School wrap-around - what do we do ?

[Oneanddone88]

Hi,
DD (4) just started reception. I chose the school based on local reputation plus the availability of breakfast club and after school club to facilitate us still working. The school explained to us in a meeting that the after school club runs daily.
Fast forward to a week before term in September and the club (who are a private company hired by the school), says they aren't running due to a lack of staff.
Panic stations as we have no local family and not huge flexibility with our jobs. Partner WFH twice a week so collects then and I work 4 days. So we needed after school club for two afternoons.
The schools response was 'that's a shame but nothing we do'.
We've had to juggle it with another local parent who collects on the two days we needed and we take her DS to school every day. Workable in the very short term but not long term as she is having to leave work super early those days and meet important meetings.
I've emailed the school a few times asking for updates and it's all very 'no nothing sorry '.

I'm at the point where I'm wondering do we move schools to one where they have nursery wraparound.
Also one childminder serves the school we chose, and she's full with a waiting list.

What has also annoyed me is that when we went to info afternoon with the school where they told us the club runs daily , that it wasn't even true. The after-school club told us they ran for two days a week last academic year , and not even the days we needed.

Has anyone else experienced similar before? I feel very stressed. I changed my job of 12 years due to DD starting school and wonder now why I bothered as we're in a worse logistical situation thanks to this.

There's nothing from the club or school about when this is going to be resolved.

The school themselves could set up a club,

Staffed by who?

What a ridiculous attitude. Schools are primarily staffed by women as are hospitals so the majority do manage it fine. As a teacher I work 0.8 and finish early to pick up or late start to drop off. As well as wrap around care.
This though is the reason gov want all schools to offer wrap around care, so all women can work more hours. Not sure who is going to do the extra caring for the elderly and those with additional needs though.

I think this comment is very unfair. If I couldn’t use wraparound, then I couldn’t work and then there would be one less teacher in the workforce.

I think moving her to a different school is the only option. It will be easier to move her now than further down the line.

Posters who assure us that the school could run a wraparound themselves need to start posting detailed business plans.

Schools are however supposed to be "moving towards" wraparound care for all primary schools.

The government has been chuntering about this for years but if they don’t properly fund it, schools won’t/can’t do it. We have found since Covid, so many more parents WTF so there isn’t the call for after school clubs like there was before.

It genuinely feels sometimes people are penalised for working, but that could just be my experience because of where I live. We did think of moving somewhere with better provision, but that's not viable at the moment.

@TrashedSofa
Yes, I would love to see one based on 5 children on Mondays, 8 on Tuesday, 6 on Wednesday, 5 on Thursday and 2 if we are lucky on Friday!
And this is from a school of 250 children.

This exact thing happened to me and it was a nightmare. School with a previous every day afterschool and breakfast club just didn't agree the new contract and the whole thing collapsed a week before term. Local childminders all full by then. We cobbled together care from about 4 different sources and it was very stressful.

One reason that it makes sense for schools to have further funding/state-funded childcare is because they have the facilities already, paid for by the state. It's silly to have those buildings used only 8-4pm for teaching. It can't be the school's responsibility though to set up and run further childcare unless properly funded and resourced with staff, that's where it all falls down.

You think it’s the schools responsibility to sort childcare?! Have you lost your mind?? 😂😂

Yes but in a standard one form entry 20ish places for 200 ish pupils is not very high demand, as you say due to wfh and flexible working. Say ten pounds each until 5.45pm, 200 pounds in. If ta staff get free childcare and their hourly rate maybe 80 costs plus 20 on snacks / juice although prob cheaper, 100 profit. Use the library / nurtute room / one designated classroom maybe year 1 or wherever they keep the toys / lego / ipads. Make use of the screen for films / the hall to run around / the playground and grassed area if sunny. Schools have all the kit and space and overheads already.

I'm a teacher and we run our own before and after school club. We're lucky we have a TA who is willing to run it, but her hours are being cut next year so our club will probably have to stop. No options for a private company running it.

