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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Wrap around care for those who don't work??

382 replies

Raisinsandweetabix · 13/11/2024 16:34

Free breakfast clubs, afterschool clubs. Why would you need this if you are at home all day anyway? Another kick in the teeth to working parents. Obviously not including those in dire need of this care.

OP posts:
celticprincess · 14/11/2024 18:46

SEN schools where a lot of parents are not working due to the additional needs of their children and so are on low incomes, won’t be able to staff this. Mainstream schools will struggle. Sen schools need higher staffing ratios and then to liaise with LA transport to get the children to and from school at a different time. Some sen schools do manage to just give breakfast anyway to their learners as and when they arrive on a morning. Many already leave really early for taxis that have multiple pick ups to drop off and one or more schools. So getting some on for breakfast will be hard.

laraitopbanana · 14/11/2024 18:47

JuniperKeats · 14/11/2024 18:44

Sometimes there is a numbers limit on these, so maybe they should be for those in most need. Hard to decide how this would be allocated.

Yes so true. There are the hungry children and then the children that will be hungry if the parents can’t get to work 🥵

Exhaustedchick · 14/11/2024 18:50

lasagnelle · 13/11/2024 16:35

Why is it a "kick in the teeth" to working parents? Aren't the working parents getting it too?

Not for free they aren't. It's a huge cost to afford when you have no choice so you can work to keep a roof over your head but have to pay for it. Yes its a kick in the teeth when those not working and could collect their kids at normal pick up time get it for free.

SunQueen24 · 14/11/2024 18:54

VickyPollard25 · 14/11/2024 18:26

We need to pay £7.50 for breakfast club, and £17.50 for after school club each day. Who is getting this for free?

Any activity clubs are paid for separately on top of this.

It is sometimes funded by the local authority.

Mumma20222014 · 14/11/2024 18:54

true my child’s school charges £5 a day weather you work or not

SunQueen24 · 14/11/2024 18:55

celticprincess · 14/11/2024 18:46

SEN schools where a lot of parents are not working due to the additional needs of their children and so are on low incomes, won’t be able to staff this. Mainstream schools will struggle. Sen schools need higher staffing ratios and then to liaise with LA transport to get the children to and from school at a different time. Some sen schools do manage to just give breakfast anyway to their learners as and when they arrive on a morning. Many already leave really early for taxis that have multiple pick ups to drop off and one or more schools. So getting some on for breakfast will be hard.

I’ve seen local authority fund their siblings afterschool clubs to give respite from their disabled/challenging sibling and alleviate some strain on the parents of having all the children home.

WinterBones · 14/11/2024 19:03

not all wrap around offered is about providing for the poor either.

DD's school run a completely separate breakfast and afterschool sessions for their GCSE students where they provide food and access to the core teachers so they can get extra intervention/study time in during year 11. its funded entirely within the school budget.

MustWeDoThis · 14/11/2024 19:04

Raisinsandweetabix · 13/11/2024 16:34

Free breakfast clubs, afterschool clubs. Why would you need this if you are at home all day anyway? Another kick in the teeth to working parents. Obviously not including those in dire need of this care.

I suppose it's none of your business, really.

The clubs are for the needs and wants of the children, regardless of the situation they are in.

If there aren't enough spaces for you, that's the fault of the school for not being inclusive and opening up more spaces. On the other hand, they are probably stretched for funding.

As a Civil Servant with 3 children; point your finger at the government. Your anger is misdirected.

We have seen parents and children rifling through school bins, fainting in the school yard because they haven't eaten. Parents stood in the freezing cold with no coat. These clubs are essential for a number of reasons, but they are not childminding clubs. Clue is in the words!

We did a coat collection and opened up a food pantry - £1 for a bag of food you collect from the food pantry shelves. That money was then put into breakfast club so more children could eat
. Pantry food was donated from local shops and families.

