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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To not pay £6.50 for chess club?

98 replies

StuntNun · 12/09/2016 15:47

DS2 asked me last week whether he could go to the school chess club and I said yes. However he has brought the flyer home today and it's £78 per term so £6.50 per week for 12 weeks. I think that it's far too expensive and I'll teach him to play chess at home instead. AIBU to not want to fork out £78 for chess club?

OP posts:

LauraRoslin · 12/09/2016 17:39

Teaching your child chess at home is a good idea in this context anyway - children who do play chess at home are much more likely to stick with it when they grow up.

sunnydayinmay · 12/09/2016 17:45

Is the chess teacher any good? Does he still play regularly?

I have a chess mad child, and currently pay about £40pa in total (other than tournament entry fees). School chess is free, and enthusiastic volunteers coach at chess club outside school.

I know we are extremely lucky, because private coaching is £50 per hour, and lots of other clubs charge £7-9 per session.

Is this state or private school?

Soupandasandwich · 12/09/2016 17:45

How many places are there? Presumably the cost will fund chess sets, accommodation as well as paying the retired teacher who will be teaching them. At our state school, after school clubs have to be paid for as they are run by people other than teachers and those people need to be paid.

FairyAccess · 12/09/2016 17:46

Hmm, my first thought was that it's extortionate but thinking about it if there are only, say, ten kids then it's not that bad. £65 total for the room hire, admin costs and to pay the teacher isn't that crazy. If there are 30 kids then it doesn't sound such a good deal

I'm not sure I'd pay it though.

Ego147 · 12/09/2016 17:48

Depends if the teacher is doing it for fun or for cash?

How many people there are and if the teacher is paying for the venue?

BoneyBackJefferson · 12/09/2016 17:52

Why is information that the person that runs the club a retired teacher relevant?

They still have to provide the boards, sets, rent the room etc.

Or do you believe that because they were a teacher they should do it for nothing?

Chikara · 12/09/2016 17:53

If you don't want to pay it - don't. But as others have said the costs have to be covered.
(And retired teachers might be doing it as a paid club as a small source of extra income - why not?)

sunnydayinmay · 12/09/2016 17:54

I guess it is because some people run chess clubs as a business (and rightly so, as there is little money to be made as a professional chess player), and others as a hobby as they love the game.

GoblinLittleOwl · 12/09/2016 17:56

Blimey.
Teachers used to run the Chess Club at school, in their lunch hour, and received not a penny. And it wasn't valued at all.

mrz · 12/09/2016 17:56

Our chess club is free ...we're definitely underpricing ourselves!

mrz · 12/09/2016 17:59

How many children? It seems very expensive

BewtySkoolDropowt · 12/09/2016 18:00

I think it's expensive. My son went to a chess club and they were charged 50p if they were under 16 - but admittedly that was super-cheap and adults also went and paid more so basically subsidised the kids- but even they were paying £4 IIRC and that was for up to three hours.

insan1tyscartching · 12/09/2016 18:00

Ds loved chess club when he was at school. I think we paid £3 per session about 18 years ago. Their subs paid for trophies and a snack and drink. Ds played for County eventually and the teacher spent many Saturday mornings in various halls supervising children. I think £6.50 is fair tbh.

Akire · 12/09/2016 18:02

Does seem alot even if you are paying the teacher £40 an hour and there's 10 kids that still extra £25 a week or £300 a term. Even if they replaced all the sets every 12 weeks it would not cost that much.

Ego147 · 12/09/2016 18:02

The person running it - and the school - will hopefully have set a price that makes it worthwhile for them.

Setting a price for anything is really hard.

PuppyMonkey · 12/09/2016 18:05

"Seems pretty reasonable."

Seems bloody extortionate more like for an after school thing.

whywonthedgehogssharethehedge · 12/09/2016 18:06

I don't mind paying for clubs but £6.50 for an hour seems high to me. I've never seen a club more than about £4.50 a session here though. Even the karate where they hire a room in a gym is only about £4!

XianLiax · 12/09/2016 18:08

Given that I've just written a cheque for this exact amount for my DDs chess club - I presume I know which one you mean!

I understand why you wince at the price - and affordability/value for money is obviously very personal. However, I've found it to be good 'value' for us.

In our school they have two international standard chess players coaching the children - splitting them into two groups (a friendly beginners group and a kick-arse elite group which supports players up to county level). The kids also make sweet friendships with other socially awkward types . It's a world away from a cynical franchise club which farms out your kids to a bored 22 year old going through the motions.

GoldFishFingerz · 12/09/2016 18:08

Teach him at home

sunnydayinmay · 12/09/2016 18:08

It depends on the school and the standard, and the teacher. Barnet Knights, for example, charge £10 per session. Coaching is by an international player, and I'm pretty sure he coaches in schools too. If you have a decent coach, and your child enjoys chess, it is worth it.

If it a teacher supervising a few games without coaching, it probably isn't.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 12/09/2016 18:10

Teach him at home - well, that all depends, doesn't it. My husband taught our son at home but there came a point where he'd learned everything his dad could teach him. We wouldn't say that about football or learning a musical instrument or drama, would we?

XianLiax · 12/09/2016 18:11

Oh - and they really do 'teach' the kids. Classic openings, chess puzzles, piece values - all the theory.

mygorgeousmilo · 12/09/2016 18:15

It's reasonable, it's an hours childcare and if it's within the school, no picking up or dropping off. £6.50 gets you very little in central London, sounds pretty fair

LyndaNotLinda · 12/09/2016 18:17

I think all after school clubs should be free to attend. I live in a really deprived area where about 40% of kids in the school are on FSM - this unfairly penalises them.

Fair enough if it's a private club but it doesn't sound like it.

bumsexatthebingo · 12/09/2016 18:22

I think it sounds a lot because my dd's after school chess club was free. It was run by a current member of staff but even the clubs you have to pay for are £3 and for that you tend to be getting 2 qualified sports coaches. I knew down south was more expensive but £6.50 a week! I can't imagine a lot of people being able to fork that out on top of swimming and the other activities kids tend to go to. Do they charge the same for other after school things?

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