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 last time we advertised for a teaching assistant we had NO applicants at all- and that is for a post totally within school hours. We have advertised for staff for the breakfast club we run and it is only current TAs who are willing to do the hours, again no external applicants came forward. Our existing TAs will not do after school hours too.

I'm going to make some calls tomorrow , firstly to council to see if they know of any other services, and then to wraparound for another school to see if they'd consider collections.

Getting the staff for after school clubs is a huge problem and the reason why many of them fold. Nobody wants to work 3-6pm for minimum wage. TAs who work 9-3 (for virtually minimum wage) do not generally want to stay on and work another 3 hours as they (in my school) generally have their own kids and are only working in a school anyway because it fits round their own children.

My school runs after school activities some days, eg craft club or football, but these are only until 4/4.15 one specific days and not everyone gets a place each half term so that everyone who wants to can have a turn.

If the government want more people working as childminders or more schools to be offering after school clubs, then they would have to fund it adequately. If not, then I can’t see anything changing.

Ignoring all the whys/how's, the only thing you need to think about now if you're considering moving schools is whether there are any in your catchment that are not full. If so, in reception you'd be appealing on the ICS basis and wrap around care isn't a good enough reason and will fail.
If you can't find a school that has a space you'll need to come up with plan B at the current school.

Not tye schools responsibility to provide childcare out of school hours.

Because the pay is dreadful.

I’ve worked in different primary schools for nearly 10 years, I’m going off my own experiences and knowledge. Do you work in schools?

We were in a similar predicament last year in that DD got a space at a school but then when we tried to put her name down for wraparound care, they told me they were closing. There were no other childcare facilities that did drop offs at this school and no nannies with spaces so in the end we found another school, but that was our only choice

Put ads on local Facebook and next-door app, or use something like babysitters.com, there will always be someone to do it

Can you get a parent group to set up an after school club? Ours set up a not for profit club led by committee, eventually taken over by a commercial company once it was clear that there was demand and profit for school and commercial
company to be had (as well as a plus point /essential for the school when parents are selecting schools)

Bingo! So unless the government changes this nothing will change in childcare and unfortunately it’s not going to happen is it.

Try looking older, perhaps late 50's 60's who have given up/lost their day job but could do with a bit extra, or a fellow parent unofficially. You may still need to step in occasionally with casual arrangements but it would be worth exploring. I'd say at least 50% of the mums I know (through toddler group I run) have casual child care arrangements rather than official, lots of I work Tuesdays & Thursdays she works Monday and Wednesday type agreements, plenty of slipping the neighbours money and whilst yes not strictly legal it's a case of needs must

No I don't. I (and some others on this thread) am stating that it's clearly not impossible if this solution exists in some schools. It's almost as if there are regional differences in school recruitment (!)

Obviously this doesn't help the op if it's not viable in her particular school.

You will need to get creative. We were in a similar bind with a wrap around service when our youngest went so older ones were there but no space for younger sibling starting school. Siblings had priority but they were just full as they only had a few Yr6 who were leaving for high school and those spots went to others on the list already using the service but on waiting list for increased days.

We enquired through the local retirement village to see if there was anyone spritely enough to do it a few days for some extra cash. A school age child is not the same as having to run around after a toddler and we didn’t even care if they stuck them in front of the tv for a few hours to be honest if that was what was needed to make it work. Found a lovely woman who was happy with mornings as she was up with the birds anyway and there was hardly any work involved getting them off to school as we had them up and dressed and fed at the same time as the others who we had to take to maintain their places. Also used a uni student a few afternoons, plus having g the two was good in case one was sick, had appointment etc, we could ask if the other could cover it.

That school was near a high school and I recall a few families used older high school kids to swing by, collect their kids and take them home, supervise, help with homework if needed. It was easy money for them, and again, school age kids don’t need a lot of looking after as such.

While it's not the school responsibility to provide wrap around care if you base your decision on a school on the wraparound care then its removed its hard to then work around it. Change schools if you need that wraparound care.

I get your frustration. My Ds had a childminder who looked after him since he was 1 year old and she covered his school. After Covid, she initially moved school and then quit childminding completely.

I got a place at before school club, but after school was a bit hit and miss and couldn't give me all the days I needed. DS also hated it. We now have an after school nanny who works at a pre school and wanted to top up her wages 2 days a week. She is brilliant, expensive but worth every penny.

Sounds like they mislead you to get you on their books. Unless the school is amazing in every other respect, I’d be looking for a school that fits your requirements. Better to do it now while your lo is young and in the early stages of friendships.

Yes there are expenses for running childcare of course. But surely lots of these are reduced if the school runs it themself? Schools offer free after school clubs for football, chess etc and these don’t cost the school anything (except staff goodwill/cost depending on if they’re paying staff for it). What additional expenses would the school running their own ACS using their own staff (TAs for example) incur? They own the building so no hire cost, I’ve already mentioned staffing and cost for food, not sure if additional insurance would be required if it was run on site by TAs or whoever. What else? Not trying to be difficult, genuinely interested.

(I’m a teacher at a school which runs its own ASC on site at much lower cost than I pay for my own daughter’s ASC which is run by a private company!)

You were misled and it’s shit but I don’t know what you can do
when I was in a similar situation I spoke to the provider directly which was reassuring. We’ve had all kinds of issues with our provider but Tbf to the school they did their best to ensure it continued when they eventually kicked them out, basically temporarily organising it themselves before a new provider started. This is going above and beyond however. Bottom line is though that the school knows how important it is. It’s not a large school but big enough to make it viable. Perhaps yours isnt

our school does offer extra curricular activities once a week for an hour after school which helps on that day. Presume there is none of those?

before you move schools I would try and set up an arrangement with a parent who doesn’t work. Offer to pay them by all means if you can’t reciprocate.

The last year DS was at primary, the afterschool club stopped operating on Fridays because there wasn't enough demand.

I had no help, but I did a deal with my boss, that I took my lunch hour between 2.45 and 3.45. There was just enough time for me to pick ds up, drop him home and go back to work for another 2 hours.

Obviously your dc is tiny so not an option for you but there will be a way around this. Is there a class Whatsapp group? Have you posted saying you need to share pickups and drop offs? You have some flexibility. You need to find someone who can cover the other days. Others will be in the same situation.

Ah, I got you.

Unfortunately if you rely on someone else for childcare there is always the risk that they'll stop providing it. It sucks but I'm not sure there's a solution really!

It's a bloody nightmare isn't it? Our school suddenly decided at the beginning of term that they were only going to offer after school clubs to key stage 2. I was planning on looking for a new job but not sure it will be possible now. We also have a private company available but it costs £££ compared to the school run clubs

Whereas in our area, the TA's don't work to work longer days for shit pay. In 99% of cases, their extra wages would just be going on childcare for their own children so it would be a total waste of time.

A friend of mine is a TA and also runs her own business - she earns more working for herself after school for a couple of hours than she'd ever earn doing ASC.

No, it's not the school's responsibility to sort out wraparound childcare, much as it might make parent's lives easier.

In this case the school did misrepresent both the level and reliability of the wraparound care, which they should not have done.

If the school believed they had the staff to run an after school provision ( as opposed to after school clubs which are generally run by teachers for free) and could make a profit from it, they would be doing so. The fact that they aren't means either that they don't have the staff available or it's not financially viable. As the private provider has ceased, presumably they had similar issues.