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Original poster

My son's after school club is closing because the governant has withdrawn funding

29 replies

Reallytired · 17/12/2007 20:48

It has 12 children and charges £5.50 an hour. Apparently its not profitable so it is closing.

It had a governant grant that subsidized it. The idea was to allow poor parents to get above the povety line by helping themselves.

However the club has been closed with consultation with parents. There are no decent childminders.

I am looking at changing my son's school, but I all the nearest schools have the same problems.

OP posts:
chatee · 17/12/2007 20:49

sadly this will be the case with many clubs

Original poster
Reallytired · 17/12/2007 20:49

Sorry no decent childminders in our area. We had a very good childminder, but she lives the other side of town.

We had one briefly, but she charged £8 and did not use car seats.

The after school club was great.

I just want to cry.

OP posts:
SantasElasticKnickers · 17/12/2007 20:50

full of promises arent they, then it all turns sour when they have to self subsidize.
we had a fantastic dad's club, that took children with their dads on fantastic days out, government money ran out,, end of dads club/.

LittleSleighBellasRinging · 17/12/2007 20:51

The club has been closed with consultation with parents? Do you mean without?

differentbutthesame · 17/12/2007 20:51

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LittleSleighBellasRinging · 17/12/2007 20:53

That sounds astronomical

Our one charges ££7 per session (until 6PM)

Original poster
Reallytired · 17/12/2007 21:00

I meant without. £110 is ridicuolous. I was paying £5.50 to provide care until 5pm.

I think that for £110 it would be possible to employ a private nanny for a few hours a day.

If a play worker is paid £8 and hour and the after school club nees two workers for 3 hours. Then the club needs to raise £66 day to cover its costs. I think that part of the problem was that the club was run by schoolfriends (a private company) which wanted its cut. Prehaps the school was also charging for hire of the hall.

OP posts:
nametaken · 17/12/2007 21:02

reallytired do you mean it charges £5.50 per sesssion? I would have thought it was profitable if it were charging £5.50 per hour and had 12 children.

Do they know they if they are eligible for a lottery grant?

Does this mean you can't work now - how [sad} for you. How old are your dc's - could they see themselves home and wait for you for an hour. Or what about a good and reliable teenage babysitter. Or could they walk to the library - ours has a homework club and they can stay till 5 or 6 and they don't charge anything for this There's a member of staff on hand to help them with their homework and allocate computers to them.

Have you tried your local library? Of course they would have to get themselves there and I think they need to be 8 or over but not entirely sure.

Bauble99 · 17/12/2007 21:03

I agree that this will be the case soon elsewhere.

Private nurseries in London and the SE are already having to opt-out of the 'free 12.5 hours per week' provision, as the £500 paid per term (no funding for school holiday time) does not cover their costs. In most boroughs nurseries are no longer able to charge a top-up fee.

The govt is now trumpeting its plans to further increase the 'free' hours provided but will no doubt not increase the funding.

Nurseries will opt-out and there will only be funded places in 2.5 hour state-run nurseries. Useless for parents who have to work.

nametaken · 17/12/2007 21:07

another idea - if you could get a really good teenager could you club together with some other mums so she would look after 4 children say, for £5.50 until 5 or 6. That would give her £22 and the mums could take turns for the babysitter to use their house.

LittleSleighBellasRinging · 17/12/2007 21:10

Do you have room for an au-pair? If you are paying more than about £50 per week, it might be worth considering. OK, child tax credits won't subsidise it the way it will OFSTED regisstered care, but it is reliable and if you get a good one, a wonderful solution.

Original poster
Reallytired · 17/12/2007 21:13

My son is five years old, he is very little. There is no way he could walk to the library on his own. I don't trust him to cross a road safety. Especially as the other day he told "I know the green cross code so well, I can do it with my eyes shut!"

I want him to be in an enviroment where there are qualifed staff and a least two people. I feel that a good after school club is the safest place to provide this.

He had a very bad experience with a childminder. She didn't bother with car seats and was jelous about the fact that my son could read better than her 8 year old son. I had to take him away from the childminder after two sessions. She was truely an evil b!tch.

Work is my lifeline. I love my job. I would develop severe depression if I had to give up work.

I am at a loss what to do.

OP posts:
Bauble99 · 17/12/2007 21:16

Au pair is a good suggestion if you just need after school care.

Do you have a spare room?

Original poster
Reallytired · 17/12/2007 21:20

I live in a small terrace house. If we had a spare room an au pair would be good.

Basically the governant has landed us in the sh!t.

OP posts:
Bauble99 · 17/12/2007 21:21

Do you work full-time? Is there any way you could set up a childcare rota with other parents who have also been left in the lurch?

Bauble99 · 17/12/2007 21:22

Even if just as a temporary measure?

shoshaliteupthetree · 17/12/2007 21:22

nametake, hiring a teenager under those circumstances would be illegal I think you would find.

Bauble99 · 17/12/2007 21:23

Maybe 2 parents and a group of children on a rota basis after school? That would get around your (undersandable) wish to have 2 adults around with your DS.

nametaken · 17/12/2007 21:24

don't let one bad childminder put you off!!!! I'm sure there are lots of good ones around.

HappyMummyOfOne · 17/12/2007 22:42

Can you set up your own, form a charity committee so it can be non profit and charge just enough to cover your overheads?

zubb · 17/12/2007 22:48

the out-of-school clubs are all set up with the promise of subsidies for 3 years, so the club itself should have had a decent business plan in place to cope when it came out of the 3 year period.
Can the school set one up itself? If it is a new entity then it may qualify for another 3 years of funding - although I'm not sure how that works. How big is the school? Is 12 children a decent proportion or is it just not well supported?

pinkteddy · 17/12/2007 22:51

Can the local authority provide an after school club for the school? It is worth badgering the local authority and the school to provide an alternative. All schools have to provide extended services now by 2010. What about the nearest school to your son's school - if they have an after school club would they take on the additional 12 children? If so they would probably provide transport too at least one way - you might have to collect from there.

zubb · 17/12/2007 22:57

good point Pinkteddy - they will have to provide access to a club. At our school they are looking to set one up, but in the meantime a mini-bus comes each day from a local after school club.
Ask the early years team at the local council for a list of clubs.

zubb · 17/12/2007 22:58

Is the club run as a charity? could it fundraise / ask for sponsorship from local companies?

PersephoneSnowballSnape · 17/12/2007 23:38

same thing happened to me - kind of. local labour council withdrew funding in order to keep council tax at same level and pay off huge equal opps case. ours was taken over by a for-profit organisation and fees were doubled. >

is there any chance that you and other parents could set up a management committee and run it yourself, retaining the staff that were there and fund raising as suggested by national lottery etc.

this is terrible. all that lip service for working parents, getting single parents to work, providing wrap around care, 'eradicating child poverty' by helping parents - and when it comes to it.. ?