Coronavirus: Most out-of-school clubs can stay open in lockdown

Before and after-school clubs providing childcare (wraparound provision) can remain open as normal. But guidance on the New National Restrictions from November 5 makes it clear that out-of-school clubs should be closed during the new lockdown unless they are providing childcare to enable parents to work or to seek work, access training or education, or to provide respite care.

After contacting the Department for Education for clarity on some of the key points made in the general guidance published by the Cabinet Office on 3 November (see below), Clare Freeman, co-director of the Out of School Alliance (OOSA) told Nursery World, ‘We're very pleased to see that most out-of-school clubs will be able to continue running during the new lockdown. They provide an invaluable service for working parents, as well as being popular with the children.

'With so many childcare providers really struggling to stay afloat at the moment, being forced to shut down again at this time would have been the death knell for many settings.’

WHAT THE GUIDANCE MEANS FOR WRAPAROUND CARE PROVIDERS

• Extra-curricular clubs (i.e clubs for specific activities such as art, or sport, or drama) that operate immediately before or after school can remain open if providers wish, because many parents use such clubs as an extension to the school day in order to benefit from an extra hour of childcare.
• So long as out-of-school clubs meet the 'childcare' requirement outlined above, they can operate on their usual premises. Unlike the first lockdown, clubs are not restricted to only operating on school sites.
• Under the general lockdown regulations, community-based venues, such as libraries, village halls and community centres, will need to close, but such venues are exempt from closure if they are being used for certain specific purposes, which includes childcare. This means that if your club runs on such premises, they are allowed to remain open to accommodate you. (This is set out in section 4 of the main New National Restrictions guidance.)
• Out-of-school clubs don't need to be Ofsted-registered in order to be allowed to remain open.
• Activity-based clubs that operate at other times (e.g evening clubs, or Saturday morning sessions) are less likely to be used as a source of childcare to enable parents to work, so will in most cases be expected to remain closed for the four weeks of lockdown.
• All out-of-school clubs that remain open must continue to follow the protective measures, as set out in:
  Protective measures for holiday and after-school clubs during the coronavirus outbreak

A full summary of can be found on the OOSA website.