome any issues or concerns.

If your child is taking prescribed or non-prescribed medication from the doctor please label all medication stating the child’s name, dosage and emergency contact number. You must also complete/update this information through your online bookings account so that we can send you an ‘authority to administer’ form to complete. A Healthcare plan is also essential if your child has long term medical needs. Please note we cannot administer paracetamol/ibuprofen (including calpol). Any medicine that has passed its ‘use by’ date will NOT be accepted

The majority of our staff complete a 12hr Paediatric First Aid training every 3 years, which includes training on how to administer an epi-pen. Before your child can start with us we are under legal obligation to receive a signed letter from your child’s doctor, explaining your child’s allergy & which type of epi-pen has been prescribed. It is also your responsibility to provide a child specific, short training session for the staff at the club, this can be done by either yourselves as parents or by the child’s doctor. Any epi-pen’s that have passed their ‘use by’ date or not been prescribed by a doctor will NOT be accepted; therefore your child will NOT be able to attend the club. In addition, an authority to administer form and Healthcare Plan will need completion

When registering with us you are required to provide a password if a third party is authorised by you to collect your child and details of the authorised collector must be outlined when you register. Please ensure this is completed before you allow anyone other than parent/guardians to collect, as permission will be declined until contact has been made with you, and this may cause distress. You are able to add/change the details of any collector(s) through your online booking account. In the case of a ‘last minute/emergency collection’ we must receive this change to routine in written form (i.e. text, email or letter).

In line with our safeguarding policy and good practice it is important that cameras on gadgets such as mobile phones/games consoles are NOT used, so these are strictly prohibited. Note: Mobile phones are not permitted inside the premises, please be mindful that you may be declined entry into our settings if you are on your mobile phone, access will only be permitted once you have secured your device away. Any other gadgets that do not have a camera facility must be signed in daily with the Holiday Club Manager. The Gap Club Ltd does not take responsibility for personal items brought to the club.

We manage our provision based on age ranges and provide suitable activities for the age ranges and abilities of the children. During free play periods the children do have the ability to mix with the other groups particularly during group games and outdoor play. If these opportunities are not sufficient enough to support your child we will do our upmost (depending on age gap) to provide sufficient time with their siblings however we must ensure our ratios and safety measures are not compromised by this change and must ensure fairness across all age ranges. We often see children thrive when given the opportunity to experience play and build friendships without their sibling being in direct contact and this often helps their confidence and self-esteem therefore we highly recommend parents allow them this opportunity to thrive.

Yes, we do have the ability to offer our after school club service to children that are participating in extra-curricular activities at our base clubs, however this is not possible for children who attend our collections service schools. We ask that you let us know which clubs they are attending and their finish time to ensure we are able to account for all children expected each day and are then able to collect/account for these children when the activities have finished. Due to ratios your place is secured for you from the beginning of the session therefore the fee will be due for the entire session period

We ask that you let the club know directly as soon as possible to avoid any confusion at collection time as these changes can cause considerable delay when our supervisors are trying to account for all children due in on that particular day. You are also advised to send an email to office@thegapclub.com for assurance that your cancellation is actioned

We are always keen to provide verbal feedback at collection times regarding your child’s day. If you would like to discuss anything in more detail please contact head office as special arrangements may be needed as our Supervisors/Manager are often in ratio. Our EYFS children are observed and supported in our After School Club; parents are welcome to review our Key Person books at all provisions. During Holiday Clubs we provide more information with our ‘Daily Sheets’, these are available for your perusal and offer you the opportunity to provide written feedback. If you would like to provide more feedback to us please feel free to contact us on: office@thegapclub.com

We keep all lost property from a previous holiday club until the last day of our current holiday club, items can be collected at each provision at your convenience. If you would like to arrange collection of your missing items from head office, please get in contact with us. Our After School Clubs endeavour to keep items for a full term then these, along with any other lost property, are given to a local charity of our choice. Please ensure your items are clearly labelled to help us return them to you promptly.

Where possible we try to offer an alternative venue within a reasonable catchment area, please contact us for more information

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