Wrap-around care at West Sussex private school Sompting Abbotts is free of charge to parents
We're aware how busy life is for working parents – and also how unpredictable. Traffic, changing work hours and bad weather can make it difficult to meet the school pick-up deadline. Especially when it's 3.15pm for younger children.
Many parents at Sompting Abbotts work full-time. We recognise the challenges you face and your need for safe and stimulating before-school and after-school care. We've structured our free wrap-around care for your child to help you manage this balancing act more easily.
Wrap-around care for the Pre-Prep (under 8s): 8am - 4.30pm
If your child's in a Pre-Prep class (Reception, Year 1 and Year 2), you can drop him or her off to the sunny yellow Early Room from 8am. Children are supervised and play with toys, get stuck in at the drawing table or chat to their classmates. The Late Room is open until 4.30pm.
We run Pre-Prep after-school clubs Tuesday to Thursdays. These take place from 3.30pm to 4pm, after which your child can join the children in the Late Room.
A glimpse of Main School Early Room in the morning sunlight, with one child practising his piano in the background. This 'round the table' table tennis game is popular with the children. (The players hit the ball and run to the other end of the table. They lose lives if they miss the ball or the table. A great game to involve a lot of children!)
If you're unavoidably delayed, we'll take your child to the Late Room in the Main School Library to be supervised with the Prep pupils. Some younger children with siblings at the school do this so that their parents can collect them all at the same time.
Wrap-around care for the Prep (age 8+): 7.30am - 6pm
Prep pupils (Years 3 to 8) may be dropped off to the Main School from 7.30am. They're supervised there and can use the Assembly Room to play table tennis etc or the Main Library with its comfy armchairs to read or chat with classmates.
After-school supervision is from 4.30pm to 5pm in the Main Library. Remaining pupils are taken to the IT Suite to do their homework tasks until 6pm.
What child doesn’t love to collect handfuls of glossy brown conkers? At Sompting Abbotts, they don't just fill their pockets — even socks become makeshift pouches. And so, at this time of the year, we send the children out into our school grounds to look for shiny conkers (not that they need any persuading).