Aim of policy: 

For staff to understand the requirements in relation to working Friday shifts at the gan

Friday Club

Friday club runs every week from 8:00 until 12:30. Friday club has up to 60 children in attendance, split between Friday Aleph and Friday Bet. Parents can choose to include Friday in their monthly package, or book Friday club on an ad-hoc basis when they wish to attend.

Arrangements for staff scheduling

All part time staff are required to work on Fridays in order to qualify for a part time role during the week.

Cover staff have the option of being part of the ‘regular Friday’ team.

Full time staff are contracted to work up to one Friday every three weeks, however staff are often not scheduled this often. Friday work rotes are sent out a month ahead of time, to allow staff to plan to work

When scheduled to work on a Friday, full time staff have the right to take off 5 hours during the week, so they do not exceed a 42 hour working week. Time off should be agreed with the manager.

By mutual agreement (between the manager and the staff member) staff may be able to work overtime on a Friday, if they have worked a full week, and agreed not to take time off. Overtime hours are paid at a higher rate, as per Israeli law

Where staff are scheduled to work on a Friday, the manager may unilaterally schedule time off during the week, where cover staff are available

Full time staff may switch Friday shifts with colleagues if they are unable to work on an allocated week, with the permission of the manager

Booking a Friday off as holiday

All staff who are part of the regular Friday team are required to book time off in accordance with our holiday policy. A request must be sent via the holiday request form, and should be sent one month in advance, or a minimum of 5 working days to be considered. A holiday request will not automatically result in a holiday day being given.

Shift times

Works starts at 7:45. Staff should have already arrived in the building prior to this time and be ready to start your shift by 7:45, after drinking coffee or eating breakfast. It is unacceptable to message the group with a ‘running late’ message. Staff must arrive to work on time and be work-ready by 7:45.

The children leave at 12:30, and the staff shift ends at 12:45. Staff are not permitted to leave before this, and must complete all shut down tasks as directed by the team leader

Leadership

There is a dedicated Friday club team leader who is responsible for the following:

• Preparing the staffing rota for Friday club, and sending it out
• Planning Friday club activities
• Staff deployment for Fridays
• Directing and providing supervision to staff onsite on a Friday
• Confirming hours worked by staff to Rainbow administration
• Being ‘In-charge’ of the building on a Friday
• Planning and leading periodic Friday Team meetings

The Friday team leader provides line management to all staff who work on a Friday. On occasions where the usual team leader cannot work, a weekday team leader or senior practitioner will replace them.

Organisation of Friday Club

There are two groups on a Friday; Aleph and Bet.

Friday Aleph takes place in the Tigers classroom and includes children from Penguins, Tigers and Zebras.

Friday Bet takes place in the Zebras classroom and includes children from Lions and Elephants.

The team leader will usually float between the two groups and the other staff will be allocated across the two classes. For full time staff, they may be working with a different group of children to whom they usually work

Friday Kit bags

The children are required to arrive at Friday club with a ‘kt bag’. the bag should contain anything they may need for a Friday:

• Nappies and creams
• Blankets and sheets (if they sleep)
• Water bottle
• Spare clothes
• Milk and bottles if used

Staff should use the things provided in the child’s kit bag, and ensure everything is replaced to bag, and it is returned home. Staff should avoid entering the children’s regular classroom to take things, such as their water bottle.

Learning and Activities on Fridays

The team leader produces a weekly plan for both Friday Aleph and Friday Bet. The plan includes meaningful and engaging activities. Staff will be allocated these in advance, and should prepare and deliver activities and planned learning experiences in line with Rainbow guidelines and in ways which engage children and promote learning and development in line with the aims of the EYFS.

Quality of Friday care and learning

The quality of work, and standards expected from staff are consistent with expectations of staff performance Sunday to Thursday. Staff are responsible for providing the best quality care, learning and education for all children who attend on Fridays.

To ensure continuity of care from weekdays to Friday club, new children should always receive a handler from the key worker or team leader of their regular class, and where possible the key worker should be scheduled to work on a Friday.

Friday staff can check the ‘How to Care for me’ Sheets that are available for all children in their regular classrooms. Friday staff should check whether younger children need to sleep, eat at special times, or have milk bottle feeds.

Appropriate feedback should be given to all parents on Fridays. Any ‘key’ information to be fed back to parents (apart from food and sleep) should be marked with a STAR (*) next to the child’s name, and make a note in the ‘special notebook’ and tell the team leader

Any key information regarding Friday issues with specific children should also be fedback to the weekday team, to support continuity of care into the week.

Special attention should be paid to toileting children, they are in an unfamiliar group, with staff that they are not used to and with a different routine. Staff should encourage children to use the toilet more frequently during Friday club to help avoid toileting accidents.

Friday clean up

Staff working on Fridays should take special care to ensure that the classrooms and garden areas used are put back as they were, and all resources replaced and toys organised back into their correct places. Washing up, and cleaning of all materials used should be taken care of properly. If things have been lost or broken, or resources have been finished, this should be communicated to the weekday staff who work in the classroom.

Friday Whatsapp group

Staff who are working on a Friday shift will be added to a Friday Whatsapp group midweek, or will be in the group permanently if they are regular Friday team member. Staff are requested not to exit the Friday club group until Sunday lunchtimes, in case any complaints or queries come in to the manager about Friday club. By messaging on the group , the manager should be able to quickly and easily communicate with everyone who worked, which may be important to request information r clarify the circumstances around a specific situation or incident.

Working on Fridays but not at Friday Club

Staff may be required to work on a Friday undertaking other duties not associated with Friday club. These duties could include:

• Parent tours
• Attendance at training
• Organisation of classrooms
• Team meetings

Such work on Fridays will be included in the one in three Fridays full time staff are contracted to work. Time off during the week for hours work will apply, as described above. Shift times may vary.