FAQ
Who can come to Holiday Club?
Yes. Children are welcome from any school/home school to attend our clubs.
Children attending must currently be between reception and Y6.
We are not suitable for nursery school children.
At Club
Didsbury Road:
Our Club entrance is to the left of the building, please continue past the school reception and along the front of the building. We have our own door and a member of our team will meet you here.
Hursthead:
Please arrive at the playground gated entrance. Once your booking has been confirmed, a member of our team will email you with the gate entry code. Once through the gate our building is at the far end of the playground.
We think the best thing about Elm Cottage Holiday Clubs is that children can take part in as many activities as they like. They do not have to sign up for just one activity, there are many to keep everyone entertained and open to all.
Visiting workshops and coaches. For example Dance and Cheerleading, Football and Multisports, and the Dhrum Academy.
Themed activities that change each holiday.
Continuous play equipment set out each day.
Please see our booking page for more information.
Breakfast buffet
7:45-10 am
Children can help themselves to a range of breakfast options:
Self service cereal station, fresh seasonal fruit, yogurts, toast.
Milk or water to drink
Lunch
12pm -If your session falls over this time please bring a packed lunch along.
To minimise allergic reactions we kindly request that packed lunches or snacks contain no traces of NUTS. Please check food labelling. This contains all nut spreads.
Afternoon snack, buffet.
15:00pm
A range of healthy snacks are on offer at our afternoon self service buffet. Children can make their own wraps/bagels with various fillings and help themselves to crackers, rice cakes, fresh fruit, hummus, vegetable sticks and salad.
Please bring a refillable drinks bottle
We ask that all electronic devices be left at home. With all the activities on offer we don’t think they will be needed and we wouldn’t want these items to get damaged or lost.
Yes, your child is welcome to bring their own scooter with a helmet. Please note that we can not be held responsible for any losses or damages.
Riding your bike to get to Club is brilliant but we ask that bikes are left in the designated areas during the Club day. We do not have the facilities to accommodate different aged riders and would hate for anyone to get hurt.
Please bring suitable clothing for the season. Out door coats, hats, gloves. Sun hat, sunscreen.
Please only dress your children in clothes that you do not mind getting dirty. We can not be held responsible for any damaged clothing.
Allergies, illness and accidents
We want everyone to remain safe while at the club and we will do our utmost to ensure that any child with allergies is not exposed to allergens within the club.
We have tight procedures in place, however, with the best will in the world, mistakes due to human error may occur, especially as there are so many children with allergies of different natures. Therefore, if your child’s allergic condition is life threatening please think carefully before booking your child into the Club.
Club provides morning and afternoon snacks however lunches are brought in from home. If your child does have a food related allergen we would recommend that you provide all food that is given to your child.
We kindly request that all packed lunches and snacks from home are completely nut free.
Baking sessions within the Club will have various ingredients provided. Please fill in any allergies on the enrolment form.
If your child should become ill at Club we will attend to them and make them as comfortable as possible. We will call you and explain the situation, we may ask you to collect your child if we think it is in their best interest.
Calpol:
If collection is needed but there is a delay, it may occasionally be necessary to administer one spoonful of Calpol to aid the reduction of a persistently high body temperature. Calpol will only be given if you have ticked the box on the online enrolment and consent form. We will also ask for verbal consent over the telephone, and ask you to collect your child within the hour.
We will also ask you to confirm that your child has not received any paracetamol medication within the previous 4 hours.
Piriton:
If your child has an allergic reaction whilst in our care, we will administer 2.5ml of Piriton if you have ticked the box on the online enrolment and consent form. We will also ask for verbal consent over the telephone.
Please contact us if you have any more questions, you can also view our Medicine Policy document here.
Please speak to a member of staff regarding your child’s specific needs before making a booking.
All medicine must be handed into staff members at the club and medicine forms filled out on arrival.
All medicine must have a pharmacy label with the child’s name and dosage.
Please do not leave any medicines in children’s bags, we store these away safely and securely.
Please see our Medicine Policy for more information.
To keep everyone as healthy and as happy as possible, we ask that should your child show signs of being unwell on the morning of their session, or if they require paracetamol/ibuprofen in the morning for any reason then please keep them at home.
This is a really useful link from public health with the exclusion periods for children within childcare settings.
Accidents do happen and if your child has an accident at Club we will attend to them and make them as comfortable as possible. We will administer care as required by the injury and if needed we will apply a hypo-allergenic plaster. Plasters will only be given if you have ticked the box on the online enrolment and consent form.
An accident form will be filled out by members of staff.
We may ask you to collect your child if we think it is in their best interest, it may be that they need further medical assistance at a hospital or doctors.
In the event that a child should require emergency medical attention whilst in the care of Elm Cottage, a member of staff will accompany the child to hospital in an ambulance or taxi immediately for emergency treatment or advice. We will inform you of the incident and meet you at the designated hospital.
We have procedures in place and want to reassure you that all ALL our staff are trained and are kept up to date in Paediatric First Aid.
For the 35 years that Elm Cottage has been caring for children we have always believed that every member of our team should be trained in and kept up to date in paediatric first aid, this is something we have felt very strongly about and has been implemented since first opening in 1989.
Online bookings
Once you have made a booking please check all details are correct on your acknowledgement email. Once our managers have checked your booking and received payment then you will receive another email with your confirmation and you’re all set for the Club.
Please note that your booking is not confirmed until you have received an email acknowledging payment.
Unfortunately we cannot accept your child on the day if payment has not been confirmed.
We are more than happy to change your booked sessions to any other with availability.
We will cancel your session and ask you to rebook a new session through the website.
Please email any changes to:
If you would like to completely cancel a booking then we require at least 7 days notice. We can issue a full refund for any cancellation request made before 7 days of your booked session. Unfortunately we can not offer a refund if it is less than 7 days notice.
If it is before the 7 days cut off period we can transfer the credit onto your account for any future bookings (which is often easier with TFC and vouchers) or we can refund the amount completely.
Please email any cancellations with your preferred choice of account credit or full refund to:
Vouchers and Tax Free Childcare
Yes we do. There is an option at check out to pay by Voucher or TFC.
You must instruct payment via your voucher or TFC accounts when making a booking.
Please note that your booking is not confirmed until you have received an email acknowledging payment.
Unfortunately we cannot accept your child on the day if payment has not been confirmed.
TFC payments can often take a few days to reach us and vouchers anything up to 11 business days.
To locate the Clubs in your TFC account please use our unique Ofsted reference code:
Didsbury Road- 501470
Hursthead – EY313648
To pay using vouchers please add your child’s name as a reference followed by our club code:
Didsbury Road- DR2
Hursthead- HH8
At checkout there is space to add these details to your booking. If you have missed it off your booking then please send this to:
Vouchers can take up to 11 days to clear into our account and TFC payments a few days. Please email the relevant club if they are taking longer than this.
We welcome last minute bookings but we suggest paying by card for these sessions. TFC payments can often take a few days to reach us and vouchers anything up to 11 business days. If the booking has fallen over a bank holiday there is often further delay. In these instances please provide a screenshot as proof of payment on the day if you are unable to speak to a member of staff prior to a session.