Short Breaks: Holiday Playschemes & SOFA
Bath Area Play Project provides holiday playschemes for children with additional needs across B&NES. The playschemes are partly funded by B&NES Children’s Services who determine the areas we work in
We run closed-access Holiday Playschemes for children with disabilities and additional needs 'Closed-access' means that children have to be pre-registered with BAPP and the setting has a pre-determined maximum number of children attending each session. There is a charge for this service with reduced rates for children in receipt of benefit related free school meals.
Holiday playschemes are for children aged 5 – 9/10yrs and 9/10 – 14/15yrs and 15/16 to 19 years based at The Hut, Odd Down Community Centre and Three Ways School in Bath and Chandag Infants School in Keynsham and Somer Centre in Midsomer Norton. These playschemes are for B&NES residents only and children must meet the Eligibility Criteria (please see tab to the right for more details). We also work in partnership with Three Ways School and WECIL ensuring there is specialised high quality play provision locally to where children and families live.
There are also Term Time Saturday Clubs available.
How will I know my child will be looked after?
Copy text from leaflet and add:
For all specialist play provision staff are fully aware of their responsibilities in supporting and caring for children with disabilities and additional needs. This includes health & safety where staff undertake daily checks and risk assessments of activities; child protection where staff understand their responsibilities in sharing concerns; disability awareness where staff develop understanding of inclusion and the social model of disability; behaviour management where they develop strategies for dealing with unacceptable behaviour.
All our play provision is staffed by qualified and experienced playworkers including Three Ways staff who are all DBS Checked. There will always be a qualified first aider at each play provision who has undertaken a 12 hour Paediatric First Aid training.
Playworkers have a very clear role – to facilitate and support children at play; playwork is not about controlling or dictating what children should and shouldn’t do, it is about ensuring children have access to appropriate resources and equipment, that they have space for play and there are people available if they choose to play with someone else.
Where your child requires 1:1, you will need to request the days that your child’s PA is available to support.
If you could kindly register on the site as soon as possible and opt to agree to being sent emails from BAPP.
What to do next;
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To be able to use the booking system in future you'll first have to create an account
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Create your account by adding your details (please note there is an option to add an additional account holder for those who wish to have both parents details added or those who co-parent)
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You'll then need to add in your child/ren details (please select the three lines at the top of your accounts page and select children - Then + Add Child, individual children will need to be added separately)
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There is a HELP? option on the main page with helpful guides if you require any assistance, at any time.
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Choose the Activities/settings you child is eligible to attend (based on their age)
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We would prefer that you tick the Ad-hoc option when it comes to picking the dates that are your preference and please avoid ticking all dates. Then depending on demand, the allocations will be 1 or 2 spaces a week at Three Ways School and 3 or more days at other locations due to the level of demand.
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Select the dates which are your preference.
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We will then either approve or decline each date depending on the number of places available.
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You will then receive an email confirming your dates allocated with an invoice attached.
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Going forward, all payments will be made to BAPP directly and we will then transfer fees to the correct provider.
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Once places are confirmed, if for any reason you need to cancel, you can do this on the system, but you will only be refunded or receive a credit (please allow 5 working days for this) if we have been notified about the cancellation and are able to reallocate the space to another child.
If you have any questions or queries, please feel free to CONTACT US
Our team
For all play provision staff undergo rigorous training to ensure they are fully aware of their responsibilities; health & safety where staff undertake daily checks and risk assessments of activities; child protection where staff understand their responsibilities; disability awareness where staff develop understanding of inclusion and the social model of disability; behaviour management where they develop strategies for dealing with unacceptable behaviour. All play provision is staffed by qualified and experienced playworkers including Threeways staff who are all DBS Checked. There will always be a qualified first aider at each play provision who has undertaken a 12 hour Paediatric First Aid training.
Playworkers have a very clear role – to facilitate and support children at play; playwork is not about controlling or dictating what children should and shouldn’t do, it is about ensuring children have access to appropriate resources and equipment, that they have space for play and there are people available if they choose to play with someone else.
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B&NES Rainbow resource: Register here
Hopefully you will already be aware of Bath and North East Somerset’s Rainbow Resource scheme, a voluntary registration of a young person with meeting eligible criteria (details can be found here).
Once registered the child/young person receives a free wallet sized card verifying their additional need and thus enables them to discreetly access any concession or additional support they may need whilst out and about. for a list of which venues offer a discount or concession please see the live well website. Their intention is to ensure no-one has to justify their position or enter into confidential discussions with strangers, and it should be accepted on face value that they can access additional support.
Downloads
All our play provision follows the 7 best play objectives which are:
- The play provision offers choice and control that children have over their play, freedom to enjoy and satisfaction they gain from it.
- BAPP recognises the child's need to test boundaries and responds positively to that need.
- Play provision manages the balance between risk and keeping children safe from harm.
- Play provision maximises the range of play opportunities.
- Play provision promotes independence and self-esteem.
- Play provision encourages children's respect for others and offers opportunities for social interaction.
- Play provision fosters child's well-being, healthy growth and development, knowledge and understanding, creativity and capacity to learn.
This means that whilst there is no curriculum for play, no pre-conceived idea of what children should be doing or achieving, there is an understanding by the playwork profession that what we are providing for children is a range of experiences and opportunities for children to develop skills and confidence through play.
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