Notice to members. We understand that some of the decisions we’ve had to make will inconvenience some families but unfortunately our hands are tied with Government restrictions and availability of additional space in the school. We will constantly review the regulations and make changes to when its possible. But currently and for the foreseeable future these are the current situations.
Morning places :
Children must be kept to within their year group “bubble” and also any rooms we use need to be cleaned before school use. So it will not be possible to open Roundabout in the mornings at present. This will be reviewed frequently once the club is reopened in September.
Afternoon places :
- Tuesday to Friday – we can use the community room, studio and hall. Massive thank you to Miss Reay, Governors and cleaning staff for re-arranging their cleaning schedules/hours to allow these areas to be used by Roundabout.
- We will keep the children in their year bubbles (no more than 15 children per bubble). One bubble in the community room, one bubble in the studio and 3 bubbles split in the hall. Dividers will be used to separate areas out in the hall. Play leaders will be designated to each year group.
- Monday afternoon – the hall is unavailable for Roundabout to use. Year 1 class room can be used for year 1 children, plus the community room and the studio. Therefore numbers still need to be limited. In line with Roundabout policies and procedures, the protocol for allocating places is as follows :
- Regular users
- Longevity of membership
- Siblings already using the club
- New members and holiday users who wish to use the club in term time.
- All children will be able to use the class toilet before being collected by Roundabout Staff and taken to their designated area. All hands to be cleaned (staff and children) as soon as they enter their designated area, after eating snack, using toilet, sneezing, coughing etc and before leaving the room. Staff will wear face masks on arrival when preparing the areas (before collecting the children).
- Each year group to have their own box of toys/games etc. The designated play leader to sort out their snack. Play leaders will clean chairs/toys etc when the children leave.
- Last collection will be earlier than usual at 5.15 pm – this will enable the rooms to be cleaned thoroughly for the next school day. Also, the designated play leader will stay with their year group until the last child has been collected.
- To collect, parents are to press the buzzer at the security entrance and wait to be acknowledged by staff member. Children will leave by the outside door in their allocated space i.e if in hall they will leave via the outside hall door and walk to the gate. The play leader will then release the outside gate. All parents are to wait on the plaza, 2 metres apart. Staff will sign the time when the child leaves the club.
The above may change if the government advice changes before September – will keep reviewing and keep members informed.
Please email Linda Pullan, Senior Play Leader at theroundaboutclub@hotmail.co.uk to confirm or cancel places.
On behalf of The Roundabout Committee.
Well, the decision from The Government has come a little sooner than expected, but its now official – schools in England are closing after Friday this week. The news post from the BBC is below. This therefore also means that The Roundabout Club will also close after Friday until further notice.
Coronavirus: UK schools to close to prevent virus spread
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that schools in the UK will close by this Friday to prevent the further spread of coronavirus.
Schools will close except for looking after the children of keyworkers and vulnerable children.
Exams will not go ahead, education secretary Gavin Williamson has said.
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We will not be open for children of keyworkers or vulnerable children.
We wish everyone who uses and works at The Club the very best of health.
Best wishes & keep safe
The Roundabout Committee
The committee met this week to discuss the impact of a forced closure and we wanted to share the outcome with you. We will endeavour to remain open whilst Morpeth First School is open as as long as we have the safe level of staff available to look after the children.
However, if the school does close or if the government change their advice and ask providers to close then that directly affects Roundabout and we will also be closed until further notice.
We may need to review staying open if we no longer have enough staff due to illness or self-isolation. If this happens we will advise you ASAP.
Whatever the advice on forced closures, Roundabout will not be open the first week of Easter or May half term as planned. If we are not forced to be closed then we plan to open the 2nd week of the Easter holidays. We will keep you informed.
Lastly, please be assured that we are following the very latest guidelines from the government on hygiene and staff illness and isolation. We are following the same protocols as the school with regards to hand washing and using antibacterial gel regularly.
Please do get in touch if you have any questions. The committee are communicating daily to ensure that we are up-to-date with the latest guidance and to ensure that we are looking after our staff and children’s welfare to the best of our ability.
Please do stay safe during these difficult times.
Best wishes
The Roundabout Committee
This summer we did lots of activities at The Roundabout Club. These included;
A walk to the park at Kirkhill, a water fight, a visit to Morpeth market, time on the tennis courts to learn new sports, a picnic in the Millennium Gardens and craft activities in the club.
At the park we played on the swings and roundabout. we also used the climbing frames and zip slide!
The water fight was great fun. Everyone joined in – even the staff!
At the market we tried some of the food on sale and bought some snacks for later on. We looked at all the stalls and even tried out the dog beds to see if they were comfortable.
We walked to Morpeth tennis courts where we tried out different sports; football, tennis, hockey, golf. We even blew bubbles to chase around!
In the Millennium Garden we saw a Painted Lady butterfly and a bee. There were lots of flowers to look at and information boards telling us about the garden. We had a picnic here and found a book which was read to us by one of the Roundabout children.
On the day’s we didn’t go out on trips there were activities to do in the Roundabout room or free play with any of the toys and games. Some of us chose to make shoe box aquariums and feely bags. We also had the chance to ice some biscuits.
Due to the re-location of Morpeth First School and the new registered address of The Roundabout Club we have had to register with Ofsted as a new provision. They have provided us with a new URN 2555131 (unique reference number ) and we are waiting for approval from Ofsted before we can operate at our new address. It is illegal for us to open without this approval. Ofsted may need to visit the club before they approve the new premises. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause but it is out of our hands.
We hope that the Ofsted registration will be approved this week or early next week but please make sure that you have alternative plans in place in case we cannot open with the start of the new school year. We will let you know as soon as we can open – we are monitoring this very closely and chasing regularly every single day. Unfortunately it’s a waiting game and one we are unable to speed up, as hard as we are trying.
On behalf of the Roundabout Club Committee
The Roundabout Club has now officially changed address with the move of Morpeth First School to their new location.
We are currently using the Clubs mobile number until the new landline is up and running. This number, for all enquiries, is detailed below.
The new address and telephone number is:
The Roundabout Club, Morpeth First School, Loansdean, Morpeth, NE61 2AP
Tel: 07508 931042
Click to access the agm directors report 18-19
Click to access the agm financial information 2017-18
Dear Member April 2019
As a member of the Roundabout Club you are invited to attend the Annual General Meeting. Your attendance at this meeting is ESSENTIAL as it can only take place if 20% of the membership attends. We are offering a draw for 10 hours free childcare from the attendance list on the night. The Roundabout Club is a parent run organisation and it is vital that this short meeting goes ahead to ensure the future of the club and that the club can open for business. As the club is a co-operative, we are bound by rules and regulations that must be followed, and attendance of members at this Annual General Meeting is vital. It is your chance to find out what the directors and staff have done on your behalf and raise any concerns or ideas you may have about the club’s organisation. It is also the opportunity for you to consider joining the committee as a director. Please feel free to contact any of the directors for further information about joining the committee, or contact a member of staff.
Date : Tuesday 14 May 2019
Venue : Waterford Lodge, Morpeth
Time : 8.00 – 8.45 pm
AGENDA :
• Attendance – 10 hours free childcare draw from the attendance list!!
• Matters arising from the last AGM, 22 May 2018
• Elections and resignations
• Discussion of reports : General and Financial
• New School
• Any Other Business
Please let the club know if you can attend this meeting either via email theroundaboutclub@hotmail.co.uk or in person at the club.
We look forward to seeing you at the AGM.
On behalf of The Roundabout Club Directors
The Roundabout Club, Morpeth 