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?

Newsflash: the two are not the same thing. You pay for football session not a childcare service

Newsflash: you are paying for both as the organisers of any activity for children where parents are not present are in loco parentis. Paying through the nose often too.

That said, these things happen, but I would not think much of a provider who repeatedly cancelled at short notice.

YABU they do have a contingency plan the plan is in the case of bad weather to inform parents that football may be cancelled and confirm by 1pm, I expect in the rare cases where a situation changes and children are unable to be collected the school would look after them I.e. sat in the office twiddleling their thumbs.

You wait till it snows and the school closes there is even less notice for that.

I don’t think it’s the assumption that there is always someone to collect child. I think these decisions are made after a lot of consideration and with the child’s interest at the centre. There probably is an assumption that all employers understand that there is a need for parents to sometimes pick up their children because of illness, weather, accident etc.

Depending on where you are, I think the weather was such that a decision could have been made earlier. Assuming you believe a weather forecast to be accurate.

I'm not sure how you expect them to have more notice to give? Things happen sometimes.

I once took my kids to school to be met by a teacher outside saying the school was closed because the heating was broken. I had no time to make a contingency plan. It's just one of those things that life throws at you sometimes, and you just have to figure out how to deal with it.

Think you just need to get used to it tbh! Things get cancelled and plans change. School is not childcare - it’s education. There will be times when school is unexpectedly closed or shuts early and you, the parent, need to plan for that! Or your child will be ill and either can’t go in or need picking up early. You and your husband need to speak with your employers and have your contingency plan in place!

you are paying for both as the organisers of any activity for children where parents are not present are in loco parentis.

That's still not childcare!

Childcare is a specific arrangement, with a contract & certain conditions, that differs from an activity.

I would not think much of a provider who repeatedly cancelled at short notice.

Don't be silly! If it's an outdoor activity & it's rained off, that's the nature of the activity. My kids play sports; occasionally a pitch is unplayable; training or a match will be called off.

That said, these things happen, but I would not think much of a provider who repeatedly cancelled at short notice

Don't ever get involved in cricket then!
50% of DS's were cancelled for heavy rain or heatwave last season. Matches are cancelled for rain every season, albeit not usually quite so many.

YANBU.
school led clubs are like the hoaky-coaky.
however if I’ve paid an external provider I expect some sort of delivery!
are you getting a refund or an extra date added in to what you’ve paid for?
or are you expected to fund the cancellation too?!

i’d be speaking my mind to the head teacher and/governors. Ultimately responsibility lies with them for these decisions, who uses the school facilities (who they are RENTED to for income) & what activities are advertised to children & parents.

WHY aren't these clubs childcare though? They're collecting 30 four year olds from their teachers and then an hour later they are collected by after school
Because childcare is provided by registered childcare providers and a club isn't.
Clubs ran by staff can, and are, changed because it's not actually a teacher's job to run after school clubs.
Clubs ran by outside companies can, and are, changed based on whatever the business requirements are (so in the case of bad weather they can be cancelled).

If parents want childcare, they need to sort childcare.

What are the terms and conditions of the club?

It's basically shit if you work and have children of school age. I feel for you, its not always easy to be able to escape work early or arrange alternative childcare with 2 hours notice. You'd think they'd have a contingency plan with the school, it's ridiculous they can't use a classroom, even if to watch something or go through tactics or whatever just for one week. As you say in winter surely it's expected the weather will be crap.

Sadly, I think this is what most posters are telling you. Yes, it would be nice for the football club to have a back up plan, but that's probably beyond what the organiser wants to do. It would actually be nice for schools/child activities in general to be more focused around making things easier for parents (not just working ones) but if your child is going to state school, you just have to accept that capacity to do this is lower priority.

In 10 years' time you will probably look back and be grateful that you had 2 hours notice. I've had notification of clubs not running after they were meant to have started. School sports days they will tend to leave until the last minute to decide that actually the grass is too slippery. And my personal favourite - DC's junior school which used to take half the year group on a trip on one day, and the other half on another day, but they didn't tell you which half your child was in until the evening before.

I'd suggest adopting a "go with the flow" attitude or you will be driven mad on a regular basis :)

I think afterschool activities providers need to accept that they ARE in fact part of people's childcare arrangements. Working parents don't get the rest of the afternoon off if it rains!
There needs to be a Plan B in case of bad weather and indoor facilities are available in most schools.

