I spend £7,800 a year on clubs – it gives my kids the private school experience

In a regular week, Walter Johnson and his wife Kärt, from south east London, spend 11 hours ferrying their children to and from sports clubs every day after school. Plus, they have six hours to kill while their children participate in jiu jitsu, athletics, swimming, cheerleading and gymnastics sessions. If they aren’t watching and encouraging their children, they pass the time by fitting in their own exercise or grocery shopping or stealing a march on work for the following day. There’s no rest for the wicked on weekends either. Walter spends eight hours on a Saturday and Sunday volunteer coaching the two football teams that his children Clarence, 11 and Henrietta, eight, each play for. Clarence also plays guitar, while Henrietta is learning piano. So, on a Monday, Clarence does guitar before jiu jitsu, while on a Thursday Henrietta learns piano and then goes onto gymnastics. In total, the Johnsons spend £651 a month on their children’s extracurricular clubs. “It’s a lot less than the private school Clarence very nearly went to for secondary, which worked out at £150 a day,” says Walter, who works as a manager in digital health for the NHS. Clarence started year seven last week and his family shortlisted three schools: the local academy secondary school, a grammar school further away and a private school. Clarence tried a day at each and was given the choice of where he’d most like to go. He chose the grammar school. Shorts “At one point I thought private school was the be all and end all,” Walter says. “I know there is protected time for activities in private school, but you can create that variety yourselves.” For example, Walter adds: “Henrietta competes regionally in athletics; piano gives her real discipline and she has a wonderful time cheerleading. She has performed in Blackpool and at Wembley.” Most parents might assume performing nationally is out of reach for state-educated children, but thanks to Henrietta’s clubs, she is getting the private school experience for a fraction of the cost. Clarence, meanwhile, “has a beautiful bond with his football friends and gained a lot of confidence from martial arts after being bullied”, Walter says. Although the parents remain in awe of the facilities at local private schools, when Clarence decided he’d rather go to the grammar school, they were able to use the saved money to upgrade their car and book a holiday. Not only that, Water and Kärt have found that the combination of a grammar school education with a rammed after school club schedule gives the children the best of both worlds. “We were concerned that private school potentially wouldn’t give them the same diversity of children and real-world experiences. We try really hard to give our children a well-rounded experience,” Walter says. “They’ve learnt so much: not only how to be magnanimous in defeat and how to put in effort whether you win, lose or draw.” But with such a busy routine, is there time for the children to ever feel bored, or use their imagination? “I do worry we’ve cultivated a situation where boredom and downtime aren’t a thing,” Walter admits. “But Clarence reads a lot, I think he’s better read than I am, so I’m not too worried. He told me he was bored on his commute to his new school so I’m hoping that he can start daydreaming on the train.” In Surrey, Rebecca Seymour’s son Bertie, six, has a similarly action-packed schedule. Rebecca added his name to the waiting list for Beavers, which offers scouting activities for six-to-eight-year-olds, when he was three. He does ballroom and Latin dance, reaching the finals of a dance competition in Blackpool recently. “I never expected to become a dance mum,” Rebecca says. On top of that, he does swimming, Stagecoach acting classes, and the odd Parkrun when the family can fit it in. Bertie has clubs every day except Thursdays and Sundays. Rebecca catches up on life admin on a Saturday when her son is at Stagecoach. “I feel a responsibility to give my son the chance to try things, the opportunity to see where he shines and a broad experience, meeting other children and adults,” says Rebecca, a solo mum who works full-time in Human Resources. Amy and Jimmy Chua’s three children, Leila, 13, Owen, 10 and Ella, five, have a timetable that Amy says ‘sounds ridiculous’ (Photo: Amy Chua) “I’m never going to be able to afford private school but I can do this for him. I went to a private school and of course you can’t compare an educational experience with clubs, but it’s a middle ground and what I choose to spend my money on,” she says. And, she believes the clubs have helped boost her son’s confidence hugely – a trait often associated with private school pupils. Bertie’s clubs cost her £600 per term, plus extra occasional private dance classes if a competition is coming up at £30 a lesson. She loves her son’s outstanding state primary school where all the students go for a “golden run” each day around the perimeter of the field, but she wishes there was more sport, so she also signed Bertie up for cricket over the summer term and he did tennis camp for a week in the summer holidays. “The one way I fail is he doesn’t get much time at home,” she admits. “I’ve changed his schedule now: he’s dropped football which he didn’t love, so he’s got nothing on a Sunday because it was getting a bit much. He’s an only child and I work hard so clubs give him chances to meet other people. He’s a child who needs routine. I possibly do an excessive amount of things but I struggle with the idea of him not getting the chance to try things.” Amy and Jimmy Chua’s three children, Leila, 13, Owen, 10 and Ella, five, have a timetable that Amy says “sounds ridiculous”, with swimming, tennis, jiu jitsu, Mandarin language and Chinese culture school on a Saturday, drama, Scouts and ballet. The family spends £600 a month on extracurricular clubs, the most expensive of which is Chinese school. Amy and Jimmy divide and conquer when it comes to transporting the children, while Leila is old enough to do it all herself. Amy is less worried about a private school experience for her children as such, but cares about giving her children opportunities she didn’t have as a child. “I’ve never looked at a private school, but from my understanding, the private schools around here are more about exams and smaller classes. The state schools around here are also really good, so on balance, taking into account the fees and other downsides, we didn’t think it was worth it. We’re very happy with our children’s schools,” she explains. “I was never very sporty and as soon as I lost interest, my parents didn’t give me that little bit of encouragement to show up so it becomes a routine.” For Amy, the benefits of clubs can also be holistic. “I think it’s wonderful to play an instrument and play a sport, it’s so good for mind and body. Leila meets up with her friends over the holidays to have a game of tennis. Chinese school is really good for the children’s racial identity because they are mixed race and Owen, who is dyslexic, found it easier to learn to draw Chinese characters than write English words.” And, crucially, these clubs teach her children the soft skills that they will need in the future, be it in the working world or their personal life. “They’re learning some grit to keep practising when things feel hard, which is a life skill. I wish my parents had pushed me a little bit more to do things.”