Club FAQs
All of our settings are open Monday to Friday during term-time. Term time dates are provided on the page for each setting.
Our breakfast and after school clubs are open from 7.30am and close at 6.00pm (Little Oaks, Priory Oaks, Aldermaston Oaks and Silchester Oaks) or 6.30pm (Big Oaks).
Our Mini Oaks preschool is open from 8.30-4.00pm.
Our settings are in five villages – Mortimer, Burghfield, Aldermaston (West Berkshire), Silchester (Hampshire), Tadley/Pamber End (Hampshire). We run breakfast clubs and after school clubs at Mortimer St John’s, Mortimer St Mary’s, Silchester primary school, Aldermaston primary school, and The Priory Primary School. We also run the Mini Oaks preschool in Burghfield St Mary’s Church Parish Centre.
Our club management staff are qualified in Playwork to at least NVQ level 3, and trained to provide a relaxed environment for safe and happy play. We aim to promote and train from within as well as offering external training to our staff. Playwork is a distinct discipline from teaching or childcare, although of course it overlaps with education, child development and childcare. Our staff also have Paediatric First Aid, Food Safety, Safeguarding, Prevent and all other statutory training as well as training in other specialisms, such as Early Years, Behaviour Management or Special Needs depending on their background and the needs of the children in our care.
Once you are registered with us you can either book regular sessions at our breakfast and after school clubs, or you can book ad-hoc sessions (one-off) if we have a space available on the day(s) that you want. We require four weeks’ notice for changes to regular sessions.
Yes, they can, just let the Playleader know or email us so we know to expect them later, after the club has finished. Our club staff will coordinate with school run clubs to ensure that your child is collected in person from the club, or accompanied to us by the school club leader. At this point they are signed into our register and under our care.
Yes, however we will need to know beforehand who will be picking up your child. If this is a last minute arrangement for you, you can text the Playleader or Preschool manager on the club mobile number on the day of pick up, or preferably let us know in advance. The person collecting your child will also need to know the password you have set up on your child’s account.
We email your invoice at the start of the month, in advance for regular sessions, and ad-hoc sessions are added to your invoice in the following month.
Payment of fees must be made monthly within two weeks of invoicing. All booked sessions must be paid for even if your child does not attend for any reason. This is because we staff, plan space and equip the clubs in accordance with our booked numbers.
Yes, at our breakfast and after school clubs we can increase your child’s sessions at any point in the term providing we have availability – we can either add regular booked sessions or one-off/ad-hoc sessions. If you would like to make changes to your sessions, please contact us on office@theoakschildcare.co.uk
You can cancel your sessions anytime by emailing us. We require four weeks notice to cancel sessions. If there is a waitlist for a session you are cancelling, we would waive the notice period as will be able to fill the session.
Yes, we accept childcare vouchers from a wide range of providers, including the Government scheme, EdenRed, Computershare, Sodexo, Fidelity, Kiddivouchers, Care4, Bravo Benefits, Gemelli, Caboodle. Please email us if you require specific information to provide to your childcare provider, or if your childcare voucher provider is not listed here.
Full-time and sibling discounts are available, and these apply across our clubs, so if you have a child at school and another at preschool you will be eligible for a discount for one child attending one of our Oaks after school club.
If you have any difficulty in paying your bill, please get in touch, and we may be able to put a payment plan in place.
Yes, we offer ad-hoc sessions providing we have availability at the club for the session you need. You can organise an ad-hoc session by emailing us on office@theoakschildcare.co.uk, or by speaking to the Playleader at club.
At some of our clubs, where demand is high, we do operate a waiting list. If you are waiting for a space our office manager will keep in regular touch with you and let you know where you are on the list and if/when a space is likely to come up. We will also try to accommodate you on other days (usually Mondays or Fridays) where we have spaces.
It is always worth getting in touch with us to discuss what you need. We do our best to work with the schools where we have waiting lists to request additional spaces so that we can accommodate all children who wish to come, and still maintain a healthy play environment. We do not have a waiting list at preschool at the moment.