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Original poster

DD doesn't want to go to holiday camp anymore

73 replies

Geeko123 · 09/08/2023 07:59

DD has been going to Camp Beaumont this summer, about twice a week. She finished her school on the 5th July so she got to go before the state schools ended and she absolutely loved it.

This Monday she went again (after a week away) and came back very stressed. She said there was a lot of really bad behaviour and the camp leaders were shouting a lot. She had a very unsettled night and kept talking about it yesterday.

This morning she is supposed to go again and she refuses to go as she is scared. I have work to do and I can't get my money back, about £45. What do I do?!!

She's got a few more booked but on Friday she's supposed to go with a friend who is very nice and well behaved so she wants to go with him, but not alone.

I'm devastated she's so anxious to go as she is very outgoing and always up for going to all sorts of things. Has anyone gone through this? I am working part time and I can't have her home all the time.

OP posts:
Combusting · 10/08/2023 09:15

Marmite27 · 10/08/2023 09:12

I think you’ve missed the point of this quote….

It is not pointing out that girls can be badly behaved too, but picking up on your inference that the problems have started when the ‘state educated’ children arrived.

Show quote history

Quite. Not sure why other posters have not spotted this golden gem the OP sneaked in - that the problems appear to begin when the state school kids arrive. Uh oh.

edwinbear · 10/08/2023 09:17

It's a bit late for this year I realise, but my DC really hated Camp Beaumont. We only used it one year for a couple of weeks when their usual camp was closed for a fortnight for staff holidays. It was based at their usual school and I thought it would be easy and they would have lots of their school friends there, but it was really, really poor in comparison to their usual club.

I found the staff really inflexible, very young and inexperienced, the children never went off site and whilst we were promised lots of activities, the reality was they spent a lot of time sitting about, playing 'sleeping lions' and other activities to give the staff an easy life - it was also double the price of my usual club. We didn't go back. Our usual club took them out every single day, they'd go off bowling, to the cinema, local museums, picnics in the park, pond dipping, kite flying etc. I'd suggest having a look about for other local clubs for next school holidays.

Combusting · 10/08/2023 09:19

Anyway regardless of that - if you want some advice, speaking as the parent of a state school (!) 7 year old son - I’ve found he has always hated generic camps (Koosa kids is a top hate) and thrives in specific activity focused camps. Some top ones have been -

  1. Tech/code camp
  2. Cricket camp (or specific sport camp)
  3. Animal encounters/wild nature and camping skills camps

Usually at these ones there is less of the everyone get together in a circle to play a game in a hall and there are more focal points of attention and skills building.

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Families
edwinbear · 10/08/2023 09:21

Agree with @Combusting I suspect the reason some kids are playing up is because they are bored to tears. Definitely look for another club.

minipie · 10/08/2023 09:29

Speak to the camp leaders too, but maybe reassure her by saying that the misbehaving children were clearly told off and their parents called and told what they did, so they should be better behaved now? Because they should be, or they'll get kicked out. Make her understand when the camp leaders get cross, it's not her fault, it's the other children.

I agree with this.

I have no experience of Camp beaumont but my kids have done a lot of holiday camps and I would give two tips 1) variety - assuming you have a reasonable choice of clubs around, and 2) when they are little, do whatever you can to line up with friends, or even just other kids from their class even if not great friends. There’s often been a “what clubs is everyone doing” chat on our class whatsapp and it’s really useful for this. Don’t be shy about asking!

LittleMonks11 · 10/08/2023 09:31

I think being 5 may have much to do with her worries

How did she get on OP?

minipie · 10/08/2023 09:32

I don’t necessarily agree though that the generic camps are poor, mine have done Barracudas and Activ camp and love both - they are “all round” camps not specialist but they really make an effort with massive inflatables, venues with pools, things like archery go karts etc. We have been to another though which was run on a shoestring and was terrible! Everything was broken or only 2 bits of kit between 20+ kids.

Original poster
Geeko123 · 10/08/2023 09:32

edwinbear · 10/08/2023 09:17

It's a bit late for this year I realise, but my DC really hated Camp Beaumont. We only used it one year for a couple of weeks when their usual camp was closed for a fortnight for staff holidays. It was based at their usual school and I thought it would be easy and they would have lots of their school friends there, but it was really, really poor in comparison to their usual club.

