To be angry with holiday camp?!?!

Don’t be too stressed about the staffing. DD worked at one these to earn a bit extra a few summers ago. She was fresh out of teacher training. She was safeguarding and first aid trained. I’m sure from the outside she looked like a teenager but she was deffo a safe pair of hands.

There does seem to have been a miscommunication on all sides. The office staff behind the scenes doing the admin should make it clear that it was the trip for the whole day or nothing. If I were you I would probably have checked with them. I think the staff running the trip today should have picked up on her only being signed up for a half day too. So everyone made assumptions.

This. She’s 8 not a baby. So she should have said something.

BUT your assumption was very reasonable. I’m more shocked that there was no permission slip.

I mean..how far from London are you? Surely there would have been permission slips to sign?

Very odd you didn't get a call. At 8 years old surely your dd would have mentioned she was to be picked up at lunchtime and wasn't meant to go to London?

OP I am surprised they would take her on a full day trip when you only paid for half a day and it's odd that you apparently gave permission for the trip.

But please stop being dramatic. Teenager/20 somethings are not irresponsible and your dd will not give a toss that she "missed" an afternoon with you (what, the grand total of 3-4 hours?) before you go back to work in September. In fact she may well prefer the trip!

This is a one off misunderstanding really no need to be angry.

I cant imagine they have enough staff at low paid holiday camp to leave someone behind for 1 or 2 kids. Thst would be a much higher ratio than they can afford.

Your child is probably having a great time!

I can understand the annoyance of expecting to pick her up at a certain time and finding she wasn’t there, but can’t understand why you have a problem with her going to London.

When my DD went to a holiday programmes at a school, if there was a trip then they all went on the trip, there was no-one staying back so it wouldn’t have been an option not to go. It was only when she went to a very large YMCA one that there were options for trip or no trip.

They have absolutely failed in communication with you BUT surely if they are holiday camp staff they are all PVG checked. The camp will have complied with ratios and surely done some health and safety planning? It's really good for kids to get out and about with people who are not family as it helps foster independence and resilience so I would be wary of letting personal anxieties overrule. Having said this we don't know the staff or the situation so you could be right but I wouldn't blanket rule all trips with every organisation as something to get stressed about because the kids will pick up on that.

It sounds like there was some miscommunication.

But you really don’t need to worry - central London is not a war zone or some sort of dystopian “bad land”.

You seem quite intense. And anxious.

if you are doing KIt you are on mat leave so you must be off work the rest of the time with her at least for some of the holidays. ?
you are being quite up uptight about the interruptions to you spending time with her when she’s probably having a ball in London and it will be a good summer holiday memory for her.

the question the club taking her without your permission is odd and a different thing.

in your shoes I’d pick that as my battle
not that they interrupted your afternoon plans unless it was critical
like hospital appt/ wedding /funeral.

Re people talking about cost... there ckuld be no cost if the OP lives in London (just not central) and its a free venue like a museum. Buses etc are free for children.

The odd but is just she hasnt paid for the afternoon

I think there’s been some miscommunication and I’d check the terms of what you signed up for at booking and whether in doing so you were giving permission for any local trips and activities the camp organises. From your username I am guessing you are in London i.e. SE18? So even though they’ve taken a trip to central London, it may well be part of what parents signed up for booking the camp and not something they ask for additional permission for.

Try not to worry. All the camp supervisors will be properly trained even if they seem young - plenty of childcare staff are in their late teens and early twenties. Just speak to the organiser or manager when you collect her and establish the sort of communication you want in future around any activity which isn’t based at the centre the camp is held at.

I think I have a similar camp nearby (or potentially the same if your username is related to your location) - and they do a day trip every Friday. It’s surprising that you were able to book a half day if they couldn’t provide this service.

I bet she is having a fabulous time.

Because she'd had a text about them going on the trip and it's pretty normal to have a chat with those looking after your child for the day?

So you knew there was a trip on but didn't query what was going to happen about your lunchtime pick up when you dropped her off?

The club my DC goes to does a cinema trip and a park trip, we have to opt out if we don't want them to attend.

Why would she? Half day booked as normal.

Your assumption was reasonable - if you could book for half a day, it means half a day was an option.

Someone on their side has messed up.

You have done nothing wrong, you booked a morning, you expected a morning!

I don’t understand why you didn’t speak to anyone when you dropped her off.

I mean you can discuss this till your blue in the face it will change nothing
i’m guessing it’s like the one we sent ours to and it was all covered by the original paper which says something very general like all organised trips
the logic you applied would be more relevant to a nursery for than this type of pop up childcare

it get your pissed off an assumption on both sides kicking off you might find there’s mysteriously no spaces if you ever try to book her in again

I understand why you feel worried, I didn’t feel comfortable with my DD doing these kind of trips when she was young. Likely I was a bit over anxious but I just didn’t like the idea of it. But I don’t think there is a need to be angry with the holiday club as it would have been better to ask for clarification earlier rather than assume.

My son’s holiday care. Trip days all staff go and the centre is closed. This ensures there is enough cover for the children’s safety. They will have done a risk assessment.
This is standard so all parents know.

When your daughter comes back she will have had a brilliant time and her joy will mean you may be a little less cross.

So you booked your child in on the day of a London trip but just presumed she would stay behind? That's absolutely bonkers.

Most holiday camps have itineraries for the week and you pick the days you think your child would like. Surely if the itinerary for the week said 'London day trip' you wouldn't bother booking that day because you only want half days/don't want child leaving the camp.

I don't think you can be angry with the camp when it is you who misunderstood. Although there does seem to be some poor communication by the camp regarding the day trip to London.

I think it would depend for a me a bit on where the holiday camp was based. if it was based in say Putney i'd probably feel different to if it was based in Coventry.