Charged for sending my child to school during lockdown

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Hi, just want to see / get an idea if anyone else is experiencing this. I work for emergency services therefore my child has been attending school during lockdown. Recently however the school advised that i need to pay for the outside school hours my child is attending ( breakfast & after school club). That was not the case the first 3 weeks but now it changed. It works out that I will be paying circa £250 a month for childcare. I'm a single parent, normally friends and family help but now obviously its not possible. Anyone else facing this?

I'm not sure why you'd think you're entitled to free childcare?

Breakfast clubs and after school clubs are wrap-around childcare and not the school day.

It sounds like the school/provider absorbed the costs for the first three weeks but is unable to provide free wraparound care indefinitely.

What if these essential workers can't afford to pay it? It's not their fault that they can't leave their children with friends/family. They are still expected to work on the emergency front line, full hours, they shouldn't "suddenly" find themselves having to pay to be at work.

Would be different if they used wrap around childcare before this, but shouldn't be expected now as a result of it.

It's not necessarily obvious the OP needs to pay for it if she didn't use it previously - why would she know? Different schools have different ways of doing things. At the primary school my kids went to there wasn't a charge for before and after school clubs.

They can still use family/friends as childcare. That’s not illegal.

You're not being charged for sending them to school, you're being charged for wraparound care. If you don't want to pay for the extra hours then just send them for school hours. Isn't this normally the case too? It is at all the schools I've come across.

My schools breakfast/after school care providers are not working at the moment.

All keyworker childcare is being covered by school staff 8am - 6pm without any fees. Also open throughout Easter holidays.

In central Scotland.

Wrap around care is provided at my kids school and we still pay the same rate. It's non-profit, but it does have it's own manager/staff to pay which does not come from the school budget.

outside school hours my child is attending ( breakfast & after school club)

This is always paid for so you need to pay for it. Not sure why it would be a surprise to pay for services outside normal school hours, even if you have relied on free childcare from family before.

However, i wonder if extra childcare resulted in extra payments/benefit or whatever?
Sorry I have no clue, just hoping someone will be able to come along and tell you that you may qualify for some help to pay - & that it’s worth phoning tax credits or something.

It is unfortunate isn't it, but I think that's just the way it is.

DH and I are both healthcare workers. Our usual nursery closed and our 1 year old got allocated a place at a council run hub nursery which is £250 a month more expensive (usual place does a good NHS discount). I guess everyone is going to be financially worse off because of this for one reason or another.

That's really difficult..you'd think in the circumstances there might be some financial provision for this, it's not like you can really ask family or friends..particularly as you'll be having a lot of covid exposure I'm sure they wouldn't be that keen. It seems very unfair that you would be out of pocket, but I can also understand why the school needs to charge.

Our schools don't offer before school or after school clubs at the moment.

Have you looked at if you can claim tax credits (might be universal credit now) - if you earn less than a certain amount they pay I think 80% of your childcare. Sorry for vagueness, been a while since I used it. Perhaps someone else knows more.

Be grateful they are offering wrap-around care. Both my schools aren't, so my kids are having to be home alone (together) from 3.30 until DH or I get home (between 5-6). I'd happily pay if it was available.

Specific before and after school clubs run on a voluntary basis by specific teachers (eg netball) are not the same thing as formal breakfast clubs and after-school care. For one thing, a netball club run on a voluntary basis by teacher can be cancelled on a few hours’ notice if, eg, the weather is bad or the teacher running it is off sick, but formal before and after school care have to run regardless. For another, a specific club is not every day of the week. If a club has to specifically employ or pay for staff time and extra insurance and, eg, food for breakfast, then it is highly likely to charge, because schools do not have enough money in their budgets to provide this extra service for free. They may offer it for free to pupil premium children as part of their provision, if they can prove this improves these children’s educational attainment (ie has educational value), but can’t offer it for free just as a matter of course, because it is an extra expense that is not part of compulsory school hours (and pupil premium children attract extra funding to enable this sort of benefit for children on pupil premium).

In Wales the hubs provide free care from 8am to 5pm staffed by teachers and TAs on a rota of one day per two weeks for each staff member (multiple school staff per hub). Free breakfast, lunch and two snacks ar provided. This is free as it enables emergency staff to save lives during the pandemic. Staff are not paid extra, so no extra money is required. Bloody hell, we need to help key workers work to save lives. I am with you OP!

So are you expecting free childcare from them?

They won’t provide free child care.
It’s hard but not their fault that you have to use them.

Yes of course we have to pay for wrap around care.

I’m surprised that paying for wraparound care has come as a shock to you?!

What will you do when the schools reopen if you can’t use family as childcare?

Are schools still doing longer days? My son's is only doing 9-3 so I can't go to work at the moment as they won't let my 15yr old pick him up which means I have to leave work early to get him.

I think the op should get free childcare funded by the government when they are an essential frontline worker unable to use their usual childcare options. I really dont think it's fair that you are out of pocket in this situation, I hope you find a way around it.

There was a reason I left mumsnet a while ago & I just remembered why. I ask a question and instead I get judged.
So let me explain, not that it matters because my question was how it looks where you are because I've heard some places don't charge. My place did not for first 3 weeks but now started to. Which is confusing. I'm a single parent. Childs dad usually has him some nights and will on some days take him & pick up from school. Because I'm a key worker he has to go to school every week day. His dad won't see him for the simple reason - I work with the public so he doesn't want the germs I bring home. He doesn't support his child financially either because he doesn't work. Doesn't want to. This was the case long before lockdown. Hence why now my child has to go to clubs & school everyday. I asked a simple & polite question & instead I got slated for 'expecting' childcare to be free. Never said nothing like that. So feel free to judge & slate me further

As you are a lone parent I think you are considered having a similar situation to your DCs going to their other parent's house. So could you go back to having a family member do it?

I've always had to pay for wrap-around care. Maybe the school tried it but didn't have enough available staff doing it for free or something.

Teacher here. We’re providing childcare 8-6 for key worker children. Teachers and TA’s rota’d in once a week and and over Easter. There’s no charge for any parents using this facility.

This is at a hub school in South Wales.