I found the staff really inflexible, very young and inexperienced, the children never went off site and whilst we were promised lots of activities, the reality was they spent a lot of time sitting about, playing 'sleeping lions' and other activities to give the staff an easy life - it was also double the price of my usual club. We didn't go back. Our usual club took them out every single day, they'd go off bowling, to the cinema, local museums, picnics in the park, pond dipping, kite flying etc. I'd suggest having a look about for other local clubs for next school holidays.

That's interesting. The camp manager was very apologetic yesterday but also said it's probably DD's problem who is very sensitive to noise apparently as she didn't think there was very loud shouting or any violence, so she shouldn't have been quite so stressed.

I know she doesn't like extremely loud noises and a lot of disruption (the reason we moved her to a private school), but she's ok with a normal level of noise. DD was saying yesterday there were too many boys banging foot balls (individually) in this big sports hall (where they spend a lot of time), or playing football which she doesn't like. They were well behaved yesterday though so whatever happened on Monday was hopefully a one off.

I think the girls are outnumbered and the play is very boisterous, which doesn't suit her.

She loved it when there were fewer children, but hates it now. This is our first year doing camps and it's a learning curve for us.

OP posts:
Hoppinggreen · 10/08/2023 09:33

pacifictime · 09/08/2023 09:03

Seven year old boys can be naughty whether state or privately educated just saying

Did anyone suggest otherwise?

Original poster
Geeko123 · 10/08/2023 09:37

LittleMonks11 · 10/08/2023 09:31

I think being 5 may have much to do with her worries

How did she get on OP?

I took her in the morning and the camp leaders said to me that indeed there were a few incidents on Monday with some of the boys who come there every day and 'push boundaries' but that shouldn't happen again.

I did call at lunch time and they said DD wanted to come home despite having a good morning. I think she was tired as well having woken up at 6 am so I collected her at 2 pm.

Tomorrow she's going with a friend who is a bit like her, so hope they both have a lovely time. He's not into sports either but I'm hoping they can have other activities instead of playing football all afternoon.

OP posts:
Phos · 10/08/2023 09:39

It can sometimes just be the camp itself not being right for the child. We had the same last year, took DD to a multi sports thing at a tennis club she’s familiar with and she hated it (We figured out it was an issue with the tennis coach who ran it, basically he’s crap with young kids) but we subsequently found one at a local school, not her school but open to everyone, and she loves it.

Original poster
Geeko123 · 10/08/2023 09:41

minipie · 10/08/2023 09:32

I don’t necessarily agree though that the generic camps are poor, mine have done Barracudas and Activ camp and love both - they are “all round” camps not specialist but they really make an effort with massive inflatables, venues with pools, things like archery go karts etc. We have been to another though which was run on a shoestring and was terrible! Everything was broken or only 2 bits of kit between 20+ kids.

We keep an open mind and I do agree that you need to find the right one for your child. This one has gone very boisterous and football focused, so we need to find something that has a wider variety of activities and less sporty. She's going to Ultimate activity next week for 2 days which has more art and bouncy castles and playground play in her age group so I'm hoping she'll like it more.

OP posts:
Whinge · 10/08/2023 09:42

He's not into sports either but I'm hoping they can have other activities instead of playing football all afternoon.

Surely the holiday club should be providing activities, and making sure one activiy doesn't last all day. A quick look online suggests you're paying over £50 a day, and they're just letting the children spend the afternoon playing football. That's seriously shit. Do you have other options you could try?

MumblesParty · 10/08/2023 09:45

Is she going to camp on days you don’t work?

Original poster
Geeko123 · 10/08/2023 09:46

Whinge · 10/08/2023 09:42

He's not into sports either but I'm hoping they can have other activities instead of playing football all afternoon.

Surely the holiday club should be providing activities, and making sure one activiy doesn't last all day. A quick look online suggests you're paying over £50 a day, and they're just letting the children spend the afternoon playing football. That's seriously shit. Do you have other options you could try?

She's going to Ultimate Activity camp next week and although it sounds very active and sporty , it's got a better variety of activities, lots of art and playground play plus children can choose a different activity if they don't like the one that's been scheduled. She tried it once 2 weeks ago and loved, unfortunately they are fully booked for this summer so I barely managed to book 2 more days.

OP posts:
Original poster
Geeko123 · 10/08/2023 09:47

MumblesParty · 10/08/2023 09:45

Is she going to camp on days you don’t work?

No, just on the days I work. I work from home.

OP posts:
manontroppo · 10/08/2023 10:58

Whinge · 10/08/2023 09:42

He's not into sports either but I'm hoping they can have other activities instead of playing football all afternoon.