There are children not eating and now they can

Be mindful of your words

MSLRT · 14/11/2024 19:14

Raisinsandweetabix · 13/11/2024 17:04

And here is the reason why. My (estranged) SIL. 6 kids. Very chaotic home life granted. Never ever worked a day in her life. Yet she has the time to do a weekly bonus ball syndicate online. Chasing people for money. Constantly shop for birthday/ Christmas presents. Drinks most weekends, holidays to benidorm. Slag's off the schools constantly on social media (happy to accept their childcare) and yet us MUGS are working our arses off, and have no free time.

‘Six children and chaotic home life.’ Says it all why her children probably need the wrap around care. It’s for the children. Not the parents.

MustWeDoThis · 14/11/2024 19:16

Raisinsandweetabix · 13/11/2024 19:30

So many of you using this thread to show boat your woke champagne socialist views! Interesting how a few teachers have different opinions...

I thought they couldn't afford champagne because they are on benefits and need a free breakfast club. Which one is it?

I work at a job centre, on a specialist team. Quite often these people you are slagging off I've had to prevent from committing suicide, domestic violence (listening into a call where a Mother was being beaten was quire harrowing.) Sex trafficking, financial exploitation. Some of them are like your SIL, but behind closed doors I've had to build a safeguarding team to protect that person because they are ar risk of harm.

You have only seen the tip of the iceberg and then presumptuously judged it freely and chaotically.

Let's hope one of those vulnerable people with suicidal ideations don't read this thread, end up feeling utterly worthless, and end it all. We are living in an age which is entirely different to your presumed, ideal past life.

I suggest you move your Trump like mind from the 50's and catch up.

Yourcatisnotsorry · 14/11/2024 19:16

Universal breakfast clubs are such a waste of money. Spend it on kids who really need it or extend free lunches for older ages. Our school starts at 8.30. They are in afterschool until 6, so with breakfast club starting at what 7.30? So kids out of the house 7-6.30 it’s too much for many children and what parents actually want to never see their kids? It’s no kind of life (btw I’m a full time working mum with a ‘big’ job). Also the childcare sector is struggling to resource already, how will they recruit for all these low paid crap hours Childminding roles?

Bobafett2020 · 14/11/2024 19:18

My, don't you sound a delight

Kool4katz · 14/11/2024 19:52

No breakfast clubs, no school dinners and no after school clubs where I live and 9 week summer holidays to manage with no daytime clubs either, so I had to be a SAHP. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Many other families rely on grandparents and other relatives to look after their kids outside of school hours.

AnnieSnap · 14/11/2024 19:56

Raisinsandweetabix · 13/11/2024 19:30

So many of you using this thread to show boat your woke champagne socialist views! Interesting how a few teachers have different opinions...

Ahh the old ‘champagne socialist’ trope. So you think people who are comfortably off shouldn’t hold any socialist views/shouldn’t care about others? You’re a real prize aren’t you?

Ytcsghisn · 14/11/2024 19:57

You are not wrong OP.

But this is MN. Where the less you contribute to the system in cold hard cash, and the more you take from it, the more you must be some kind of virtuous, underprivileged saint.

If you don’t work, you don’t require the same access to this service as those that do. No amount of intellectual contortionist can change that.

There is almost a kind of disdain for people who are holding the system up.

Talk about biting be hand that feeds you.

PotatoLove · 14/11/2024 19:58

I used to use the after school clubs when the children were young when I was either working or in my DD case, looking for a job. I wanted them to get used to the routine and the people etc. Breakfast clubs are so all children can have a good breakfast as some don't get it at home.

Ytcsghisn · 14/11/2024 19:59

AnnieSnap · 14/11/2024 19:56

Ahh the old ‘champagne socialist’ trope. So you think people who are comfortably off shouldn’t hold any socialist views/shouldn’t care about others? You’re a real prize aren’t you?

It’s not a trope. It’s a term that coins the cognitive dissonance associated with these views.

In other words, calling out the batshittery and stupidity of ‘comfortably off’ holding socialist views.

