Wraparound Care at Heywood
Heywood Prep has, for a long time enjoyed offering a range of clubs and activities for children as part of its wraparound care. The school gates open for the bravest of souls at 7.30am for Breakfast Club; an opportunity for children of all ages to enjoy a continental breakfast before taking on the challenges of the day ahead. We close the gates some ten-and-a-half hours later to those who have stayed for a freshly cooked supper.
In between all of this there are a huge range of afterschool clubs on offer with the majority taking place between 3.45 and 4.45pm. Opportunities are endless; whether your love is for the outdoors in Forest School or in a creative space such as Art Club, DT club, Photography Masterclasses, Crafty Gang, Ukulele club, Advanced Singers or Cookery. We cater for a wide variety of sports with two Tennis clubs, two football clubs, Bath Rugby, Fencing, Judo, Multisports, Cricket, Ultimate Frisbee and Dance and make provision for some time to relax and rejuvenate in Mind Matters and Cosy Club. We also offer opportunities for extra study in Homework Club, Digital Learning Platforms, Lego Robotics, Guided Homework for those in Years 5 & 6, Matheltics and Nessy Fingers.
Children as young as three have the opportunity to hone their Ballet skills with our specialist teacher and we use many outside professionals for other activities. Recent additions to the staff team include a local wedding photographer who has offered masterclass sessions such as portraiture, landscapes, street scenes, shadows and the use of pinhole cameras. We have also joined up with a local company to provide further access to sporting pursuits and specialist football, cricket and tennis coaches. Our most popular club recently has been the Pre-Prep ‘Non-Cooking, Cookery Club’ where children make dishes that do not require any cooking or prepare them for cooking at home. Our Bath Rugby training sessions equip children with core skills as well as the opportunity to be flag bearers at a Premiership match at The Rec in Bath.
Teaching and support staff enjoy the challenge of offering a variety of clubs and many take hours of their time planning and preparing fun and invigorating activities for the children to participate in.
Staff are encouraged to offer activities outside of their normal key-stage teaching so the children get used to our varied teaching styles and to forge the staff-children relationships that are essential in a small prep school.
The stats speak for themselves; over 60 clubs per week available, run by nearly 60 specialist teachers and approximately 550 spaces taken up by children; not bad for a school with just over 200 children on roll!
Heywood Clubs seek to challenge the children to accomplish our Language for Learning in the ‘Eight Cs’ as well as providing vital childcare for professional parents. Pick any one of these C’s and you will see evidence in the activities we provide.
Compassion – Confidence – Collaboration – Creativity – Communication Commitment – Curiosity – Craftmanship
Heywood is only closed for one week a year; over the Christmas period. Outside of this time, Heywood offers a holiday club to rival all others. Open from 8am-6pm every day (4pm on Friday) the Holiday Club offers Sunrise sessions from 8-10am, Main Activity sessions from 10-4pm and Sunset sessions from 4-6pm. Sessions are tailored specifically to the ages of the children, with EYFS children being housed in the Nursery building with specialist staff and the older children being based in the main school. New for Summer 2019, we have added trips out – including to the cinema, the local golf course for lessons, ‘beach days’ (hosted by a sister school with an outdoor swimming pool), the local ice cream factory and trips to Bowood House for fun and adventure.
On-site activities often have a theme and activities include Nerf gun battles, sports days provided by ‘The Sportz Coach’, archery, dance, handball, art, crafts, treasure hunts, water fights and traditional games. Local activities are also provided in the form of trips to the local library, Corsham Court, the play park, swimming and climbing at a local leisure centre and a special visit from the local policeman.
Places can be booked well in advance for those working parents who know their schedule but we can also accept shorter notice and even same day bookings for when parents need some extra help. Since last summer, Heywood Holiday club has taken over 1500 bookings for the main session with ‘normal’ daily numbers catering for around 30 children.
Catering is now provided by our in-house caterers taking away the stress of packed lunches for parents. The vast majority of staff are employed year-round as many teachers and support staff are contracted to work for Holiday Club; this provides unrivalled continuity for the children and knowledge for the staff. There are no uniforms, children come in comfy clothes depending on the day’s activities and staff dress in a relaxed manner to bring a sense of fun and relaxation to the day’s proceedings.