to ask my son's after school club to stay open until 6pm?

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My son started at a new primary school from an old one and maybe i'm spoiled from his last school, but the after school club here finishes at 5.30pm and I am thinking that I will write a letter to ask them to stay open until 6pm because it's impossible to get back in time if you finish work at 5pm, as many working parents do. I've spoken to a lot of parents at the school who seem to heartily agree with me.

But then I think, school is not childcare and they should be encouraging you to work less as it is better for the kids if they are not at school so long, but many people, me included would love to live in a world where i didn't have to work until 5pm, but that's just how society is right or wrong i have to live with it ...
what do you think, should i write a letter with a gathering of parents signatures? or just bite it and juggle and leave early and beg other parents as I seem to be doing right now .. aibu to expect the school to accommodate working parents in this way?

I was a working parent who used a nursery and felt guilty about it.

why is not ok for me to work a 48 hour week without signing an opt out ( of the WTD) but it is ok for my 8 month old to spend 50 hours a week with a nursery.

i have now changed my career (which i trained 10 years for) for a more child friendly career.

Dd's after school clubs finish at 4.30pm. No use to me at all as I don't get back to our town until 5.40pm. She has to go to a nursery's after school care instead.

There's nothing wrong with asking politely square. I hope you are successful.

DS1's after school care is open until 6:30pm and opens at 7:00am.

This is the commuter belt and people need to get from here to City and back and that takes about 45 minutes with traffic.

DS2's daycare is open 7:30am to 6:00pm, which is tight for City types but luckily i have been able to find something localish.

They both seem completely untraumatised by being forced to spend time with other kids, eat lots, play lots and have a nap (in DS2's case). DS1 isn't scheduled to go to holiday club tomorrow but asked if he could when I picked him up so it can't be too distressing...

Wow, I'm a SAHM and I'm a bit shocked at the anti working Mum comments on here. I'm pretty sure in an ideal world nobody would be rushing to leave kids at school until 6pm but you do what you have to do don't you. I save my concern for the kids who aren't being looked after at all, rather than the ones in aftercare at school. Like one of DDs little friends who goes home to her Mum every day but I know she doesn't get looked after properly. I'm sure she'd be better off at school. At least she'd get fed there (at our after school club anyway). Surely an after school club needs to run late enough to actually be useful to the majority of working parents or it's pretty pointless really isn't it. Round here CMs who do after school care are like hen's teeth.

Find lots of the posts here absolutely ridiculous. "Your poor child" etc. I work 3 days a week. I am fortunate that my DP and parents can pick up and drop off DD 2 of those days so 1 day she goes to the breakfast club and after school club.

I teach in a rural school half an hours drive from our house. I need to be at school for 8 and can rarely get back before 5.30. Thank goodness the after school club stays open till 6. If if didn't there would be no point in my using it. My DD is not a "poor child" at all. If the club are providing a service to working parents then it makes sense that they are open enough hours to actually provide for the majority of them.

I am incensed at the bashing given here to working parents. We cannot all afford to stay at home with our kids every day even if we wanted to.

9-5 jobs are becoming a thing of the past. Globalisation and technology are resulting in many public-facing sectors being available 24/7. That's not going to change and is actually going to increase.

Part-time jobs that take place only in school hours are the mythical holy grail of working and TBF do not pay anywhere near enough to allow a parent to support themselves and their child.

So what do we do about it? Do we ban everyone from having children unless they can SAH or only work part-time in hours that others deem acceptable?

75% of people (men and women) just do not earn enough to 'keep' their partners and allow one parent to SAH. The rest have partners who have to work, and we've already established that whether full-time or part-time it's difficult to find a job that fits in with school hours or available childcare.

So shall we only let the 'better' 25% of people have children? That'll be good for the economy, taxation, future pensions and social harmony.

This country needs a wake-up call about childcare. We have the most expensive childcare in the world and a lot of it isn't flexible enough for a modern economy. If you think no one should be working if they have a child who needs that much childcare, then maybe you should be tackling the government to make it more affordable for families to have a SAH parent or pressurising them into making flexible working more normal across the board.

sorry but also the insinuation by camberwick that working parents "can't actually be bothered to look after their own children!!! That is making my blood boil.

no working parent bashing from me i work ft and never see my kids , I just think childcare is parents issue not school issue

But our after school club is not run BY the school. It is a separate thing but uses the school premises. They are apparently providing childcare for working parents. What is the point of such a facility if it closes at 4.30pm. People are paying for this service, the staff are not providing it as volunteers.

Our afterschool club is open until 6pm and I asked if it was okay if I occasionally picked him up 10 minutes later as the train doesn't get in until 5 past and they said that was fine. So no harm in asking :)

And my DS loves going to afterschool club - there are other kids to play with and they have a wii there so there is nothing 'poor' about him at all. They give them a hot meal too.

dds after school finishes at 4.30 and is once a week but Im guessing its a different kind to the one mentioned in the OP. At dds school its just an activity/hobby and not extended childcare.

Im a sahm at dont understand why some people are being nasty. Damned if you do and damned if you dont. I used to work in a private day care which closed at six, there were often parents who were late so often Id not leave the building until 6.30 and then faced a two hour commute(depending on public transport it could be three), it wasnt unusual for me to not get home until 8.30/9pm and dp worked nights so childcare was a massive struggle for us so I really sympathise with you. There is no harm in asking the school and I hope they say yes for you.

