To be a bit irritated? ds's afterschool club officially closes at 6.00 pm.The manager has now asked parents to collect children by 5.45 pm

[tigermoth]

I have used this after school club for years as both my sons have gone to it. Official closing time is 6.00 pm - it is a council run playclub and this is the standard closing time - this is what I pay for. I collect my ds2 any time from 4.30 - 5.55 pm. Today when I collected my son I was asked to make sure I collect him by 5.45 in future.

There is no reduction in fees - I guess the playleaders will use extra 15 minutes to pack up minus children.

I am fine about them starting to clear things away before 6.00 and, on the times I have got there at 6.00 on the dot, I don't mind if they are waiting outside with my son and any other children they have.

But I am don't see why parents are now obliged have to arrive 'early' so they have a prompt getaway. I work a 10 minute drive away from the play club with no heavy traffic to worry about, so I am late extremely rarely - 2 or 3 times a year - if I am it it by 5 minutes and I expect to pay a late fee for this.

But I think it's a step too far to insist I get there 15 minutes early and tbh I don't feel like complying with this new rule.

if you are paying until 6 then you shouldn't need to collect until 6.
yanbu

It sounds like a very unreasonable change in terms & conditions to me.

How old is your youngest now? How much longer will you need to use the club?

yanbu

my breakfast club closed for a while and reopened with new hours

original opening time was 7:30am, now changed to 8am

most inconvenient as I start work at 8:30 and have to negotiate city centre traffic

has made things v difficult at work but there is not a damn thing I can do about it (except find an alternative but there is a dearth of childcare in my area)

grrrr

I imagine that if you're someone who picks them up on time, it's not you they're targeting. This will be aimed at the parents who get there after six and the thinking will be that if they know they have to get there by 5.45 they'll get there by six. I woulnd't worry about it and just make sure you're there by six.

YANBU.

If you are paying up to 6 you should be able to pick any time up to 6.

just ignore him and continue to arrive at your usual time. If your agreement with him was to collect by 6 then there isn't anything he can do

People always want something for nothing don't they.

Rosin, he's 9 years old (had is birthday at the end of August). Now beginning year 5.

As he will still be 10 years old when he leaves primary, he will probably go to playclub right up to the summer term of year 6. For that last term I may let him walk home from school (a 25 minute walk). I am not sure yet what I will do.

Luckily ds1 now picks him up from school on Fridays, so there is no need of playclub then. But it doesn't work for the other days - ds1 wants to stay on at school in the afternoon to play sports or go to the library, so it would really cramp his style to have to leave early every day to pick up ds2. It's great though that my oldest is now old enough to sometimes take charge of my youngest

I think it's unreasonable to ask to start picking up 15 minutes early for this reason, though I could understand a bit more if they were doing it to ensure that everyone was leaving by 6pm

Where my god daughter goes, they have parents turning up on the dot of 6pm, then pissing around for ages so the staff have to hang round for 10 minutes.

People should be ready to leave with their child at 6pm, because that is the time the staff are paid until. If you know it's going to take you 10 minutes to get your child out of the door, then arrive a little earl;y, otherwise you are preventing the staff from going home to their own families. I find it really annoying when I see the playworkers getting stressed about whether they will miss the bus or train or whatever, just because some parent has not got their act together.

upate - I phoned the council to check that the play centre had not changed its official closing time from 6.00pm to 5.45 pm. The person I spoke to, who manages playcentres, said the time had not changed and was very interested to hear that the playworkers had been so insistent that parents collect at 5.45 pm. She said she would talk to them - I told her I was not complaining, just wanted clarification on the closing time. I don't want to fall out with the plaqworkers, who in other respects, are absolutely fine.

