Welcome

Firstly, thank you for booking with us this Easter from Tuesday April 10 until Friday April 13.  It is nice to have so many of you join us this year. This 'Parent Guide' contains a comprehensive clothing list, last minute checklist, directions and a map.

If you should have any queries at all, please ring us - Brian and Sue Churchill - on 01778 344450 and we will do our best to help you. 

How to find us

The camp takes place at Peterborough High School (formerly known as Westwood House) on Thorpe Rd, Peterborough. The school entrance is clearly signposted on the left handside of Thorpe Rd before the District Hospital coming from the west of Peterborough. As you come down the school driveway, you will see our camp signs directing you to the parking area. Our staff will be there to meet you and direct you to the camp reception area.

You will find a map attached with directions to help you. Click here »

Arrival and collection

• 8.00am  - 9.00        For children who have booked the Early Care service
• 9.00am - 9.30am     Children arrive for registration, supervised activities.
• 9.30am - 10am        Guided tour for parents, please ask at reception

Parents who have booked the Early Care service may arrive from 8.00am.  On the first morning, all the children and parents will be met by the staff, any tuck shop money and /or medications (clearly named please) should be signed over at this point. The children are allocated their group (all groups have names) and introduced to their group leader. They are then taken to the main hall for supervised activities until the programmed activities start for each group at 9.30am. All the children will be shown the key facilities e.g. toilets, assembly point for break and lunch time, junior base (where applicable) etc. as part of their first morning on the site. Activities start straight away to minimise any possible shyness.

For any parent who would like a site tour, this will take place immediately after the timetable has started. You are most welcome to stay for the tour but it is worth noting that the sight of a parent can upset an already shy/nervous child and may just tip the balance that first morning!

A timetable showing each of the group's activities for the week is posted in reception and any spare places for the extra off-site activities-horse riding and dry ski-ing, are advertised here. You will also normally find John, our camp manager, here to sort out any problems you might have. Any T-shirts/caps that have been purchased in advance will be distributed to the children during their first morning. Our individually designed camp T shirts/caps (£6/£5.00) can also be purchased any time during the week from reception.

Please make sure that you send all medical information in advance to our office so that we can brief all the staff accurately on your behalf before the camp starts and don't forget to leave any medications (clearly identified) with the camp manager when you drop your family off.

• 4.30pm - 4.45pm     Children are collected from the camp
• 4.45pm - 5.30pm     For children who have booked the Late Care service

Parents who have booked the Late Care service can collect up to 5.30pm.  All children must be signed out by a member of our staff for their safety. As you leave, if we are unsure as to who you are, you may be asked your identity, please do not be offended by this!

Lunch / break times

Cold drinks and biscuits will be supplied by the camp during breaks but all children must come supplied with a packed lunch. There is also a small tuck shop open during the breaks selling fizzy drinks, sweets etc. We recommend that children bring a maximum of £1 per day spending money and as little as 20p for the younger ones, and this should be lodged with the staff at the start of the week/day. For the lunchtime activities the children will be in mixed age groups. They have the opportunity to choose an activity from a prepared list that is introduced earlier in the morning by their instructor. There will be a different range of lunchtime activities each day. This often gives them the chance to repeat an activity they have enjoyed earlier in the week.

Mum/Dad - at Peterborough: please don't forget the packed lunch!

What To Wear!

There is no point in being smartly dressed for this type of holiday, although we appreciate that most children like to look the part! Below is a suggested list of clothes to wear and spare equipment to bring each day to help you with the packing.

With the very youngest children, you may want to add extra underwear etc. to this list just in case although we do carry some spares. All equipment necessary for the activities will be provided by us but if your child would like to bring any particular item, please make sure it is clearly labeled and that we know about it.

Notes:

• Horse riding - some children find it more comfortable to wear Wellington boots when riding and it is essential to come wearing a pair of trousers with a waterproof handy as it can get quite cold and windy sat up on a horse. Children are welcome to bring their own riding hat if they have one but please make sure a member of staff knows that it has been brought in.  This will normally take place the second morning of the Easter camp(TBC) at Glinton 
• Younger children - occasionally we have hot weather at Easter, so if your child is susceptible to sunburn, please try to make sure that they have cream on before they come to us. We do carry sun tan cream in our first aid kits, but it takes a long time to get ready to go out if we have to cream up several children in each group! A hat for protection is a good idea as we spend a lot of time outside.

