Where are all the full day holiday clubs?

[Bananapark]

I am really struggling to find any holiday clubs that actually cover the working day or even a normal school day. 10-2, 9.30 to 3.30, 8.30 to 3 clubs everywhere.

Am I missing something, but how is that helpful to the average full time working parent? I can manage to work between school hours but I can’t even find a club that cover those hours.

Childminders are like gold dust here and there’s no chance of one to cover just for the holidays. No family nearby. Have I overlooked something obvious?!

I used to wonder how those timings could be useful to anyone (apart from the lucky people with flexible/school-hours work). Then I realised that there are a lot of grandparents who can't cope with the grandkids for the whole day, but can cope with doing the wrap-around care. It may work for those with older kids who work from home too, as they can probably use TV for the rest of the day.

If childcare was plentiful, the provision would evolve to match what's needed in each area. Because there's an overall shortage, I guess it's more profitable to run a short day, so unless they can't fill it, they'll stick with that.

Can you find a teenage babysitter for the wrap-around?

We used Camp Beaumont in the past. If you are in the SE or SW. They do full days.

YANBU.

Our nursery runs an out of school club in a separate facility, and the school's after school club runs holiday childcare too. Both of those cover nursery hours.

Is there anything like that in your area? Both of those take kids who don't attend in term time.

Other than that the closest to ft here is scouts (don't need to be going to scouts otherwise) at 9-4. I think the leisure centre offers a sports camp at a very reasonable price that's a reasonably full day too but I'm afraid I don't know the hours.

What childcare do you use during term?

We used to use the YMCA , they were excellent but no idea where they operate.

DS goes to holiday club run by his old nursery. It's for up to 11 year olds. They go out as much as possible and you can book the hours you want between 8am - 6pm. It's a godsend.

Kings Camp and the local International School work best for us. Both 8:15am to 5:30pm.

Kings Camp needs booking months ahead (I book summer camps in Feb for example).

Camp Beaumont
Barracudas

Thanks all I will look into some of your suggestions.
I manage to work between school hours but have to be at work at 9 and can’t leave before 3. Occasionally 5 but a mum friend will collect kids as we help each other.

You are not being unreasonable. This is one of the reasons I became a teacher. I could never understand how other families make the summer work.

We've used Barracudas in the past and they were amazing but expensive....not sure if they're country wide. King Camps and Super Camps are others near us. We live in Hertfordshire.

My daughter wasn't so keen once she reached 8/9 though and luckily I've mostly worked from home since covid so manage with a 10-3 art club plus a few hours of healthy neglect at either end and a few days here and there with family/friends. She'd absolutely have to suck it up and go to barracudas if I was office bound every day.

Pre-covid there were some local offerings in leisure centres but they weren't as good and don't seem to have returned.

We're in London and have used Mother Nature Science, Holiday Academy, Activ Day camps.

Limetrees in Nottinghamshire offers full day holiday club provision or hours to your choosing.

Have you checked local sports centres? My kids went to one that was all day

I always laugh when people, with the best of intentions, point to all the clubs run locally during the holiday period. With the exception of the one run by the after-school they only cover standard school hours e.g. 9am-3pm. Fine for those with childcare e.g. grandparents, or with a parent who doesn't work, but no use at all for those working standard office hours. So frustrating.

I consider myself lucky. My local club does either 9-3 or 8-6. A lot of clubs didn't seem to open after covid, but I have noticed a few more popping up. We do live very close to a city in the south of England

Check out the ones run by or at the local private schools - they tend to be for longer days. Our nearest private school has a holiday club open from 7.30am to 6.30pm which apparently matches their termtime wrap around offering so the working parents just stick with that.

I am in a village in East Sussex so perhaps does not help.

www.barracudas.co.uk/

These are really good and longer hours 0800-1700

From reading this thread I count myself very fortunately, as there are several holiday clubs in our area that run within the hours of 8am - 6pm including Kings Camp.

I work for SuperCamps in the holidays. We operate 8-6, but I don't mind saying, it's quite expensive. It's targeted roughly at the private school crowd, as the owner company own and operate private schools all over the country, and we use private school sites for the camp.
It's not nationwide though. They thin out a lot once you're north of Herts. There's one in Milton Keynes and one in Birmingham. The rest are spread around the home counties, London, and south of London.

DDs going to a camp run by CSS, we're west Sussex. I think it runs 8.30-4. don't know if they run in East Sussex

For the camp we use the regular hours are 10-4 and then they offer early drop off and late collection for extra (so essentially it’s 8:30 to 4:30 I’m lucky that I have flexibility and so I work from home in the morning and then drop them for 10 and collect later. Or I just work from home and drop and collect them. It’s reasonable at 100 per week per child.

I had the same issue as you and discovered Just Camps. I had been using a childminder previously but she stopped doing school holidays.
They have locations in the West Midlands/ Worcestershire/ Gloucestershire areas and do wrap around cover from 8am to 5.30pm. Their prices are pretty good too, I pay £35 a day with the wrap around cover with their early bird special. You can use most childcare voucher providers as well.
I've used them the last 2 years for my daughter as they're near my work and she loves it!

The 10-3 type clubs aren't really aimed at working parents, they're for getting the kids out for SAHPs or GPs. Frustratingly so.

The 8.30-early pm clubs would work if I took a half day off in the afternoon.

At nearly 16 and nearly 13, were leaving the dc alone for some days this summer.
I'll wfh or hand days on other days.