FAQs

With many years' experience under our belts, we've compiled a list of parents' and caregivers' most frequently asked questions! We're sure all your questions will be answered below or with the information in the boxes at the bottom of the page with links to the Handbook, Flyer, HP FAQs and T&C's but if not, please contact Bruce or Thurla.

Is Play Time an MSD Oscar Approved / Accredited programme? Yes, Play Time holds Level 3 SSAS accreditation.

What are your staff to child ratios? Play Time strives towards 1:12 onsite, and usually operates higher staff:child ratio's. If walking to a venue or on a trip day during the Holiday Programme, 1:8. Risk assessment is carried out at all times.

Are you a NZ owned company? Yes, Play Time is an independent (not franchised), 100% NZ and Bay of Plenty locally owned company

I am eligible for an Oscar subsidy, I need my forms signed. Your booking needs to be made first, because we need to put this information on the Oscar forms. If you are already a winz client, please email forms to oscarforms@play-time.co.nz and we can submit on your behalf - or if you would prefer to submit, then we will sign the provider page and get the forms back to you. For more information and forms go to the Parent Info page on this website.

Do you have space? Bookings are first-come-first-served. Please jump online to make your booking. Payment converts the Scheduled (blue) booking to "Booked" (green) which confirms the booking and space.

How / Where do I book?

What is your Cancellation / Switching Days and Credits policy? 1 full rolling week notice. Cancel your own bookings in Bookbear at least one week in advance. Bookings in the 1 week cancellation notice period are locked and cannot be cancelled/removed/credited. Bookings are locked within the 1 rolling week notice period - the system will permit changes to bookings more than 1 rolling week away. No booking edits can be made by admin or staff.

I made a late booking last night for today, but have changed my mind/my circumstances have changed and I no longer need the booking - can you cancel the booking because it was made so late / reissue the invoice / raise a credit note for me? All bookings including last-minute bookings are subject to the notice period and no credit is due regardless of attendance.

Do I need to let you know if my child cannot attend? Yes! As part of the enrolment T&Cs, you must let us know via txt to the Venue Absence line or mark absent in Bookbear at least 30 mins prior to the session starting. Each venue has a direct contact number / absence line to txt. You may not receive a reply; the staff will see it when they arrive. If your child is on our roll and does not arrive, and we cannot locate them, or get hold of you or your emergency contacts, for the child's safety, we are required to call the police to locate the child - we would all prefer this doesn't need to happen if the child is safe. If staff are not informed of an absence, there is a charge for the time involved to accounting for the child.

We have booked a session but my child has been invited on a playdate / my child has been sent home from school / my child isn't going to school today, so cannot attend the booked session - must I still pay / can I get a credit for the session? If your child cannot attend a booked session we will mark them absent - please txt the venue number or mark them absent in Bookbear. No credit for the unattended session is due.

Is there a minimum number of days that we need to book? Do I have to book every day? / every week? No, you can book just one session or as and when you need care, subject to space being available. All booked sessions are subject to the cancellation notice policy, regardless of whether they were booked a day before or a month before.

What number must I txt if my child will be absent? You can mark your child absent in Bookbear up to 30 mins before the session starts. Or text the venue that you have booked in to, on the Venue Absence Txt number, to let the staff know that your child will not be there. You may not receive a reply; the staff will see it when they arrive and mark the child absent The session is not credited.

Where is the pickup spot? Go to the Before/After School Care page on this website and scroll down to see a map of the pickup spot at your school (click on your school for the map)

Can I make a Late/Last Minute booking? Bookings close at 12 midnight, subject to space. Emergency Bookings on-the-day are available, subject to space. Emergency Bookings carry a surcharge. All bookings are subject to the cancellation policy, including last minute bookings.

How / when do I pay? Payment is upfront and made through your Bookbear Wallet to secure the bookings. Bookings are confirmed once payment is received. Child is on the roll when payment is received.

Where must my child go after school? If the after school care is onsite at the school (either in the hall, or in another room) your child must go there. The room we are located in is listed on the booking website.

Do you have hourly rates? No - Play Time has Session rates.

How do I know if my booking is confirmed? Bookings are confirmed when they have been paid. This will be shown on your Calendar as a green "Booked" session.

Are all your staff Police Vetted? Yes

Which WINZ form should I use? For more information about the WINZ process and for which form to use, click the Oscar Subsidy Info box on the Parent Info page of this website.

What are the Behaviour Expectations of children? To keep the group of children happy & safe, Play Time has behaviour expectations, including physical & behavioural boundaries - where children can & can’t go & what children may & may not do while they are at Play Time - these are communicated to children in children’s language as “Play Time’s Rules”. Every effort will be made to help your child settle in to the programme, however if a child’s behaviour is consistently harmful and/or disruptive to themselves, another child or staff, parents/caregivers will be asked to collect the child from the programme immediately, & may be removed from the programme permanently or stood down. Normal cancellation terms apply if your child is asked to leave due to behaviour. No credit or refund is due. If your child has a minder / teacher aide at school (meaning a 1:1 child:adult ratio), please contact us to discuss their enrolment.

I made an accidental booking, will I be credited? No credit is due for an unattended session. All bookings are planned and resourced by the programme and staff.

I’ve informed the school that my child will be absent, will the school tell you? No. Please inform us directly by marking your child absent in Bookbear up to 30mins before the session starts, or texting the Venue Absence number.

Can I pop in for my child to meet the teachers and see the venue before my child attends for the first time? You may pop through at any time during the programme, but if you arrive just as school closes, staff are very busy welcoming and accounting for the children on the roll and will not be able to speak with you. If you want to ask questions and talk to staff, it’s best to pop through later in the day when it’s not so busy.

