After school at Nonsuch- advice please

[modernista]

Ubermummy,

Thanks for the warning. I have worked full time since my daughter was two and she has been in daycare till 6:00. I agree it is not ideal but not having any family around I cant see any way out. I did try and keep a nanny for a year but being after school care seemed like a better option for her. However I appreciate that secondary school may be different and I am trying to plan for that. She is used to doing some after school clubs after school and I was hoping that would continue at Nonsuch. Any ideas on what to do will be appreciated.

[modernista]

Also not planning to drop her off at 7:00 every morning. Because of train timings We might have to leave her a few minutes school starts and I would not be able to leave her in an empty school. Also sometimes I have meetings earlyish in London so it the breakfast club would be handy for that. Of coorse if she starts to travel by herself she can have more flexibility but at least for the beginning I will feel better if I can walk with her.

[Babiloo]

Uberyummymummy and Modernista,

I have always worked full-time too but have always worked it out with help of my parents. I will not be dropping my daughter at 7.30am either.
May be two to three days out of the 5 days I will have to use the after school study clubs when my father can pick my son up and then pick my daughter at Nonsuch.
Not an ideal situation but no choice really.

Thanks for your concern.

[Uberyummymummy]

Are there other girls your DD can travel with? If so, you will find that she will gain confidence rather quickly, and then, could she go home and let herself in and unwind until you get home? Am just trying to think of ways she could not be at school so long. Some of the after school stuff is fun - drama productions, orchestra etc. Is she sporty? If so, there will be after school matches. Just trying to think of ways to keep Twilight Study to minimum. Another option if you can afford it is to get her membership to the David Lloyd Club - my DD used to go there after school sometimes, but she had friends who were also members so it was really fun for her.

[Babiloo]

Uberyummymummy,
Good idea about David Lloyds, will defo look into that. The twilights study will be kept to minimal. We will look into after school clubs, as she is very sporty and does a lot of swimming, rock climbing and skating. Also likes arts, dancing and piano.
I hope we can find number of clubs she might like, to keep her busy.
Again thank you for your advice and we really appreciate you help.

We are in Coulsdon so travelling on her own will not be an option right now.

Regards
Babiloo

[modernista]

Ubermummy,

One of the reasons we chose Nonsuch over Tiffin (inspite of being told we were being foolish) was the hope that she might be able to find friends to walk home with. But so far I know only one girl near us and she would be taking a short bus ride. We are half an hour walk away and bus routes are not convenient. I think eventually as she gets to know people things will work out but I have to plan for the dark winter first term at least.

My DD has really been into drama and music in her school and I hope this will carry on. Her teacher teaches at Nonsuch too but I believe this will be during school hours. I am hoping there will be some orchestra etc after school. She is into swimming as well but I believe Nonsuch have access to the pool only in the summer term. I was actually planning to go to either David lloyds or Cheam Leisure with her to keep up the swimming all year round but if she can go to David LLoyd on her own it would be worth the money.

Thank you again for your interest. Talking to someone who knows about the school day really helps and it makes me feel less sad about the losing the supportive parent group I have at the primary.

[Jaybee 2]

This is very interesting reading-thank you. I have been told that many girls get the trains home after school, just wondering if anyone out there has a dd who will be travelling Leatherhead way? It would be nice to know she had friends to travel with. Not sure about the first term yet although she is very keen to be independent!