The Educator Magazine U.K. Sept-Dec 2026 issue - Magazine - Page 18
When Wraparound Care
Stops Being Your Problem
Running your own wraparound care provision sounds simple
enough – un琀椀l it isn’t. For Simon England, headteacher at
Ashwell Primary School in North Her琀昀ordshire, it was quietly
becoming one of the biggest drains on his school. Here’s how
things changed.
The Hidden Cost of Control
You’ve got a wraparound provision
running, parents rely on it, but behind
the scenes, it’s draining your team. Sta昀昀
are stretched, admin piles up, and sta昀昀
absences land on the headteacher’s
desk. Sound familiar?
That was Ashwell Primary School.
Teaching assistants moved straight
from classroom to evening sessions.
Office sta昀昀 spent dispropor琀椀onate 琀椀me
on bookings, invoicing, and chasing
payments, and every absence was a
crisis to solve.
“Sta昀昀 were working before
school wraparound, all
day in school including
lunch琀椀mes, then a昀琀er
school into the evening,”
Simon England, the headteacher,
explains. “It was difficult.”
The need for quality wraparound is clear,
but delivering it without destroying your
team’s capacity? That’s a challenge that
more and more schools are choosing not
to tackle alone.
The Solu琀椀on: Stop Running
It Yourself
When wraparound came onto the agenda,
Mr England needed someone to take over
the provision completely. So, he decided
to outsource to Premier Educa琀椀on.
Premier isn’t just another staffing
provider. They fund the setup, they hold
the Ofsted registra琀椀on, they manage
every booking, invoice and payment, and
they sta昀昀 it with people whose sole job
is making wraparound brilliant.
“It was obvious we could improve the
provision while taking away the admin
burden,” Mr England says.
The transi琀椀on was handled smoothly.
Every exis琀椀ng sta昀昀 member was o昀昀ered
employment with Premier, and almost
all moved across. Within weeks, Ashwell
Primary had a wraparound provision that
was be琀琀er resourced, be琀琀er managed,
and cost the school nothing.
Be琀琀er Provision, Clearer Headspace
The di昀昀erence in the quality of the
provision since the transi琀椀on is no琀椀ced
every day, Mr England says. Where once
琀椀red TAs were pulling together ac琀椀vi琀椀es
at the end of a long school day, there’s
now a clear, purposeful structure to every
session – themed evenings, planned
sports, arts and cra昀琀s, and more.
“We hadn’t got sta昀昀 running from a
classroom as a teaching assistant into
wraparound care, having thrown together
an ac琀椀vity,” he says. “There is a real clear
structure and a real clear 琀椀metable. We
could never achieve that as a school,
because we had to priori琀椀se our sta昀昀’s role
in teaching and learning during the day.
But perhaps the greatest gain is the
one Mr England experiences daily: the
mental space to do what he actually
came into educa琀椀on to do. Sta昀昀 absence
in wraparound? Not his problem
anymore. Premier draws on a wider pool
of trained sta昀昀 who can step in 昀氀exibly,
without fuss and without it falling back
on the school.
“It is no longer my problem if there is sta昀昀
absence or sickness in wraparound care,” he
says simply. “We’ve got someone who has a
pool of people from across the Premier team
who can step in.”
“It is no longer my problem
if there is sta昀昀 absence
or sickness in wraparound
care. We’ve got someone
who has a pool of people
from across the Premier
team who can step in.”
It’s what we call the one-provider
approach: one familiar team, one
consistent standard, one voice for
parents across everything.
For Mr England, that consistency is what
makes it feel less like a contract and more
like an extension of his school: “It’s like
a team. It’s like a family. Premier sta昀昀
adopt our school ethos and values, we
work in partnership with theirs, and it just
becomes one umbrella of opportuni琀椀es
and experiences for the children.”
His advice to headteachers on the
fence? “Go for it. We’ve never looked
back. You will gain a lot of 琀椀me back and
you will be able to reallocate that 琀椀me to
the things that ma琀琀er – without losing
the important o昀昀er for families and
children of the wraparound.”
Could this be your school’s story?
The Bigger Picture
Today, Premier Educa琀椀on’s rela琀椀onship
with Ashwell goes well beyond
wraparound. The school bene昀椀ts from
PE and PPA cover, a昀琀er school clubs,
lunch琀椀me clubs and holiday clubs –
which have grown so popular they now
bring in children from well outside the
school’s own community.
premier-educa琀椀on.com
