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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

No breakfast club or after school club

79 replies

raggybo · 04/07/2010 20:45

DS1 starts Reception in September at our local village school. When we looked round the school in September last year, the head told us that the breakfast club and after school club would be up and running by the time DS1 joined. This has not happened. I have had several conversations with the school about this and it seems to me that for some reason they cannot be bothered to set these services up. They have told me that they cannot find anyone to run these services, which I find odd considering current unemployment levels. The school receptionist admitted that they have only advertised for someone to run the clubs on the school notice board as she said they could not afford to advertise it anywhere else.

My husband and I both work so this is significant issue for us. I have asked the local council to look into this but nothing seems to has happened. Does anyone have any ideas of what I can do to try to force the school to provide these services?

OP posts:

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GypsyMoth · 04/07/2010 20:47

Pay for a childminder?

If there are no funds then thats that

belledechocolatefluffybunny · 04/07/2010 20:49

You can't force them. It's a PITA to set up, thy have to go through Ofsted which will take about 6 months.
Have you asked for a list of childminders or afterschool clubs from outside people who collect children from the school? I'd look through the yellow pages for afterschool care and have a ring around.

It doesn't bode well for a school if they can't afford advertising.

nymphadora · 04/07/2010 20:51

Extended schools funding has been cut too so doubt it would happen v quickly. Advertising is v expensive. We are only allowed job title, location & website address now on ours that go in local paper. Schools even pay for the ad on countys website

tethersend · 04/07/2010 20:52

I think this is bollocks.

Original poster

raggybo · 04/07/2010 20:54

To be frank, the money isn't an issue. I've tried to find a childminder that collects from the school and there aren't any with vacancies. The council have told me that there is only one childminder in our village and she has no vacancies.

I have been looking into this and as I understand it, by September 2010 all primary schools either have to provide care from 8am to 6pm in term times or point parents in the direction of where such care can be received. This school is doing neither and I just don't understand why!

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expatinscotland · 04/07/2010 20:55

'Does anyone have any ideas of what I can do to try to force the school to provide these services?'

Welcome to the world of budget cuts!

Not only is the pay for such jobs incredibly low, but you also need a fair number of qualifications to work such a job, which would then probably be only a few contract hours/week.

And if it's a local village school, well, in many villages, second homeowners have pushed the costs of housing up so high, when it's even available, a lot of folks move out to find work, leaving maybe some rich retirees who don't need to work.

You've got a couple of months to find a childminder.

You can't force people to provide childcare for you. You have to pay for it.

Original poster

raggybo · 04/07/2010 20:55

tethersend, what do you think is bollocks?

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belledechocolatefluffybunny · 04/07/2010 20:56

Look for an afterschool club, they are often run by private nurseries. This is all you can do unless you can find a nannyshare.

It's a pain, this was one of the reasons why I sent ds to a private school, the days are longer.

pointydog · 04/07/2010 20:56

ask your council to point you in the right direction. My council has a good list of all childcare providers. Ask other mums what childcare they use. Start asking and phoning around and stop relying on the school.

expatinscotland · 04/07/2010 20:57

They'll hand you a council leaflet and send you on your way. Or give you a list of registered childminders in your area, and it looks like you've already found out how many minders there are in their area.

It's not their job to sort out your childcare issues.

Can you get her into a larger school that offers these services?

tethersend · 04/07/2010 21:01

Apologies, raggybo, it was the last line of your OP:

"Does anyone have any ideas of what I can do to try to force the school to provide these services?"

It belies a ridiculous sense of entitlement and is deliberately incendiary.

I am still that you think the school has to provide childcare.

Original poster

raggybo · 04/07/2010 21:01

expatinscotland ,I am more than happy to pay for someone to look after my children. I DS1 and DS2 are both in an Oustanding nursery which I happily pay for.

The school must have known for several years that by Septemeber 2010 it would be obliged to either provide extended services themselves or direct parents to where such sevices are available. I understand that it must be a PITA to set this up but it is nearly a year since I first looked round the school and they told me they were in the process of setting this up.

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MrsDinky · 04/07/2010 21:04

It's difficult to staff these clubs because most of the people who are prepared to work with children for short hours on low pay are those that have young children of their own and need to care for them in those timeslots or pay out their entire wage on childcare and not get to spend the hours outside school with them. I do sympathise though.

nymphadora · 04/07/2010 21:04

The Sept 2010 thing probably comes under 'change in government= change in rules' or however the websites phrase it!

Original poster

raggybo · 04/07/2010 21:06

tethersend , it is not a sense of entitlement. An obligation has been put on primary schools.

belledechocolatefluffybunny, thank you for your suggestions. To be honest, I think we will have to just see how it goes come September, but ultimately I think a private school may be the answer.

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expatinscotland · 04/07/2010 21:06

'The school must have known for several years that by Septemeber 2010 it would be obliged to either provide extended services themselves or direct parents to where such sevices are available.'

They are under no legal obligation to sort your childcare, raggy.

They made you no contractual promise.

And as for directing you, all they have to do is give you a list of registered minders in your area. That's it.

This is not their problem.

It is yours. And you have several months to sort it out.

Yourself.

belledechocolatefluffybunny · 04/07/2010 21:07

IME, if they are offered by someone else (whether they are full or not), the school tend not to bother.

expatinscotland · 04/07/2010 21:07

'An obligation has been put on primary schools'

There is none. It is to set up the clubs, which they have been unable to do, or inform you of registered childminders in your council.

The obligation is all yours.

samcrow · 04/07/2010 21:08

You are right to say that they must at the very least tell you where services can be found but I suspect they would probably only give you what you can get from the council or by searching the internet yourself.

My guess would be that they probably thought they could set comething up, found out that actually it doesn't work in practice for a small school and then didn't give any further thought to new Sept '10 parents.

It is annoying but I'd advise you to forget it and move on with finding something yourself and quickly before everywhere gets filled up.

Original poster

raggybo · 04/07/2010 21:11

expatinscotland , I am trying to sort this out. That is exactly why I made the original post!

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SanctiMoanyArse · 04/07/2010 21:13

I do feel sorry for you raggy; you looked around school, you asked, they gave you wrong info (probably not deliberately biut they did). How were you to know?

If the CM is full get the name fo your child down quick- lots of people losing jobs atm, sadly, means high turnover for CM's possibly.

In the emantime speak to an agency about a au pair, or see if you can advertise in the papers.

expatinscotland · 04/07/2010 21:13

You're trying to sort it out by assuming the council/school has a legal obligation to sort it for you.

They don't.

So others suggested things like asking other mums, phoning the booked minder and asking if she knows anyone else, private schooling, etc.

expatinscotland · 04/07/2010 21:14

Au pair good idea, too!

Nannyshare.

There's a topic on here for people looking for nannyshares.

MrsDinky · 04/07/2010 21:17

It might be worth talking to the local pre-schools, they may have staff that could do a bit of nannying after school hours, I know a couple of people who do this.

Original poster

raggybo · 04/07/2010 21:19

Well I have three other friends in the same boat who were all told the same thing by the school. I think ultimately we will either end up working it out between ourselves or DS1 will end up at private school.

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