Supporting SEND and Additional needs
At Zac’s club we support all children to ensure that every child is able to enjoy our sessions and are supported appropriately where there is a need. We assess your child for additional staff support where they present a need above their age related ratio, they do not need to have any diagnosis. Our ratios are 1:8 for children aged 5 and under and 1:10 for children aged 6 and above. For our children with additional needs requiring additional staff support ,we care for them under at ratio of 1:3 or 1:1 for high level need. We do this so that we are able to support them during all of the activities we do, ensuring they are happy, included but can also take some quiet time or targeted support when needed. We also liaise with parents and school to help provide the best support for all our children and to help give the children consistency of approach regarding support they are receiving. We really do take pride on our inclusiveness and making the necessary reasonable adjustments to support all children. In doing this we ensure that there is additional staffing to provide the needed support. The cost of this additional support can sometimes be absorbed by the club, but unfortunately we do not receive any funding at all (except for limited FEAST sessions), so there may be occasions when an additional charge is necessary, to provide this level of dedicated support. Currently during our before and after school club sessions we only charge extra for 1:1 support. At this stage we are not charging extra for our children on a 1:3 ratio but may need to consider this if the time arises to.
Holiday Club
We are very fortunate that we are able to apply for FEAST funding during the main school holidays. This funding enables us to provide holiday club entirely free of charge to families on a lower income, and to a limited amount of SEND children where they need either 1:3 or 1:1 support in our sessions. During our half term Holiday clubs where we are unable to receive this funding, so have introduced an additional charge for children needing a ratio of 1:3 or 1:1. This is because we do understand that our parents with children of additional needs do need wrap around care and we are keen to offer support where we are able to do so through our dedicated and qualified team. We do take pride in providing high quality care. The additional charge for SEND sessions reflects the cost of additional staff only, having the extra member of staff means that your children will be able to take time out if needed and ensure they are getting the most out of our sessions. We support a wide range of differing special educational needs and disabilities, some diagnosed and some not, including but not limited to autism, ADHD, dyspraxia, learning difficulties, behavioural issues, physical disabilities, trauma and more. We always consider a child’s needs and how they are able to cope in our environment, rather than any condition they may or may not have, so always need you and your child to attend a stay and play session to assess the level of support they may need prior to booking sessions. All SEND sessions MUST be booked with the setting manager directly, not on the online booking system to allow for the correct staffing.
Session costs for children needing a 1:3 ratio:
Holiday Club: £65.38 for a 9:30 till 16:00 session. (Initial allocation of up to 2 sessions per child, per holiday club, more if space allows).
Breakfast & After School Club: Currently no additional charge, normal session fees apply.
Session costs for children needing a 1:1 ratio:
Holiday Club: £124.14 for a 9:30 till 16:00 session. (Initial allocation of 1 session per child, per holiday club, more if space allows)
Breakfast Club: £27.84 for regular contracted sessions, £28.34 for ad hoc sessions
After School Club: £54.18 for regular contracted sessions, £54.68 for ad hoc sessions
Lunch is provided in the cost of Holiday Club sessions, a healthy breakfast at breakfast club and a healthy snack after school, please do let us know of any specific dietary requirements. We have changed the session length for Holiday Club for SEND children so that we are able to provide parents and children with a detailed handover at each end of their day, at a different time from our usual short day session. Please note that we are unable to offer a long day session of 8-6 for children requiring additional staffing support.
Supporting parents
We are keen to support our children but also our parents in offering as much help as we can to ensure that both child and parent are happy, and their needs can be fully met. If you would like to come and talk to us about anything we are more than happy to give as much advice as we can, even if it is simply just a chat. There is also support for parents in paying for our childcare and the additional cost of a supported session can be found through a number of different ways:
-Short breaks funding (North Yorkshire Council or City of York Council)
-Disability living allowance (DLA – Government benefit to support disabled children)
– Child Tax Credits – Available to families on a low income – universal credit
– Tax free childcare – contribution of 20% towards childcare costs for working parents
If you would like to ask any questions Please don’t hesitate to contact Levi on 07721 062 404 or Lauren on 07818 811995;