Lack of extra-curricular activities at school

noshadowatnoon

Yes, but why? Why do some schools have staff willing to volunteer, and some not? Are some staff more supported by senior management in doing this, and some not? I think a lot of it boils down to priorities- talking about an individual school's policies and culture, rather than the priorities of individual teachers. It's worth saying that the feel I get from DS1 's school is that it's a happy and supportive workplace culture, where each child matters. DS2 's school....not so much. Part of a MAT, executive head in place at vast expense, high staff turnover 🤔

Clubs are run for free using staff good will. Would you be willing to run an after work club for free at your workplace?

It is quite easy to understand, some schools have teachers who can and do volunteer, some don't.

It is certainly not an entitlement. And this attitude of entitlement is one of the reasons some teachers are less keen to volunteer nowadays

It's tricky for Reception, at my school we don't offer enrichment clubs until after Xmas as the school day is enough for them... then late March to May staff are doing SATs booster sessions for Y6 so we have fewer available to do other enrichment clubs.

You could raise it with school and see what they say, their priorities may be elsewhere but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

At DS2's old primary, there was a free ASC club most days, run by the teachers.

DS1 's secondary has a massive selection of ASC clubs- all free, and the kids just drop in as they wish. It is wonderful, he has got so much out of it, and as a lone parent on a low income I am so, so fucking grateful they are like this.

At DS1's new primary there is a very sparse selection of ASCs, places fill up incredibly fast, and you have to pay for nearly all clubs.

In addition, they are constantly asking for sums of money towards things that are part of the curriculum, some of these in retrospect or with no notice, with no friendly note advising that if you're struggling financially then please get in touch and they'll see what they can do to help.

It's very difficult, and they don't seem to get how some parents can't afford to pay for all these extras.

Sorry, digressed, but I just wanted to underline what a lifeline free/ cheap ASC clubs can be to more disadvantaged pupils, and I don't understand how some schools can provide them and some can't.

It's surely usually just funded by parents paying for their children to do it?

At our school, pupil premium funds children on PP

How are the clubs run by external providers funded at these other schools?

Maybe do some research and find out how other schools do it, and then propose setting up a similar system at your school?

It doesn't always though. Often pay and conditions in private schools are worse than in state schools

I've taught at a few schools and the general expectation is that teachers volunteer to run an after-school club for (half) a term. Whatever their skill or age group preference. It's a shame your school hasn't this, but hopefully the teachers are focused on making the learning excellent.

OP - our school would have loved you! It seems there are different cultures across different state schools. Ours was always incredibly grateful for any parent to be involved in any shape or form and to put forward suggestions.

I was on the PTA - we did not organise clubs but we organised loads of other stuff including providers attending for eg drama workshops which we often then paid for (if we had the funds). And enhancing and broadening the education of the children was certainly part of our aim (especially those who don’t otherwise get any cultural capital exposure) and we certainly raised lots of free things like Hong Kong style dancing/exercise in the morning and running a mile daily etc. and we certainly tried to get volunteers especially from a cross section of cultures to do stuff to broaden the children’s horizons. Things like international day even though it can be a nightmare for allergies and food hygiene etc - everything is hard work.

I am an ex teacher, worked in many schools… some with provision, some without. The quality of afterschool clubs can be very poor, and it is just about having abit of fun rather than learning any skill, due to the differences of abilities between the children. I’ve been at schools where they guilt trip staff into running a club… not paid - of course! But doesn’t it look great on the CV!

My DDs school offer a few throughout the year; but she swims and does gymnastics at a club, so I wouldn’t put her into extra clubs, she needs chill time. I know many parents who share this sentiment, so you may find that the uptake on clubs is low.

Comments about the website seem unnecessary, ofsted require a school to put a certain amount of documentation on the website; I’d presume they are doing that. A glossy and exciting website does nothing to support your child’s education.

Hate to say it, but you could quite easily get the reputation as abit of a moaner from staff and then your child gets that label too.

Just on the admin front, for GDPR reasons our school office distributes the flyers and then parents sign up with external providers directly. But some admin will be involved because lists need to be kept and the school obviously needs to know clearly which children from which classes attend clubs and when. The providers give the lists to the class teachers in good time.

Op kindly, you are the pta rep. It is not your job to gather contacts of providers, do the school's admin for them around your already busy life, or agonise over the running of the school and the completeness of the education of all the children in it. I'm glad you care, I wish more did, but this would be an overstep. Concentrate on your own dc.

That would come with a better salary or they wouldn't be able to keep staff. Extra pay for extra duties and expectation that are clearly set out in a contract is one thing. Expecting state schools or low cost private schools to provide the same level of extra curriculars isn't reasonable. Unless I missed something this is a state school and OPs expectations are unreasonable.

OP I would have a quiet word with the head to enquire first. Ours always encouraged clubs but she knew there was enough cash into the parent group to pay for it and a willingness as well. They also had regular surveys to check what people wanted.
However, it must be rubbish from some poorer kids to see their friends swanning of the clubs (especially young kids want to go) so the head might have their own views on why they do not want lots of expensive clubs.

Maybe the school is outstanding and very good because the teachers put their energy into teaching and preparation and don't get diluted by after school activities.

Say nothing.

Op, don't. It won't change anything because if they had the ability and the desire they would already be doing this, and you'll end up cringing at yourself especially if you pull the PTA card 😆

There were limited options at dc1's school, but I couldn't have taken them up on it if they did have an offering - we were too busy after school with the various extra curricular classes of our choosing... "The School" doesn't have to sort everything out for every parent.

@EliflurtleAndTheInfiniteMadness - yes correct for state schools. They have enough on their plate.
In private schools it seems that running clubs and going on school trips, including the holidays, it is part of the job.

these clubs are typically run by teaching staff, sometimes by external providers in which case there is a fee for parents.

I hope these teacher's being roped into after school activities are being paid. They already have a full time job in teaching their students both the face to face time and everything else like planning and marking. The school leadership team also have a full time job running the school. Extra curriculars are not a school's responsibilty, teaching the students the curriculum is and it's hard enough work as is. Pushing extra responsibilities on teacher's is a good way to get even more teachers to give up and quit and end up with even bigger issues for schools to fill teaching positions then their already is in some areas.

DCs state primary always ran tons of clubs, morning, lunch and after school and a brilliant breakfast and after school club.
Firstly, the breakfast and after school club benefitted the school financially. They also encouraged and allowed external music teachers to come in from Year 1 sometimes even from end of Reception.

Secondly, most of the other clubs were externally provided so the providers provide flyers and then the school just distributes them and people sign up and pay anything from £5 a session to £10 typically (arts sessions require materials). If not enough people sign up, the clubs won’t be provided.

If you want clubs, you have to have parents willing to pay up and you also have to have the space. Or you have to have parents willing to volunteer. The only free clubs at our school were park run once a week ran by volunteers and gardening club run by the forest school teacher. I think one parent ran a free Spanish club for a while.

Do you want over worked staff to run clubs in their own time for no extra money ? Good luck with that