Surely the holiday club should be providing activities, and making sure one activiy doesn't last all day. A quick look online suggests you're paying over £50 a day, and they're just letting the children spend the afternoon playing football. That's seriously shit. Do you have other options you could try?

This. Our local club has a very structured timetable, one "big" activity planned morning and afternoon, some free play sessions in the play ground and then some more mixed activities.

My kids really hated (and refused to go back) to one club that was mainly staffed by bored teenagers, where other kids had their Switches with them, but outside of the planned swimming and trampolining sessions, they were left in a hall with some felt tips.

Summerswimmer998 · 10/08/2023 11:05

I used a childminder for school holidays, the small group of 4-6 kids was much better for my DD who couldn’t cope with noisy clubs. Two CMs worked together to do days out and crafty stuff.

passthesugar · 10/08/2023 11:18

This is typical of camp Beaumont in my experience. Kids are allowed to misbehave and play aggressively, which makes the younger/shyer ones intimidated and potentially at risk.

Please speak with the on-site staff as well as their management. If the situation has terrified your DD to the extent she refuses to go, I'd be demanding a refund for your unused days and telling them why.

Original poster
Geeko123 · 10/08/2023 11:22

Summerswimmer998 · 10/08/2023 11:05

I used a childminder for school holidays, the small group of 4-6 kids was much better for my DD who couldn’t cope with noisy clubs. Two CMs worked together to do days out and crafty stuff.

That's such a good idea. I did look into this but in our area all the childminders I spoke to look after much younger children with the odd one or two in the school holidays who are older. I'll research more next summe.

OP posts:
Original poster
Geeko123 · 10/08/2023 11:25

passthesugar · 10/08/2023 11:18

This is typical of camp Beaumont in my experience. Kids are allowed to misbehave and play aggressively, which makes the younger/shyer ones intimidated and potentially at risk.

Please speak with the on-site staff as well as their management. If the situation has terrified your DD to the extent she refuses to go, I'd be demanding a refund for your unused days and telling them why.

I'll see how she's doing tomorrow and if she really doesn't want to go again I'll have to ask for a refund for the last 2 session. We are definitely not booking them again for future holidays.

OP posts:
Original poster
Geeko123 · 10/08/2023 11:39

Combusting · 10/08/2023 09:15

Quite. Not sure why other posters have not spotted this golden gem the OP sneaked in - that the problems appear to begin when the state school kids arrive. Uh oh.

Show quote history

The problems appeared when all schools finished, meaning from a group of 9 children in her age group they went to 30 or more. Nothing to do with the state school children being in one way or another. I think there are always a few people looking for things to get offended by.

OP posts:
PenguinPete · 10/08/2023 11:42

Geeko123 · 09/08/2023 07:59

DD has been going to Camp Beaumont this summer, about twice a week. She finished her school on the 5th July so she got to go before the state schools ended and she absolutely loved it.

This Monday she went again (after a week away) and came back very stressed. She said there was a lot of really bad behaviour and the camp leaders were shouting a lot. She had a very unsettled night and kept talking about it yesterday.

This morning she is supposed to go again and she refuses to go as she is scared. I have work to do and I can't get my money back, about £45. What do I do?!!

She's got a few more booked but on Friday she's supposed to go with a friend who is very nice and well behaved so she wants to go with him, but not alone.

I'm devastated she's so anxious to go as she is very outgoing and always up for going to all sorts of things. Has anyone gone through this? I am working part time and I can't have her home all the time.

The fact that you even needed to mention state schools is just appalling.

You are blaming the poor for upsetting your daughter?
Not even the poor as most don't have almost £100 a week for their kid to goof off..

Read your post before you hit send. You're just coming across as snobby.

Original poster
Geeko123 · 10/08/2023 11:46

PenguinPete · 10/08/2023 11:42

The fact that you even needed to mention state schools is just appalling.

You are blaming the poor for upsetting your daughter?
Not even the poor as most don't have almost £100 a week for their kid to goof off..

Read your post before you hit send. You're just coming across as snobby.

Show quote history

Please tell me exactly how I should have worded it as English is not my first language! I mean seriously. I need a lesson.

State schools finish last and this is when the camp became very busy and overwhelming.

OP posts:
edwinbear · 10/08/2023 11:46

Are you in SE London by any chance OP? If so, I can send you a DM with details of the one we used for many years.