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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Do you have wraparound care at school next term?

81 replies

myworkingtitle · 18/07/2020 12:23

I’m just interested as I’ve read a few posts recently.

Our school usually has wraparound care provided off site by a local nursery. This isn’t opening up again in September. I’m a SAHM who has been job hunting, obviously I have given up for now unless I can find something within school hours Hmm

Anyone else in the same boat?

YABU - all back to normal in Sept!
YANBU - no wraparound care lined up.

OP posts:
Original poster
myworkingtitle · 18/07/2020 16:27

Have anyone seen much coverage of this anywhere in the news - if 40% of wraparounds closed (as current polling) it seems extraordinary, how will working families manage??

OP posts:
Mayvis · 18/07/2020 16:33

@NotPayingAttention

I’m not sure just yet as only found out a few days ago. There are no early morning childminder places locally either. I think there are quite a few parents now stuck so we will probably have to use each other on a rota or something.

ComDummings · 18/07/2020 16:35

Our school only offered breakfast club but that’s been cancelled for the foreseeable subject to a review in September.

Littlebelina · 18/07/2020 16:39

Ours is opening but no ad hoc. Which is fine for us as DS is a regular attendee and would rather pay for sessions we might not use (if I'm wfh I might pick him early if it's more convenient for a meeting) than lose it all together. I know it might all change depending on the situation but really grateful to the school for trying their best to make this work. They've been fantastic throughout tbf. We are very lucky.

We managed to get holiday club as well so looking forward to some normality wrt working life even if it turns out to be temporary

sadwithkiddies · 18/07/2020 16:41

Nope - school free breakfast club closed, private run after school club closed.
School staggered with 3 kids in 3 classes to drop off/ collect....
I am up the creek!!!

lyralalala · 18/07/2020 16:41

I'm chair of the group that runs breakfast club and asc in the schools locally and we're not running as it stands

The rules put in place by the school and LA if we wanted to run make it impossible

On the one hand they keep saying "We urge you to open for the sake of local families" and then on the other hand give us a list of nonsensical rules we can't possibly follow

Sailingblue · 18/07/2020 16:41

Nope normally there is 7.45-6 wraparound but nothing will be permitted. I’m really worried about it.

lyralalala · 18/07/2020 16:42

That's also why we're unable to run in the summer for even keyworker provision

Original poster
myworkingtitle · 18/07/2020 16:47

lyralalala what are the rules - not the government guidelines then but the school and LA own interpretations of them?

OP posts:
moveandmove · 18/07/2020 16:51

Yes our wrap around care is running as holiday club through summer and will be before and after school club in September.

misselphaba · 18/07/2020 17:07

Breakfast and after school clubs are off and there will be staggered times. There is one childminder who drops to the school and she doesn't work every day. She is usually very busy and will likely be even busier come September. Luckily, I will be in maternity leave. If I was back at work. I don't know what I would do.

sanityisamyth · 18/07/2020 17:08

No. No breakfast club is going to run for the foreseeable and the after school club won't run for at least the first week of term.

lyralalala · 18/07/2020 17:12

@myworkingtitle

lyralalala what are the rules - not the government guidelines then but the school and LA own interpretations of them?
The biggest one is space. We have one room that we lease exclusively. We then hire daily two other spaces. The school have banned any hiring of space. That would be fine as there is a community centre on the school site that is closed to outside hires so we asked the council (who keep pressuring me to run...) if we could hire that. It has enough space to run bubbles, it's got two doors so I could do a one way system. We could also hire it exclusively.

They said no, they're not opening it at all. But want me to run. So I have to split the kids into bubbles, therefore requiring more space, but I somehow have to do it in less space...

They want me to temp check all the children daily. The children who have spent all day in school (I could understand the staff) before I let them into our space, but I'm not allowed to have them hanging around the corridor. So where I'm meant to do it I don't know

Then there's lots of little things. They want me to have labelled bottles of anti-bac for each child rather than bigger bottles - even though that won't be happening in class. They don't want the children using their school water bottles, but also don't want us using cups. If we use bottles of water we're not allowed to put them in the school bin.

