Wrap around care in KS2

[drspouse]

Can I ask you to tell me about what after school/holiday care you used for KS2 for children who were at this stage both pre and post pandemic?

It just seems like so many other parents are not using the school holiday club or after school club, and DD (just finishing Y3) is in an increasingly tiny group of peers, and has started moaning about going.
DH is permanently hybrid working (and goes in to the office so little that he can usually time it on my day off). DS is in specialist and has had no after school club Dec 2019, he did go to a CM from Sept 2020-July 2021 but since then he has settled into a routine of coming home, playing with lego, doing his learning apps and watching TV or playing on his Switch.
However all his peers (all 2 of his friends) either go to wrap around care or have endless 11+ tuition, so he wouldn't be with them anyway if he wasn't at home, and we can't take DD to play dates every week, and if she came home then the two DCs would bounce off each other on days DH has to work.

So I'm just wondering what this has looked like for your DCs? There are around 5 times as many EYFS/KS1 children in after school care, it seems, as there are KS2. I'm not sure if this has always been a thing (and if so, what do they do instead) or if it's that people are WFH/used to having the DCs around after school because of no wrap around care being available during the pandemic, so it's shifted to a new thing where nobody uses it in KS2?

We don't use it (dc1 is y5 and dc2 is y2) as I wfh. I take my lunchbreak at 3pm to do the school run, then they make themselves a snack at home and watch tv/play on their devices til about 4.15 when dh gets home. I finish work about 5.

Their school offers a sports club (not after school club) which is 45mins long one day a week they both have a place on. But that just means I do the school run at 4pm instead of 3pm.

Are there no restrictions on you WFH with DCs at home?
We have no official restrictions (either of us) but neither of us could do a Teams meeting if the DCs were bickering - it's hard enough if DS game doesn't work or he is struggling with homework etc.

Nope none. I'm lucky that it's only about an hour between us getting in and dh getting in. I have an office I shut myself into. The company is very flexible, so teams meeting s rarely happen outside of 10am-2pm anyways (group ones - obvs small calls/check ins happen whenever you both agree to the time).

I don't need holiday care as dh is term time only.

And the kids know if my office door is open they can come in for a chat/help with something, but if the door is closed it's emergency interruptions only.

I found the same, as DC got older the less of their classmates went to the after school club. Some had mums who had changed hours or stopped working, no idea what happened to the rest.
But it was so common that the wrap round care company invented new roles for KS2 kids to keep them amused. They were play leaders, and washing up helpers and basically got to do stuff the little ones weren't allowed like go to the computer room for 30mins. It all helped, but the summer holidays were hard going.

My 11 year old comes home from school on the days i am at home (2 days a week). Youngest child (7) goes to childminder. Eldest is pretty good and does her own thing so is no issue.
11 year old goes to childminder on days i am in office but won't when she starts year 7 in sept.

DC is year 5 - school starts at 8.45 and is only 5 mins away so I drive and drop him at the gate so I can get back ready for my 9am start.

DH works from home mostly and can be flexible so he takes half an hour 3-3.30 to pick DC up. He gets himself a snack, chills out, plays with his older brother or on the Xbox till I finish at 5. He knows not to disturb DH and I unless it's urgent!

Sometimes DH works away so we have to put him in after school club and he hates it cos there's v few y 5&6 kids there!

I know this is partly a feature of my particular DCs, but there's no way that would happen.
Everything is an emergency with DS ("I'm stuck in the swing! My tablet won't start! My tablet has no battery! My pencil has broken! I can't find the Lego piece I want! I can't find the teddy I want!") and the two of them can create additional emergencies out of thin air ("He's roaring at me! He's pulled my hair! She's sticking her tongue out at me!")

Sometimes DH works away so we have to put him in after school club and he hates it cos there's v few y 5&6 kids there!
We have to book the whole year really, rather than odd days, we could keep DD home on days when one of us is home but it would be a bit of a waste.
We can't both WFH really if both DCs are home (as one of us has to be downstairs and they just wander past wanting help/drinks/snacks because the dining room is the second tier office).

There are definitely less older KS2 children in our after school club now than pre-pandemic. My older DC moans constantly about going now. However we've got got loads of childcare vouchers to use up (thanks to DH not reducing his contributions when the clubs were closed ), so we're trying to use them up.

I think lots of people have become accustomed to WFH with the kids knocking about. I do it a couple of afternoons a week but it's so much easier when they're not here. Plus, I'd rather they were playing than just watching the telly and moaning about being hungry!

My ds used after school club until the end of yr6. We live three miles from school along rural lanes, and I finished work at 5.30.
Senior school, he has prep until 5pm and then catches the school bus home.

We also have loads of vouchers to use up!

(DD is likely to go to a secondary school which is quite a long bus ride away, and DH is also likely to have retired by then, so that point should be a bit easier - he will be able to collect her if she wants to do a club after school).

Anyway, thanks all, it's really interesting to see we are not the only ones who've noticed this - both the older KS2 being reluctant to go and the smaller numbers post-pandemic.