Angry with school re cancelled club

[ForwardPlanning]

DD (Year 3) goes to an after school activity at her school (ran by school staff) which runs weekly. It is a popular activity and approximately 100 children go.

I have just had a phone call from my DS (who is 10 and has his own mobile as goes to and from school on his own) to say that the club today was cancelled and DD didnt know what to do so he was going to walk home with her. I dont normally allow this, but couldnt think of a better solution off the top of my head.
As we were expecting DD to go to the after school club DH and I are both at work, and will take us a little while to get home. I did some frantic ringing round and luckily found a neighbour to watch DD until we could get back (DS normally either stops off at a friends or is on his own at home for up to about 20 minutes but not happy with younger DD being on her own with him).

But it turns out that the children at the club were told last week it was cancelled for this week. DD had a medical appointment so didnt go last week, so didnt find out. But the club has and takes a register every week. Is it entirely unreasonable of me to expect that the school should have made sure they told the parents of all children that the club wasnt on this week? I rang the school to have a moan but didnt get a very satisfactory response from the receptionist who made the point that she was having to ring round for other children stranded at school.

AIBU to be very unhappy about this and if Im not BU, what do I do? Im thinking letter to the HT but is that OTT?

If there is somebody there with the kids who didn't know/ didn't remember to say and she is phoning parents and they are safe during normal club hours it soynds as if they've got it covered, though it's not ideal. My 8 yo DD randomly arrives home at 11.20 sometimes if a teacher was ill, but we live abroad.

I don't think you are being OTT. Schools usually have email or text systems they could and should have used.

Hopefully the receptionist will make the point to the head anyway if there were lots of children whose parents didn't know, but I think something needs to be said to stop it happening again.

The teacher running the club was ridiculous to think that a message would definitely get home just by telling year three children anyway, aside from the fact that there were some children away last week.

YANBU about being informed but there is a definite policy at my DC's school that these clubs are not to be used as child care. They are an optional extra, that is optional on both sides.

DD2 and DS, 8 and 7, go alternate weeks to 'Film club' at their school. Fabulous, but I have them both booked in to child care in case it ever breaks down!

does the school run a mass texting thing? if they don't they should look into setting one up. if clubs are cancelled we get text reminders, really helpful when things are cancelled at the last minute as ds's school have a quick way to get in touch with most parents.

My kids' school would always text if a club was cancelled. So I don't think you are BU at all.

I dont use the clubs as childcare I use them as an optional extra.

If I had known even 1 hour in advance that the club had been cancelled I would have arranged to leave work early.
If I had known last week I would have reorganised my working hours for this week.

Even if I was a SAHM I might have arranged to, say, visit a friend which would have meant I couldnt get back for some time.
Even if I was a SAHM sitting at home it would be 30 minutes after school finish time before I got there.

Unless you are suggesting that I should turn up in the playground at normal finishing time every week on the off chance the club is cancelled?

School does do mass texting thing.
And mass emailing thing.
But not in this case.

Safeguarding. Very very badly managed here.

There are plenty of text systems for contacting parents, eg Keepkidssafe or parentstoteachers. This is a very very bad slip up, and there is absolutely no excuse. You should have received a letter and a text, AND the school should have followed this up, and checked it. They should have double checked with the children concerned today, and contacted you early on. If this was an outside club, they still should have contacted you, and the school you should have a system for this type of situation.

Did your dd go back into school?

He seems to have accidentally slipped through the net but I wouldn't make too much fuss, the staff run them through good will, they are not obliged to and they are not paid. If parents made too much fuss and I was the member of staff I would just give up running it.

I think a letter would be fine- just make it clear that your main concern is the lack of communication, that you understand there will be times when the club is cancelled, but that year 3 children are not the most reliable way of getting a message home and a text or note would have been more appropriate.

Not to mention the fact that as your dd was absent last week, she didn't even receive the message to pass it on!

I think the communication could have been better, but if your DS hadn't been there, I am sure the school office would (should?) have cared for her until the proper time.

How come they allowed her to go home with her brother anyway?

I wish my 20 year old had half the nouse your ten year old clearly has [ wink]

A text is fine
No need for a letter & a text

Ds was very wise but if he hadn't taken her home a member of staff would have looked after her so it would still have been okay