Wraparound care at school cancelled

[Citytocountry1]

I’ve just opened an email from our school sent last thing on Friday saying they can no longer operate wraparound care as it’s not viable due to lower numbers since last term. They said they tried to find a solution but unfortunately there isn’t one. They didn’t even consult us parents who use it and ask us for more money or even say to the wider school use it or lose it, just decided to close it in March. I would gladly have paid more or had a discussion to figure out how to make it viable.

I work in a non wfh business 4 full 9-5 days a week, Thursday I work until 2.30 so I can pick them up at 3.15pm once a week. The children attend 4 days a week after school. Husband works in a production/manufacturing role and he is going to see what his work will let him reduce hours wise but we know that means pay reduction.

there are no childminders in our area, no nanny’s on childcare websites, the last childminder closed during Covid, we sadly don’t have family in the country so no help there, and the nearest school with wraparound is over 8 miles in the other direction of my work. I don’t really have any friends to ask either, we are quite new here we do know school parents but we don’t have the kind of relationships which some seem to have with each other to ask them to take our children home to theirs after school for nearly 3 hours. That’s a huge ask and I don’t know anyone who would do it.

just so upset and stressed tonight lots of tears and worry about what we do now. I don’t even know what to say to my work, the kind of job I do I can’t do from home and we can’t afford for me to lose it. Aren’t school supposed to consult and figure out how to help make it work?

feeling so panicked about this happening and sad as the children enjoyed the activities at after school and we were able to work knowing they were looked after 😓

But if schools run wraparound care at a loss a few parents' childcare is being funded at the detriment of other children. The loss comes from other parts of the school budget. That might boil other parents piss.

I'm not sure why you think children can't go to school for both. Schools have been childcare since the 1800s. Their role in enabling parents (mothers) to work in factories unencumbered by children was fundamental to increased productivity and safety. That politicians didn't like to talk about how important this was until the state's need for women to work was driven by WWII doesn't mean it hasn't always been a big part of the state education system. And for the last nearly 30 years the National Childcare Strategy has set out quite clearly how important schools' role as a source of childcare is to the economic health of the country.

Email the local authority, under the childcare act they have a legal obligation to ensure sufficient childcare places for working parents, including out of school and wraparound. Particularly at the moment there is a huge push for this due to the government agenda to support working parents. They will likely get involved and support the school to either make it viable via a cash boost or they will put it out to tender to a private company to take over.

I have to limit my work hours to accommodate school runs. The after school club closed and then my childminder went out of business during the COVID lock downs. There is now no one else picking up from our school. Moving school is not an option as the other realistic option distance wise cannot meet my DS's needs (SEN). As a single mum it's left me stuck on universal credit as my earnings are limited. It always amuses me on here when people say "just book a childminder" or "use an after school club". There aren't any! I have some family help but not every day as that is not a reasonable ask for my elderly parents or adult DC.

It's not seen as an essential part of the school day though. Schools don't have to provide it. I was amazed DSs school don't have after school club, just breakfast club, but obviously there's not enough interest.
If ASC runs at a loss then it's taking money from other areas of the school.
That's going to annoy a lot of parents.

Can you contact the parents of other children who are also using ASC currently? Maybe arrange some kind of regular swap? Sorry this is happening- it sounds really stressful.

That would have been a nightmare for me too if that had happened when mine were little. I had no family within 250 miles and no village. These days I could have left work at 2.30 and logged back on at 3.30 (and do sometimes to pick up my teen who has health issues so getting the bus is hard for her as involves a hilly walk) but back then it wouldn’t have been an option so i’d have had no choice but to cut hours. What do you in summer hols? Might be someone local you could pay, maybe something will come from the facebook group.

Appreciate it’s difficult running at a loss but i’d have thought some consultation would have been appreciated, and not good they release this news on Friday before half term. No doubt hoping to avoid calls from parents. Good luck OP, it’s hard when you don’t have family help or a village. My youngest of 3 is 18 next month and their father worked overseas for years. It’s not been easy keeping a career going and caring for children.

Contact childminders outside your area asking if they would take you on and collect from school? Other parents will have the same issues and I can’t believe there aren’t childminders happy to get paid a little extra to drive and collect from schools

Great post. This is true. The government can’t have it all ways. Either allow one parent to stay at home, reduce minimum wage so people can be employed without breaking the business or extend school hours.

Ds's asc went from 5 days a week to four. They ceased operating on Fridays because too few parents used it.
I worked 5 office days. Thankfully ds was 10 and my employer allowed me to take my lunch hour at 2.30, collect ds at 3, drop him home and settle him with a drink, a snack, tv and a phone, and go back to work for two hours.Not ideal but it was only for two terms, and he was happy and sensible.

OP, contact all the other parents who used the service and check what their plans are. Offer to share costs.

I don't understand how they can provide it at a loss. How do the staff get paid?

