Page 2 | The maximum you would pay for an after school club?

Whinge · 2021-04-20T05:57:12+00:00

I know it depends on so many things, but i'm curious to see the answers. What's the maximum price you would pay for a club that runs until 6pm and serves a light meal?

WaterBottle123 · 20/04/2021 09:08

I pay 13 pounds but they only provide a very basic (cheap bread and jam/cheese) meal with carrot sticks/apple. I'd pay more as I need the childcare and the staff are lovely.

NerdyBird · 20/04/2021 09:13

Ours is just over £11, and includes a decent snack. They sometimes do a proper activity, usually around xmas/easter like making decorations etc. Mostly the children play, colour, read etc. I'd probably pay up to £15 for an after school club. £5 hr is only a little less than a childminder round here, and childminders who do school wraparound are like hen's teeth. We are in SE.

mindutopia · 20/04/2021 09:14

£10 because I would only need it til about 5pm, 6pm is too late, and I would want more of a snack than a light meal, something that wouldn’t fill them up because we have dinner as a family around 6:30-7pm.

Tiberius12 · 20/04/2021 09:16

Ours is £4 from 3pm until 5.30pm includes a light snack.

Original poster

Whinge · 20/04/2021 09:19

@Tiberius12

Ours is £4 from 3pm until 5.30pm includes a light snack.

£4 and that includes a snack.

Wow that's very cheap, is it run by the school staff?

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Spied · 20/04/2021 09:24

I'd pay up to £15 but I'd want more than just somewhere for my older dc (10&11) to sit to do homework ( they'd not be interested in glue and glitter)
Team games, cookery lessons, book club etc.

vannyy · 20/04/2021 09:24

If it included supper £15

vannyy · 20/04/2021 09:25

my childminder charges £10 an hr per child

vannyy · 20/04/2021 09:27

Ours is £4 from 3pm until 5.30pm includes a light snack.

How can the school run it so cheaply? What do they pay the staff?

cjm10979 · 20/04/2021 09:27

A family member used to run an after school club for their infant school (age 4-7 only) in SE and I think charged £35. This included picking up from school to the setting, an organic home made meal and forest school activities with plenty of outside space with chickens & pigs (in a pen).

TheYearOfSmallThings · 20/04/2021 09:29

Ours is £9, with a snack but no meal.

I wouldn't pay extra for a meal, because DS would just expect to eat again at home, plus I like us to eat together at the end of the day.

Original poster

Whinge · 20/04/2021 09:31

@cjm10979

A family member used to run an after school club for their infant school (age 4-7 only) in SE and I think charged £35. This included picking up from school to the setting, an organic home made meal and forest school activities with plenty of outside space with chickens & pigs (in a pen).

Wow. What time did it run until and did they have much interest? Also did they find parents removed children when their siblings were to old to attend? I imagine it was tricky for parents having to use 2 different settings, and 7 seems like quite a young cut off.

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TheYearOfSmallThings · 20/04/2021 09:36

Ours is £4 from 3pm until 5.30pm includes a light snack.

How can the school run it so cheaply? What do they pay the staff?

A school near us charges similar, and breakfast club is £2 (from 8am) or £1 (from 8:30am). They also have free after school Lego clubs, art clubs etc. We live in East London, and they are very committed to helping parents work, even if their salary is low. I know they fundraise a lot, and have brought the wraparound care in-house to make it work.

trevthecat · 20/04/2021 09:36

Our school one is £6 till 6pm with a snack/light meal (sometimes my daughter doesn't need anything when she gets home) they also have clubs on during that time they can join

trevthecat · 20/04/2021 09:37

And it's only £3 till 4:45 they still get snack/light meal

vannyy · 20/04/2021 09:42

A school near us charges similar, and breakfast club is £2 (from 8am) or £1 (from 8:30am). They also have free after school Lego clubs, art clubs etc. We live in East London, and they are very committed to helping parents work, even if their salary is low. I know they fundraise a lot, and have brought the wraparound care in-house to make it work.

Wow it's great they can do it. I'm in London too & pay about £70 per term for art clubs, coding etc which I thought was cheap.

Original poster

Whinge · 20/04/2021 09:43

A school near us charges similar, and breakfast club is £2 (from 8am) or £1 (from 8:30am). They also have free after school Lego clubs, art clubs etc. We live in East London, and they are very committed to helping parents work, even if their salary is low. I know they fundraise a lot, and have brought the wraparound care in-house to make it work.

Wow it must take a lot to fundraise enough to provide so much for such a low or no price, hats off to them. I'd love to see their fundraising suggestions, it's been a very tough year for fundraising in many schools.

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TheYearOfSmallThings · 20/04/2021 09:47

It's been a very tough year for fundraising in many schools.

In fairness I don't know what state their finances must be in this year! But in normal times I think they benefit from being a small school in an economically diverse area, with some very committed parents.

roses2 · 20/04/2021 09:51

We're in London and ours is £13/day/child which includes snacks, a light meal and is run by the third party Fit For Sport. They also accept tax free childcare which brings the cost down a further 20%.

Frazzled2207 · 20/04/2021 09:59

There is obviously a huge disparity. Some of it will be due to the fact that some are run for profit, others by charities and others by school to help enable parents to work.

Original poster

Whinge · 20/04/2021 10:25

@Frazzled2207

There is obviously a huge disparity. Some of it will be due to the fact that some are run for profit, others by charities and others by school to help enable parents to work.

I know there will be a pretty big difference, hence asking what's the most you would pay. It seems £15 is a maximum for most people, including food. That said I'm still surprised by how cheap some of the clubs. It's great that parents are able to continue working and that some schools have amazing parents who help to fundraise.

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Thatisnotwhatisaid · 20/04/2021 10:27

£20.

ouchmyfeet · 20/04/2021 13:27

My kids school brought it in house and kept the fees high, increasing them every year.

I wouldn't begrudge them the £15 if I felt they provided a good service for it. For the £15 they essentially supervise the kids playing independently and give them a small snack, it's definitely not a light meal. It runs 3:30-6 but from 5:30 the children have to sit quietly in the school library while the staff clean up in the hall so that they can leave on the dot of 6pm. No decent activities, toys, crafts etc. Most of the staff are nice but my children dislike the leadership. I haven't found them particularly receptive to resolving my issues.

If you want to charge £15 I would focus on providing a really good service.

Thirtyrock39 · 20/04/2021 16:40

Mine is a small snack for the £11- I think partly due to covid it used to be something like a small hot dog. I do think at primary school age especially at the moment the kids really enjoy being at after school club - it's been a great activity while all the other clubs have only been on zoom most of the year - obv it's also essential childcare but mine do such good things it is also a great extra curricular activity and my son is lucky that most of his friendship group also go so he gets that social time he would struggle to have hot with the current restrictions . Childminders mine often didn't know the other kids very well

seven201 · 20/04/2021 18:05

I'm in the se and pay £14 until 6. It's run by an external company at the school.

The maximum you would pay for an after school club?

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