When organising and charging for non-curricular activities, it's essential to use the correct feature in Arbor: a Wraparound Care Club, a Standard Club, the School Shop or a Trip. All three options offer different forms of scheduling, booking and payment options, so taking the time to choose the right fit ensures correct attendance logging, accurate guardian sign-up options, and proper financial accounting.
Wraparound Care Clubs
Use the Wraparound Care Club feature for recurring activities that are typically structured around out-of-school hours, such as breakfast clubs or after-school care. Wraparound care allows for flexibility in your pricing
Key Characteristics
Purpose: Out-of-school hours care that may involve meals
How to recognise one: When you click on a Wraparound Care Club from the School > Activities > Clubs page to get the club's Overview Page, you see the Club type listed as Wraparound care club in the Club Details section
Payment: Wraparound care sessions/intervals can be paid or free.
Wraparound care is paid for by topping up an account balance linked to the club. This allows parents to sign their child up for sessions without making payments first (if signups without enough balance are permitted).
It is also possible to enable voucher payments for wrap-around care.
Structure: Based on specific session intervals. This allows you to set different prices for different blocks of time within one session (e.g., 7:30 AM–8:00 AM vs. 7:30 AM–9:00 AM).
Pricing is set up per student group, allowing you to offer discounted rates for specific students and groups easily.
Booking: Admins and guardians can sign a student up. Guardians can only book one session interval per day.
Example: A Breakfast Club running from 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM, where parents can book an early slot or the full session; Meals are provided for the club; siblings are discounted, and childcare voucher payments are accepted.
Find our Wraparound Care Club Setup series here: Wraparound Care Setup
Standard Clubs
Use the Standard Club feature for recurring extra-curricular activities that are not based on time intervals or out-of-hours care. For standard clubs, it is harder to offer discounted rates for certain student groups, and voucher payments are not possible.
Key Characteristics
Purpose: General extra-curricular activities
How to recognise one: When you click on a Wraparound Care Club from the School > Activities > Clubs page to get the club's Overview Page, you do not see a Club type listed in the Club Details section
Payment: Standard Clubs can be paid or free.
Standard clubs are paid for at the point of booking, not through an account balance. It is not possible to use child care vouchers with standard clubs.
Parents cannot sign their child up as a fully confirmed club member without completing payments or a school admin confirming them as a member.
Structure: Fixed-time sessions (e.g., 3:30 PM–4:30 PM). You can set up pricing per session or in bulk (e.g., per week, month, or term).
Booking: Admins and guardians can sign a student up If multiple sessions are scheduled on the same day, guardians can book and sign up for all of them
Example: A **Football Club** every Tuesday from 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM, where all participants pay the same amount, but you may offer discounted rates for bulk booking sessions.
Find our Standard Clubs setup series here: Setting Up Standard Clubs
Trips
The Trip feature is used for single, specific, non-recurring events, particularly those that require payment, consent, and potentially a defined staff-to-student ratio.
Key Characteristics
Purpose: One-off events that take place outside of the normal school day, such as educational visits, residential trips, or school plays.
How to recognise one: Trips are accessed via School > Activities > Trips, so if the activity is listed here, it is a trip. To double-check, go to the activities Overview Page; if the top section is called Trip Details this is a trip.
Payment: Trips can be paid or free.
Trips are paid for at the point of purchase, not from a running account balance. You have the option to allow instalments, voluntary contributions, and you can set up an automatic confirmation threshold to act as a deposit.
Structure: Single, continuous event that may require financial tracking (payments), online bookings available and parental consent can be collected. You can set different prices for different student groups to offer discounts within the same trip.
Booking: Admins and guardians can sign a student up. Students are signed up for the single event, and payments are collected for the total cost of the trip.
Example: A Year 6 visit to a museum, a ski trip or tickets for the School Production.
Find our Trip setup series here: Setting up a Trip - Step-by-step
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