Cancelled Afterschool Activity

[CancelledActivity]

Hard hat on, I've been on here for years but don't think I've ever braved an AIBU post before.

DD1 is 4 and started school in September. DH and I both work FT, and she goes to an afterschool club everyday. They're the same company as the nursery she went to for years and are thankfully very accommodating. They collect from many schools in the area and run a fleet of cars and do a huge amount of work to make sure everyone is picked up when they need to be.

Once a week DD does football after school - outside company, held at school, advertised through school but paid directly to the company. Afterschool club very nicely put on a car to collect DD and a few others from football, and when the day changed at one week's notice recently they adjusted as well.

It's miserable here today, and we got a text at noon that football was likely cancelled and they would confirm at 1pm.

AIBU to think that two hours notice that DC have to be picked up an hour early is taking the piss? I was embarrassed asking the after school club to make a change to their schedule at such short notice, which thankfully they can do as it would have been difficult for DH or I to make it on time.

Surely an outdoor activity in November needs a contingency plan?

They were probably trying everything they could to find a solution, an indoor venue maybe, hence them having to wait to find out. The after school club were able to adapt (and are probably used to this kind of thing) so... there's no issue!

I would assume that they’d usually use the school hall but it’s set up for nativity rehearsals, concert, someone else has booked it etc and they didn’t get that confirmed any earlier. Having run after school clubs and worked in schools I’m aware it can be a pretty low priority to communicate stuff like that.

That is odd, our school just had them drawing in a class once because the rain was torrential so they didn't play outside or they use the school hall if they can because they know parents can't pick up at late notice.

They used to be allowed use a classroom but the school no longer allow them since covid apparently. The hall is in use with another club.

I'm just astounded at the complete lack of a plan, rain in November being entirely predictable.

What would you like them to have done? Tbh they all sound extremely accommodating and helpful. Sometimes things have to be cancelled at short notice.

THIS is exactly why I ended up giving up work once my daughter started primary school. Crap planning, communication and last minute changes or demands made my mental health collapse. I'd get calls when I was 3 hours away (field based role) telling me after school care was cancelled.
I constantly felt like a crap mum and employee.

If two parents are expected to work to afford to run a household, then the whole school and holiday system needs a shake up to allow that to happen.

Thankfully my DD is older now, plus home working is more widespread, so no longer an issue for me, but the primary school years were hell.

I would have liked the football company to have a plan in place with the school for inclement weather.

The ones who have been extremely accommodating and helpful (agreed, btw) are the afterschool club who are a completely separate company and have nothing to do with either the school or the football coaches.

It’s not because of the weather itself it’s because the water will have made the field slippy and dangerous. The school have said they’re not allowed to use the inside. Presumably they’re also not able to use the playground. They won’t have wave wanted to cancel the club as they will use the money for it. They’re an activity provider, not childcare. If you’re childcare provider is happy to pick your children up from the club they’ll be aware sometimes the club will have to cancel and should be ok with that.

This is because it's an activity not childcare. I would always make sure I was around in case an activity was cancelled.

I would pull her out of the activity and just have her at the oosc.

I would have liked the football company to have a plan in place with the school for inclement weather

You said yourself they can't use a classroom or the hall. What do you expect them to actually do? They aren't a babysitting service. I'm sure parents would have also complained if their DC got a bit wet and muddy injured due to the unsafe playing conditions

Me too. The OOSC is reliable childcare and you don't want to be pissing them off with constant changes.

The football club will likely be cancelled again given how poor the weather usually is at this time of year. The OOSC sounds amazingly flexible so if want to keep in their good books.

There is the possibility with all clubs that cancellation may occur. That includes your Childcare, nursery and even school.

Football club isn't childcare though, it's an enrichment activity. The kids are still very young and not that well co-ordinated so winter sports at your DDs age do have to cancel in bad weather sometimes. I think the problem is that you are relying on it as childcare.

My son's school makes very clear that clubs are not childcare which I find tedious but you know where you are. We therefore pay twice - for the club and also for ASC and he goes to A ASC after the club for a bit or if it's cancelled

This is very true. I've lost count the amount of times school have closed due to snow, a full term twice due to COVID and after school sport cancelled due to weather. You need a back up plan.

If they're a big company can you ask if they can give her an indoor activity instead? Watching football on TV would work at an absolute push (not ideal, but better than no child care if you are working)?

This is going to happen often with outdoor after school activities so you and the care provider need to have an agreement as to what you expect to happen in the outdoor club/rain scenario.

They wanted to watch the England game

You're expecting childcare when it's just an afterschool activity. The company offers outdoor football; if the weather isn't good enough it can't go ahead. They're not going to offer a different indoor activity instead and the school don't have any responsibility to the children after the school day is done.

The jump from fulltime childcare to school going age was a big adjustment for us when we were used to dropping at childcare at 9am and picking up again at 5.30pm and childcare provider looked after everything all day. School runs and after school clubs makes me miss our old childcare.

This.

Is it annoying, or frustrating as a working parent ? - Yes
Are the school BU ? - no.

They have offered to arrange various activities after school which families can opt in to, but they can't account for every single arrangement of every single family in every single circumstance. If people complain about this sort of thing then quite frankly, the staff are just likely to say they won't put in the time to source these opportunities for the children next year. It's just one of those things that happens sometimes.

Yes it’s tricky
but all the activity type after school clubs round here run by the school specify from the outset that there may be last minute changes and you shouldn’t rely on them for childcare. It’s annoying though as of course you’re going to!

This is pretty standard for outdoor activities. Our tennis afternoon activity specifically states that they may have to cancel due to weather.
I would imagine that the school after school club will be accomodating in these circumstances if yu can't get back?

Not in England!

It truly is miserable so no objections to them cancelling outdoor sport today, and if the hall is booked then of course they couldn't do football it's the cancelling everything at short notice that has annoyed me. No refunds either, so no they're not taking a financial hit.

I'm just wondering if I'm reasonable to be pissed off as a first time parent at school. The notion that every child has pickup options that can change at two hours notice is bizarre and unrealistic to me. DD's best friend's parents are a doctor and a teacher, they may not even have seen the messages in time (fortunately he goes to the same after school club so they'll pick him up along with DD and the others).

Ok, seems IABU.

It's going to be a long ten years isn't it.

If you don't have someone to pick up your child at short notice then don't do after-school activities, use a childcare provider instead. They provide sport not childcare