mandated after school clubs

[jessrichmond]

Hello, My daughter (Year 8) has just been told that she must attend two after school clubs every week. I don't think the school has any jurisdiction out of hours and I'm surprised and disappointed by the tone of this instruction, but I'd love to hear from anyone who has had a similar instruction from their school, and particularly when a child has to travel after dark because of attending the clubs. Many thanks.

My children s scheis on a rural market town thsy have a longish lunchtime and finish school at 4pm,. Kids who cant get jome from after school clubs at least have a decent selection of lunchtime ones

Our school has extra curricular before school, at lunch & afterschool

Private schools have been doing this for a long time and, in my opinion, it’s better for everyone. My children are in prep at the moment and the school day is 8-4.20. When they move to the senior school it’s 8-5.40. Most parents and children like it. It takes away the parents having to ferry them around after school and, if they don’t want to do a club (which most do) they have the option to do homework instead. My 9 year old loves it and does a club every day - swim squad, netball team,

Pressed too soon….. Cubs, tennis, hockey. She’s as fit as a flea and doesn’t spend hours gaming and watching the tv in the evening like a lot of my friend’s children do who get home at 3.30. If state schools do this surely it’s great? It offers clubs to children who can’t afford them. Yours may come home at 3.30 and be super engaged in activities but most will go home and vegetate. If you don’t like it for some strange reason then you had to option to pick a different school.

I imagine this is so the school can evidence inclusion of PP pupils in enrichment activities for Ofsted.

@AntiMaskersAreTwats I'd prefer my own child, who attends a state school incidentally, to have dedicated, qualified coaches rather than attend clubs at school. She plays netball, swims and is a member of a musical theatre company, all run by people who instruct those things as specialists. My friend's DCs no longer have time to pursue their outside interests and all their extra-curricular activity is run by teachers and not necessarily PE or specialist teachers either.

Part of the school day period 5. 4.15 is the time my eldest sold school used to finish. ‘Free’ enrichment - sign them up. When they apply for jobs, college, uni that enrichment will make a huge difference. I really can’t believe you are comparing finishing at 4.15 and enrichment of which they get a choice to Borstal ! 😂it’s a great idea and if they need maths tutoring or whatever you get it for free rather than £40 an hour!

*old school

[quote BitterTits]@AntiMaskersAreTwats I'd prefer my own child, who attends a state school incidentally, to have dedicated, qualified coaches rather than attend clubs at school. She plays netball, swims and is a member of a musical theatre company, all run by people who instruct those things as specialists. My friend's DCs no longer have time to pursue their outside interests and all their extra-curricular activity is run by teachers and not necessarily PE or specialist teachers either.[/quote]
All our clubs are run by staff but highly qualified staff. Music clubs - world renowned conductor, sports clubs - qualified coaches in each, ditto swimming. That’s what every school should aspire to.

This is why state schools will never improve - parents are always against any change. Look at the hooha when a longer school day was mentioned!! Children in year 10-11 finishing at 3.15 is ridiculous in my opinion.

I'm torn on this. My kids are at an independent school, and the enrichment activities are one of the massive benefits. They're not actually compulsory, but there's an expectation that kids will get involved in lots of stuff, and the vast majority do. This kind of provision is one of the big disparities between (some) state schools and (some) private schools. However, I did of course have a choice - I could have chosen not to send my DC to a school that expected them to get involved in so much. If all state schools (or all of the ones in your area) start doing the same, then that takes away the choice from parents. But from talking to other parents, and teacher friends in other schools, the things that stop kids getting involved in extra activities are not just lack of opportunity, but also lack of parental engagement and peer pressure on kids not to get involved in clubs (not cool etc). (The MC stereotype families whose kids get involved in all sorts of drama, sport, music etc will always find a way to do this regardless of whether it's available in school or not, so they're not really the issue.) If state schools want to 'level up', by offering enrichment activities to everyone and actually getting kids to participate, then perhaps the only way is to make it compulsory?

I think it depends where you live and how long it takes to get home. We're in London, Dd1's secondary finishes at 3:10 but she has an hour commute each way. If she does extra activities after school, she ends up hitting rush hour traffic - she already gets a train and tube home as the bus is too full to stop. By the time you factor homework in, & leaving the house and 7, her days are long enough and I definitely wouldn't want compulsory clubs twice a week.
I don't know many state schools that have a dedicated school bus.