Unfortunately it's why small schools like ours are struggling for pupil numbers and why tiny schools end up closing because we can't afford to offer wrap around care.

Not very helpful, but I'm not surprised there are staffing issues.

School aren’t going to resolve it. They offer a service if there’s demand. No demand. No service.

@Boomboom22
We have 2 who go to the local after school provider on Fridays. From 250 children. There is no way I can provide an in house provision for 2 children!

@Oneanddone88 keep checking the childminder lists every few weeks because sometimes you can be lucky and a new childminder will appear if they’ve recently been approved.

Many years ago, I used to pay another school mum to collect one of my DC on a regular basis. I think many people who are not well paid, rely on this type of informal childcare arrangement or cut their hours to fit around school hours.

The TAs, parents who need a job, ex teachers who don't want the hassle of classroom teaching?
The one at my DDs school is mainly staffed by TAs, parents, and a few school leavers who want childcare experience.

The government thinks it is. I tend to agree they should give it a kick start.

My son is one of two on a Friday @spanieleyes. I worry his wraparound will fold.

Very few people are going to want to work those hours, though. That's one of the main issues. Not to mention the pay/conditions.

Various issues at play here.

WFH means far fewer parents require wrap around care.

Low pay crisis means that many people cannot afford to pay the "real cost" of wrap around childcare. By that I mean non subsidised care by qualified practitioners. It's a really skilled and important job, and should be paid accordingly.

God some proper dickheads on this thread OP.

You were told somewhere provided a service that you could pay for to access.
You selected the school because it had that service you could pay for.
School took it away.

I doubt all the robotic repetitive people yattering "It's not their responsibility" which I'm reading in a tone of voice akin to, "this is a local shop for local people," have ever had to work to live.

Especially the total arseholes berating you for "not organising childcare" when you did and that's the problem that you organised it with a service provider who have not provided the service. And I think they'd change their tone if another service from an external supplier but promised by the school e.g. a sports club or musical instrument tuition or a specific optional GCSE or A-level was taken away from their own child with zero notice.

Can you move the child to your own school so they can sit in your classroom before/after hours, or are you secondary? I know a few teachers who do this. Otherwise you could go and grab them, take them to your school and occupy them with something quiet while you sort out planning, marking etc. Obviously it wouldn't work for evenings when you had meetings, though.

Really? They always seem to have enough staff, the holidays work for aTAs who have a term time job but want extra income and the after school slot I think is popular with childcare students who then choose the days they don't have classes.
I know of one local mum who started at after school club and then trained as a nursery nurse and works full time in a local private nursery.

@Oneanddone88 You must be foaming at the mouth with some of the responses on here. Given you are a teacher, let’s see if these individuals are quite so short on sympathy when you have to give up teaching their kids because there is no wrap around provision. So many people find it hard to think beyond their personal experience of not needing childcare or having have family to offer that or lots of childminders (there’s none serve my child’s school either). Whilst it may not be the job of the school to provide childcare, your school were not truthful with you and ultimately we are a society so it’s not just your problem, it’s everyone’s problem if you or your partner can’t work.

I can sort of understand how people might assume that because there are TAs doing the role where they are, the same must apply everywhere. The recruitment crisis in the sector isn't evenly spread, after all. Some schools evidently do have enough staff.

But where are all these ex teachers who want 3-6pm poorly paid work? The hours are awful.

Yes, really. It's great that it works in some areas but that doesn't translate to it working everywhere.

Most TA's I know are TA's because they like working school hours. They don't want to stay at work until 6pm and put their own children in childcare.

Childcare students are a nice idea but you also need fully qualified staff available to supervise. You can't just leave a bunch of unqualified teenagers in charge of ASC.

Lots of people who want a part-time job won't pick something as limiting as working in a school, because the "benefits" of school hours/term-time only stop when you're no longer a parent.