Austwick, Clapham and Horton-in-Ribblesdale Confederation of Schools will be providing full ‘wrap around’ care from the start of the autumn term in September. A breakfast club from 8pm and an after-school club from 3.30pm- 6pm will be available five days a week, a service almost unprecedented in such a rural area.
The extended out of school hours care has been made possible by the acquisition of a new minibus which will collect children from Horton and Clapham schools and take them to an after school club hosted at Austwick, the geographically central school of the Confederation.
This year’s SATs results were outstanding for the Year 6 children across the three schools, with two children performing in the top 1{afd41c4ab3623e68baffe29f6190c4c16e77cb65ef9a747ad10afe8b083b250d} of national figures.
Mrs Woods attributes the official ‘outstanding’ rating of the schools from Ofsted to the fact that the schools are small, allowing for a high degree of personal attention for each pupil from the staff. She explains “The links fostered with the local community and the fact that the children are educated in an inclusive and supportive atmosphere ensures they develop independence, a love of learning and respect for other people.”
The extended after-school care will enable more of the children to interact in larger peer groups to enjoy fun supervised activities indoors and outside, while also providing a valuable service to working or commuting parents. The schools also offer a sports club on Wednesdays and orchestra on Fridays and to complement the range of activities within the breakfast and after school club.
June Bloom, a parent with a child at Horton-in-Ribblesdale school said “Although most families don’t need out of school care every day for their children, it’s fantastic that the service is provided daily so that parents with full or part-time work are not limited to only being able to work certain days according to childcare arrangements. The new hours will provide much greater flexibility for everyone.”