5 Ways to Improve Your After School Classes

Successful afterschool programs share some common factors. Apply these tips to your after school classes to take them to the next level.

1. Build Community

Partner up, partner! Building strong relationships with families, schools, councils and local businesses is a great way to resource your after school classes for success. Get to know—and involve!—parents, grandparents and whanau, get your kids volunteering or attending community events, invite local businesses to run workshops or offer expertise, and fully participate in the school community you are a part of.

2. Increase Engagement

The safe, secure and stimulating environment provided by successful afterschool programs contributes to student success as well. Add educational, recreational and social opportunities that are customised to the needs of the kids in your after school classes, and offer extra support where they may be challenged. They'll be more motivated, better adjusted and happier away from your programme as well.

3. Automate Administration

Automating your registrations, billing and other administrative tasks with after school care software is perhaps the biggest game changer successful afterschool programs can adopt. Not only does this give you back time, money and staff to devote to other areas, it creates seamless systems for parents and kids to interact with, so you make life easier for them too. 

4. Measure Performance

Successful afterschool programs measure what they want to improve, so give yourself some hard data in order to track where you're at and plan your next steps. If you've already automated your admin with after school care software, you'll have some great reporting to help you out! Set goals in the areas you most want to shine in, and measure the numbers. Poll your parents, get feedback from your staff, and don't forget data is only useful if you do something with it!

5. Stay Innovative

Once you figure out what works stick with it...but always be ready to look at your after school classes with new eyes and an open mind. Creativity and fresh ideas will set you apart from the competition and keep your passion for your programme alive, giving your families something to rave about—we call that free marketing!

Ready for more successful after school classes?