Swimming

The children will go off site by coach to swim, this will normally take place at Stamford High school on the Thursday morning (TBC), so please be prepared and send your children with their swimming gear that day. Quality armbands are provided for all age ranges and there will be four members of staff on duty in the pool and at least one will be an RLSS qualified lifeguard. All the children are given a swimming test before they go swimming so that their ability and safety in the water can be assessed.

Parents - please don't forget the WET swimming things at the end of the day

How are the groups arranged?

We normally group children according to age and they are split up into 1 year age bands e.g. there will be a group of 4/5 year olds, a group of 6/7 years olds and so on. However the oldest group may have a 3 year age spread. If you have asked us to put friends/family together, we will do our best to arrange this. If we feel that the age difference is too great, we would discuss this with you.

For the most part, the children stay in the same group with the same group leader for the whole of the week, this particularly applies to the younger children. It is only when a specialised activity is timetabled e.g. swimming that they might find they have a different instructor.

Extra activity-Horse riding: £20

The extra activity sessions take the best part of a half-day and include expert tuition, all equipment and transport to/from the site. Children will be reminded the day before when they are doing their activity and told whether they need to bring any special clothing (see What To Wear).  Due to a change in ownership at Tallington Lakes, we can no longer offer a competitive rate for their activities (windsurfing, sailing & dry slope ski-ing).  We are looking for alternative activities/venues for next year.

The children are taken off site by a member of our staff either by car or in our purpose bought 'people carrier' both of which have seat belts for all passengers.

Tasters_£70

If you have booked a taster and find that you would like to extend to the full week, simply let either your child’s group instructor know or visit reception when you come back into the camp.  The balance payable for an extension is £55 for the 4 day camp and £80 for the full week camp and the reception staff or the camp manager can help you with this.  If you make a decision after you have left the camp on Wednesday night, please feel free to ring the office on 01778 344450 and we will confirm your place.  Tasters are reserved for first timers only.

Fancy dress

On the last day of the camp we run a theme day where the children get dressed up, have their faces painted if they want and enter the fancy dress competitions. So be prepared and hunt out their favourite outfit now!

Early/Late Service £20 per week/£2 per session

Lost property

Lost property is always displayed in the reception area, please make a point of checking it before you leave the camp each day. Please ring us if you have lost something that you actually want back. Everything that is left goes to the Red Cross a month after the camp has finished.

Camp Policies and OFSTED Registration

We are registered  by OFSTED to provide a holiday service for children from the age of 4 upwards and are regularly inspected at both sites.  Our registration certificate is held at the office out of season and is on display at both our sites when the camps are running.  If you need our registration number to claim the Working Families Tax Credit, please ring us on 01778 344450. 

We also keep a portfolio of evidence that includes our procedures and camp policies to help demonstrate how we comply with the standards that are inspected by OFSTED and underpin the revised Children Act 2004.  These polices can be  requested by parents at any time.  We have written policies and procedures on Child Behaviour, Child Protection, First Aid (sent out with each booking), Health and Safety, Fire Evacuation, Equal Opportunities, Discipline, Lost/Left Children, Excursions Off Site, Sick Children, and Parental Complaints.  All staff receive a full set of these policies as part of their induction and training programme, we are most concerned with their ability to implement them practically on a daily basis as part of looking after the children in their care.  

• To claim the Working Families Tax Credit, ring for our registration number
• All policies and procedures available on request

Finally: - useful phone numbers

To make an enquiry: it is very important that if you have a query either before the start or during the camp that you contact us and not the school - Brian and Sue Churchill on 01778 344450, we do have an answer phone so you can leave us a message at anytime or e-mail us on info@churchillsummercamps.

In emergencies during camp hours: our camp manager can be contacted on a mobile phone number – 07802 726678.  NB this number only operates during the camp weeks.

 Thank you and we look forward to seeing you all there!