JetskiSkyJumper · 14/11/2024 19:59

Ytcsghisn · 14/11/2024 19:57

You are not wrong OP.

But this is MN. Where the less you contribute to the system in cold hard cash, and the more you take from it, the more you must be some kind of virtuous, underprivileged saint.

If you don’t work, you don’t require the same access to this service as those that do. No amount of intellectual contortionist can change that.

There is almost a kind of disdain for people who are holding the system up.

Talk about biting be hand that feeds you.

It's not for the adults or 'you' so you can work. It's to benefit the children.

Ytcsghisn · 14/11/2024 20:00

JetskiSkyJumper · 14/11/2024 19:59

It's not for the adults or 'you' so you can work. It's to benefit the children.

They have the benefit of having the non working parent’s attention all day.

But then again, many of those parents are not very attentive to start with.

MurdoMunro · 14/11/2024 20:14

Ytcsghisn · 14/11/2024 19:57

You are not wrong OP.

But this is MN. Where the less you contribute to the system in cold hard cash, and the more you take from it, the more you must be some kind of virtuous, underprivileged saint.

If you don’t work, you don’t require the same access to this service as those that do. No amount of intellectual contortionist can change that.

There is almost a kind of disdain for people who are holding the system up.

Talk about biting be hand that feeds you.

It’s me! I’m holding the system up! Been paying taxes for 40+ years AND I DON’T EVEN HAVE ANY KIDS! What a shocker. Barren to boot.

WRAP AROUND CARE FOR THE CHILDREN AND MOTHERS WHO NEED IT!

That’s a banner👆See me stick it on a pole and march down the High Street

JetskiSkyJumper · 14/11/2024 20:20

@Ytcsghisn how do they have the benefit of the non working adults attention all day when they're at school?

suburburban · 14/11/2024 20:21

Ytcsghisn · 14/11/2024 19:57

You are not wrong OP.

But this is MN. Where the less you contribute to the system in cold hard cash, and the more you take from it, the more you must be some kind of virtuous, underprivileged saint.

If you don’t work, you don’t require the same access to this service as those that do. No amount of intellectual contortionist can change that.

There is almost a kind of disdain for people who are holding the system up.

Talk about biting be hand that feeds you.

Exactly

Mere1 · 14/11/2024 20:23

Lavender14 · 13/11/2024 16:36

Because some parents are sahm due to poverty or because childcare costs are more than what they earn. Also the stastics are that children of single parent households or low income households (more likely if only one income) have lower educational outcomes and are less likely to engage with extra curricular activities. So it's right that those children and their parents should be targeted for additional support.

This is true.

AnnieSnap · 14/11/2024 20:51

Ytcsghisn · 14/11/2024 19:59

It’s not a trope. It’s a term that coins the cognitive dissonance associated with these views.

In other words, calling out the batshittery and stupidity of ‘comfortably off’ holding socialist views.

It’s a trope because there is nothing batshit or stupid about having a comfortable life and humanity. I have socialist views. Giving up my relatively comfortable life will not produce socialism. I am comfortable, but I care and do my bit to help 🙄

Flibberteegibbet · 14/11/2024 21:16

Unfortunately there are a huge amount of parents who qualify for these sessions who cannot work due to disability/they’re carers for family members/they work but earn so little they are entitled to benefits. Not all of them are lazy feckers or just can’t be arsed to look after their own kids.

A friend and I set a charity up to help deal with the effects of poverty on families and many of those we help were previously quite affluent however they lost their jobs during COVID, they can’t keep up with all of the increasing costs we’re all struggling with or they’ve recently been bereaved or their relationship has broken down.

The children of all of these parents deserve the same access to an education and food is vital to them achieving their full potential. In some awful cases the only time they get any food and warmth, or anyone pays them attention and is kind to them is at these clubs so I’m all for them. In an ideal world every family could have these things for free but I’d be more than happy to pay for my child to attend if it meant another child could attend free if their parents couldn’t pay