I find the judgeyness between parents who work/dont work disgusting tbh, everyone is just what is best for thier children.

Candlewick - so the benefit claimants you were urging on to "get a job" on the benefits thread, are now to be castigated if they have to stay in their job until 5pm and can't pick up their children from school. How exactly are people supposed to support themselves in your perfect world?? Not by claiming benefits clearly, but equally not by working past 3pm . . .

What AF, trois and balltoit said.

IIRC the previous government's policy was for school to provide 'wraparound' services between the hours of 8am and 6pm to accommodate the shifts that working parents are normally expected to do plus their reasonable travel time.

As it is this government's policy for all lone parents of children in school to work, then I do agree that it's not unreasonable to ask if there could be consideration of an extension to 6pm.

Bramshott, that's exactly what the Extended Schools government policy was all about.

I think some of the posters on this thread are a bit weird.

I think it is the schools issue if they have decided to run an out of school club (ours is run by the school, and very well I might add) As someone has pointed out already, whats the point providing a service if it doesnt meet a demand, and from what I can tell, most of the parents who use this service (in our area) finish work at 5.30. This is the 'norm'. As is starting work at 9am. Our out of school club hours are 7.45 - 6 and this seems pretty sensible to me.

A childminder is an option, yes, but in my case a VERY expensive option, because the only childminder in our area who does school runs costs a third more than the out of school club. (and actually she has the same hours)

I VERY much resent 'poor child'. I do the best for my children and they are very happy in childcare when I need to use it. I'm bloody lucky to have found myself a job where they kindly agreed to reduce my working hours when they ideally wanted a full time person, but childcare is a necessity for me.

So it is worth asking if there are other parents who need the service. They can say no, or they might consider it.

It wouldn't be unreasonable to put the proposal forward and see what happens. 30 minutes isn't long enough to dash back in time and I know how these clubs can be keen to slap penalties for late pick ups. It must be stressful.

They may be very accommodating and be grateful for the extra income gleaned from the extra half hour if there are lots of you who need it.

Good luck with it anyway.

I sit on the committee of my DD's after-school club & after a request from parents we did extend our opening hours in the morning to accommodate parents needs. I think you have nothing to lose by asking op. It may be that parents who wish to use the later service pay accordingly - if your club is anything like ours budget margins are v slim.
It would be lovely to be in the position of having a flexible employer that can accommodate childcare needs - but that ain't the real world is it? (ATM it would be great to have a job - was made redundant on mat leave which yes they can do & did!)

"I just choose not to send my DC to after school club until 6pm .
And yes I do feel sorry for kids in that situation"

Good for you, some of us dont have a choice.No need to feel sorry for my son though, hes happy and healthy and loves spending time with his friends at aftercare.

No before or after school care of any sort here.
Every now and then they ask, but there isn't enough demand.
It's a chicken egg situation. No child care means families have found ways to work without. Many mums work very short hours, use the fee CMs, stay at home or rely on friends and family.
It's a small school. I just can't see enough mums finding jobs that would need and pay for after school care overnight to ever make one viable.
The only way it will happen is a serious Government start up grant to allow a club to start with a few children and then build up.
That is not going to happen!

How depressing to see some of the sanctimonious comments on this thread bashing working parents.

I had to put DD in after school care most nights until I got made redundant from one of my 2 part time jobs last year. Yes I felt guilty about it, yes I'd have liked to spend the time with her but I was working to keep a roof over our heads and food in our stomachs and I was proud to do it. DD was coming to no harm, having fun with friends and get fed and cared for. Ours did go until 6pm and some nights I was so glad of that fact though I always tried to pick her up as early as possible.

3.15pm is a holy grail for lots of people.

OP YANBU to ask and I hope you get a positive response good luck. Oh and for the person who whinged they'd have to pay more - our after school club charge a different rate for parents who pick up after 5pm than they do for those who pick up before

Totally agree you knew what time your job finished and you knew what time the after school club finished

Stop being cheap and get a childminder they will finish at 6

Most schools finsish at 5:30 other wise they have to provide a dinner other wise it means children won't be getting a hot meal until gone 7

Take you tax credits and get a bloody cm

As a CM my standard working hours are 8am to 6pm, as my parents standard working hours are 9am to 5pm. Makes sense to me that childcare givers factor usual working hours in?

duckdodgers I sure he would enjoy spending time with his own family a lot more

ElizabethDarcy most schools have no way of providing a hot meal also why should child are providers factor in the hours

HOW about parents factor in their children's hours

The amount of parents who claim they have no choice to work but the cost of meeting child care means they only take ime £100 - £200 a mouth makes me laugh

My sil prime example she was adamant she couldn't afford not to work a year later she has left work oh told me she was on average coming home with £50 a week after chid care hmmm

If I was open from 9-5 I'd have no clients. Simple.

Re the hot meal.. I guess it's good there are many childminders around, as they provide hot meals for their after school kids. If a child has a hot meal for lunch at school, is a sandwich/cold equivalent not okay? If the parents wants them to have another hot meal, they need to use a childminder then.