My child is only 5 / my child is new to the school, do you pick them up from their classroom? We can pick children up from their classroom until they are comfortable coming to meet us - please let us know via email to admin@play-time.co.nz that you would like us to collect your child from their classroom (please include child's name, school and classroom number). Please also let the teacher know not to release the child after school, as Play Time staff will come to collect the child. Please let the teacher know that we may not be waiting outside when the bell rings, as we may have a "walking bus" and collecting all the children from their classrooms takes a few minutes.

What are your prices? Term Care: Each venue is different, and some have a number of sessions. Find your venue, click on the calendar to view prices for each session. Up to 15% discounts are available for Full Week, Sibling and Full Term Bookings. Holiday Care: the prices are on the flyer, and can also be seen on the booking platform before booking.

Do I have to drop my child off at 7.30am/8am during the Holiday Programme? If we are onsite you can drop your child off at any time. If we are going on a trip, we may ask you to drop your child off earlier (it will usually be by 9am).

My child cannot attend a booked session - will I get a credit for the session? No credit is due as all planning eg. staff rosters, resources and transport if applicable have already been made ahead of time according to the Booked roll (number of children booked), regardless of attendance.

Do you charge for Public Holidays? No. For Teacher Only Days / Early Close Days: it is your responsibility to keep an eye on your School Newsletters for these, and cancel these days for no charge.

How do I know if am eligible for a WINZ Oscar Subsidy? Please contact WINZ as your subsidy is related to your circumstances. You need to do this at least 3 weeks BEFORE your child is due to attend Play Time as WINZ need time to process your application. If your application is not processed before you require care for your child/ren, you will need to pay in advance as per usual payment procedure and once WINZ pays Play Time, you will be refunded the portion that WINZ has paid on your behalf.

Can my child bring their device (mobile phone, iPad, etc)? We prefer children do not bring devices as we provide a variety of activities to keep children busy, focused and occupied. However, they may bring devices (at their own risk) and play during free time. Device use is at the Supervisor's discretion, and Play Time has a Device Policy.

Can my child come for a test session? For the safety of the children, all children present in the programme must be booked in via Bookbear, with all emergency contact details supplied and T&C’s agreed to. If you want to test the programme out, book one session. The programme will need to roster staff for your child’s space so the session will be payable.

What do you do at Holiday Programme? School-Based Programme Daily Routine 7.30/8am – 10am Children arrive, supervised choice of activities (see play / activity choices offered below), enrichment (structured) activities offered 10am – 10.15am Roll, morning tea (children must sit down and have morning tea, play stops while we eat) 10.15am – 12.30pm Enrichment (structured) activities offered, swimming in summer at relevant schools 12.15pm – 12.45pm Roll, Lunch (children must sit down and have lunch, play stops while we eat) 12.45pm – 3pm Enrichment (structured) activities offered 3pm – 3.15pm Roll, afternoon tea (children must sit down and have afternoon tea, play stops while we eat) 3.15pm - 4pm Afternoon tea for Long Day session children, enrichment (structured) activity offered, as well as child-directed play 4pm - 5.30pm/6pm We put a Movie on at 4pm as a chill-out time after the busy day (only child-friendly animated movies) but many activities are still available at this time to children who prefer to play. We try to cater for all interests and offer a variety of enrichment (structured) activities. Children do not usually have to join in any of the scheduled or enrichment activities as there are other activities for children to engage with. We encourage children to engage in a variety of activities during the day, and we also encourage them to suggest games they would like to play on the day. Play / activity choices always available: Lego/blocks, cars, playdough, colouring pages/drawing pages, board games, Uno, dolls/house/shops/dress-up/imagination play, playgrounds, music (dancing, singing, musical statues), air hockey, fooseball, x-box (only active movement games such as Just Dance or Sport, with 10 min limit on turns, no hand-held controls), active/running games Enrichment (structured) activities offered: at least two in the morning and two in the afternoon (these will be indicated on the Holiday Programme brochure)

Do you provide food at the programme? A light Afternoon Tea at After School Care is provided. During Holiday Programme: a light Afternoon Tea is provided for children booked Long Session.

What do you do at After School Care? Our General Daily Routine at After School Care 2.30pm/3.00pm Roll, Afternoon Tea, structured choice of activities for children to engage with 3.40pm A planned enrichment activity is offered each day, offering children the opportunity to CREATE, PLAY, DISCOVER and MAKE , in the form of arts and crafts, games, physical activity, theatre sports (eg. role-play, dancing), kitchen or science-based activities. Per MSD directions, we encourage but do not insist children join in the structured enrichment activity. A wide variety of choice activities, including colouring, playdough, lego, card games, cars, imagination games, ball games and outside play are always available for those who choose not to join in the planned enrichment activity, and our staff are ready to facilitate child-led activities and games too :-) 4.30 pm - 4.45pm Tidy up, Roll 4.50pm - 5.10pm Homework support offered (children must come when called) 4.45pm - 5.15pm (winter) or 5.30pm (summer) Outside play (weather depending), or quiet inside play 5.30pm/6.00pm Programme closes

Do you sunblock the children? We practice sun safety from September to April (Term 4 - Term 1) so children must wear hats for outside play. We provide sunblock which we apply before going outside. If you have a preference for a particular type of sunblock, we suggest that children bring their own, either kept in their bags or labelled with their name and we can keep at the venue.

Do you do homework? We provide homework supervision, not tutoring, for the 6pm (Long) Session children at 4.50pm-5.10pm. We call for Homework and children must come to us when we do this. We do not force children to do homework and we will liaise with parents if children refuse. We find this non-threatening method works well. Please let us know if your child needs to do homework while with us and we’ll do our best to encourage them to complete their homework.

Do you cater for special diets? We provide gluten free crackers and fruit for gluten free children. If your child requires more than this, please pack extra for them.