Pictures of the week: 3.30 Project, by Maria Spann

For those who spend their lives ushering children to seemingly endless after-school activities, the scenes depicted by photographer Maria Spann in 3:30 Project will be familiar. → Photograph: Maria Spann

The rush to ensure that children arrive on time for their classes or clubs, and are dressed in the appropriate kit, leaves everyone exhausted. → Photograph: Maria Spann

After the dash across town, there is a moment or two of calm before. 'Invariably, there’s a wait of a few minutes when everybody’s ready before it starts,' Spann says. 'The children just glaze over, because they’re actually quite knackered.' → Photograph: Maria Spann

It is these brief moments between activities that Spann has sought to capture in her photographs, set against the municipal or church hall buildings where the clubs often take place. 'I think they make quite pretty backdrops,' Spann says, 'even though they’ve got paint flaking off the walls.' → Photograph: Maria Spann

The project started with a picture of Spann’s own daughter, but quickly expanded to include other weary youngsters in north London, where the photographer lives. → Photograph: Maria Spann

While Spann believes that such extracurricular ventures provide a good opportunity for schoolchildren to “move about and not be thinking about maths or grammar”, occasionally her photographs capture the moments when it all becomes too much. → Photograph: Maria Spann

A shot of two girls perched on a window sill before their ballet class reveals that one of them is so exhausted she’s in tears. → Photograph: Maria Spann

By contrast, the boys in the shot Before Karate appear to be rather enjoying their moment of lethargy, completely unaware of Spann’s presence. 'When they’re six, they can easily ignore you,' she says, 'especially if you’re boring and don’t say anything. They’re in their own little world.' Photograph: Maria Spann