After school clubs (hobbies)

[Treesandsky]

We are starting to get invoices through for after school "hobbies" for September. These are clubs that we don't rely on for childcare but are things the children enjoy doing. Some of these are outside such as sports but some are indoor.
The indoor classes involve mixing with children from other schools in groups of about 15-20 two or three times a week e.g. gymnastics, dancing etc.
I know things need to return to normal at school and for wrap around childcare. I also feel fine about the outdoor sports. However, I'm feeling a bit unsure about the indoor clubs. Are we supposed to just be carrying on as normal in that regard? It all just feels a bit strange.

My kids swimming started a summer camp last week, they do have their own pool though as it is an independent swim school. I was in 2 minds about going and keeping it up next term so went in open minded. It was exceptionally well run and I was really impressed with their staggered entry, arrangements for parents, cleaning etc. I think we will keep up with that in September.

@Treesandsky

Really interesting replies, thanks. I'll look in detail at what is being proposed on a club by club basis. Dancing is the one that is concerning me most and I'm not sure what the parent organisation is for that. I know they follow certain boards for exams but not sure that this follows through into teaching as well. I want to support the businesses and fantastic teachers and don't want my children to lose their place. It could be a case of paying but monitoring levels around the local area I suppose. I posted on here because it doesn't seem to be talked about in real life - just assumed that everything is carrying on.

Dance school owner here, I may be able to give you some information that may help. There isn't one dance governing body, as there are several different exam boards which schools may choose to affiliate with. There is a n umbrella body called One Dance UK, that are working with most of the big examining boards to collate the, frankly very confusing, information to be passed on to dance teachers to be implemented in their schools. We have been advised to follow government guidance for out of school activities, gym and leisure facilities and grass roots sports, which can be found on the gov.co.uk site.

In my studios, I have done the following;

Installed hand sanitizers at the front door and outside each studio door

Social distancing markers throughout the building

Studios divided up to allow each dancer to have 2.5m boxes so that they are able to remain socially distanced whilst in class

Reduced class sizes, and I am offering an A and B team scenario, so that whilst A team are in the studios, B team are learning remotely through a live stream directly from the studios. This also means that children isolating etc can still attend their lesson online

Children will work in consistent groups

Having an overall maximum building capacity that accounts for everyone having 100sqft, as per the gym and leisure guidance

I will be asking parents to drop their children and go, rather than staying

Developed a one way system in the building so that people shouldn't cross paths on their way in and out of class

Asked people to wear masks in the building, which can be removed in the studios (masks are not recommended while exercising, currently)

Keeping the large external doors in each studio open to maximise ventilation

Removed fans and other air circulation heaters etc

Myself and all staff have taken infection control courses

These are some of the measures I have in place, amongst others, that have been approved by our local environmental health officer. The dance world is taking it's responsibility very seriously, but guidance is changing almost on a weekly basis, so if your dance school hasn't communicated its' plans with you, it may just be that they are writing for the most up to date govt guidelines.

Hope that helps. 😊

Also, we are cleaning any equipment, barres and the floor between every class, and have staggered arrival times. Children are asked to bring their own equipment where possible X

@Waah Can you point me in the direction of the infection control course you took please?

We are going back to dancing and drama. The dance school even said pupils could wear masks if they wished! Swimming depends on whether changing facilities are available as we have to take a bus home.

At the moment I don’t think changing rooms are allowed, I know we are not opening ours (but swimming could be different)

My dds singing lessons are back in person in sept. It worked well over zoom and although they’re using a bigger room, I’m a bit unsure about that . Not so much the actual lesson but the numbers of people who will have been in the room before her . I may watch local figures and ask to go back to zoom if they rise .

The kids Brownie and scouts groups have all been done over zoom during lockdown and this is looking like the way forward for the time being. It would be nice for my daughter to get the chance to say bye to the brownie pack as due to move up to guides after Christmas which is when I think a lot of these clubs will potentially re open even with limited spaces each week. We have called it a day with scouts as son is so much happier at weekends as not been doing 7.30-9.30 scouts. Karate is reopened with mixtures of zoom and physical classes in Dojo. You have to book in for physical class and spaces are limited.

DDs clubs are already back.
Swimming they line up outside in their lane in their bubble (2 or 3 a lane and siblings together regardless of level) , they walk through to the pool socially distanced in their lane bubble. They start alternate ends of the pool so each bubble has 2 meters between them., they swim get out one lane at a time and throw in their bathrobes then walk out socially distanced. They aren't allowed to overtake and are working on stroke drills not speed to keep the breathing rate down. Sessions are shorter so that there can be more sessions a night and each swimmer gets 3 x training sessions a week.

The club are looking at how to get Learn to Swim classes back, the biggest problem is parents won't want to get in the pool with their beginners and go home wet after.

Thank you for all the replies. Very interested to read how people are making their decisions.
@Waah thank you so much for taking the time to reply about your dance school. It sounds like you being very sensible and I would be really reassured to see measures like that at the school that my children use!