Puffins

Children must be registered in advance in order to use the club. There is an annual registration fee of £30.00 per family. Regular bookings must be made in advance via the My Child at School (MCAS) system. Please navigate to the ‘Wrap Around Care’ section of MCAS. You can book any available sessions. Bookings can be made up until 3 days in advance of the booking. After this three-day cut off, any emergency bookings must be completed on the Adhoc booking form. Children cannot be accepted by the Club without prior booking by a responsible adult. If you are using Childcare Vouchers or Tax Free Childcare, please ensure payments are made at least 2 weeks in advance of the booking to enable the payment to be received and added to MCAS. Please specify if funds are to be allocated to the Before School Club, the Short Breakfast session or the After School Club, so the funds are allocated correctly for you to spend. Children will only be released to a parent or recognised adult at the end of a session. Any arrangement which differs from this we will need in writing. Under 16s cannot collect children. If anybody other than yourself is picking up your child, then that person should be introduced to the staff on duty beforehand. If this is not possible it may be necessary to use a Password.

If you do make a booking which is subsequently not used, you will still be charged for that session. It would be helpful if you could let us know of cancellations at the earliest opportunity. Once you have made a booking it is your responsibility to ensure that staff know if your child is not going to attend so that we don't spend time looking for your child.

Sick Children

The club does not accept sick children. If a child is ill at school then they have to be collected from school.

Medicines

Only prescribed medicines will be administered. We require written permission as per the school policy.

Late Collection

There is a fixed charge of £10 for every half hour or part thereof after 6:00pm.

Charges

Annual registration fee per family £30.00 for regular users. This is not payable by occasional ad hoc users (Occasional, irregular use of no more than three sessions in a half term. Regular use of the same afternoons or mornings each week does not constitute ad hoc).

We enable children in Puffins to 'Live Life to the full' as we support, protect, develop, include and nurture all children. Together as a Puffins family, we demonstrate our values of:

Our aim is to provide a caring and fun environment with play opportunities designed to promote personal and social development, physical and intellectual skills and creative achievement. We encourage and support positive, fun activities and opportunities led by the children, where they can be comfortable being themselves.

As an equal opportunities club, we welcome all children regardless of gender, ethnicity, home language, culture or disability.

Puffins, formally POSH Club, was established in January 1999 to provide after-school care for the children of Petersfield School. The Club was the brainchild of a small number of committed people, who initially saw it as an offshoot of the P.T.A. They set about organising a committee and then got to grips with the necessary paperwork, and the rest is history! We have since gone on to provide 'Before School care' and Holiday Playschemes. Children from other schools are very welcome to come to join us. We have earned a Level 2 Quality Assurance Award with 4Children's 'Aiming High' Scheme.

In October 2008 the Club came under the umbrella of Petersfield School and in September 2010 moved from a mobile classroom on the school site into a newly refurbished classroom.

Our staff are DBS checked, first aid trained and hold food hygiene qualifications. Staff qualifications that are relevant to Puffins include Teaching, Early Years, Playwork and STEPs training.

Puffins staff:

Playleader: Mrs Anna Little

Playworkers: Mrs Cheryl Want, Mrs Debbie Bonfield, Miss Jasmin Squires and Mrs Chloe Budge.

More details of our charges can be found in the Charging and Remissions Policy on the Policies Page of our website:

As of July 2025, payment for all Puffins sessions are due on booking. The Registration Fee payment is due in the Autumn 1 half term annually. Failure to pay promptly will result in an administration charge and you may jeopardise your child's place at the club.

PUFFINS ACCEPTS CHILDCARE VOUCHERS.

Please see below for information about help with the cost of childcare (child tax credit and working tax credit):