Sports Development Unit

Important Information for Parents

It is important that all parents sending their children on Manx Sport & Recreation Sports activities read and digest the 'Information for Parents Booklet' produced by the Sports Development Team PRIOR to them attending a session. Some of the important points are highlighted below however the full up-to-date version of the Information for Parents booklet can be downloaded at the bottom of this page. If you are having difficulty downloading the document or would prefer a hardcopy please contact a member of the Sports Development Team on 688592 who will be happy to post one out to you.

Appropriate Dress

Please ensure that your child is appropriately dressed for the sports activities that they are attending. For indoor schemes it is advisable to have shorts / t-shirt. For outdoor schemes, there is no such thing as bad weather - just inappropriate clothing! In most circumstances our outdoor activities will always take place, regardless of the weather (unless it is unsafe). We advise that any child attending an outdoor scheme brings with them the necessary clothing to cover every eventuality. A waterproof jacket and tracksuit bottoms are a necessity. For schemes between October and May, we also recommend that children have with them warm clothing and a hat and gloves.

During Summer, it has been known to be hot and sunny on the Isle of Man! Therefore please ensure that your son / daughter has a cap or hat and sun cream / sun block as well as lots of drinks. Please note children will need to apply the sunblock themselves.

Additional Equipment

In some instances we recommend or require children to wear / have with them additional items to ensure their safety on schemes. Please make note of the following list:

Cycling/Mountain Biking - Helmets are mandatory

Football / Hockey / Rugby - Shin Pads are recommended

Activities on Astro Pitches - No Football Boots (studs/blades). Trainers or Astro Trainers only.

Indoor (Sports Hall) Activities - Non Marking Trainers required

Lunch Time and Re-hydration

It is essential that you provide your child with a packed lunch if he/she is attending a full day activity. As they are likely to be active for in excess of 4 hours, please ensure that you provide your child with food that replenishes their energy system which has healthy and nourishing value. Children will not be permitted to go off site to buy lunch from the shop or cafe during this lunch break.

Equally, if not more important is regular re-hydration, when active for any long periods of time. Our coaches schedule regular drinks breaks throughout the sessions to prevent dehydration, therefore please ensure that your child has plenty of fluids and / or a refillable drinks bottle with them on the scheme.

The SDU will be unable to provide your child with any food or drink during any activities

Medical Conditions and Behavioural Problems

Children suffering from medical conditions and / or behavioural problems are becoming more and more common. At Manx Sport & Recreation, our policy is inclusion rather than exclusion. However we need you to provide us with as much information as possible beforehand regarding any of these issues. It should be noted that our coaches are not trained in dealing with children who have behavioural problems. Where a child is causing a danger to themselves, a coach or indeed the rest of the group, then they may be taken out of the session and we will contact the parent to discuss the way forward. It is essential that any child who relies upon medication (e.g. to control Asthma, Diabetes, Allergies etc.) has it with them at all times for the duration of the activity.

Schemes and Activities for Children with Disabilities

With the appointment of the Island's first Disability Sports Development Officer the provision of sports activities for children with disabilities has substantially increased. As the programmes are still very much in their infancy we ask that parents/guardians/carers attend with their children and remain with them for the duration of the activity.

We also ask that you provide us with as much information as possible as to the disability your child has, in order that our coaches can provide all children with a safe and positive experience.

The SDU is keen to promote inclusive activities and make it possible for children with disabilities to attend many other schemes and initiatives that the SDU coordinate and manage. Please contact Dave Callaghan, the Disability Sports Development Officer, on 688559 to discuss such requirements

Valuables

Please ensure that your child DOES NOT bring any money or valuable with them to any sessions as MSR cannot be responsible for them. This includes mobile phones and hand held computer games. for NSC Sports schemes we recommend that you bring 50p for a locker to put your childs belongings (this is refunded once emptied). If for any reason your child needs to use a phone in an emergency we will facilitate this from our office.

Drop off and Pick up Times

Manx Sport & Recreation can only supervise and be responsible for children on sports schemes within the stated time on the application form. Please be aware that should you drop your child off at an earlier time, they will be unsupervised until the activity commences.

Likewise at the end of the session, our coaches will not be able to "look after" children until they are collected. Please ensure you arrive prior to the finishing time stated on the application form to collect your son/daughter. In the event that you are 10 minutes or more late on three separate occasions over a 12 month period then we will have to charge you accordingly to cover additional coaching expenses incurred. Our coaches will note down the names of any children who are collected late.

Cancellations & Postponements

Very occasionally, it may be necessary to cancel / postpone a scheme due to extreme weather conditions which may put the safety of children at risk. Examples of this include persistant rain prior to / during a cycling scheme or ice conditions for outdoor schemes. Where possible we will endeavour to rearrange the activity for another day. If this is not convenient for you and your child then we will issue a credit voucher which can be used on any Sports Development Scheme in the future.

Participants Code of Conduct

In order that every child and young person who participates in our activities has a positive and fun experience please ensure your son/daughter understands that they must abide by our code of conduct, which is as follows:

Show good sportsmanship and fair play
Play within the rules as set out by the coaches
Respect others and encourage and support all other participants
Never use foul or abusive language
Do not partake in rough play and cheating
Listen to the coaches - they are there to ensure you learn and improve

Manx Sport & Recreation operate a ZERO TOLERANCE policy on BULLYING whether it be verbal or physical. If any child is found to be involved in bullying on any of our schemes they will be excluded from attending any future activities.

Discipline Policy

In the event that your child does not abide by the Code of Conduct, the following will apply:

Any child who breaches the Code of Conduct will have their name recorded on our coaches de-brief sheet, detailing the nature of inappropriate behaviour.
The child will be informed thath their name has been written in this box and that the SDU will keep arecord of all children who break the Code of Conduct.
If your child's name is reported on three separate occasions then a letter will be sent home informing you that should any of our coaches report your child again your will be asked to attend a meeting to discuss the way forward. Failure to attend this meeting will result in your child being unable to attend any future SD activities.
Should your child behave in a manner that is deemed unsatisfactory after this time then they will be suspended for a period of 6 months.

There may be an incident which is deemed by the SDU to merit automatic parental involvement. Exmaples of this may include assault on a Coach or another participant, or similar offences that are serious enough to compromise the saftey of themselves and/or the rest of the group. The SDU, in this instance, will decide how the matter should be progressed and the penalties incurred.

Prizes - Sports Development Sticker Scheme

The Sports Development Unit will no longer be giving out prizes at the end of their School Holiday activity programmes. Following a questionnaire that was circulated in September 2005 many parents commented on the inconsistency of the 'reward scheme'

From the Summer 2006 onwards all children who attend will each receive a sticker at the end of the session from the coaches. There are two different types: a sticker for full day shcemes and one for 2 hr schemes (a smaller size). Once the children arrive home they should stick it in the relevant space on their record card. These cards will be distributed to children once they register for the first itme on an SDU activity.

The terms and conditions of this scheme are listed in the record card. In brief, once you have completed the card with a combination of stickers you are entitled to a £11 voucher to be used on any future Sports Development activities.

De-registration Procedure

In order to comply with our Child Protection Policy, all parents / guardians will now be required to de-register their child at the end of sports scheme. You will need to go to the facility at the end of the session and inform the coach that you have come to collect your child.

Please note: If an adult other than the child's parent de-registers a child (i.e. friends parent etc) then they must give their name to the coach in charge. If a child is making their own way home they must inform the coach at the end of the session and de-register themselves.

Manx Sport & Recreation recommend that any child under the age of 8 is collected by a parent or a responsible adult.

