To think volunteer wrap around care will just increase social inequalities?

[Ifyoubuildit]

Just that. Ed miliband has said that he will make it legally enforceable that schools have to offer wrap around care but won't provide funding for it so schools will need to find volunteers to run it?

Won't that just mean that in schools that have lots of wealthy families and a strong PTA there will be funding and volunteers. But in less well off areas where parents have to work the school will have to find money from elsewhere and volunteers will be sparse.

Or am I oversimplifying?

I know in my children's school they won't have lots of volunteers as most parents work. I don't want money from other learning pots being spent on wrap around

I wouldn't use wrap around care provided by volunteers, so there's that angle to it too. I wouldn't trust a team of volunteers to be trained or supervised well enough.

There may be interested parties who would run it, however, with proper paid and trained staff. Is he saying these Committees/businesses wouldn't be allowed to charge for sessions?

I don't think it'll be run by volunteers

Whose going to run it with no funding?

The paper seems to be saying volunteers

Schools offer their facilities to committees or businesses who then employ staff and run the pre-school and after-school sessions. The fees pay for the staffing and equipment.

But in rural schools the walking to other sites thing just won't work. I know it would never be a viable business at the primary my children used to attend, so if it has to be compulsory who pays then?

Surely staffing costs will be covered by the parents who use and pay for it? Just like those who already have clubs. I can't imagine it will be volunteers.

I agree with ed though there should be more responsibility to provide it. I had to move when dd1 started school because the inner city schools had no provision yet the sticks I live in now is abundant with facilities.

You can't provide wrap around care with volunteers. Like most politicians he is just saying anything to get a vote. Not hey are all the same.

It seems to be promising free wrap around care with no funding for it. I just don't understand how that could work. Even areas with a strong PTA etc aren't going to be able to provide that - SAHMs are busy with their own families at that time of day.

It will be self funding. The business will charge and cover costs that way. It doesn't have to be making massive profits, or any profits. Some are run by businesses, some are run by committees.
It will be up to individual schools to source their providers if they don't already have them. Lot of faff, potentially, lot of paperwork they probably don't need, but they won't have to fund it themselves as wrap around care isn't free.

The school provision isn't identified as free. He just pledges 'access' to parents at every school.

I doubt it will be the PTA, it wouldn't be compliant with Ofsted and a high percentage of PTA members work. Ours all do.

I too think this will be self funding and that it actually will help lessen inequalities by facilitating access to convenient childcare which should give some parents the option of entering or progressing in the labour market.

I see it as a continuation of the wrap around care introduced by the last Government: a mix of Children's Centres, after school clubs and childminders.

It doesn't say it will be free: why should it be? Schools will be expected to source after school care but not necessarily provide it themselves.

Ensuring wrap around care is provided will stop some schools putting off working parents from applying so they can have the children from the naice mc SAHMs instead.

One of the schools round me refuses to provide before and after school childcare because the 'head doesn't believe in it' despite a local provider being more than willing to run one. As a result some people don't apply to the school which they otherwise would pick.

My DSC's after school care was run by a voluntary organisation.

The school building was just the location- the school wasn't involved in the running.

A voluntary board manager the 'business'. They employed a manager and play workers. They charged the parents money to use the service. Most of them got childcare working tax credits to help with the cost. It was great and much cheaper than the 'for profit' after school clubs at other schools.

Teenandtween, my DD's school was the same: one parent told me the Head had said it wasn't really a school for working parents.

Rather ironic, seeing as I was childminding for half the staff at the time

Tanith - there is a very socially elevated school near me (as in people fight over it and gush a lot). It has no after school care because apparently the v controlling pta refuse to allow it. My Gp told me this when I said I was moving out to xx where there are loads of schools with wraparound care. He said 'yes mrs wotsit you might as well because there's a core of mums at that school who are sahp and see no need for after school care'

In our village there is an after school club, but it only offers enough space for 10% of the children at the primary school. I'm in the bizarr position of having to book a space for DD for next September before she has been offered a place in reception. Even having booked in January this year, I can't get a place on one of the days we need. I hope that this plan isn't just to provide wraparound care, but to provide enough to meet the demand.

I think its a good idea. I wish my dc's school offered wrap around care, it would be helpful to me.

Wrap around care provided by volunteers could be high quality. I'm chair of a daily after school and holiday club that's based in the school (although the school have nothing to do with the running) and we have a waiting list that's around a year long at the moment because we just can't take all of the children.

Everyone involved is volunteers, but that by no means makes us poorer than the expensive option a mile away. In fact our inspection (we're inspected, have to follow all the rules and regs just like anyone else) was considerably better than theirs.

A couple of particularly snobby parents are quite rude about not wanting their child looked after by a 'bunch of volunteers'. Last time I popped by (I'm not involved daily as have a young baby at the moment) to drop some stuff off the 'bunch of volunteers' were a PE teacher who is now a SAHM who organises all the games, a mum who is the most amazing artist who was helping some kids with their school project and teaching others how to make suncatchers, two childcare students from the local college who are committed enough to come in during their holidays and are always thinking of new games and activities for the kids and a former nursery nurse whose kids are now at high school and she is hoping to get back to work in the next year or two.

We charge a relatively small amount (to the annoyance of the other place who think we want to put them out of business when we can't even take all the children who want to come already let alone more!) to cover use of the hall, insurances, equipment, training costs, snacks and drinks and any other expenses we incur.

However there are a lot of schools who simply won't have the volunteers to be able to run something like that. We stem from the era when some Mums put on a wee after school club a couple of afternoons a week for the kids. We kept going, then got more professional in terms of training and the likes, but never lost the volunteer element.

I wonder what will happen with the children with additional needs? Parents of children with a disability struggle to find childcare that can meet the needs of their children.