SCHOOL HOLIDAY DAY CAMPS FOR KIDS AGED 4 TO 16 YEARS OLD

2021 Schedule & COVID-19 Update

18/01/2021:

Since the latest national lockdown on 5th January, we’ve been working non-stop to understand what it means for our planned February half-term camps. We are passionate about supporting working parents as best we can through this pandemic and are proud that we have run COVID-safe camps throughout 2020, and were hoping to do the same in February Half Term. With the new strain proving to be far more transmissible, we have looked at many options to make our camps even more COVID-secure in line with the strict government guidance on mixing bubbles.

However, upon speaking with our fantastic host school partners, we feel the right thing to do is to encourage everyone to stay at home and delay our 2021 launch until Easter Camps, where we hope the situation improves in line with the vaccination program. Our host schools are preparing for mass-testing of their high school students, so require sports halls and open spaces that we usually occupy to do this. So it is with a heavy heart that we will no longer be able to operate during February Half Term. If you have a booking for February half term, our team will be in touch shortly to help you move it to a holiday later in the year.

We’re gearing up for our biggest and best-ever Easter Camps! We’re excited to see you and we’ll of course have the high levels of COVID-safe protocols you’ve come to expect from us. Below is our proposed Schedule for 2021… we hope it will be our busiest year yet, pandemic or not! The aim is to help you plan your year and childcare plans as best you can, along with your annual leave requests. We will stagger the launch of each school holiday event throughout the year so you can always book for the upcoming school holidays. We are unable to offer our usual Winter Sale discount for the year because of the restriction of bubbles of 15 on childcare currently. We hope that once these restrictions are eased as the pandemic declines with the vaccination program, we will be able to provide an Early Summer Booking promotion for our loyal customers to save money on their lengthy summer holiday childcare. Watch this space…

In summary, this is what we will be asking from our bookers in 2021:

• BUBBLES: All children will be placed in ‘bubbles’ of 15 children. This means there will be, at most, two bubbles in each day camp course, per day. (30 spaces available in Early Explorers, 30 in Creative Crew, 30 in Adrenaline Adventure and 6 in Next Generation). This is a lot less than previous years so spaces will be limited so please do not delay in securing your booking. Bubbles will be organised initially by age, so for example in Adrenaline Adventure all 7-9-year-olds will be in a bubble and 10 – 12-year-olds will be in the other bubble. If you have some friends joining on the same dates as you then feel free to add this into your “Booking Notes” so Leaders can organise as best as they can.
• LEADERS: The same activity leaders in each bubble for the whole week. This will allow stringent deep cleaning routines of facilities and equipment before and after use.
• PREFERRED WEEK-LONG BOOKINGS: Individual day bookings are still allowed but we would advise week-long bookings where you can (Mon – Fri)  to keep the bubbles consistent across sessions as much as possible. Why not make the most of our 5 days for the price of 4 deal on week-long bookings at just £140!
• SINGLE CHILDCARE SETTING: Parents are advised to avoid using multiple childcare providers during school holiday periods. We would suggest if using School’s Out Activities in a school holiday, then we are your sole childcare provider. This is a government recommendation.
• TRANSPORT: Parents are advised not to use public transport when sending their children into camp. This is another government recommendation.
• SOCIALLY DISTANCED DROP OFF: We will be implementing a one-way system socially distanced drop off and collection points at all venues and courses this year. This means reception points will just be inside doorways and families will need to queue 2m apart using the stickered lines on the floor. We will be limiting adults inside the facilities so please pack an umbrella in case you are queued outside.
• HAND WASHING: Full hand washing routines will be implemented throughout the day. Where possible different bubbles will have sole use of their own toilet facilities, with controlled access whilst in use. Parents are welcome to pack their own hand gel sanitizer for their child to use.
• RISK ASSESSMENTS: Full risk assessments have been completed on the sites we use and all of the activities we deliver. This does mean some of the timetables may be adjusted. We can implement swimming at our Ipswich venue, yet with deep-cleaning routines required in changing rooms, swimming sessions may be shorter and some children asked to arrive to camp already in their swimming costumes under their clothes.  The end-of-week show will not be open to parents and families to come to watch this year. Instead, performances will be filmed in their bubbles and published to social media for families to watch. This has proven very popular, make sure to check out our Facebook page on Saturday afternoons when all videos for the preceding week will be uplaoded!
• MASKS: In line with government guidance our staff will not be required to wear masks unless they are delivering intimate care such as first aid. Again children are welcome to bring masks but they will be responsible for putting them on and off as leaders cannot do this. Masks are not compulsory for this age of children.
• CLINICALLY EXTREMELY VULNERABLE CHILDREN: Please seek expert medical advice if anybody in your family home bubble is considered extremely clinically vulnerable and whether it is safe for your child to attend.
• SYMPTOMS: Children must not attend if they or anybody in their household experience any of the following symptoms:
  – A high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
  – A new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
  – A loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you’ve noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal

  You must inform The Camp Manager and/or Head Office in the event of experiencing any symptoms.

As a childcare provider, we understand the importance of keeping all children, staff and families who visit our sites safe. It is great that we can welcome back children to our camps to finally experience outdoor play, activities and all of the social benefits that come from time spent at camp.

DAY CAMPS WITH SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE!

School’s Out Activities has designed four fun-filled and action-packed day camps to cater for all ages and interests. Select a day camp below to find out more: