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If there is high demand - how are places in after school clubs allocated at your school?

29 replies

bubble99 · 20/04/2006 20:02

I got in a big girly strop about this today. Ten years ago I would have laughed at someone's world crumbling over a sodding recorder club.
I found a note in the depths of DS2's book bag on the last day of term offering places in a recorder club, 'first come first served.'
The note had gone in the day before and said that applications for a place had to be in by the 11th April, which was during the Easter holidays??? I posted the form into the school letterbox the day after finding it, confident that it would be found in time (some of our admin staff work during the holidays). I returned to school and was told that a) The school hadn't received the form ???? b) The club was full and DS2 was sixth on the waiting list. ie. no place for DS2.
All of the places had been taken on the same afternoon that the letters went out. Parents had looked in the bags at pickup time, read the note and gone straight round to sign their children up.
Am I just p'd off about this because I'm a slack mummy who didn't dig around in the bag beyond the usual homework? Or am I right to be p'd off that the lucky few had got in there first before the ink was dry on the letters.
There were 12 places for a possible 60 children in DS2's year, BTW.

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bubble99 · 20/04/2006 20:03

Must use spaced paragraphs......

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LadySherlockofLGJ · 20/04/2006 20:05

First come, first served around here I am afraid.

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bubble99 · 20/04/2006 20:07

There was nearly a riot over places in the school choir. Grin In the end the school put names into a hat. Both of mine are tone deaf so we were spared that particular trauma. Smile

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Blandmum · 20/04/2006 20:08

First come first served

Except the choir....there is an audition for that

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bubble99 · 20/04/2006 20:09

Does your DS manage to do want he wants to do, after-school activities-wise, LGJ?

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Hallgerda · 20/04/2006 20:10

How keen is your son? If he didn't remember to give you the note, is it possible he's not that interested? If he is interested and he is very disappointed, Usborne do some good recorder books you could work through at home. It is possible that some of those whose parents rushed to sign them up aren't really interested and may leave, giving a place for your son.

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bubble99 · 20/04/2006 20:11

But how does it work if nearly everyone signs up on the afternoon the letters go out?? Does this ever happen at your schools? Is there a stampede to the school office??

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bubble99 · 20/04/2006 20:13

Hallgerda, the letters are put into the book bags by the classroom assistants.

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bubble99 · 20/04/2006 20:15

There is talk already of an extra helper for the group, to allow an increase in numbers.

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scienceteacher · 20/04/2006 20:15

First come, first served.

Anyone who misses out, is priority for the next term's activities.

It's best not to get too stressed out by these things.

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Hallgerda · 20/04/2006 20:16

The clubs are mostly by invitation at my children's school. There's an art club for which names are put down, and everyone gets a chance for a few weeks. Some are selected (on ability) to be permanent members. Football, netball etc. have trials. Most of the other clubs aren't oversubscribed as far as I know.

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bubble99 · 20/04/2006 20:19

scienceteacher. I am 12 weeks pregnant. I get stressed about everything at the moment. Grin

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Hallgerda · 20/04/2006 20:22

Sorry, bubble99, cross-posted. Must type faster... Classroom assistants don't do that at my children's school - scared of finding spiders I suspect Grin.

If you do try helping your son to learn at home, you may find he's ahead of the official school group. My son's certainly covered much more at home with me than he has at school (we can even manage a passable duet of "Drunken Sailor" - well, have to drown out the neighbour's rap somehow...).

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bubble99 · 20/04/2006 20:31

I'm not expecting or anticipating virtuoso performances, Hallgerda. Grin

He has major problems with fine- motor control, he's in an 'extra' group at school to work on this. You should see how he holds a pen.
It's just that I know he'd love to play in a group as he tootles around at home with DS1's recorder.

If I'm honest, I think what's bugging me is that I'm not prone to checking bookbags in the playground. I'm a WOTH parent and usually so addled that steering the boys out of school is enough of a challenge. So, basically, it's good old-fashioned guilt.Smile

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PeachyClair · 20/04/2006 21:02

It's all by invitation only, except recorder which is mainly a female activity.

I think that's wrong, wrong, worng. Theys ay they're inviting the musical ones, but how can a child be musical if they're excluded? Hmmm? it's a school not a conservatory ffs.

Sorry. rant over.

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Hallgerda · 20/04/2006 21:10

PeachyClair, I agree with you over schools' arbitrary decisions over who has musical talent. I think they're based on stereotypes.

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bubble99 · 20/04/2006 21:15

PeachyClair. X Smile

There was a riot over places in the school choir. The 'first come, first served' rules didn't work as a lot of WOTH parents were flipping that they hadn't seen the application forms until later than the usual 'sign 'em up quick' brigade. In the end as I've already bogged on about Blush the names went into a hat. Seemed a lot fairer.

Totally agree on the 'musicality' of children. If they don't get a chance, how can anyone know??

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dinny · 20/04/2006 21:21

when do the letters go out for after-school clubs? dd starting reception in Sept - will they go out this term?

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bubble99 · 20/04/2006 21:25

Most schools don't start after school clubs until year one, dinny. Reception age children need to get used to being at school before they're ready for extras and you'll probably find that your dd is really tired for the first couple of terms.

So, you won't need to sharpen up those elbows until year one, probably. Grin

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Hallgerda · 20/04/2006 21:26

dinny, it varies from school to school. If you're thinking of special interest clubs rather than extended hours childcare, it's rare for anything to be on offer to reception children. They're usually tired enough at the end of a school day.

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Hallgerda · 21/04/2006 09:28

bubble99, I've been thinking about your problem -it seems to me that there is an equality of access to clubs issue you could legitimately raise with the school. What about those WOTH parents whose children are collected by the childminder? Presumably they have no chance of getting their children into clubs.

I see your point about wanting your son to be in a group - I thought most of the way through Year 1 that DS3 would really benefit from something like that. The teacher seemed to have written him off, and kept insinuating to me that he had special needs. That's why I did the recorder (and various other things) with him at home and I think it really did him some good, building up his confidence that he could really do things. His pen-holding still leaves something to be desired though... aargh! If your DS1 plays, could your two sons play together?

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dinny · 21/04/2006 20:18

ah, of course {pushy mother emoticon} lol

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nikkie · 22/04/2006 20:18

Drawn out of hat here

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swedishmum · 22/04/2006 23:08

My dd once didn't get to do "firefighter for the day" because the letters had been filled in and handed in at the school office by 3.30. She missed out because I was working - unpaid - at the same school. We were both very miffed. Would be much fairer to say 1st picked out of hat at 9am tomorrow for eg

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bubble99 · 22/04/2006 23:20

Pulled out of the hat seems the fairest way to go, I agree. If it were a case of parents sitting on forms and then thinking 'Oh. OK. Why not?' two weeks after they were given out, then the 'first come, first served' rule would be fair. But when it's a case of a few hours in missing a place then it's, IMO, not fair.


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