As much as I look forward to the school break, and having a break for routine (as well as not having to such off early in the morning), it can be difficult to be all things to all people when you’re a mum and work from home. The school holidays can be a bit of a juggle trying to get work done, and can mean working late into the night each evening (which then makes me more tired the next day). So as much as it is nice having the children home, when you’ve got work to do, you’ve got work to do.
My son has been to a sports camp in the day a few times before in school holidays, which has been handy, but up until now, my daughter hasn’t been old enough for it. That is, until I came across Camp Beaumont, who run school holiday programmes all over the south east, London, Surrey, and Essex, for children starting from age three, right up to 16 years of age. So my two, aged 5 and 7 would be able to attend together, and be signed up for the ‘Magic’ programme, which is for 5-7 year olds.
What I liked most about Camp Beaumont is that the hours are quite long, covering more than what would be just school hours. Meaning that you can drop the children off before 9am, and you can collect from 4.30pm up until 5.30pm. The children went to the Esher camp, held at Claremont Fan Court School, which is quite local to us, so it meant that I could get back home, get plenty of work done and then head back to pick them up later on. The school venue was incredible though, with huge grounds and a large sports centre; I was really impressed.
You can easily get a full day of work in, making it such a lifesaver for working parents in the holidays.
When you don’t have family close by or other arrangements for school holidays, it is something that can really be helpful.
Of course, it is only going to be helpful if it is enjoyable for children, somewhere that they want to keep going to, and somewhere that gives you peace of mind that your children will be taken care of in a safe environment. So I was pleased to see that the camps are regularly assessed and have Ofsted assessments and ratings, so you can see how they are doing.
What Did the Children Get Up To?
Other than needing the obvious childcare in the holidays for when you are working, there are other reasons why I would choose this kind of childcare in the school holidays. One of which is that the price is pretty reasonable, and once you’ve paid to go out for linch or some other activity, you might not have budget leftover to do the fun things with the children that they can do at Camp Beaumont. The children did things like cookie decorating in the morning, to trampolining, football, and go-karting in the afternoon.
These aren’t things that I’d really be able to do with them in the school holidays (other than cookie decorating perhaps), so it really helps them to have fun and try new things with a group of children their age. They haven’t stopped talking about what they did there the other day, and the things that they enjoyed. So it definitely sounds like they are making memories for life.
Another reason why I like these kinds of school holiday camps is that it helps them to be out of their comfort zone a little, as they will be meeting new people, making new friends, and having to get along with others. I think this is a little different to school, just because they already know their classmates. So this is something new for them and hopefully, will help to build their confidence in a social setting, as well as confidence in trying new things.
I don’t think that there was anything I could fault; the children had a really enjoyable day, the staff I spoke to were friendly and helpful, and the venue and activities on after were great. I would definitely book them in again when I next need childcare over the school holidays.