No hourly rate for after school club

[Mackonadragos]

Hello everyone,

We are new to Oxfordshire, and I have just found out that I can only book an entire after school club session per day in our primary school. As opposed to book let's say an hour per day. Our school charges £13 per session and it runs between 3 and 6. I would need only 1 hour per day, between 3 and 4. I looked around nearby schools in town, and it seems that it is the common practice here, except one primary (further away), that has got short and long sessions with different rate (£7 and £ 12.95).

We've moved from Bedfordshire, where in our old school we could pay hourly rate and could book one hour per day if we wanted.

I am very annoyed by this, that I would need to pay for something that I will not use.

I am going to raise this with the headteacher, but curious to see how other people think about it. In my opinion it is very inflexible.

Thank you for your answers.

ASC is a business. If your child takes a space for one hour when they ideally want a child who needs 3 hours then the business loses 2 hours of income.
Have you tried a childminder ? They charge per hour.

I think it's fine. You're taking up a space whether they're there for one hour or 3. Have you considered looking for a childminder than does school pick up?

I can understand it's frustrating but I think it's fair enough - staffing would get a lot more complicated and probably overall more expensive if they had to work out different ratios for different length sessions. Our after school club just charges a flat rate for the full session regardless.of what time you collect, and I don't have a problem with that. I think your old school was probably an exception, all of the after school clubs around here operate in the same way.

The school my son will go to is like that. Flat fee and open till 6. Like others have said your taking up a space.

You’re effectively using the entire after school space, because what else can they do with that time? So I can see their point - though it’s annoying if you’re used to a different approach. You could see if there are any childminders who would just charge for an hour instead?

That's how most nurseries and after school clubs around here operate. As a PP has said, why would they allow you to take a space for an hour when they could take another child who wants the full allocation. I know it's costly, but I can understand why they do it this way.

My old CM did the same as the after school club. Wraparound care was a flat rate of £15 per child 3pm-6pm.

It make sense really - the staffing would need to be pretty much the same regardless of when your child is collected, so the costs are the same.

Its a flat fee here too. Which makes sense financially for the school, as they have to pay the staff.

Seems totally normal and reasonable to me.

My DCs school is the same. I actually prefer this to his old school, who used to charge by the hour but then because of demand ended up only running until 4.30. Leave DC in later and use the time to get jobs done or have some time to yourself. Or find a childminder.

I run the wraparound care at school and previous posters are right. Staff are needed whether your child goes home after an hour or three hours. You're taking up a session that another child might have wanted and will be empty when your child is gone.

Flat fee for 3-6pm for every ASC in our neck of the woods too. Not unusual.

I actually think that's sensible of the ASC because they can't use the two hours you don't need because no one is going to drop a child to ASC at 4pm

Yes think they are being reasonable. Otherwise you’re taking the place of a child who needs and wants to pay for the 3 hours. A childminder would be an alternative if you just want to pay for one hour.

Same here. Its £9.50 3.15-5.30.

We only pay 80% of that though as we do it via the government childcare account

Both the breakfast club and after school club at my daughter's school operate this way.

Before school you can drop off any time from 7.30am onwards, after school you can pick up any time until 6pm.

The staffing ratios are determined by the maximum amount of children they've had payment for the session for and means that the sessions stay available for the full duration.

I think it's a fair system...and to be honest I'd be amazed if you could find a good childminder who has space for just one hour after school has finished. They'd be daft to leave that space in their ratio for just an hour's pay.

It’s normal and sensible, they have to pay costs and staff it even if you do only want an hour.

I think these sorts of provisions are run on a shoestring and asking to use one hour and leave the cost of the other two hours for the setting/other parents to pick up is really unreasonable. As a PP said, no one is going to drop their child off at 4pm at an after school club.

I think you have just been fortunate where you have been before. I am in the U.K. but geographically about as far away as possible from Oxfordshire and it’s a flat rate here as well. My DIL works in an ASC which is how I know it’s still the case but it was a flat rate even when I used it for my own youngest more than 10 years ago.

my DCs school charges a flat £15 and only runs 3.15-5.15 so yours doesn't sound too bad, OP!

Our ASC does a hybrid of these two - you can either book until 4.30 or until 6. It's £5.50 to 4.30, and £11 to 6, but they serve a tea at 4.45 to all the children staying later - beans or hoops on toast, crumpets, pasta, that sort of thing. I think that is a good compromise between the two 🤷🏼‍♀️

It sounds completely reasonable to me. They will have the same costs for staff and resources whether your child is there for one hour or three.

The NMW is £9.50ph. Where do you think that you are going to get childcare which is always available when you want it, flexible and doesn't care / charge more if you are "late" (as in picking up even one minte past 4), plus inspected, insured and properly monitored, for less than £13? If you don't like it, you can collect your child after school at 3. Or is your time more valuable than theirs?

You are being very unreasonable, and I hope the head teacher ignores you. I suspect they will.

Flat rate here as well…