Holiday club and out-of-school providers in talks with DfE over reopening plans

In a joint letter to the DfE, the directors of the country’s leading providers of breakfast, after-school and holiday clubs - who between them run more than 300 out-of-school clubs - highlighted the severity of the threat to the sector, which they warned would see many of them go ‘out of business by Christmas’.

Their approach led to a ‘constructive and positive meeting’ with the DfE last Thursday, according to Dan McCaffrey, director of Pioneer Childcare and Class Of Their Own, which operates 20 clubs in the Brighton and Sussex area. 

The letter was written by Mr McCaffrey on behalf of a group of eight providers, including Energy Kidz and KOOSA Kids, who collectively run 332 settings, caring for more than 50,000 children on a weekly basis.

He told Nursery World, ‘We understand and support the measures taken to keep children and teachers safe. The guidance of placing children in consistent groups - or bubbles - makes perfect sense during the school day and the adoption of this strategy has been the reason we have seen more children return to school over the last few weeks.

‘What is more challenging to determine is how we translate this strategy to out-of- school childcare. In the vast majority of cases, wraparound childcare is unable to open, as we are unable to maintain the same consistent bubbles that children have been in during the school day. This closure means we are unable to generate any revenue, and it is this fact, coupled with the winding up of the furlough scheme from August onwards, that means that the entire sector is heading for collapse in the next few months.’

Following the virtual meeting with the DfE on 11 June, Mr McCaffrey said, ‘We had a positive meeting where we were able to articulate the threat to the sector to a receptive and understanding audience.

In addition, we discussed how there were options for the potential reopening of wraparound childcare in the summer holidays. We know how much of a demand there is from the families we support, and our approach has a strong focus on minimising the risk of infection, whilst mirroring virtually all processes that have been implemented by schools themselves.

‘We are fortunate that we have the ability to work outdoors as much as possible, further reducing the risk of transmission whilst providing the children with great activities and some much needed fun after a challenging time.’

Mr McCaffrey said that dialogue with the DfE is ‘ongoing’ but that he was ‘hopeful’ given how receptive they have been.

The DfE was asked to comment about the reopening of wrap around care providers, following last week’s story in Nursery World. 

Clare Freeman, director of Out of School Alliance (OOSA) told Nursery World, ‘After a positive meeting with the DfE on 4 June, we were told that a revised statement would be issued with some urgency but nearly two weeks later, we are still waiting.

She added, ‘Lots of clubs have resigned themselves to not opening before the end of term and they are now focused on whether they can open in the summer holidays. Parents are getting desperate and some holiday club providers have already taken the decision they won’t be open due to continued uncertainly.’