A better system for extra curricular activity signups?

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I caused a bit of a stir about this last week on the WhatsApp group we have for E’s class.

One night last week one of the school mums messaged me to ask if E was signing up for Tennis as an extracurricular activity. She told me her son had a letter in his book bag, and she was going to sign him up and wanted to know if E would be going too. I didn’t know anything about it though as there was no letter in his bag.

 

I asked him the following morning, and he told me he didn’t ask for a letter because he didn’t know how to play tennis. He didn’t realise that it didn’t matter if he didn’t know to play. The point of the club was to learn and gain better hand to eye co-ordination. I explained this to him in more detail and made sure he understood what the class would entail, and after having had a lengthy discussion about it, he decided it was something he was not interested in trying which of course was fine.

During that week I noticed that children were bringing home letters for Yoga and Karate – again my son did not have a letter to bring home. He told me he didn’t want to do Yoga (he did this last year) and that there were no spaces left for Karate. I mentioned to another school mum who also didn’t know about these letters, so I started to question what kind of system was being run if not all children had the same chance to sign up?

Various mums like me, were not aware of the clubs on offer and by process of elimination it sounded like the class was drawing names, and if you were lucky you had a choice of which letter you could take home.

Firstly, what if you aren’t confident enough in voicing what you would like to sign up for in front of a classroom of 20 plus children? Do you then miss out because of this? Secondly, these children are only 5 and 6. I don’t think they are old enough yet to be able to make an informed decision about what clubs they would like to join by themselves. It was evident from E’s instant decision about tennis. I understand that spaces are limited (as with all clubs organised by the school which are run on a first come first serve basis). This would be fine if there weren’t already some kind of “pre-selection” in place?!

Letters for everyone?

The mums on the WhatsApp group agreed that there had to be a better system. We felt that every child should be bringing home these letters and have the chance to discuss with their parents what they were and whether they would (if they could) sign up to these clubs.

One mum very rightly mentioned also, that due to work and childcare commitments there were only certain days her son could attend any clubs and if the school informed everyone of what clubs were upcoming in the new term, over the holidays, she would at least be able to pre-arrange childcare.

Our lovely class rep decided to try and tackle the situation and emailed the deputy head. We were then asked to discuss with her directly any issues we had with how the clubs were being set up. So I, along with another mum did precisely that at the end of last week.

The first thing the deputy head asked us was what clubs we were interested in. I mentioned Karate but that E had been told there no spaces left. Apparently, this information did not match up as there were spaces? I have no idea how that was misconstrued in class – all very confusing.

Talking to the Deputy head

The deputy head was a little defensive over how the clubs were run. Saying they don’t have the admin staff to deal with this and that most clubs available to the infants are all organised by the teachers themselves off their own back. Of course I understood that, but that still didn’t help me understand the process of how the children got to bring home letters. She explained that the teacher encouraged different children to put their hands up to try these clubs and would do the same again the following term and encourage a different set of children each time. It was about giving them a choice as previously; parents were apparently signing their children up to clubs that they didn’t want to do.

It also wasn’t possible to print out letters for each child in the year to bring due to cost. Fair enough, I then suggested a sign-up sheet on the classroom door. Children/parents could then register their interest first and then names could be drawn out of a hat to obtain a space. That was a fair way of doing it right?

A solution?

To be honest, nothing got solved and I know we certainly weren’t the first nor will be the last parents to raise this issue. Maybe us mums are too controlling and need to relax? I just know that I want my son to have the same chance and opportunity and enough knowledge to be able to make an informed choice. We all know about peer pressure etc in schools even at this young age.

For now, I have spoken to E and asked him to choose to bring home a letter so that we can go through in detail what it is together before he decides if it’s something he would like to try.

We did this with Karate and I showed him clips of it on YouTube. He has decided he doesn’t want to take up Karate and is waiting for Football Club (which will not be until Year 2) which is fine by me.

I may be an overprotective mother, but I would never force him to do something he didn’t want to.

Have you been through something similar with your children’s school? How do they do extracurricular activities at their school?

Hello and welcome to Suburban Mum! I'm Maria and I'm mum to two boys - E who's 11 and M who's 8. This blog is about my family, the ups and downs of being a working mum and everything in between. If you want to find out more about me and my family head over to our About us page.

