Breakfast club

[newmummy4]

Hi, wonder if anyone can help am thinking of setting up a breakfast/after school club as not much in our area to cover this care.

Just wanted any feedback from anyone who sends their children to one or runs similar: pro's/con's good/bad activities, anything that make it a great club?

Do they charge an hourly rate or session fee?
Am very keen to provide the children with a healthy breakfast & tea so any feed back on food also would be fab.

Thanks so much x

Well our school club charges a session fee but I would live an hourly fee options as I only need to use club for 50 minutes before school and 30 minutes after school.

Arts and crafts, an opportunity to read or do home work would be great, older children could listen to younger children read and older children could read a story to younger children mine love to read

And controversial I know but I don't mind TV, DD2 loves to mooch in front of the tv for and hour aft school.

Good luck!

Thanks very much bluelights. Can I just ask does the club get very busy/ do parents seem to prefer it over childminder etc? Thanks : )

I prefer it over child,index because I have found childminders to be quite unreliable due to their DC or their own sickness and I need to get to work on time.

Club is busy but it is also based on the school site so that may make it different.

I have 3 DC so paying 3 session fees feels like I'm throwing money down the drain but I can understand it from a business point of view and see childcare as childcare years, has to be spent and when they are older we can then have the money back.

The main thing for me is that the DC like club, it has to be a friendly environment, if the DC don't want to go or are unhappy (I've had this happen twice) it makes paying the childcare bill a bitter pill to swallow. Happy people should only be allowed to apply

I would do your homework very carefully and find out if the parents want an out of school club in your area, what provision they want and how much they're prepared to pay.
We have had a number of local clubs closed due to lack of use. The parents preferred a home environment out of school and used childminders or unofficial care.
It's an expensive and demoralising mistake to make if you set up a club and find you have too few children to make it work.

Another thing to think about is, do you have the necessary qualifications? Broadly speaking, if your club is going to be looking after children for more than two hours per day you will need to be registered with Ofsted. If your club is registered with Ofsted you will need a member of staff with a 'full and relevant' Level 3 qualification in childcare or playwork, plus a member of staff with a Level 2 qualification. If you don't already have these qualifications it will take you about a year to complete the course. Alternatively you could employ someone else who already has these qualifications to run the club for you, but that will eat into your (meagre) profits.

A good source of information on setting up out of school clubs is here: www.outofschoolalliance.co.uk

Bluelightsandsirens this is precisely why I resigned from childminding - people like you thinking us cms are unreliable - personally I would prefer a childminder over an out of school club or nursery simply because they are more flexible and can take my child out on trips rather than be cooped up. He is 10 now and says he would rather go to someone he knows who is a childminder and there are quite a few who still do before and after school places at our school but now a new nursery has opened and is offerig 'free childcare sessions' of course parents are going to choose this and wer lose out.

I have had probably a week's sickness (and that was when I had flu) out of 15 years of childminding and then I sorted childcare with my friend who had a vacancy and the parents paid her. The other time I booked holiday to coincide with parents' holiday so they did not have to find cover.

I thought I would regret resigning but am glad I did now.

I forgot to say I have NVQ Level 3 Early Years, Paediatric First Aid and Safeguarding Children as well as Food Hygiene and various other qualifications but am going to have to wait till my son starts high school and is old enough to stay on his own for a while before I can work full-time.

I can only comment on my experience of childminders and holiday clubs and my experience with the minders I have had is that they were unreliable.

I'm sorry people like me someone with an opinion caused you to resign although why someone's opinion over what sounds like an exceptionally good sickness record would make you resign is beyond me.

And as far as your second post mum2luke you do not need to wait to find employment, you could use childcare options for the school years like many thousands of parents do but you choose not to.

There is just not enough work anymore around where I live in Greater manchester, yet Childminders are still being registered. I haven't had a single call because of the local nursery offering 'free childcare' and before and after school care and couldn't afford to keep paying out for insurance without an income.

I also cannot afford to pay a childminder as we get no help with childcare fees so its working as a dinner lady for 2 hours a day for me for now.

I do understand how difficult it is, most of my salary goes to child care whilst they are small and needing supervision, I view it as the child are years and hope my hard graft pays off once they are older and Ivan start chipping away at the mortgage and debts.

I've re read my last post and it does come across as harsh so I'll apologise, your comment about people like me riled me because I'm working hard and needing reliable child care to support me in keeping my job, shame you don't live closer because our childminders here are no where near ad reliable as you sound .

I hope things improve for you very soon and good luck op, sorry for the hijack

Where do you live Bluelights? My sister has the same problem where she lives on the Wirral, nowhere near enough childminders, yet around here there are at least 400-500 in Tameside alone .

I accept your apology, maybe I was just too sensitive.

I use wrap around care on site so thed DCs can attend after school clubs etc which childminders are unable do

I used a childminder until they were y2 and then switched to wrap around

DD1 is now 11 and prefers the mixed age range as opposed to it being focussed on the under 8s she would still rather be home by herself but it's tough

I have no expectations of homework etc being done and wouldn't expect provision for this

after school care is not punishment/extra tuition etc -I would much rather it is a relaxed setting where the DCs can chill out after school

I like the fact that with DCs wrap around care that I can book it on an ad hoc basis as I work at different times and generally don't need breakfast club and after school care. Breakfast club is a fixed fee (think its same for booked and casual bookings) and after school also fixed but more for casual bookings. Would quite like to be able to have a shorter after school session and pay a bit less but not sure how that would work.

MirandaWest Our afterschool club has recently split it into 2 sessions. 3.15-4.30 and 4.30-5.45. £3 per session. Its increased their numbers immeasurably adding this flexibility, meaning it should be 'safe' as the head still hasn't committed to it permanently!

I'd love it if ours did that - would extend my working potential nicely.

Ours has two sessions too. 3.20-4.00 and 4.00-5.00 (although most parents would prefer it to go on til 5.30.
I don't work so use it on an ad hoc basis and when my older son attends after school clubs. They have a snack and a drink, craft activities, free play and DVD's on a Friday and the week before the end of term.

They also have a breakfast club, which we also use occasionally. Cereal and toast most days and cooked breakfast on a Friday. It runs from 7.45-8.20 (when they start school).

I think they are great.