Welcome to Westgate’s Out of School Hours Clubs
WOOSH

After School Club

We like to think of ourselves as a real club for our children, where they can have fun and feel included. We don’t quite have passwords and a secret base, but all our members have a say in how their club is run. We build our sessions around the philosophy that each child should have access to a wide variety of creative activities, outdoor play and healthy food. We have a strong arts and crafts focus.

At After School Club we think that healthy eating, and learning to enjoy eating healthily, is very important. We listened to what our children wanted and came up with a daily menu everyone seems to love. Fresh fruit is always available, as is milk, juice and raisin boxes. We also provide a cold snack, such as pieces of fruit loaf or mini pitta breads with ham. Finally, each child gets their own favourite toasted snack with a choice of topping. Some of our current favourites are crumpets with honey or teacakes with chocolate-nut spread! We encourage children to eat together as well as to play together. We hold cooking sessions every week and we also regularly have weeks where the children can use a ‘Sandwich Bar’ and make their own afternoon snack.

Since we all need about half an hour of exercise a day we also aim to provide children with thirty minutes of outdoor play daily, with use of our great outdoor resources. These include skipping ropes, hockey sets, cricket sets, footballs and dodgeballs. Or else children are free to come up with their own outdoor games, which always seem to involve everyone – including the staff! After outdoor play, the children return inside where they choose from masses of different activities. Our cooking sessions are well-liked, as is the daily arts, crafts and DT project. In the past we have made tiger collages, Robin Hood pouches and salt dough models. Children can also choose to draw or paint, play board games, or get creative with our extensive Lego and K’Nex construction sets. We have a quiet area for children to read or finish homework. We also have a PlayStation, and the chance to have a go on one our favourite games is very popular!  Towards the end of the session, we give children a chance to wind down by allowing them to chose a movie to watch until 6pm.

We are proud of our well-resourced Club and are always looking for ways to make it more enjoyable for our children. We look forward to welcoming new members!

Breakfast Club

Breakfast Club opens at 8am. It aims to give children a relaxed and motivating start to their school day. They can choose to take part in a variety of activities, such as art projects, board games and playing on the computer. Juice and fruit are available.

What our children say

“I really like the way you treat us.” –Year 3 child.

“My favourite thing is playing outside, colouring, the food and the games. My least favourite thing is NOTHING!” –Year 5 child.

“My favourite thing is our football table and going outside.” –Year 4 child.

“I like the way we always make stuff and do painting and cooking and drawing.” –Year 1 child.

What our parents say

“It is great to see the children making things. My son loves making his own crafts at After School Club.” –parent of Year 4 child.

“I find the food provision very healthy and my girls love it.” –parent of Y3 and Y5 children.

“A lot of effort, care and consideration go into the club. There is a wide range of activities for the children, helping with their education, social skills and mental stimulation. I am impressed with the variety of healthy food available and think it is very good that the children are involved in making their own snacks. My child always talks about the different things she has been doing at the club. She particularly enjoys dressing up.” –parent of Y2 child.

“Many thanks for the care you give re. my son’s food allergies. I also find it great that outdoor activity is valued even in these winter months. You do a marvellous job with the space you have, both inside and out. And it is refreshing to see that you have periodic reviews of what the club has to offer.” –parent of Y4 child.

Meet the team

Our two main members of staff are also experienced Teaching Assistants at Westgate, so we know the children well from working with them during the day. Elizabeth Haslop, our manager, is the Reception TA and also runs lunchtime clubs such as Games Club and Hama Beads Club. Elizabeth’s background is in early years education. She worked in nurseries before coming to Westgate several years ago. Philippa Greasley, our deputy, is the Y4 TA and also works with other KS2 classes, as well as running Breakfast Club. She has taught in Africa. We occasionally have other members of staff working at After School Club, all of whom have good experience of working with our children during the school day. We all enjoy working with the kids and getting to know their parents and carers!

The session itself

Times and activities are approximate and weather dependent.