To consider private schools due to the longer school day?

[Workingawayfromhomenow]

It isn’t the only consideration by a long shot but it is a consideration, as we would struggle otherwise. I realise people do manage of course but interested in knowing if this was a factor for anyone else when choosing a school.

Private day schools don't usually have a significantly longer day than state schools.
The holidays are usually longer though.

Our kids are at a state primary- we drop them off at 7:30am at breakfast club and have after school available until 6pm when we need it on working days. I think most primaries have some kind of provision like this, which you can pay extra to use? Secondaries vary I guess but there should be a variety of after school clubs if needed?

After school club, that should say.

YABU. Many/most state schools have wraparound care.

As a PP pointed out, private schools have longer holidays. So more holiday childcare to worry about.

There is wraparound care until 430 (at no extra cost) which would be really helpful to us - plus starts slightly earlier.

I'd factor in that most of them have longer holidays too

Holidays aren’t a problem - it’s the beginning and end of the day.

I'd look at wraparound at state primaries first- my daughters was 7.45 am until 5.45 pm if I'd wanted

No extra cost? apart from the fees that is

DC's state primary school charges £11.50 total for breakfast club (from 8am) plus after school club to 6pm. We don't need breakfast club and don't need ASC every day, but when we do use it we pay via TFC which saves 20%.

i think longer days would be a ridiculous reason to choose private over state school. You must have other motivations but you're trying to justify it with this one for some reason.

Well, indeed! It wouldn’t be the only factor.

The problem with wraparound is while we would only need it now and again it would be sporadic so we’d end up paying a lot for a place we didn’t need. It would also mean choosing a primary that isn’t great purely for the wraparound.

Paying for private schooling is a very expensive form of wrap around care! It would be last on my list of reasons to pay for schooling.

Wrap around care either provided by the school, a local nursery or childminder would be a better option.

You don't want to pay for wraparound care you don't need but you do want to pay private school fees. Mmmkay.

FWIW our school's wraparound care can be booked as and when we need it. It's very flexible.

But you've clearly decided the private school is far superior!

Alot of state schools have wrap around care.

If childcare is an issue the longer school holidays at private school will ve another consideration.

Yes we did. As you it wasn't the only consideration but we the local primary school only had after school club until 4.30 and that was not guaranteed. The local prep school had after school club until 6 which we didn't use all the time but with no family to help we needed that security, especially as we were both working full time

It’s brilliant and was a factor. There’s always space to have them before and after school (not like the threads I see with people worrying about getting a space in breakfast club etc). My DC do extra curriculars like swimming/karate/cricket/rugby/orchestra etc depending on season and what they fancy, all on site at school with professional coaches or tutors. Or they can just go to straight after school care if there aren’t any clubs that day that take their fancy. 7.30am - 6pm is covered every day then they’re escorted on to the school coach home if DH or I are working and can’t collect.

Hmm let me think - 3k a year max for wraparound care or 15k for private primary ...

Tricky

Private school is not cheaper than wraparound care.

I'm not sure who you're trying to convince but it's a weak argument.

This just isn't true. I went to a private school from year 7 to year 11. School day ran from 8.35am to 4.00pm. With London travel, I was out of the house every single day from 7.25am to 5.00pm. Then hours of homework. It was shit. I hated it.

My kids go to our local state school. School day is 8.45am to 2.45pm. Their travel time is 5 mins on foot. they actually have a life outside school.

Lovely for all of you parents I'm sure. Utterly shit for the kids.

It wasn't so much the longer day for me as the fact that, during that longer day, they did all of the extra-curriculars that I would otherwise spend every evening supporting. It wasn't the only factor, but for working parents it is certainly very helpful.

It was a factor for us (not the only factor, but it was something that made life a bit easier). My DC did almost all their clubs/activities 'in house' once they went private, so the day was a bit longer and also less ferrying them to out of school activities.

Their local state schools did not have wrap around available. That kind of provision is not ubiquitous - I think it's maybe more common in larger towns/cities?

They are now in secondary. Private school day is 8:40 to 15:45, plus after school sport & similar options every day depending on interest/enthusiasm, which take them to 17:00. Half an hour bus each way takes it to cover full office hours. State secondary hours here are roughly 8:45 to 15:00, earlier finish at 14:00 one or two days per week. There are some after school activities but not that many.

School day was similar length in Upper primary. (They were state for the first 4 years, I assume the littlies were not all staying to 5pm)

No one is saying that private school is cheaper than wraparound care at a state school, but if you can’t get wraparound care at a good state school, then I was wondering if this was potentially a factor influencing anybody else’s decision?

It’s an expensive way of getting sporadic wraparound care, but presumably you value the other benefits of private school anyway.

Another benefit, as you’re working, might be that private schools seem to expect less parental support than state schools who need parents to be reading nightly, helping with homework and learning spellings/tables etc. Private schools do more of it in school time, and they can provide extra curricular activities on site so you don’t have to take them to clubs for everything. This is only in my limited experience though, so might not be true for the schools you’re choosing between.

Thanks @LtGreggs , sounds very similar to us and certainly does potentially make life much easier.

This makes aboslutely no sense - you would pay full school fees which will be far more expensive in order to avoid paying less on wraparound care

For primary pay a child minder or agency nanny service.

@Workingawayfromhomenow - this was definitely one of the positive factors for us. DD finishes school at 6.15 pm. It means that I can drop her at school, go to work, and then leave work, fetch her, and we travel home together. I like having the time with her on the way to school and back.