Letter informing parents about the closure of after school club

Our school has literally just started ASC this school year and it’s empty. I doubt it’ll survive the year. The people here had already figured out how to work round school hours because we didn’t have the option before. Many jobs are more flexible now. Parents can organise opposing shifts or grandparent help and there are still a few stay at home mums. I’m quite rural though so it is a different pace of life to an inner city school for example.
The school is still running their fun clubs which are 1 hour only and £3. This will probably keep people out of the £12 ASC as sometimes it’s really just that extra hour you need.
I would find a childminder if I were you.

I can’t believe someone suggests if they reduce the price more will pay. The fact is a lot less people need childcare. DH and I both used to work in the office and we pay two children for 5 days a week at a childminder. We kept the childminder for my younger child after covid but haven’t used a holiday club since. Childminder retired and we no longer used any childcare. That was when DC2 was year 4. She started walking home herself from year 5. This is all possible because of hybrid and WFH. There is always an adult home. We would never have left a year 4 child at home on her own with my teen.

I think many parents with KS2 or older children will just not pay for wrap around care anymore. I see many dads doing pick ups and drop offs and they are work full time. Same as my work, it’s totally ok to say you need to drop the call to go do school pick ups.

Right, so by 'many' you actually meant a number barely into double figures who you acknowledge might be full of shit anyway. It's not the most reliable or comprehensive sample! You should probably make better use of caveats next time you start talking about other people's working patterns.

It's unfortunate that there's so much less childminder availability these days. Breakfast clubs and ASC are not the only option for wraparound, and a smaller, quieter home based setting is more accessible for some DC.

If the club is running at a loss, it means school funding is subsidising it. It's literally not allowed as far as I understand, and quite rightly.

Our club just about breaks even but it relies on a lot of teacher goodwill. I'm always surprised at how few people need wrap-around but I've never actually worked anywhere where more than a small percentage of the school use it. Most of the parents work, but it's shifts, flexible, self-employment, grandparent help etc.

I kind of agree with you. If you are at home "working" then its not such a big deal your kid being home too. A few issues I have with WFH ppl, if you have children you are encouraging them to stay at home, they feel "my parents aren't leaving the house, why should I?" And secondly, a home is meant to be for relaxing chilling family downtime. I feel so sorry now for family members that have to creep around in their 'homes' because daddy is on a teams call etc.... home should be home, work should be work. IMO

Definitely. Our infant school has about 170 on role, and there is 50 children in ASC on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, slightly less Mondays and Fridays. The midweek sessions are always oversubscribed, and emails often come out asking people if they could give up a few sessions as not enough places for all who want. It's £22 per day up to 6pm, plus £6 for breakfast club 7.45 -8.45. Demand is going up now more people are being asked to go into the office more.
We only use it 2 days per week, as otherwise DH and I can juggle the rest, but would really struggle without it, so I really feel for you OP, having to sort something out at such short notice

www.sprintactive.co.uk/wraparound-care-in-primary-schools/#:~:text=New%20Government%20Requirement%3A%20All%20Schools,offer%20wraparound%20childcare%20by%202026.

I have no idea what you're even going on about now

You really are rather unpleasant. A) I never wear PJs when I’m working. And B) I do interact with real humans, maybe not face to face very often but on the phone, via meetings and emails. Luckily, none of them are like you so it’s quite pleasant. And I do make an effort to go out in to the real world when I’m not working and meet up with friends, do normal things and hopefully avoid bitter and twisted people.

“You should write to your child’s school by letter or e-mail and include when you most need wraparound childcare, detailing the days and times you need it.
The responsibility for securing sufficient childcare in an area ultimately lies with your local authority, so the school will liaise with them, and then get back to you with a decision within a school-term.”

Never said that at all. Sorry that I’m passionate about quality childcare being available for kids of parents who have jobs which require them to work out of the home , jobs which often benefit those who choose not work or choose to work remotely - which not everyone can do as not all professions can be done from home - how would a hospital cleaner work from home, and why should their kids not have access to decent after school provision

Oh well, good thing we're not all like you then

I don't even work from home, what are you on about? 😂

Yeah this is happening a lot now. Nannies is definitely the way forward they will build relationships with your kids etc.

Yes, ours do too actually - we can have phone appointments, online appointments, same-day appointments etc. They're fantastic. They also offer physio and a MIU.

When I have (for example) a medication review there's absolutely no point in me wasting a full appointment time when the same goal can be achieved in two minutes via Zoom!

You’re clearly someone who is also defensive about their lack of ability to work properly sat on their arse at home. Why the fuck would I be jealous of you, See ya.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8813120/

not for me thanks, absolutely fraught with dangers unless a very simple solution/ condition.

Our GP already offers appointments over the phone or online. And they have a triage system which can bypass a GP appointment and refer you straight on to another service. I was referred directly to a skin hub recently, and had an appointment with the skin hub 24 hours after I filled in the online form.

You're very defensive and aggressive for someone who isn't jealous 😂

You're right. You're so important and work so much harder than EVERYBODY else. Including myself.

I’ve very deliberately chosen a profession no own can work from home in so don’t know why you think I’m jealous than you can sit rotting in your pjs on a laptop and never need to interact with a real human it’s literally my idea of hell

My DH can actually wfh but he chooses to go in 4 days because the WFH contingent are considered less reliable and less able to produce decent work

You go on about this far too much for you not be envious so don’t try to claim otherwise.

By the way, thanks for lumping all the wfhers into the category of “lazy sods who do nothing”. When my kids were in primary, I was part time wfh and technically supposed to finish just before school pick up time but I would frequently come back and do more work. By the time they were at secondary, I was on 0.8. In the days after Covid when they weren’t getting the bus, I would take half an hour out of my day to pick them up. The boss knew, and I still fulfilled my hours and then some. Even now on the same hours and neither still at school or college, I usually work a bit more than my contracted hours and at certain times of the year, a lot more. My boss works similarly flexibly, we all do as we are a remote organisation but he’s more likely to be working late or weekends. We don’t have to be logged on by certain times but I’m usually logged on by 9. And usually logged on still at 5. Some of my colleagues work later if they do school runs. It may come as a surprise to you but it works. Everyone puts in max effort when they’re working because they know they're trusted to do their jobs and are not limited by a clock. It becomes very obvious if someone is not pulling their weight. Most WFHers I know put in a shift, as much as you seem to want not to believe it.