At Toast & Tea, we are always happy to answer any questions you may have.
Find answers to our most frequently asked questions here. Click on the heading below to go directly to the section you are looking for, or simply scroll down.
Can’t find what you are looking for? Please do drop us an email.
Essential Information
What is your OFSTED registration number?
2607487
Which schools do Toast & Tea cover?
We currently provide breakfast and after-school clubs for children at Westgate, Weeke, Kings Worthy and Barton Farm Primary schools in Winchester, Hampshire.
We also run a holiday club at The Log Cabin on Stockbridge Road. Children from any school are welcome to join – this is a great opportunity to mix with different children and have fun! Click here to see what holiday club dates we have coming up.
What are the times of your breakfast and after-school sessions?
Our breakfast sessions begin at 7.30am.
Our after-school sessions begin at school collection time (For most schools, 3.20pm) and finish at 6.00pm.
Applying for / Withdrawing a Space
What is your admissions policy?
Our out-of-hours childcare sessions are available to children attending each of the school settings – i.e. Westgate Lower School for our Westgate club, Weeke Primary School for our Weeke club, Kings Worthy Primary School for our Kings Worthy club and Barton Farm Primary Academy for our Barton Farm club.
Places are offered with priority given in the following order:
1. Children requiring the greatest number of sessions.
2. Siblings of children already attending.
3. Children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2.
When all places are filled, we establish a waiting list. If you are on the waiting list, we will get in touch with you as soon as a place becomes available.
How do I apply for a space at Toast & Tea?
If you would like to apply for a child joining Toast & Tea for the first time, please visit the relevant settings page (Westgate, Weeke, Kings Worthy or Barton Farm) where you can find out more and download the registration form.
We ask for a non-refundable deposit of £30 when you register. If your child then joins us at Toast & Tea, that will be deducted from their first invoice.
If you would like to find out about extra spaces for children already attending Toast & Tea, please send us an email. You can also look at the individual settings pages on this website to see what spaces we currently have available at each of our breakfast and after-school sessions.
How do I withdraw a space?
Please send us an email to confirm you would like to withdraw your space, letting us know the child’s name, the setting they attend and which space(s) you would like to cancel.
The notice period for withdrawing your place is one calendar month. Fees will be payable until the last session has been attended.
Safety & Wellbeing
How do you ensure all children are kept safe and nurtured at Toast & Tea?
At Toast and Tea, we are committed to providing the highest possible quality of care for all children. Safeguarding and welfare are our top priorities. We are an OFSTED recognised childcare provider, are registered on the Early Years Register as well as the compulsory and voluntary Childcare Registers.
We have a maximum ratio of one adult to every eight children (read more below). In order to recruit suitable people to work with our children, all adults will be subject to an Enhanced DBS check and registered as Childminding Assistants with Ofsted before commencing any work with children.
Children must be signed in and out of our breakfast and after-school sessions by staff. Children are also only to be collected by an adult who has been authorised to do so on their registration form. Children will not be released from Toast & Tea sessions unaccompanied.
Toast & Tea staff have Basic First Aid Training and a designated Paediatric First Aider will always be available. If a child has had an accident at school during the day, or at our club, this will be reported verbally to the adult who collects them.
It is our responsibility to manage children’s behaviour in an appropriate way while in our care. We work on the basis of always being fair and reasonable when managing behaviour, giving praise and positive reinforcement. If a child continues to display repetitive or challenging behaviour they will be asked to spend a short amount of time away from the rest of the group. Staff will inform parents if repetitive or challenging behaviour continues.
Read our Policies & Procedures document and our specific Safeguarding Policy for further details.
What is your ratio of adults to children?
We work on a maximum ratio of one adult to every eight children for our out-of-school settings. Often, there are fewer children per adult than this.
There is no legal obligation in terms of the ratio of adults to children for out-of-school settings. But, we think it is important for the welfare and happiness of the children to have this in place.
Because we keep the maximum number of children at a Toast & Tea club fairly low, we are able to have a key person system. All Toast & Tea staff members know all the children, but everyone knows their key children especially well. They will talk to them about their family, their day, what they did at the weekend. It’s about much more than supervising – it’s about really getting to know the children.
How do the children get safely to school from the setting in the morning / back from school in the afternoon?
Because our Toast & Tea out-of-school settings are a short walk from the school (with the exception of Barton Farm, which runs at the school), parents are naturally always keen to know how we get our children safely to and from school.