Today I happened to arrive at 5.50 - the playworkers were all packed up, the room was closed and they were in their coats, waiting by their cars in the car park, except for one who was standing with my son. Again they reminded me about their 'new policy' (as they called it) about collecting children by 5.45 pm. I asked if parents get charged a late fee if they collect between 5.45 - 6.00 pm ie were parents actually late - they said 'er...no'

I appreciate that they need to make a quick exit at 6.00 pm, but if they are ready to go at 5.50pm they must start packing away at 5.30 pm - and I am paying for a fully functioniong playclub up to 6.00 pm

Chochosan- no-one wants to piss about for 10 minutes with their child. Playworkers ought to make sure that kids get their coats on, bags ready, stuff packed etc., at 10 to 6, if they want the kids out of the building by 6. A 5 minute boring wait, will do wonders for getting the kids to go off with their parents as soon as parents arrive.

I don't so much mind them getting ready and packing away, and If I arrive at 6.00, I don't mind if he is waiting with the play leaders outside the room but at 5.50 I think he should still be in the playclub room tbh.

There is no big delay in getting him to leave the playclub - it usually takes a minute or two for me to get him out of the building (the building itself stays open as it is a communtiy centre so is used for other things). As soon as I arrive, I consider that ds is now in my care - I don't expect the playworkers to have any more responsiblity for him.

I appreciate that you don't want to fall out with the playworkers, but it looks like they are being a bit sneaky about this so this time I would call the council and tell them you ARE making a complaint. If the staff are waiting by their cars at 5.50pm they are leaving early; I would expect your child to be inside the room until 6pm. After that, fair enough as you are actually late.

Our pre-school tried this one on recently as, due to building work they are trying to get the pre-school mums to clear the car park before the rest of the school comes out. I appreciate their motivation but I signed up for a 3pm finish, not 2.30 (my eldest doesn't finish on the same site until 3.15). A few people complained and things went back to normal with a polite request that if it is at all possible for you to pick up earlier that would be helpful, but it's not compulsory.

completely agree with everyone who says you pay til 6 therefore you are entitled to childcare til 6.

do make a complaint, they are paid til 6 and are trying it on. You could request that they dont know who has actually complained.

just out of interest, is there anyone else who collects close to 6? Is your child normally the last one there? If so i think they have realised they are hanging about til 6 for one child and all want to go home early. Not on, but fair enough if they want to clear up and have him waiting by the door for 6 IMO.

my dd's nursery put all the children in 1 room together in the last 15 mins or in the garden if its nice weather, so they can have some staff clear the rest of the rooms up. I think this is fair enough, but would they have never had a problem with me turning up very close to 6. I would get charged £1 a minute for lateness though which is also fair enough.

They are paid until 6, maybe a little after to deal with the clearing up - you need to ring the coucil and make a huge fuss about your child feeling unwanted and you having to rush making your journey home fraught and the watch the fireworks explode!!

I think if the club is open until 6, and that is the advertised length of the session, then you shoudl expect your child to be cared for until 6. If that means the staff can't clear up before 6 then someone should be paid to stay a little later (which of course would increase the cost). If it is council run, I would phone and ask the peopel in charge of running it what they expect. If the session is closing at 5.45 in order to allow the staff to be away by 6, then that is what you should pay for imo.

I think the play workers are in the wrong. It maybe that they are so poorly paid that they think the council have had their money's
worth by 5.45pm. Well, if that's the case they need to discuss the issues with their employers not their customers. I understand your angst as they also look after your children. Can you speak to other parents? You might have to make it official with the council. I am interested in your answers as I might need an afterschool club next year

Agree, they are wrong. It's a completely differnt proposition. Dh was collecting ds from after school club until last term and couldn't have got there for 5.45 every night but always made it by 6.

Thanks for your views - I'm going to speak to some of the other parents to see what they feel, and check if they too have been told about this new picking up time.

Is it possible that they've been having to stay late regularly because of parents aiming to be there for 6 and turning up 15 mins late?

It's possible, but why penalise all the other non-late parents, by saying that the general policy it to collect at 5.45 pm?

It doesn't excuse sneaking off early! I just wondered if this was why they'd tried to do it- they might have thought it was easier than getting persistantly late parents to comply.