After School Club Ideas

Whether you are considering after school clubs for your child so that you can work or because you think that your child will enjoy something different, there are definitely some great clubs for your child to join. Clubs include team sports, creative art, the performing arts and extra support for academic subjects such as maths and English.

There has been a big change in the length of the school day to enable many parents to work. For many children, school now starts with a Breakfast Club and ends with an after school club. Cath Rindl was a head teacher in Birmingham and a few years ago, she explained in The Guardian newspaper their value-

"Not only are these after-school clubs fun, they also help boost children's self-esteem and self-confidence. We want happy, self-confident children because they are motivated and can achieve more. By offering after-school activities our children get the chance to succeed in a different area, then they can take success and use it to overcome barriers in the subjects they find difficult."

The great news is that after school clubs are good fun, they offer a safe environment for your child and are also extremely beneficial for lots of other reasons:

After school clubs can help children develop socially, emotionally and cognitively.

The clubs can also help children academically

After school sports clubs can promote good health

Your child will be able to try a completely new activity that could become a favourite hobby- such as a sport, music or singing

Your child will enjoy making new friends in a new environment.

In years to come, your child can add their long standing attendance of certain clubs to their college application or CV

Clubs bring many other bonuses such as teaching your child discipline, time management and self-reliance.

After school clubs run by the school

Schools vary in what after school programmes they can offer but these clubs have the advantage that they are held in familiar surroundings for your child, with a teacher they probably already know and other participants will include some of their classmates. Clubs run by schools are usually well-priced because they are heavily subsidised and are Ofsted regulated. They have the major advantage that your child does not have to travel elsewhere to participate in them.

Clubs focused on sport

School usually offer a number of different sport opportunities both for team sports such as netball and football, but also individual sports including tennis, table tennis, swimming and acrobatics. In most areas there are usually gyms and clubs offering many other sports including trampolining, junior golf and archery. It is important to spend time visiting the club first to see how it is run and to check that the instructors are qualified as many of these clubs are not regulated.

Introduce your child to the wonderful world of music

Children are naturally musical and thoroughly enjoy learning a musical instrument. Piano lessons are always popular with violin, trumpet and flute too. Some children prefer to enjoy learning music in not such a disciplined way and love the idea of joining the school band. For older children, there may even be the opportunity for them to learn about being a DJ or producing a record. Learning to read music when you are young is a wonderful skill that can be used all life through.

There are so many different types of dance to enjoy including ballet which will give your child beautiful poise and rhythm. Younger children enjoy the sound that they can make with a pair of tap shoes whereas older ones opt for modern or Latin dance.

Rainbow Guides, Beavers, Brownies and Cub scouts

The Scouting movement has been popular for more than 100 years and is a great way for young people to learn an array of life skills. I still use many knots that I first learned as a freckle-faced Brownie aged seven and changing a plug and First Aid skills have all proved invaluable over the years too! Rainbow Guides and Beavers are for young children aged five- seven years and they can then move up to Brownies of Cubs. Meetings are great fun as they include games, singing and numerous arts and crafts. In recent years, the movement has undergone a major overhaul to ensure that it is just as appealing and relevant to today’s youngsters as it was in the early 20th century when it first started. Subscriptions – ‘subs’ are collected weekly and have been purposefully kept low in price.

After school clubs help keep children busy and active in a safe environment which brings peace of mind to parents – whether they are working, studying or caring for elderly relatives. Information about local after school clubs can be found online, on supermarket notice boards and from your child’s school.

With after school clubs in place for their children, parents do not have to worry that their child is home alone or try and make alternative- and often incredibly expensive- childcare arrangements, but can look forward to sharing their child’s bubbly enthusiasm for their new club and spotting the noticeable difference in their self-confidence….

Useful further reading -

● www.gov.uk/government/publications/information-for-parents-choosing-an-after-school-club-community-activity-or-tuition