Holiday Club
ST HELEN'S HOLIDAY CLUB
FULL TIME during all holidays (excluding bank holidays) from February - October
The Club Classroom, St Helen's Primary School, Alveston
A few photos from Summer 2020 - sports week!
HOLIDAY CLUB HOURS MOBILE: 07935 055351
Ofsted inspection 2018:
As OOSC manager, on 29th August I was fortunately at home to receive ‘the phone call’ saying we were to be inspected on Thursday 30th August at 7.30am! Luckily, Mandy Tomlinson who was having a well-earned break after running the holiday club over the summer and Hannah Meade, After School Club leader, were available to drop their holiday plans and join me at the club for a very rigorous inspection. The inspector, Amanda Burn was known to me from our Outstanding inspection at St Mary’s Bradley Stoke Club in March and was obviously expecting the same high standards. She was not to be disappointed!
The inspection report highlights so many positive aspects of the club:
The ‘skilful staff thoroughly enjoy devising new and challenging activities, which are highly motivating and beneficial for the children’. Mandy, Hannah and the team are ‘successful at creating routines which support and meet children’s needs to a high level’.
The team ‘respect and value all children as unique individuals’
‘Children’s behaviour is exemplary’
‘Opportunities to develop physical, creative and problem-solving skills are excellent’
‘Staff get to know, understand and listen to children extremely well. They demonstrate great respect for children’s thoughts, ideas and choices’
The inspector and myself were required to complete a joint observation, so Viv Heyes led an exciting slime-making activity with Stuart where ‘staff praise them for taking the initiative and children thank them too, which adds to their confidence’.
For me, the phrases which sum up our ethos at OOSC are:
‘Positive and effective relationships and partnerships are at the heart of the provision’
‘Everyone is included, and all exude great happiness, emotional well-being, independence and self-confidence’.
Many thanks to the parents who were interviewed on the day and the amazing feedback we received.
Thank you to Mandy, Viv and Freda for all their hard work devising exciting activities for the children over the summer and on the day of the inspection. For Hannah who came over from Wales to be rigorously interviewed about the amazing After School Club she leads; Stuart, Abbie, Lauren, Teresa, Renata, Ruggiero, Georgia, Mia, George, Robyn and Sid (the summer holiday club team), plus Jenny, Elaine and Anya (after school) who all make the holiday club and after school club such a great place to be!
Please note the number quoted on the report of 173 relates to all children registered with the after school and holiday club and the inspection is only completed on children in the 4-8 age range. The number of places available relates to 25 holiday club places we have available, whereas after school club accommodates 30 children.
Cath Purchase
OOSC manager
Ofsted (2015) commented:
‘Staff are skilled and knowledgeable about the children’ who have ‘stimulating experiences’ and ‘encourage their independence and social interactions’
The children ‘behave exceptionally well’ and are ‘fully involved in preparing club rules’
Staff ‘encourage children’s risk taking’ and ‘encourage children to make independent choices about their play’.
There is ‘an abundant range of stimulating toys’ and ‘children benefit greatly from a well-equipped outdoor environment’
‘staff encourage children’s understanding of safe practices exceptionally well’
Children ‘have a good sense of belonging’
The children ‘comment positively on how they like meeting new people and the friendliness of the staff’
EASTER 2021 - after a very successful February holiday club, we have been overwhelmed with interest for our Easter holiday club! We are only accepting a small group of children, so you will need to book early to avoid disappointment - bookings are currently available to our regular user working parents (you will be emailed directly).
The holiday club has use of all the school's outdoor facilities and is run by our team of qualified and experienced OOSC staff. The cost is as our Welcome letter
We accept Childcare Vouchers. The cost includes all activities, insurance and regular drinks and snacks. We will be outside as much as possible!
Children must bring their own packed lunch with NO NUT PRODUCTS but we provide regular drinks, snacks and breakfast before 9am.
We require the Child Registration form to be completed for each child attending the Holiday Club. They are available under 'My Bookings' to logged-in customers.
HOLIDAY CLUB HOURS MOBILE: 07935 055351
Holiday club Supervisors and Playworkers : Mandy, Freda, Cath, Sarah, Robyn, Chaiye, Sid, Luke, Bailee and Will.
Fees
Fees for Easter 2021 Holiday club:
This holiday we will be offering a full day to our regular users of working parents:-
- Long Day, 8am-5.30pm at £29.50 including flexible drop-off and collection, a breakfast of cereal, toast and fruit juice (available before 9am) and an evening snack of toast and fruit. Own packed lunch to be provided with NO nut products please!. This fee covers all craft, cooking and play activities and insurance.
