Have I just been very naive? Re after school club

[tanfastic]

My ds starts school in September and when we had his taster sessions a couple of weeks ago I enquired about after school club and was told sorry but it's full.

I stupidly assumed there would be space for him but it seems after talking to a few other mums (who already have older children at the school) that I should have put his name down months and months ago.

It just never occurred to me that they would be full and now I'm a bit stuck.

Has anyone else been faced with this problem?

This often happens, as OOSCs have limited spaces. However, all schools with over-subscribed OOSCs should be able to signpost you to reputable child-minders to use until a place becomes available.

Thank you, they weren't very helpful to be honest. I've put his name down on the waiting list for now but I wish i'd not taken it for granted. There's a lot to be said for dropping him at nursery at 8.30 and picking him up at 5.30.

No, but I had similar when the school that DS is due to start in Sept suddenly stopped its own after school club.

I did get the names of a couple of local after school clubs that will pick up from DS's school and I'm going to put his name down for one of those while I look for a childminder.

Have you spoken to your DS's school? They might be able to recommend some other after school clubs. Our local family information service gave me a list too, as well as a list of childminders.

"There's a lot to be said for dropping him at nursery at 8.30 and picking him up at 5.30. "

You said it! School is a lot harder, logistically, than nursery and he's not even started yet!

Oh don't! I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the amount of holidays they have

You need to look for an after school club or a childminder. This is why a lot of parents put their children into a private school as they are usually have longer days.

Although, the (massive) upside is no more nursery fees. Paying for two days of after school club plus holiday clubs is going to be nothing compared to paying for full time nursery...

Hope you get sorted OP. Your council should have a childrens information service which should point you in the direction of registered childcare - there should hopefully be a cm or offsite aftercare service or nearby nursery that will collect.

Alot of people assume that schools have to offer aftercare/breakfast club, not the norm in my area at all.

I know a lot of women that worked ft until their children started school. The logistics of child care for multiple dcs at that point became untenable. Some of them were even teachers.

I see the extended schools programme rolled out years ago is working a treat, then.

Don't your Nursery do OoSC ? Most do around here- take children to, and fetch them from the local schools until they are 8 (by which time you'd like to hope he's reached the top of the waiting list for the school one )
Otherwise, you can contact your Family Information Service (just google them - all authorities have one) and they can signpost you to local childcare facilities.