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12 Comments

  1. Emma Tustian
    24th September 2015 at 12:25 am  ·  Reply

    We’ve only just started in reception but despite out school not informing new parents about much of the day to day about homework, reading, schoolwork expectations, they’re very good on letters home and via parentmail.

    At the start of term, as soon as clubs/sessions were organised there was a parentmail (email) sent out with all the clubs/days/costs etc for external people, and a sign up form. Then additional clubs (externally taught) have also sent home flyers via every book bag. We’ve also had a tennis letter to register interest for days.

    This works, although some are first come first served, and some like music can be done by every child year 2 up, but for younger ones it’s dependent on there being spaces.

    My issue is more about the fact with childcare and the after school wrapround care being off site, and children needing to be driven there, it means that school after school clubs and lessons aren’t possible because they finish at 4. There’s no way of getting children over to the wrapround care until post 5 which is when they get picked up. So I’m hoping that the tennis happens (and the new people running it are more reliable than the previous ones) because they finish at 5, so gives me a better chance of being able to pick N up if he does it.

    Hope yours gets sorted out. I don’t understand why they don’t do an email form/newsletter rather than paper copies, then every parent gets them.

    • Suburban Mum
      11th October 2015 at 9:13 am  ·  Reply

      Hi Emma,

      The way your school does it seems to be much more organised – at least you are informed of what clubs are going to starting! It does seem a bit silly that the wraparound care is off site though?

      We are still in the process of talking to the deputy head to see if things can be improved!

      • Emma Tustian
        12th October 2015 at 9:36 am  ·  Reply

        Ah, the school doesn’t do it’s own wrapround care. It’s the private nursery in the village that now offers it. The nursery used to be in the village hall which was walkable from school (but then only did preschool hours). They’ve now moved to the gliding club just outside the village to a purpose built building, so they’re doing holiday and after school clubs. Luckily at the moment, none of the nursery child do longer hours, so they can do picks up, but it is a pain (plus we have to pay more for the pick up too)

  2. Mummy Tries
    24th September 2015 at 7:38 pm  ·  Reply

    Just the words ‘after school activities’ make my head hurt! It’s way too much for my 6yo, and she doesn’t do anything active after school, apart from yoga at home with me some times. Best of luck with finding your feet with it all! Thanks for sharing with #DiffLinky

    • Suburban Mum
      11th October 2015 at 9:16 am  ·  Reply

      Thanks Renee – E did Yoga last year once a week which for me was enough. He’s decided not to do any this term which is also fine with me. Just would be nice to know what was available so I could discuss with him!

  3. Pickinguptoys
    26th September 2015 at 6:15 pm  ·  Reply

    We don’t actually do any clubs yet as my son hasn’t shown any real interest but we get a letter at the start of each term detailing each option and from that they gauge interest.Seems very unfair to do it the way yours have! xx

    • Suburban Mum
      11th October 2015 at 9:17 am  ·  Reply

      I think receiving a letter at the start of term is the way to go so at leas you know what is available. Our school seems reluctant to do it like this though which is annoying!

  4. A Cornish Mum
    1st October 2015 at 10:38 am  ·  Reply

    Our school does the same in that they ask the children if they want a letter, but they also list the after school clubs and times in newsletter at the start of term, which is handy when you have a child who constantly forgets to bring stuff home from school! I hope your school eventually decides to do the same so that you at least know what the possibilities are!
    Thanks for linking up to #PicknMix
    Stevie xx

    • Suburban Mum
      11th October 2015 at 9:20 am  ·  Reply

      Listing the school clubs and times in the newsletter is a great idea. I didn’t think to suggest that! Apparently juniors is more organised as they have dedicated people running the clubs but thats almost another two years away so def would like things to change before then! x

  5. A Moment With Franca
    2nd October 2015 at 7:40 pm  ·  Reply

    What a strange way of running the after clubs! At my daughter’s school the parents receive an email with a letter attached from the head teacher with shows the complete list of all activities that our kids can do. Then we have a week to discuss the activities with our kids and sign up. They don’t sign up on their own. The parents of course should guide their kids and then the kids should have their last decision. I think this way works pretty well. 🙂 x
    #PicknMix

  6. Suburban Mum
    11th October 2015 at 9:15 am  ·  Reply

    Thanks Cat – we did suggest this but it seems the school is not willing to do this as the apparently don’t have dedicated staff for organising clubs? All very odd.

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