12/06/2024

Parent guide for summer camp

The excitement’s building for our summer holiday clubs! With 50 kids camps, we’re looking forward to a fun filled summer at Barracudas.

We know there’s lots of things for parents to do to organise activities in the school holidays and we want to make things as easy as possible.

The usual school routines are familiar, if possibly a little chaotic, but the school holidays shake things up a bit.

The good news is that because Barracudas provides a full day of fun, your holiday childcare is taken care of from 8.30am up to 5.30pm (not forgetting our Early and Late Club options!). 

We try to make things as easy as possible so it really couldn’t be simpler to manage the school holidays with Barracudas. Treat this as a holiday for you too, as you don’t need to worry about handing in homework, having lunch money or if they have after school clubs. You can also forget calculators, special coloured pens and pencil cases too!

To help you and your child get organised for camp, here’s a handy guide of how to prepare and what to bring along for their activity day at our summer camps:

Before you come

No doubt you’re fully on top of this part, but just a few handy hints before their first day to avoid delays or disappointment:

Double check your booking. It’s always a good idea to check the dates and location before you come. We lead busy lives, and mistakes happen!

Complete your Essential Information form. Every child needs a completed and updated form for each season at Barracudas. This is now a fully online process, so the good news is you don’t need to print it out. Just hop on to your account, or access through the parent app and update by midnight on the Sunday the week before they're due to join us at camp. This only needs to be done once during the season, no matter how many days or weeks they'll be joining us for.

Make sure you have the QR code for your child’s booking. This will be sent to you with your booking confirmation and is what you’ll need to sign your child in and out with our contactless system.

Download our parent app to get information about your booking and camp information on the go. You'll get easy access to check your bookings, complete your child’s Essential Information form, get directions to camp, find your contactless registration details plus a handy pre camp checklist. You'll also be able to see the timetable for your child's group on the day of camp!

What to wear

Barracudas offers a wide range of activities to suit every interest. With 6 sessions each day and a choice for each one, they’ll get the chance to take part in a variety of fun options this summer. From teamwork and sports to specialist sessions, *swimming, outdoor water fun and arts and crafts, the possibilities are endless.

First and foremost, your child should be comfortable at camp. We suggest easy to wear and flexible clothing. They could be running around a field or creating an artistic masterpiece, so practicality is key.

Please remember to keep them sun safe by applying sun cream before you come, bringing a hat and a bottle of sun cream so they can top up during their day at camp if needed.

*Available at some camps. Check your camp page for more information.

What to bring

Clothing

The British summer can be unpredictable, baking hot one day and potentially chillier or wetter the next. It's a good idea to keep an eye on the forecast and pack some layers if it's looking a bit mixed. They can peel them off and pop them back on depending on what they’re doing. Don't worry on this score either, Barracudas has full access to our venues, so there'll be plenty of fun available indoors, even if it's raining or even too hot to stay outside all day. 

Younger children may want to bring in spare shorts/t-shirt/leggings just in case, but this is a personal preference.

We also suggest bringing their swimming kit each day for some water fun. Your camp may have a swimming pool, if not there'll be an outdoor water park. We also have fun aqua slide sessions, which kids love to cool down.

Talking of swimming, our timetables are confirmed for each group on the morning of camp, considering external factors such as the weather and lifeguard availability, we can’t provide the activity choices in advance. They’ll just need their swimsuit/trunks and towel and goggles if they prefer. If they require buoyancy aids or swimming hats, we can provide these.

We do recommend that all clothing is clearly labelled so we can reunite you with them if they go walkabout. We have a dedicated lost property area in all our summer camp registration areas and suggest you have a look through this to double check nothing's been left behind.

Food and drink

We don’t offer *any food at camp so each child will need to come in with a packed lunch. As well as lunch we have a morning and afternoon break for children to recharge and refuel, so some additional snacks for these times should be included. All our camps are nut free, so please don't include any items that include nuts such as pesto, snack bars, or peanut butter.

There’s no access to fridges or food heating facilities at camp. We’d suggest preparing in the same way as you would for a school packed lunch, but remember it’s a busy and active day, so maybe a little more than usual! We’ve got some great tips for packed lunches at camp to help.

It can be thirsty work at camp so please send your child in with a refillable water bottle. We have numerous water stations available throughout our camps to keep children hydrated throughout the day.

*apart from HAF spaces at selected camps.

What not to bring

This part couldn’t be simpler. They shouldn't need anything else! They won’t need money, as there’s nothing to buy at camp. They won’t need any additional forms of entertainment, including toys, iPads, iPods or tablets.

We advise not bringing in mobile phones but can understand some older children who are making their way to and from camp on their own may want to take these. Phones will not be permitted to use during the day and are brought into camp at the owner's risk. Please also note that smart watches can only be used for checking the time!

As Barracudas can’t take responsibility for any items at camp please leave your valuables at home. On the odd occasion things can go missing. Whilst we make every effort to avoid this and to reunite you with any items found, we can’t guarantee this. We’d hate it if something precious, from jewellery to clothing or even lunch boxes were lost during their time with us.

We also offer lots of useful information and reminders to all bookers before their child comes to camp. You can also see our full Parent Guide for more details. Don’t worry, we’ve got your back!

We look forward to welcoming your child to our fun summer holiday clubs.