Lost Property

Unfortunately on nearly all the activities that we provide, at least one person leaves something behind. Our coaches will endeavour to collect any clothing / lost items left by children and log it in to the MSR system. However to save yourself the inconvenience (and cost) it is good practice to check that your child has all the clothing that they brought with them before you de-register and return home. If they are missing something, our coaches will be happy to help your son/daughter to locate it before leaving.

If you need to report something that you have lost to check to see if has been handed in, please call the Sports Development Office on 688592.

Bookings and Administration

All applications for sports schemes are dealt with on a first come, first served basis. To ensure that we comply with child protection and health and safety, numbers on all activities are limited. It is not uncommon to receive in excess of 100 applications per day, especially in the first few days once the application forms have been sent out. All post is opened and stamped in date order and put in a pile for processing. Where your form sits in each days pile of post is out of our control. It is possible that your envelope may be opened first and is done almost immediately, or it may be opened last and is therefore at the bottom of the pile, and thus you receive your confirmation slightly later even though we received it on the same day.

There is a post box located by the Sports Development notice board in the NSC for returning completed application forms. This is emptied each working day (Monday - Friday) at 11.00am and included with any post that has been sent in that day.

For anybody wishing to return forms by hand at the Sports Development Office, please note that your form will be put at the bottom of the pile of that day's post.

Bookings cannot be taken over the telephone, via email or fax machine. Only completed application forms with the appropriate payment attached will be accepted.

All children attending a scheme(s) must have an application form completed by their parent/guardian. This is particularly pertinent when children are being replaced/transferred on the scheme(s) by another child. Please note that application forms are one per family / household. Parents can not sign forms on behalf of their child's friends - a separate form must be completed.

In order that your application form can be processed, please ensure that you have completed it in full before posting it. We regularly receive incomplete application forms with one or some of the following missing:

Boxes not ticked to specify the schemes you want your child to attend
No signature on the application form
Essential information missing such as date of birth and emergency contact numbers.

Where any of the above is missing we will need to contact you to ascertain the information. This will DELAY your form from being processed and may mean that you don't get a place on one or more of the activities.

Any child who doesn't attend an SDU activity in a 12 month period shall be removed from the database.

Credits / Refunds

Should you be unfortunate in applying for schemes that are full then one of the following will occur:

Where all schemes that you have applied for are full, your cheque will be returned to you.
Where some schemes are full that you have applied for but where you have been successful on others we will cash your cheque and issue you with a refund (if the value exceeds £11.00). This will be a cheque from the Isle of Man Government and can take up to three weeks to receive.
Where you have been successful for most schemes but unsuccessful with one or two (£11.00 or less) we will cash your cheque and issue you with a credit voucher that can be used for any future Sports Development Schemes.
Where cash is sent in with an application form and you are unsuccessful, a credit voucher will be issued. We do not send cash back in the post.

PLEASE NOTE:We do not issue a refund or credit for any children who do not turn up for a scheme that they have registered for. No credit or refund shall be given if you contact us prior to the scheme to cancel the place due to holidays etc. The only occasion a credit voucher will be issued is for injury / sickness and will be given ONLY on receipt of a Doctor's Note or in extreme circumstances at the discretion of the Sports Development Unit.

Credit vouchers are valid for a period of 12 months from the date shown/issued

Feedback and Continuous Improvement

As we strive to constantly improve the service we offer, we will on occasions ask for feedback. On some sports schemes children will be asked to complete a basic feedback form before they go home so we can frequently check that they are happy with the sports provision we provide. In addition once each year we will ask that you complete and return a questionnaire to ensure we maintain our high standards. We have made several changes to our already popular programme based on parental feedback during the last year. We will continue to do so as long as the changes are in the best interests of the service we offer. Alternatively you can email enquiries@msr.dtl.gov.im anytime to give us your feedback or you can complete a "Your Opinions Matter" card and send it in anytime. These are included in with the letter of confirmation you receive once a booking has been made.

Downloadable Documents