As we all know, the summer term usually starts off quite calmly, then descends into utter chaos as the academic year hurtles towards its end. For this reason, it is essential that you start marketing your club to new parents as early as possible.
For children starting in Reception in September, parents should know by now which school they will be attending, but they may still be considering their options for after school childcare. You need to catch their attention at the start of the process, rather than the end, when the decision will already have been made.
We've collected some ideas for marketing your club to new parents - and to existing ones - below:
Information pack
Prepare an information pack, letter or leaflet to introduce your club, and ask the local school to give it out to any new parents. The best result for you would be if the school were willing to include your material in the information packs that they send out to all prospective parents. Having wraparound care is a key selling point for schools, so they should be happy to pass on your information, but some schools are more helpful than others!
Information evening
If the school holds an information evening or similar event for new parents, ask if you can attend. The headteacher might let you give a short talk about what childcare you offer, or if that's not possible, you could have a table with information and posters, or failing that you could just stand at the door and hand out leaflets to parents as they leave.
Liaise with pre-school settings
Also, talk to local nurseries, pre-schools, parent and toddler groups, etc, and ask them to forward your information to parents of children who are due to start school in September.
Taster sessions
Hold a free taster session for new parents and children. Remember to conduct a safeguarding risk assessment and have additional staff to ensure that risks are kept to a minimum.
School newsletter
Write an article about the services and facilities your club offer for the school’s newsletter, to remind parents whose children are already at school about your club. Circumstances change, and parents who didn't need your services this year, may well need childcare from September.
Post a notice on your local Facebook group, with lots of exciting photos of activities, inviting bookings for the Autumn term.
Posted by: Catherine Wrench
Date: 25 May 2018