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.

I think that's fair. We only use ours for an hour and pay the full cost. Like others have said they have to make a profit.

He's supportive of you no longer living the 50s lifestyle as long as you still sort all the childcare and do all the pick ups and drop offs so it doesn't impact his life in the slightest?

I bet you'll still be doing all the housework too because of his loooong hours and commute?

Your taking up a space they can't get a child to come in when you're leaves but still have the same overheads...staff, heating, equipment etc.

Childminders often have session fees for wrap around care too. You would be using one of their 3 spaces it's not worth doing for an hours fee.

You are kind of implying that you are going to work all day until after 4.30 for £13!!! Obviously that can't be right? So you will be earning more than the childcare.
Don't bother the head they have enough to do and this is how the school have chosen to run the wrap around care, they don't need your advice, take it or leave it.
They may not be in it to make money but blimey schools cannot afford to throw it away either!

No. I would have needed childcare every day, so it would have been £ 65 per week. I was planning to use 30 min per day, and but I would have needed to pay for 3 hours.

Doesn't matter any more, I managed to sort it out through my rather flexible employer. (They seemingly need people.)

In his defence, he is not too bad. It is just how we ended up over the years. We are equals in education , family background etc, but I am from abroad, so our different countries provided us with different opportunities.

This makes no sense. Your daily wage will be fa higher than the costs of the after-school club.

As you are bright enough to know better than the headmaster about how to do his job though why are you doing warehouse work?

£9.50 per hour for 7 hrs is 66.5 per day. £ 13 by 5 is £ 65 for a week. So I would needed to work for a whole day out of the week to cover childcare.

I have no doubt this arrangement is better for the school and for the headmaster. Not sure about parents. In my recent job interview, an older women mentioned, that they payed hourly rate for after school clubs in her time. Also an earlier poster mentioned that she herself run staged after school clubs.

There was a period in my life when I was teaching science in a secondary school (I have another degree, also another postgrad degree too, and after some soul searching, reality checking and discussions with my very good (now retired) ex- tutor-turned- friend, we agreed, that schools are something that doesn't worth the effort. I liked the subject side, behavioural management hmmm, - I want to live a longer more peaceful life.

However, I sorted it out in another way.

Our after school club is £3.75 until 4:15pm and then £7 until 6. Makes life a lot easier having both options.

Our after-school clubs have all closed since Covid as demand was too low. One school a 3 form entry had 9 children on the books before Covid 40 plus

Yes our after school club was the same, until it stopped altogether because not enough people used it 😞 it's frustrating not being able to have a shorter session/ for less but believe me not having one at all is a disaster. And that's not that expensive, ours was more than that

Good point. Having one whish is less flexible is better that having none at all.

I am glad to see that my proposal is not so selfish and outrageous as some people suggest here.

I'm pleased for you that you have managed to sort it out, but I have to agree with almost everyone else that your expectations are somewhat unreasonable.

Obviously if parents are working, then there will be some childcare costs. It is a while since any of mine were at Primary school, but I think £13 for 3 hours sounds very good value for money. I also think only 1/5th of earnings going to childcare costs sounds very cheap. I mean, I know it isn't what you are asking, but if you will be out at work every day, I think your 9yr old should be going too. I also still think that it is worth going back to work for 3 days pay equivalent. But, as already been said, you have to change your mindset to thinking this comes out of your wages. Surely this is family money?

Sorry to add something so late into conversation, I've only just seen this post!
Do they run a breakfast club and if so, would dropping them off there and starting earlier be an option so you can get back for pick up? Ours is £4.65 including breakfast and is from 7.45-8.50am and early drop off at 7.30am is an extra £1.50.
Our after school club is £6.15 for collecting before 5.15 and £8.55 for collection after 5.15 but before 6.15pm and £2.30 extra if they have dinner.

I would think y5 dc could walk home with oldest. Mine walks/rides home alone and school are happy with this.

Your older children won't be childminding. That's really insulting to childminders. Surely your not expecting them to sort out dinner, oversee homework, plan play and crafting activities, do first and aid, be a listening ear when your child has been bullied or is upset, lias between teacher and you etc. Your older children will or should be getting time to be children themselves alongside doing their homework in peace and quiet.

"Your older children won't be childminding. That's really insulting to childminders."

I think, I am quite right when I decided not to embark on a career, as a teacher or anything similar. The hypersensitivity and the myriad nuances I would be expected to realise and navigate around on a daily basis would be rather taxing. So I am sorry that I hurt the dignity of childminders and unintentionally, thanks to my frivolous comment, I undermined the profession of childminding.

If I had to pick a single British trait that I value the most, it would be their sense of humour. Unfortunately, my not- quite-so-British sense of humour is lost in translation. So when I referred to my older children as childminders, I meant it in a sort-of-funny, easy going way.

Additionally, if childmindig is such an important profession (it has been know that the first 5 years of a child are of critical importance, once this window is closed, there is not much one can do about lost opportunities), there are the questions for you.

Why is it that it is so easy to become a childminder? (I've came across with nursery nurses, teaching assistants, etc who were so crude and rough that would fit quite nicely with my current warehouse colleges. Also I came across with truly inspiring and caring ones too, who I am rather fond of.)

Why is it that childminders and any other similar professions, including teaching assistants, nursery nurses, kindergarten teachers do not require to go through at least a college education with a strong focus on child development, psychology?

Why is it that teaching assistants, childminder and the sort are so badly paid? (Warehouse workers, childminders, shop assistant are in the same league.)

Why is it that loads of non- English speaking foreigners, with little or no experience of young children are happily getting jobs as au-pairs, nannies etc? (I was once one too.)

And ultimately, why is it, that the the British state doesn't give a fig about? They want it cheap and they run it cheap. It is not a priority. (Near Hitchin, next to the train tracks to London, there is, or at least was 3 years ago, a coloured warehouse (Millenium First Steps Nursery it is called, I have just looked it up), and it can house young children.) Ofsted seems to be fine with it, I assume. And many other examples. Etc etc...

"Your older children will or should be getting time to be children themselves alongside doing their homework in peace and quiet."

Now, that I have children, aged 13.5 (nearly 14), 11,5 (nearly 12), 9,5 (nearly 10) and the young one, I also have serious doubts about the statement. But it would be too long an answer. After all, I did not plan to take them to a cobalt mine.