Lack of extra-curricular activities at school

[underboardwalk]

I could do with your advice as I'm umming and ahhhing about whether to send in an email to my daughter's school. I will provide some context first.

I'm a class PTA rep, so I tend to do all the vocal work for my daughter's Reception class. She attends an 'outstanding' school, which is always oversubscribed, and it's generally a very good school. What's really, really lacking is the provision of extra-curricular activities/after school clubs. They have an external provider for their breakfast/after-school club, and an external sports club who provides limited classes - boys and girls football and multi-sports for Y1 upwards. And that's it. I assume they use their external after school provider as an umbrella for various activities, but in my opinion, that's not good enough.

There is absolutely no provision for reception year group. I know it's the summer term now and it's too late to get something in place, but the distinct lack of well-rounded extra-curricular activities is absolutely irking me.

I've done my research into other local schools in the area and their choice of activities is fantastic. Some have external providers for their BC/ASC and some sports clubs, AND also offer a wider range of activities in addition which include provision for reception children such as performing arts, ballet, gymnastics, Spanish, maths clubs, art clubs, etc. The list goes on.

Funnily enough, I saw a FB post over the weekend asking about extra-curricular activities from a parent whose child has been accepted into the school, and as much as I wanted to shout how bad their provision is, I stayed quiet.

Obviously I'm not going to pull my daughter out of the school, I love it for her and so does she. But I suppose, naively, I never thought of this element of her education and thought the after school club will be enough.

Should I put my head about the parapet and send an enquiry as to why there is such a lack of activities? Or am I just being a pain? I just feel that they know they're such a good school in terms of academic achievements, that they've overlooked this part. I also have other major irks with them - their website is lacking in information and really dull, and I feel it links back to them probably being arrogant enough that they feel they don't need to update it. I feel there are a whole load of things lacking in that school that could be improved easily enough. I want to bring it up with them but I don't want to be 'that woman' who complains!

Are you prepared to volunteer to run a club? Maybe they have tried to run clubs in the past but people aren't prepared to help. Surely if it's an over subscribed school it's in a ' desirable ' area and there are plenty of clubs around that aren't linked to a school that children could go to. Or is the issue that you want a club in the school so they just go straight there. Unfortunately, often if you want your child to do lots of clubs it's not compatible with working full time.i don't know of any schools round us offering those kind of clubs, just sports clubs like cross country and Tae kwando etc. I have also run a music club as I wanted my child and others to have a chance to play together.

Who are you suggesting runs these extra clubs?

You’re lucky they have before and after school clubs at all.

As PP have said, start something yourself if you’re so inclined.

School staff aren't obligated to run clubs on top of their actual paid hours.

Send your child to one of the other local schools who are making provision then or pay to go private. Perhaps when choosing secondary schools you could carry out the research ahead of sending the child there instead of after?

My DC’s school has a good range of after school clubs but none for reception - I think their view is that reception aged kids have enough to be getting on with. They do have after school wraparound open to reception but that’s childcare rather than enrichment.

It sounds like there is some offering for year 1 up but if you think it could be wider then no harm in raising. Better if you had a specific idea in mind (eg choir/a language/chess) and ideas for how they could facilitate it (eg a provider, or could you or another parent assist). Schools aren’t obliged to provide this kind of thing and it sounds like your school is prioritising academics which is no bad thing!

What you are saying is nobody has volunteered to run any after school clubs.

And that nobody includes you

So if you are saying that is "not good enough" - you are in effect saying it to yourself.

Why should anybody feel obliged to organise or run anything in their spare time? You obviously dont think you should have to

There is sport, for some children. That is more than many schools. There is also wrap around care - have you any idea how lucky you are?

Who are you going to complain about when you email? yourself?

I had no idea some schools were running these with volunteers.

At our school, there are a range of clubs from year 1, my year 2 child recently chose his so I have the list handy, he can choose from:

Drama, football, basketball, art, gardening, gymnastics and choir.

They are run by a mix of teachers and external providers.

I would reach out to the school to see if there was a possibility of creating a more robust enrichment club schedule and definitely include some examples from other schools that you have seen.

At my DD's state primary school, they offer martial arts, tennis, cricket, football, dodgeball, lacrosse, hockey, Theatre, Science club, Spanish club, Percussion club, arts & crafts and forest school club. Majority are open to reception with the exception of science club, hockey and tennis. They do charge a fee per term and they are held on the school grounds. They are run by external companies as well as some teachers.

The primary school also sends out a yearly questionnaire to ask for feedback on the school which really helps.

Teachers are on their knees and have plenty of meetings and planning after school, classroom teachers aren't obligated to run classes outside of their paid hours and neither will supply.

If you want extra clubs then work with the school, organise some fundraising to pay providers. If that's a non-starter then send them to one of the other schools or a private prep where you pay handsomely for extra curricular. Or just do what everyone else does and join nom-school related cubs.

The clubs aren't necessarily run by volunteers, but it's likely to need someone to do the work of finding providers, insurance, setting things up and so on. They'll be all sorts of admin involved. If you want better extra curriculars don't complain, volunteer to fix the problem. This isn't the responsibility of the teachers or the school management, they all have enough work to do educating the students. That's their job not this. You want it to change, get in there and offer to do the work

Do you want over worked staff to run clubs in their own time for no extra money ? Good luck with that

DCs state primary always ran tons of clubs, morning, lunch and after school and a brilliant breakfast and after school club.
Firstly, the breakfast and after school club benefitted the school financially. They also encouraged and allowed external music teachers to come in from Year 1 sometimes even from end of Reception.

