Press release: New service for out of school clubs

New service makes setting up out of school clubs simple


With the start of the new school year, many parents are looking for after school care for their children. Despite the Government's target that all primary schools should offer some form of care for children from 8.00am to 6.00pm by 2010, a large number of schools have yet to do so.

A new online service from the Out of School Alliance (OOSA) supports the Government's initiative by making it quicker and easier for organisations to set up out of school clubs. The service is delivered via the OOSA website, www.outofschoolalliance.co.uk, which offers a 'one stop shop' for information and material essential for the start-up and maintenance of out of school clubs.

Launched this week, the OOSA website provides:

  • help on how to start a club
  • information on training
  • lots of ideas for activities
  • samples of all the necessary policies, forms and other paperwork
  • recommendations for where to obtain toys, equipment and other supplies.
  • suggestions for equipping a club

OOSA has also partnered with Morton Michel, the respected provider of insurance for the child care industry, to offer a discounted insurance package specifically for out of school clubs.

OOSA hosts an online forum which acts as a meeting place for anyone running an out of school club, enabling them to share ideas and experiences, and to offer mutual support.

Catherine Wrench, one of the founders of OOSA, explained: "When I was setting up my own out of school club, I was frustrated at how hard it was to get the full picture of what was required. I could find no single source with all the information I needed and I spent many late nights trying to assemble all sorts of policy documents to satisfy Ofsted requirements."

"Knowing that many people are in the same situation, we decided to provide a service dedicated to the out of school club sector, that would really make it quicker and easier for new clubs to get going, as well as providing support for established clubs."

9 September 2009