They want me to have a staggered exit time. Their first suggestion meant that we'd be releasing the last bubble at 8.30pm

The final line where I had to say "enough" was over the toilet situation. They want the children going to the toilet that their class bubble will use. Which is fine, but they don't want my staff anywhere other than our room under any circumstances. I can't have children roaming around unsupervised on a big school campus with the adults caring for them expected to just sit in a room and hope they come back

Ilovecranberries · 18/07/2020 18:47

Apologies for the idiotic question. If there is a single set of guidance rules, how come different providers interpret them so differently?
In our school the afterschool club is run by an external provider, and they cannot say anything for certain yet, but they have an intention to open. Warned that the capacity might be severely restricted though. My neighbour works there, she reckons no one is going back before the furlough ends anyway.

wagtailred · 18/07/2020 19:04

Schools and providers still have to carry out their own risk assessements and they have different buildings, children and staff to contend with - hence the variations. And people just read the same information differently.

lyralalala · 18/07/2020 19:58

@Ilovecranberries

Apologies for the idiotic question. If there is a single set of guidance rules, how come different providers interpret them so differently? In our school the afterschool club is run by an external provider, and they cannot say anything for certain yet, but they have an intention to open. Warned that the capacity might be severely restricted though. My neighbour works there, she reckons no one is going back before the furlough ends anyway.
Primarily differences between the guidance and what happens will be down to providers choice.

The guideance is guidance as to what is allowed, not what must happen. The government may say no distancing, or 1m distancing, but the providers may wish to stick to 2m.

In my post above about the school and LA - they rent out the space so they can have stipulations as to their rules in their space. They don't have to rent out space so people or groups that wish to hire it have to follow their rules.

SomewhereEast · 18/07/2020 20:19

@myworkingtitle

Have anyone seen much coverage of this anywhere in the news - if 40% of wraparounds closed (as current polling) it seems extraordinary, how will working families manage??
Realistically plenty of families will fall back on grandparents, which just exposes the demography actually endangered by Covid?
GreenCoxing · 18/07/2020 20:22

No announcement. Term finished last week. Apparently, will let us know.

No idea if there will be before or after school care or even what time drop off or pick up will be.

So can’t even plan. It’s an utter nightmare.

rarotonga2 · 18/07/2020 20:23

There will be after school care but no breakfast club. Sods law breakfast club is what I need!

mrsmalcolmreynolds · 18/07/2020 20:24

ASC is going to run but no before school provision at least to start - I think it's because the numbers are lower in the morning and so having the staff for separate year bubbles isn't viable. We have an after school nanny but did use the morning provision so it will be half an hour later to work from Sep...

Staggered drop offs and pick up which would have meant 30 mins between our 2 DC but thankfully they've now clarified that siblings can arrive/depart at the earlier/later time that applies to their sib. That will depend on people not taking the piss though - if people drop off at the wrong time attempting to hide amongst the siblings then we're all on the naughty step and I/DH will have to sit in the car for 30 mins in the morning and be even later starting work. Need Wine just thinking about it.

MazDazzle · 18/07/2020 20:29

Our school only provides wraparound care two days per week, so I use that and a childminder usually. Neither are running next term. DH’s job isn’t flexible and neither’s mine.

We’re in Scotland and go back the second week in Aug. Keeping everything crossed that things change, and soon!

likeafishneedsabike · 18/07/2020 22:07

Nope. But I must have been owed some good karma because I managed to get three days pw wraparound for both DC with a wonderful childminder. I feel like I’ve won the lottery or something.
Nobody in authority has thought through the impact of no wraparound. It’s a bloody disaster for women in the workplace, and will massively prolong the beating taken by the economy .

Original poster
myworkingtitle · 19/07/2020 08:17

Totally agree likeafishneedsabike it’s an extraordinary oversight.

OP posts:
SeagoingSexpot · 19/07/2020 08:19

I don't use them, but my school has announced that they will be running breakfast and after-school club. The school my friend's DC go to, five minutes away, has said that they are not. Both West London primaries.

SeagoingSexpot · 19/07/2020 08:21

I'm also astonished that some schools think they can mandate pickup only by parents, and can only suggest parents mobilise and push back on this, hard. I've done most of the dropoff and pickup in the last month alongside DH, but our nanny did some too and my school had no issues with it.

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