We provide high-vis vests for our children to wear all year round. You can’t miss a Toast & Tea child! We take a register before we leave for school in the morning and have a register for pick-up after-school, so we know we have all the children with us before we start walking. The children then walk slowly along the pavement together, all holding on to our safety rope at all times. There is always an adult at the front and back of the rope.
This short walk is a great opportunity for us to keep talking to the children about safe road behaviour.
How do you ensure any personal data / information is protected?
We respect the privacy of our children, their parents or carers and our own staff. We want everyone using or working at Toast and Tea to feel confident that their personal data is being kept secure.
We have a nominated data protection lead who ensures that we meet the requirements of the GDPR, liaises with statutory bodies when necessary, and responds to any subject access requests.
Find our complete Data Protection Policy in our Policies & Procedures document.
Fees & Financing
What are your fees for breakfast and after-school clubs?
Toast & Tea breakfast clubs are £8 per session. This includes a healthy breakfast, a morning ‘Wake and Shake’ routine and a positive start to the school day.
Toast & Tea after school clubs are £13 per session. This includes a hot meal, appropriate activities, the opportunity to read or share a book with an adult and some time to reflect on the school day.
Fees are payable monthly in advance. Invoices will be sent out on the 15th of each month. Payments need to clear by the last working day of the month.
A charge of £5 a day will be incurred for payments received after the 2nd of the following month.
A late fee will be charged for children collected after 6.00pm at a rate of £5 for every 15 minutes.
Do you accept childcare vouchers as payment?
Yes, we do! Your childcare voucher provider will want to know our OFSTED registration number, which is 2607487.
As with all payments, voucher payments must be processed to allow time for the payment to clear by the end of the month.
School Clubs
Can my child take part in a school club and then go to Toast & Tea afterward?
Yes, of course! We know joining school clubs, from sports to music, can be a really enjoyable part of the school experience. If your child would like to join any school club, we can easily arrange for them to come to Toast & Tea once the club finishes.
Simply let us know which school club your child will be attending and on which day. We will pick your child up from the club and walk them safely back to the Toast & Tea setting.
As most clubs finish around 4.20pm, there is always time for us to give your child dinner and for them to enjoy activities with us before you pick them up in the evening.
Do I need to let the school / club know you will be collecting them?
Clubs will ask who has permission to collect your child when you register, so you can include Toast & Tea at this point.
We also liaise with the school / club so they are aware we are collecting your child. For some clubs, they are so familiar with us now that registration forms ask directly if you will be picked up by Toast & Tea.
Food & Special Dietary Requirements
What food do you provide at breakfast and after-school clubs?
Nutritious, freshly prepared food is an important part of what we offer at Toast & Tea – we think it’s essential for our young people! There are suitable facilities for the hygienic preparation of food for children at our settings.
At our breakfast clubs, all children have the opportunity to eat a healthy, balanced breakfast before walking to school. This typically includes a choice of cereals, toast, fruit and milk. We usually sit down to eat together at around 8.00am.
At our after-school clubs children will be offered a healthy snack after school, then we will sit down together to eat a hot meal at around 5.00pm. Visit the individual settings pages to view a sample menu for the week.
Fresh drinking water is always available and accessible at all times.
Can you cater for special dietary requirements / what do you do about allergies?
Before a child is admitted to the setting we obtain information about any special dietary requirements, preferences and food allergies that a child has, along with any special health requirements.
We record and act on information from parents and carers about a child’s dietary needs.
Sickness, Absence & Medication
What do I do if my child is sick / is going to miss a session?
Please send a message directly to us on the setting phone number:
Westgate: 07549158316
Weeke: 07549158571
Kings Worthy: 07549158511
Barton Farm: 07549158568
Unfortunately, we will not be able to refund fees if your child is absent as we will already have paid for staff, food etc.
Do you administer medicine if needed?
We can administer medicine at Toast & Tea. When you first register, we will ask you to complete a Health Care Plan so we are fully aware of any medical conditions and treatment your child may need.
We will need written consent in advance in order for our staff to safely administer any medicine. This is given via our Medication Consent Form, which is also sent at the same time as you register. Any medicine to be administered must have been prescribed by a GP, and remain in its original packaging.
Find full details in our Policies & Procedures document.
View our Health Care Plan Form and Medication Consent Form here.
Complaints
We always strive to work in partnership with parents to deliver high-quality childcare. If for any reason we fall short, we would always prefer to know so we can amend our practices for the future.
Our complaints policy is always displayed clearly in each setting location. The setting manager is usually responsible for dealing with complaints. If the complaint is about the manager, another senior member of staff will investigate.
Records of all complaints are kept for at least three years. A summary of complaints is available for parents on request.
Read more in our Policies & Procedures document.