The issue really lies with the school and its refusal to allow the club to carry on using a classroom in the event of bad weather. It's a bit silly that they're still using the covid excuse and perhaps you could talk to the head about rethinking this.

I would expect an activity you paid for to have contingency plans for something as obvious as inclement weather.

My ds is a swimmer. Sometimes that gets cancelled for reasons outside control (chlorine etc) but you can't plan around that!

If I paid for him to remain at school for an hour every week I'd expect that he remain at school for that hour every week.

I'd also expect the school to be more accommodating to an outside company they are charging to use their facilities - for their own pupils to access after school.

The issue is that sports clubs and child care providers have very different rules and guidance to follow. The sports club may not be working at the level required to offer childcare, such as of stead registered and staff CRB checked and therefore they can’t offer this, and have to send the children home when they can’t offer the service advertised

I think you want to be very gratefull for the care your child already gets at school with afterschool minding and being shuttled around etc. You are in a luxury situation as it is.

I run an afterschool club. The contingency plan is your job. We aren't childcare, we are a sporting activity and sometimes, for unavoidable reasons (usually something to do with the school, like they have comandeered our space for something else), we have to cancel.

I think the OP and other posters need to take into account who are running after school clubs. A larger more professional company is one thing, but round here after school
clubs are run by parent volunteers helped by senior school pupils wanting to gain coaching experience. That or they are one man band instructors looking to make a small amount of extra income (and I mean small) and they run the classes because they are committed to sports development. No one is making a fortune from these classes and they are not childcare.

I‘ve helped / volunteered with after school
clubs and other evening clubs and community groups for a number of years. The other side of the coin is that the behaviour of some parents is shocking tbh. Late payment / non payment, not telling you when kids won’t turn up, not collecting kids on time (regularly rather than one offs). And that’s before we get to those parents who think their kid is a sporting superstar and who also know much more about the sport than the coaches, so little Jimmy / Jemima should be in xyz position and how dare they not be in the starting line up for the next match. Add in those parents who won’t accept that their kids are anything less than perfect behaviour wise. I’ll be honest, I’m amazed anyone still wants to run after school clubs or Scouts, Guides etc.

OP is correct that contingency needs to be in place and that rain in November isn’t unpredictable. So the onus is on OP to check / be prepared and to have that contingency thought out in case, which she had with the ASC.

Being a working parent with small kids is hard, but the responsibility for managing and coordinating and preparing contingencies for after school activities lies with the parents, not anyone else. It’s pretty entitled to expect others to do that for you, especially if they are volunteering or a small scale business coach.

Schools are there to educate your kids. After school activities are hobbies. Neither are childcare.

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.

This. It's not this specific's club's fault (imo) - they can only do what they can do. But there needs to be universally available good, safe, reliable, affordable care from 8am till 6pm if parents are going to be expected to hold down 2 x full time jobs.

IMO this means employers stepping up a bit as well. Or a single, average wage needs to be enough to live on.

But it isn't the responsibility of a school to provide childcare outside of core education hours. Yes it's a nice to have if they do provide wrap around care, but that's all it is. It's not mandatory. I don't see how the school holidays could be reformed when teachers aren't contracted or paid for the holidays.

Yes, YABU. They provide an activity not childcare. If you want childcare, pay for a childminder or use the school afterschool tea club.

this is really tricky, as external activity clubs do get cancelled a lot (I have 2 young primary DC and need full time wraparound too). Ours is easier as the school are very accommodating and will just put them straight into the normal after school childcare provision if the club is cancelled and we can’t collect (parents need to pay on the day if they haven’t already booked it). However it’s on site and run by the school, and they adjust staff numbers supervising last minute to take into account the number of kids there. The flexible wraparound is the main reason we chose the school!

Before I enrolled my ds in his afterschool soccer I was made aware that it will be done outdoors since there's no hall available. I still went ahead because I can collect him at 3pm instead of 4pm. I wouldn't have signed for it if I couldn't.

But that's not the clubs responsibility. If they require that care they need to look elsewhere. Asking them to provide care aswell will up the price for everyone. If the need care then pay for it elsewhere and leave the club to do what it was designed for.