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 😓

I'm sorry, that sounds incredibly stressful.

Are you absolutely sure that no local nurseries offer an after school club? My son's nursery offers this service but I've never seen it advertised outside of the nursery itself so you wouldn't know unless you had a younger child there.

the head won't tell you it is at risk of closing unless they have to as parents will start moving their kids and then it may have to close. They will be positive to try and encourage people to stay. Lotsnof primary schools are closing across the country. Look at London where lots have ready shut and now other areas are seeing the same. Fall in birth rate is hitting viability and small school are most at risk. We lost at least one village school in the last yesr and there are 2 form entry schools moving to one form.

Closing a school will be a long process and won’t be done lightly, and there should be a consultation process. Problem is once parents think closure is a possibility they will vote with their feet which means closure may become a reality

Does the next nearest school have many places available?

60 pupils this year and it’s federated with two other schools in two neighbouring villages which has similar numbers so our head and deputy head up all 3. Kids do Lego club one day, crafting club another day and gardening and they can also have the option of picking a sporty activity. They are really sad to lose it

If ASC is run by existing school staff some of you are vastly underestimating the staffing costs - it is not just the hourly wage of those staff, you need to think about tax, NI, pension costs etc. Even if on school premises you have to cost in a nominal letting fee, heating, insurance, contribution to upkeep, bins getting emptied- these are hidden costs and then add in food costs, resources for the children to play with and a token amount you have paid ensures your provision is not viable.
I work in a primary school and do the admin for wrap around. The cost goes up annually and we have a fixed cost - there are no tiered fees, the admin becomes a nightmare if this is offered. Your child doesn't attend, you still pay, you want to withdraw your child, you give 2 weeks notice and pay.
Staffing is the biggest issue as we are relying on existing TA support and quite frankly our TA's are knackered. In school Wraparound is an ideal but it has to be costed properly- my mantra is we are not a charity it has to pay.
On another topic free before school club being pushed by the government will impact the existing paid for service - quite where we will put potentially 250+ children for 1/2 an hour and staff and provide a breakfast is a logistical and cost nightmare the government has not thought out!

Thank you yes it’s feeling so stressful. I took this week off work to juggle half term and am dreading going back on Monday to have this conversation with my boss if my husband gets told tomorrow he can’t leave work 3 hours early twice a week

ThIs happened to us after Covid as school couldn’t afford to run ASC for multiple bubbles which would only have a couple of kids in. DH and I teach - not like we can swap our hours! Bloody moment upthread about choosing an inflexible job really annoyed - are we going to get to the point where people canning have kids if they WfH? Anyway, me and another mum (nurse - again can’t work different hours) paid the ASC supervisor until bubbles disappeared and the club ran again.

Could you put them into a school near where you work with wraparound? I considered doing this as very rural but family stepped in to help instead. In scotland though so not sure how it works with placement requests. If parents start the process of moving children the school may reconsider as it brings closure even closer.

It sounds like there needs to be a campaign to get people into being a childminder again/ways to make it easier to do that/incentivise as there was at least locally to me in the South East of England in the noughties.

It's not just an issue for parents, this is an issue for the economy and society as a whole.

When my DDs were little in the 00s there was a good choice of childminders and not many nurseries (or the ones that existed had only a "satisfactory" Ofsted report, which I thought wasn't good enough) and they had two wonderful childminders.

It's definitely a wider societal issue, but unfortunately because the birth rates are plummeting it's not a sector that people can feel secure in. It's very difficult.

It's absolutely worth asking if any of the wraparound staff would consider a private arrangement where they collect your children and look after them in your house. Worth asking if any TAs at the school might consider this too.

What a stressful situation to suddenly find yourself in.

As a side note, in my school we have children who are sometimes not collected until up to 45 mins - 1 hour after the end of the school day. There is always a gaggle of children sat in the office waiting to be collected; most have parents who are simply running late and have communicated with school but other children are just left to wait until someone (often an older sibling) turns up. It's very sad.

I really feel for you op. This happened to me last year and I'm the same as you, no family and no help. I was devastated. I ended up having to cut my hour at work as there was no alternative. Eventually, after about 9 months, a local nursery opened an after school club but charge me £16 for half an hour for my two kids. Where as the wrap around at school was just over £10 for up to 6pm for both. I can't really afford it so only do it 3 times a week.