Secondly, most of the other clubs were externally provided so the providers provide flyers and then the school just distributes them and people sign up and pay anything from £5 a session to £10 typically (arts sessions require materials). If not enough people sign up, the clubs won’t be provided.

If you want clubs, you have to have parents willing to pay up and you also have to have the space. Or you have to have parents willing to volunteer. The only free clubs at our school were park run once a week ran by volunteers and gardening club run by the forest school teacher. I think one parent ran a free Spanish club for a while.

I hope these teacher's being roped into after school activities are being paid. They already have a full time job in teaching their students both the face to face time and everything else like planning and marking. The school leadership team also have a full time job running the school. Extra curriculars are not a school's responsibilty, teaching the students the curriculum is and it's hard enough work as is. Pushing extra responsibilities on teacher's is a good way to get even more teachers to give up and quit and end up with even bigger issues for schools to fill teaching positions then their already is in some areas.

these clubs are typically run by teaching staff, sometimes by external providers in which case there is a fee for parents.

@EliflurtleAndTheInfiniteMadness - yes correct for state schools. They have enough on their plate.
In private schools it seems that running clubs and going on school trips, including the holidays, it is part of the job.

Op, don't. It won't change anything because if they had the ability and the desire they would already be doing this, and you'll end up cringing at yourself especially if you pull the PTA card 😆

There were limited options at dc1's school, but I couldn't have taken them up on it if they did have an offering - we were too busy after school with the various extra curricular classes of our choosing... "The School" doesn't have to sort everything out for every parent.

Maybe the school is outstanding and very good because the teachers put their energy into teaching and preparation and don't get diluted by after school activities.

Say nothing.

OP I would have a quiet word with the head to enquire first. Ours always encouraged clubs but she knew there was enough cash into the parent group to pay for it and a willingness as well. They also had regular surveys to check what people wanted.
However, it must be rubbish from some poorer kids to see their friends swanning of the clubs (especially young kids want to go) so the head might have their own views on why they do not want lots of expensive clubs.

Thanks all for your replies. I was looking for suggestions and whether it was a good idea to ask the question. We are lucky we get some provision, but it doesn't mean they're providing a well-rounded education in terms of extra-curricular activities.

To clarify, firstly, I never suggested that teachers run these clubs at all. All the extra curricular activities and clubs I've seen on other local schools' websites are actually run by local companies or providers, and perhaps one or two parents who may specialise in the field. I've even got contact details. By no means did I ever suggest that teachers should run these clubs. Also, my husband is a headteacher, you don't need to preach to me about how much work teachers have on their hands. I've been there from day one seeing the amount of work behind the scenes.

Secondly, I work full time but would not have a problem volunteering to help with setting up the clubs and the admin involved with that. Also, if I had any specialist skills or talents, I would most certainly love to set up a club but I don't unfortunately.

Thirdly, my daughter does attend gymnastics, ballet and performing arts outside of school with external providers. It's just a shame that these aren't offered within her school premises, like many others seem to be able to do. I'm lucky I can work from home sometimes and tend to do this on the days she has activities, but it requires me doing pick up, ferrying her to her activity, and picking up. If it was in school, it'd be so much handier!

Fourth, as I mentioned, I'm not going to pull my daughter out of school because of this, but thanks for the unhelpful advice.

That would come with a better salary or they wouldn't be able to keep staff. Extra pay for extra duties and expectation that are clearly set out in a contract is one thing. Expecting state schools or low cost private schools to provide the same level of extra curriculars isn't reasonable. Unless I missed something this is a state school and OPs expectations are unreasonable.

Op kindly, you are the pta rep. It is not your job to gather contacts of providers, do the school's admin for them around your already busy life, or agonise over the running of the school and the completeness of the education of all the children in it. I'm glad you care, I wish more did, but this would be an overstep. Concentrate on your own dc.

Just on the admin front, for GDPR reasons our school office distributes the flyers and then parents sign up with external providers directly. But some admin will be involved because lists need to be kept and the school obviously needs to know clearly which children from which classes attend clubs and when. The providers give the lists to the class teachers in good time.

I am an ex teacher, worked in many schools… some with provision, some without. The quality of afterschool clubs can be very poor, and it is just about having abit of fun rather than learning any skill, due to the differences of abilities between the children. I’ve been at schools where they guilt trip staff into running a club… not paid - of course! But doesn’t it look great on the CV!

My DDs school offer a few throughout the year; but she swims and does gymnastics at a club, so I wouldn’t put her into extra clubs, she needs chill time. I know many parents who share this sentiment, so you may find that the uptake on clubs is low.

Comments about the website seem unnecessary, ofsted require a school to put a certain amount of documentation on the website; I’d presume they are doing that. A glossy and exciting website does nothing to support your child’s education.

Hate to say it, but you could quite easily get the reputation as abit of a moaner from staff and then your child gets that label too.

I was on the PTA - we did not organise clubs but we organised loads of other stuff including providers attending for eg drama workshops which we often then paid for (if we had the funds). And enhancing and broadening the education of the children was certainly part of our aim (especially those who don’t otherwise get any cultural capital exposure) and we certainly raised lots of free things like Hong Kong style dancing/exercise in the morning and running a mile daily etc. and we certainly tried to get volunteers especially from a cross section of cultures to do stuff to broaden the children’s horizons. Things like international day even though it can be a nightmare for allergies and food hygiene etc - everything is hard work.