Customer Stories

St Peter’s CE Primary set up a holiday club in about 5 minutes on its after-school club booking system

St Peter’s Church of England (VA) Primary School in Hertfordshire runs a breakfast club, an after school club and holiday clubs – the before and after school provision known as wraparound care. Michael has been head teacher for seven years. Sara-Jane is PA to the senior leaders, the admissions officer, and works front of house.

Before MagicBooking, booking a club place meant a parent phoning the school with the slot they wanted.

Booking a club place meant phoning the school

Before MagicBooking, a parent who wanted a club place had to call the school with the slot they wanted. Michael describes how the school’s approach had developed over a couple of years.

“We have, over the couple of years, used a range of different ones. We’ve had traditional club booking processes. So you were to call the school with a slot. That was quite laborious, quite slow.”

As the club filled up, the system gave the office no waiting list either, so the school had to generate one itself.

Looking for something tighter, and asking other schools

The school had also used another provider’s booking system for a while. Reviewing it, the office found it did not meet the standard it needed.

“We looked at what we had, [...] and noticed that it wasn’t quite as tight as we needed it to be.”

The search for a replacement started with a web search and with neighbouring schools, rather than a formal tender.

“So we did a bit of Googling and we contacted local schools that said that MagicBooking was highly recommended. In the meeting, because the system was such high quality, we actually said we wanted to move forward.”

A training session within about a week

Moving a school club booking system across can stall a term. At St Peter’s, Michael describes the gap between first conversation and training as short, and the school reports no issues since.

“It was quite a quick turnaround from speaking to MagicBooking to having a training session. I think it was about a week, so it was a very quick turnaround for us.”

A holiday club created in about five minutes, and parents who book for themselves

Asked what has changed the most, the office points to parents. For the clearest example of how it works now, Sara-Jane describes creating a holiday club.

“What’s changed the most is that the parent engagement has increased significantly. The system is so much easier to use that they are able to book sessions without us having to do it.”

“We have a holiday club coming up, and it was really easy just to jump on there and create the club. It was done within about 5 minutes and then was shipped out to parents to start booking straight away.”

A waiting list the office can clear, and a system the whole school can use

For wraparound care that fills quickly, the waiting list was the gap the school felt most. Sara-Jane explains what changed.

“Our school club got so busy that we didn’t have a waiting list – we had to generate one ourselves, which, when you’ve got lots of parents calling in and they need that day… whereas MagicBooking has a waiting list that you can just go into and clear if you’ve got the spaces, which is so much easier for us.”

The system is not confined to the office. Staff running breakfast club and after school club can open it too.

“The guys who are in after school club and breakfast club and all the other staff can easily access it as well, so it’s not just an office-based system. Everyone within the school can access it and use it, which is great.”

The school has not put a figure on the time saved, but the office team is clear about the direction.

“I would say go for it, because it really has saved the office team a lot of time.”

The final word

Michael’s advice to other schools weighing up a switch is short.

“They should definitely go for it. We haven’t had any issues. There’s no holding back, really.”

Want club bookings, waiting lists and holiday clubs in one place? Book your free demo and see how MagicBooking could give your office team their time back.