This 👌

The problem is that margins in childcare are small. With low numbers it is difficult to even break even. This is a small school so it is always going to be challenging. With a falling birth rate and falling rolls, it is going to get even more difficult. The school has likely been absorbing a loss for some time. They know that by offering wraparound they can attract families like the OPs and therefore it prevents further reduction of pupil numbers. However, there comes a point when the losses generated by the ASC are too big to be absorbed. 5 pupils joining reception in the next academic year was probably the final straw. It means that the school's total funding will be lower and the pool of children who may use the ASC will be even smaller going forward.
If we want to support working parents, we need to subsidise childcare and take a co-ordinated approach with local planning. Minibuses could collect children from rural schools and care could be provided in a central hub. However, this isn't electorally popular. People are resistant to raising & spending more tax revenue. The idea of local authorities planning and co-ordinating services has been largely abandoned to a private market based approach. This leaves working parents like the OP who do necessary but less flexible jobs in a very difficult position. We could make different choices about planning and funding, but there has to be a societal will to do this.

If you have time, I suggest you raise it with your MP and local councillors, OP.

I'm not saying they may be able to directly help your situation (though they might) but I feel that it is a wider issue that needs raising here, and they do rely on feedback from members of the public, but don't necessarily, I would say, always hear directly from mothers of school age children.

I know, i agree its shit. I hated leaving the job I loved and as I said I never recovered career wise. But what if there is no choice? Sometimes you have to accept it and make the changes so you are at home at the right time for your kids. And I was supporting my elderly parent like you are too.
Its rubbish and you have my full sympathy but when push comes to shove you need to look after the kids.

Our friend DD is 16 and very responsible .She collects younger children, and looks after them till their parents are home .This works well for her and the families .she gets paid and they benefit.Could you look for someone like this maybe . Obv checks her background and makes sure shes responsible of course . I do think wraparound care should be regulated more .Women are working FT now .I was lucky (DC older now) and could work school hours then

So stressful, same happened to us last year. I was fortunate though in that I could shift my working hours - I now come in quite early and work through lunch and then finish at 3 to do school pick up. Would you be able to do something similar? My husband now sorts drop off but we share it with a neighbour.

@FancyCatSlave some women don’t think this is okay, but if isn’t financially viable then it isn’t financially viable. Even ‘good’ schools may have to make this decision eventually as birth rate keeps falling.

There would be no point. They will just tell you no. I previously worked at a school that had to close due to falling numbers and the school didn't even give staff a heads up despite being outright asked multiple times because they can't. The staff found out at the same time as parents that it was under consultation for closure. The majority of parents moved their kids to new schools meaning numbers fell further and closure was inevitable.

What is the normal intake for reception? And what do other classes look like number wise? It won't be an overnight closure and you will likely be informed well in advance. Our initial announcement was made on October half term and the school closed the following summer. There are measures the school can take, they can create mixed classes to reduce staffing costs to be more sustainable. So closure is not a definite but if that is the only school you can get to, it may be worth exploring what your options may be.

I agree with those saying the school looks likely to close. With just 60 children, 5 new starters last year and likely a similar amount of not fewer this September the numbers just won't work. It's very likely they have been subsidising the ASC for a significant amount of time as it's clearly been running at a loss.

In all honesty I would forget about looking for new after-school care and move them to the other school nearby with wraparound asap before you get the inevitable letter telling you keeping the school open just isn't financially viable.

No additional advice just lots of sympathy. We all know school isn’t childcare and nor are you saying that! But your childcare has fallen through and that’s very stressful as a parent.

It doesn't have to be this way. See link below about childcare in nordic countries. However, as a society we choose what we fund.

https://nordics.info/show/artikel/childcare-infrastructure-in-the-nordic-countries

@Brewtiful the majority of village schools near me are smaller than OP’s. They are not all at risk of imminent closure. Not saying some of them won’t close at some point. But they will be doing everything they can to reduce their costs.

OP’s school heavily promoted their ASC but it still didn’t attract enough pupils, so unfortunately it had to close.

In a rural area 60 pupils may be hard to put in another school if OP’s school were to close. It could be one of the other rural schools close and pupils move to OP’s school.

We could support childcare and working parents more. However, this would need funding. You either divert from other costs or raise more tax revenue.