Surely the club just wasn't charging enough? Our after school club is over subscribed and charged £16.80 for 3:15 until 6. At that price you'd cover the staffing costs you suggested with only 6/7 children. Op's club must be very cheap to not be viable. It's a shame they didn't first suggest raising prices.

This is the real reason we're having fewer and fewer children. It just doesnt bloody WORK! Sympathies OP

Children have two parents. Why are you seeing this as a gender issue? It is a parent issue and one that needs to be solved. The OP is saying her partner is trying to change his hours.

The OP was offered a private service that ran out of the school which enables her and her partner to both work - which is a situation most people in the UK with young families have to do, and also something the government desperately needs us to given the shocking state of the UK economy. This service has now with around 2 -4 weeks notice has for the first time mentioned it no longer exists.

This is not an entitled parent thinking the school is responsible for childcare. It is a poorly communicated situation which has left the OP up shits creek. If you read the OP properly her main issue is with how the goalposts have been spectacularly moved at such short notice especially as this is one of the things that the school boasted about to try and gain increased numbers. Anyone who has ever had to juggle working / other responsibilities with childcare would understand this instead of having a go at the OP. Unfortunately it comes back to us being expected to work as if we don’t have kids and raise kids as if we don’t have a job.

@Citytocountry1 sending solidarity - it sounds like you and you DH have a good back up plan at least temporarily and hopefully there will be some babysitters / other childcare services that might be able to help for the days you’re short.

I am so so sorry to start with OP. That is awful. Some posters on here need to give their head a wobble with their complete lack of empathy.

This happened to friends of ours who also lived rurally last year. The cited reasons were that, seeing as lots of people now WFH and hence can pick up their kids, wrap around wasn’t required anymore. My friends (a nurse married to a teacher) alongside other parents who had zero option to WFH lobbied the school hard alongside their MP and local community groups etc. It worked and the school relented a bit, re opening it 3 days per week, which is better than nothing.

Good luck x

Is there a local sixth form? Maybe a mature teenager might want some work experience and could bring them back to yours for a few hrs till you get home. Even as a temp solution. Might be worth posting on your local Facebook group.

I am a single parent, had a similar situation and hunted and hunted for any available solution. There wasn’t one but I found a job that agreed a flexible schedule so I am online 0845 to 1510 then I log off for school pick up. I complete the rest of my 7.2 hour workday after my kid is home.

It’s harder than people think to ‘find something’ especially if you want to reclaim any childcare costs and need the childcare you use to be registered. You can’t reclaim any cost against an unregistered provider and most providers charge per child so you may be looking at a cost much higher than school wrap around was if you do find a provider. I did at one point find a childminder to pick up one day per week but when they got sick or went on holiday it left me stuck again anyway and it was only one day out of 5.

It’s crap but I think you and your husband need to make adjustments to your work schedules so one or the other can pick up each day.

How many other children used the service? If most people have a 'village' and it is a small school anyway, presumably not very many?

Are any of the local private nurseries providing wraparound care? We provide this and pick up from local schools too in term time.

This sounds tricky but realistically it isn't viable to run due to the nature of the school. You mention it's a small school with a reception intake of 5. I work in a school where we have 55 in reception and usually at least 8 attend after school club on any given day. The same with nursery, many nursery children attend after school club and this was a selling point for the school a few years ago as initially it was only for school aged children.
I think this is sadly the unfortunate case of choosing a rural location and village school - seems idyllic but practically services are less available. I would assume it's like any other provision e.g. buses less likely to operate in your area due to low numbers.

I hope you and your husband can manage to work out shifts between you, as to me the only other option is moving to an area where there are higher numbers.

No one is stopping a parent stay home. The government do int overreach that much (yet).

OP how long have you worked for your employer. Any chance of taking a sabbatical? Where are you located, use a nanny agency until you have decided the long term plan?

The school cannot give you personal information but you can ask them to send a blind copy email out to everyone that uses it with your email and ask other parents in a similar situation to get in touch - together you may be able to come up with a solution that could be attractive if there are larger numbers!

People in full time jobs on NMW already need UC in order to be able to live, reducing it would massively increase the welfare costs to the state. We have a huge problem with wages relative to the cost of living in this country.

Contact childminders outside your area asking if they would take you on and collect from school? Other parents will have the same issues and I can’t believe there aren’t childminders happy to get paid a little extra to drive and collect from schools

But childminders can really only pick up from one school, so out of area CMs will already be committed to their local school. (That’s if childminders even still exist in the area. They were already a vanishing breed ten years ago round here and all I ever hear is “…used to be a childminder but…”

To add to this, I’d put pressure on both the school and local authority. In our area schools can operate with one staff member in out of school provision if there are other staff on site. They don’t need two members of staff there if there is less than 10 children. I wonder if the school has actually engaged with the local authority about making the provision sustainable.