How does your school club booking system work (for activities not childcare)

[onedayatatime73]

Really keen to canvass options. Surely all schools aren't like mine? The primary schools offers a range of before / lunch / after school clubs (netball / football / chess / Lego / touchtyping etc etc)

But the way to book them seems insane. The system goes live on a Saturday morning at 7am (this morning sadly).

But what that means is parents getting up at 6.45 waiting for it to go live. Because all the clubs sell out by 7.05. If you're child is into a certain sport - or something like drama or a language - the pressure is absurd.

Just keen to know if there are some sensible and more effective systems out there I could propose to the school?

For our after school clubs we get all parents to complete a form online saying which clubs kids prefer to do, 1st, 2nd choice etc. Clubs are divided into KS1 and KS2. Kids are then allocated fairly into the clubs, so each child gets at least one club during the year. It's a pain for staff to allocate at the beginning of the year (done randomly) but is the fairest way to do it, and it means parents know ages in advance so can make plans around it.

After school care is run by a childcare provider who uses school grounds, you call her and ask if she has space, then just book in.

School clubs, at the beginning of each term a slip comes home with all the days, time, choices on it. You tick the ones you like and if too many people want a space, the names go in a hat, you find out if you got a space a few days after the slips go in, through a letter in DCs book bag.

Clubs sheet comes home near the end of term, to be filled in and handed to the office by the end of term. Places are allocated at the start of term according to different criteria - the chess club provider prioritises existing members and operates a waiting list, the school-run clubs do random allocation and make sure different children get a place each term, other providers usually put on extra sessions to cater for unexpectedly high demand.

We get the clubs sheet back at the start of term, with ticks to show which clubs you’ve been allocated (usually all the ones you wanted).

This works well unless you have a child who is good at losing bits of paper. Actually, it works well in reinforcing the necessity of not losing bits of paper, if they end up missing out one term because they never handed the form in.

clubs sheet, 1/2/3 choices, pupil premium get chosen ahead of non pp for first choice, but otherwise fcfs - which is by handing in the sheet just before school on a particular day.

If clubs don't fill, you can just sign up.

Similar to yours except worse as we don’t know when booking will go live! So we randomly get a text saying ‘after school clubs are now available to book’ and you have around 20 mins until they’re all booked up.
If you’re not near your phone for whatever reason when the text comes, you’re screwed!

We haven't got many after school ones - but the ones that do crop up are either run by private companies and don't tend to sell out because they're exorbitantly priced, or the odd school one goes to a sign up and then the names are drawn out of a hat with kids as witness to see who gets picked.

Slight derail.

The office staff at my school take no end of abuse from parents over clubs. We try very hard to allocate fairly but some oarents are just awful ifthey don't get their own way.

Just to point out, clubs are run by teachers in their own time for free. It's hard to believe how rude some people even when we're doing their children a favour.

Seem to expect you to know what’s available and then book at the office. No lists or anything sent home. I may have protested that ‘we won’t advertise because there’s already a waiting list but if you ask we’ll add you to the waiting list’ was rather unfair if a CM was dropping the DC in! Suddenly we are at least being told what’s available.

Our school sounds exactly like your OP with the added complexity of having to go to each provider separately, create an account and book your child if there are any spaces left. We have a mixture of clubs that are run by school staff and various external vendors.

We get a list of clubs sent home and then you have to go to the office to put their name down. If clubs are over subscribed they pull names out of a hat.

We have a letter that goes out first week of term listing all the paid and free activities on offer that term and for what year groups. There are paper slips attached for each free activity, you cut out and fill in the ones you want. There are far fewer places than requests, so slips get put in a hat and drawn out. There is only one day to get the slips in. The paid for activities you book on via the outside organiser so you wouldn't lose your place if it was a regular class your child did.

Clubs are very low key at the DC’s primary. There are plenty running before and after school and during lunchtime. Some are teacher run, other are external providers. There is a central list on the website with booking forms / contact info - forms are filled in and handed to the office / sent direct to the provider. I think everyone gets to do the clubs they want (school is 3 form entry so pretty big).

DC1 also went to an infant school - booking clubs there was insane. For every paid club forms came out to every child and it was a real scramble to get the forms back in as it was first come, first served (normally 20 spaces per club, large 4 form entry school). In addition, teachers ran after school clubs for yr1&2 (on separate days). Every child ranked the clubs available from 1 - 6 in order of preference. Names were drawn out of a hat in order to allocate spaces (15/20 in each club) each term - it was accepted that not everyone would get a space in a club each term, but those who didn’t in one term were meant to get priority the following term, so everyone got a chance to do something during the year. In both year 1 & 2, DS didn’t get a space in any of the teacher run after school clubs in any term. He did plenty of other activities so he didn’t really miss out on doing things outside of school, but there were a few fun clubs he would have like a chance to attend with his friends.

Same system as yours OP, but its 5pm on a Friday. We get a week's notice, with a timetable and then the booking system goes live the last week of term for the following term.

I like it, its a much fairer system than previous options (letter in school bag with return slip - all the parents who dont work filled the form out in the playground the day it came out, handed it into the office there and then and children with working parents - couldnt return form until the next day -never got a look in).

7am on a Saturday seems even better (at 5pm on a Friday parents can still be at work / commuting etc) - surely pretty much everyone has an equal chance?

Paper list comes home with prices, days etc on a Friday
You can book on Parentpay from 5 the following Monday. The popular ones are full within 15 minutes or so

Mine are in secondary now but you used to get a paper diary at the start of term detailing all that would be on offer. Then individual letters were emailed or handed out to the child that you filled in and returned with payment if applicable.

We get the list of clubs in advance then get told when the online booking opens.

My friends school you book in person at the school office on the first Monday of term..... people start queuing at 6am!

Sheet home last Friday with details of clubs for the whole year, by day and age group.
Each child picks 1st 2nd 3rd choice for each term. Return form by Wednesday. On Friday we find out which club child gets for each term. They try to give one first choice to each child.

First come first served (online booking for most, some via the office).

Tbh I think they need a rethink. It advantages the sharp elbowed astute parents and probably does nothing to help kids who would benefit and who are least likely to have opportunities outside school.

And given there are often only places for around 10% of pupils it ultimately ends up fruitless and divisive. Perhaps better to offer to PP kids only.

It's otherwise an excellent school with great teachers so is a bit of a shame.