Early Birds and Night Owls

Early Birds and Night Owls is a reading and homework support service run by Miss Hardiman (Teaching Assistant) before and after school.  The sessions are very popular with our pupils.

Sessions should be booked and paid for at 24 hours in advance, on Parent Pay, so as to enable us to manage staffing requirements. If we are over- staffed just because people might turn up at the last minute, then it makes everyone pay more.  However, we also want to be as responsive to need as we can so please do only make last minute bookings in an emergency!!!!  Places are subject to staffing levels at short notice.

• Early Birds: available from 8am (Please note this is not a breakfast club and children will need to have had breakfast before arriving at school)
• Night Owls: available from after school until 5pm. (Please note that children staying will need a snack and drink for after school. Legally we are not able to have the children on site beyond 5pm) 

Charges (from September 2024):

• The Early Birds sessions cost £5.

• Afternoon session (15.20 – 16.00) £5
• After school session (16.00 – 17.00) £7.50
• Combined session (15.20 – 17.00) £12.00

Children who are attending the existing free school clubs will be able to attend from 4pm-5pm and £5 will be charged for this arrangement. All sessions must be paid for in advance and at the time of booking.

If children are picked up from a session more than five minutes late then an extra half hour will be charged.  If a child is booked into a session but does not attend (e.g. due to illness) we are unable to provide refunds as we still have to pay the staff. Obviously we will look at cases of long term illness on an individual basis!

To book on Parent Pay please use the following selections

Instructions for Early Birds & Night Owls Bookings and Payments on ParentPay
For Early Birds 8am-8.40am select Breakfast (although this is not a breakfast club and children need to have had breakfast before attending)
For Night Owls 3.20pm – 4pm select Afternoon
For Night Owls 4pm – 5pm select After School
For Night Owls 3.20-5pm select Combined

1. Go to www.parentpay.com and log in
2. Select the child to make bookings for
3. Select Bookings > Make or view bookings
4. Select the time of day that you wish to make a booking for
5. Select the week to view
6. Select Make or view bookings
7. You will then be presented with a booking screen.
8. Make the required bookings
9. A summary will be displayed at the bottom of the page with any previous unpaid bookings shown in red.
Any bookings must be confirmed and (if required) paid for within 2 hours of selecting them. Failure to do so will result in the bookings being automatically cancelled.

In the system we pay for we are able to have 3 slots for clubs. We have chosen to have a slot for Early Birds, Night Owls (3.20 – 4pm) and Night Owls (4 – 5pm). We need the 4 – 5pm slot for children who attend clubs and come to Night Owls after. We now have an option called combined for you to book 3.20-5pm under one booking.

Frequently asked questions:

Can I put money into my account on Parent Pay and use it as I book?

Yes, you can put a lump sum into the Early Birds or Night Owls accounts and then every time you book a place the payment will automatically come off on the day of the booking.  

Can I cancel a booking?

You can cancel a booking up to 24 hours in advance.  You do this by ‘unticking’ the box for the booking.  It will then be cancelled. 

Can I book on the day?

No.  Bookings need to be done 24 hours in advance.  We need to know numbers for staffing.  Early Birds is proving very popular at the moment and often we are at out limit for the 2 members of staff.  We do have staff who have offered to be the extra person if needed but we need to make sure we know numbers 24 hours in advance. 

If you have an emergency and need to use Early Birds or Night Owls, please call the school office and speak with Mrs Munt, Mrs Bridson or I and we will sort it out for you. We would never leave a child unattended and understand emergencies happen. We do ask that you pay in the correct slot on Parent Pay within 24 hours for any emergencies.

What happens if I am running late?

As previously, we do give a grace period if someone is running late on a particular day. If this happens consistently we will ask parents to pay for the extra hour. 

What happens if I book and do not have money in my account and do not pay?

If the booking has not been paid for within 2 hours it is automatically cancelled by the system.

What happens if my child is ill?

If your child is ill on the day you have booked the payment will be taken as we still have to pay staff.  However, you would be able to cancel any future bookings 24 hours in advance.