Enroling My Child with Playtime

There are three different services that are available at Playtime and these relate to the different age groups:

Babies and children under pre-school age 5 months- 3 years old Daycare Fees .

Pre-school aged children- Playgroup (a funded Pre-school place) with or without ‘Wraparound’ Childcare Fees.

Primary School aged children- Out of Schools Fees for term time and holiday schemes during school holidays.

Yes- all meals are included in daycare fees.

Parents cannot send food into Playtime, as we care for children with a wide variety of severe allergies.

No- parents/guardians need to supply these items where required by their child.

While there are flexible drop off and collection times in our daycare room during our opening hours 7.30am-6.00pm, there is no half day session rates available.

It is helpful for the smooth running of the setting for you to inform staff if your child will be arriving later than normal or being collected earlier. For example, your child will be in after their doctors appointment we can keep their dinner for them to eat after they arrive. Or we can ensure that your child can get their afternoon tea slightly earlier before being collected at 3.30pm.

No- Daycare is only available at Playtime on a contractual basis i.e. ‘fixed days’ and is not available for random, ‘one off’ or varying days. Families with an existing contract can request additional ‘one off’ days, however availability will only be confirmed on the Friday before.

No- Playtime do not implement this type of a discount. Our discount is applied to the number of days you use e.g. 5 days is cheaper than 1/2/3/4days.

Yes- you will be charged your contracted days regardless of your child’s attendance.

The arrangements for our different services are:

Daycare- Yes, Bank Holidays (5 days per year – 17th March, Easter Mon & Tues, May Day & Aug Bank Holiday) are charged at the normal full rate for contractual days. A retainer fee, i.e. 50 % of the full contractual fees, are charged for Playtime's Christmas and July holidays.

Sprinter ‘Wraparound’ and Out of Schools- No, these are term time contracts. When playgroup/school is not open, you will not be charged.

Yes- we have a waiting list. There is no specified length of time required to be on the list before being offered a space.

How long you will have to wait on a place depends upon many different factors including; child’s age, number of days, specific days required. There are busier times of the year which can limit availability.

Once a family is called from the waiting list they are given a specified time frame to respond and express continued interest in the space available. If the family do not respond within this timeframe they will be removed from our waiting list and the space offered to the next family. For the fair allocation of places we do not hold a place.

You can complete an Expression of Interest form to enroll your child on our waiting list. There is no commitment by completing the Expression of Interest form.

You can place your child’s name on our waiting list anytime after they have been born.

You should provide us with an estimated date on your enrolment form. You can update us with a confirmed date as soon as it has been agreed with your employer.

Yes- parent/guardian’s are welcome to view our facility. However, we do not host visits during children’s meal and sleep times. You should contact Playtime to arrange a suitable time to visit.

When Playtime are in a position to confirm availability, we will request a £50 deposit (which will come off your first bill). This will secure your place and is payable within 1 week of being offered a space.

Parents/ guardians are contacted around two and half weeks prior to their 'start date' to arrange induction.

Approximately, a two week induction period will commence for your child before attending their first full day. It is advisable not to plan holidays away during this induction period as this can be a set back to young children's progress in settling into our new environment.

As every child is different, we must take the lead from the child and build the time up in accordance with their individual needs and their settling in progress.

You can help your child in a number of ways:

Settle them to sleep in a cot- sleeping in prams, car seat etc. is not permitted due to the increase risk of SIDS.

If your baby is over 1-year-old encourage them to begin drinking from a lidded cup or tumbler.

Provide them with opportunities to socialise and meet people outside of your household.

If possible, spend sometime away from you, their primary caregiver, and stay with a trusted adult such as a grandparent for an increasing length of time.

Unfortunately we can't determine when days will become available.

Spaces on our waiting list become available within our daycare when;

1.) a family or child leaves the centre, or reduce the days they currently use e.g. when a parent goes on maternity leave

2.) a child reaches the age and developmental stage to move to the age group where the adult child ratio increases e.g. moving from under 2 year old room (1:3) to 2-3 year old room (1:5)

There may also be other children ahead of your child on the waiting list.