- As we have received extensive interest in this holiday, and places are very limited, priority emails will be sent to our regular users for advance bookings.
- This holiday we are also offering a Short day for £18.50 per day, 9-3pm or £19.50 to include a healthy lunch, for children 8 and under at our new club at Charlton Wood Primary school.If you are interested in this holiday club, please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. as priority on places will be given to Charlton Wood children and OOSC registered regular users.
If paying by childcare voucher we require payment by the session date. Please remember Childcare voucher companies take up to 5 days to process payments.
We accept payment by credit/debit card, PayPal or employee childcare voucher transfer provided you have registered with us to accept them.
Fees for bookings cancelled within three days of the session date are non-refundable. NO BOOKINGS MAY BE ACCEPTED ONCE WE REACH OUR DAILY MAXIMUM NUMBER of 15 per bubble
Welcome Letter
Easter 2021
Dear OOSC Parents and Carers
Thank you for your interest in St Helen's holiday club.
This Easter we will be offering to our regular users of working parents:
- A full day of, 8am-5.30pm at £29.50 including flexible drop-off and collection, a breakfast of cereal, toast and fruit juice (available before 9am) and an evening snack of toast and fruit. Own packed lunch to be provided with NO nut products please!. This fee covers all craft, cooking and play activities and insurance.
- As we have received extensive interest in this holiday, and places are very limited, priority emails will be sent to our regular users for advance bookings.
- This holiday we are also offering a Short day for £18.50 per day, 9-3pm or £19.50 to include a healthy lunch, for children 8 and under at our new club at Charlton Wood Primary school.Please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you are interested in booking this holiday club as priority on places will be given to Charlton Wood children and OOSC registered regular users.
BOOK HERE (after login)
We have received a great deal of interest in this holiday club, so we would urge you to confirm your booking online with payment as soon as possible, to avoid disappointment. We anticipate sessions being booked up very quickly, as we are only able to open with very limited numbers due to current government regulations for childcare and education settings.
We are able to accept payment by PayPal (this can be via credit card), by company and tax-free childcare vouchers, as well as BACS payment. Bookings are not confirmed without payment in advance, however if you are making a large number of bookings and wish to arrange a payment schedule, please book your sessions online and select the 'other payment' method and this can be arranged offline. Please contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to arrange alternative payment methods as bookings will not be confirmed otherwise.
The sessions are going to be a little different from usual, but our emphasis is always to ensure children have FUN in a high-quality, safe and secure environment. We will be spending much of the session ourdoors. We are lucky to have use of an undercover area, for craft, play and for a picnic lunch and snack time. The children will also be able to make use of the large playground areas and play equipment.. Please ensure children wear practical clothing that they can play in. They will also need a full water bottle
Children will need bring their own packed lunch this holiday, with no NUT products please. There will be fruit available for snack time, as well as cereal/toast at breakfast and toast/fruit for snack at about 3pm.
We are staggering drop-off and collection times. We request that parents bring children to the lower gate of the playground and enter using the coded lock with the code as per your confirmation email Please then come up hall and ring the club doorbell. Please ensure social distancing at this time. Late collection is charged at £3 per child, for collection after 5.30pm and increases by £3 every five minutes.
On arrival and before leaving, children will wash their hands thoroughly. We will be keeping any indoor/outdoor groups small and they will be spread out when indoors.
Please do not send your children in with their own toys, bikes, phones or other technical items, there is plenty do at the club. They also do not need snacks such as sweets or chocolate as this leads to competitive behaviour. We are focusing on healthy eating this holiday. Children may bring own scooters with their own helmets.
The staff who will be caring for your children are from our clubs at St Helen's, Bradley Stoke and Frenchay: Mandy, Freda and Robyn will be leading the sessions, with other playworkers joining them. All staff will be COVID tested before working this holiday.
If you are not familiar with the location of the club, we are located at the junction of the A38 and Greenhill Road, Alveston, BS35 2QX behind the church. Parking is available in the car park opposite the lower playground gate.
Our contact number during club hours is 07935 055351
We require all children to have a completed our online Registration form before attending. Please book this online following the link ‘My OOSC’ – Child Registration Form’
Thank you for your interest. We look forward to receiving your booking and seeing your children very soon,
Cath, Mandy and the OOSC holiday club team
