Ensuring children are safe at holiday clubs, summer camps, and activity programmes.
Holiday Clubs is organised childcare and activity settings during school breaks, where safeguarding, staff vetting, supervision, and clear policies keep children safe away from home.
Holiday clubs, summer schemes, sports camps, and activity weeks are a lifeline for many working families and often the highlight of a child's school break. Quality, however, varies sharply between providers — from Ofsted-registered settings with full safeguarding leads, written ratios, and trained first-aiders, to ad-hoc 'pop-up' camps run on park land with little oversight. A short, calm checklist before enrolling — Ofsted status, designated safeguarding lead, DBS-checked staff, written collection policy, phones-and-photos rule, allergy and medication plan — usually tells you within ten minutes whether a provider has thought about safeguarding or is improvising.
Most concerns come from a small handful of recurring gaps rather than one dramatic incident. Common patterns include: no named designated safeguarding lead on site, supervision ratios that are advertised but not actually staffed once illness or no-shows hit, gate or pickup policies that let any adult collect, water or off-site trips with no risk assessment, and casual photo-sharing of children onto a club Instagram or WhatsApp without written parental consent. KCSiE 2025 and Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023 set the expectations schools and statutory partners follow; many holiday providers operate to a lower bar, which is why parents have to ask the questions that the school would normally ask on their behalf.
In your child's behaviour
Check Ofsted registration
In the UK, holiday clubs caring for under-8s for more than 2 hours should be Ofsted registered. Check their rating.
Ask about safeguarding
A reputable provider will have written safeguarding policies, DBS-checked staff, clear ratios, and emergency procedures.
Visit before enrolling
If possible, visit the venue and observe the setup before committing. Trust your instincts.
In immediate danger: call 999. For non-emergency police matters, call 101.
Concerned about a child but it's not an emergency? NSPCC helpline 0808 800 5000. Childline for young people 0800 1111.
This is practical educational content to support families. For case-specific concerns about a child's safety, contact the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000 or your local safeguarding team.
Myth: Every holiday club or camp is registered and inspected by Ofsted.
Fact: Many activity-based schemes, such as sports or drama camps, are exempt from compulsory Ofsted registration, though providers caring for under-8s for more than two hours a day usually do need to register. Ask whether the provider is on the Ofsted register and check the number online; if it is exempt, that is not automatically a red flag, but it does mean you need to ask the safeguarding questions yourself.
Myth: The club runs at my child's school, so the school must have vetted it.
Fact: Holiday providers often simply hire the school's premises, and the school's own staff checks and safeguarding policies do not cover them. Ask the provider directly about its DBS checks, named safeguarding lead, first-aid cover, and insurance, just as you would for a club anywhere else.
Myth: If the staff are DBS-checked, safeguarding is covered.
Fact: A DBS check only shows past records and is one part of safer recruitment, not the whole picture. A well-run club also has a named safeguarding lead, clear staff-to-child ratios, a written collection procedure, and a culture where parents' questions are welcomed rather than brushed off.
Providers caring for under-8s for more than two hours a day usually need Ofsted registration, so ask for the registration number and check it online. Confirm the ratios, who the safeguarding lead is, and exactly which adults are on your authorised collection list.
Check the sign-in and sign-out procedure and what happens if you are running late. Children this age should not be released to walk home alone without your written agreement, so confirm the club's policy before the first session.
Some schemes let older children sign themselves in and out — decide together whether yours may, and put your decision in writing with the club. Agree how they will contact you during the day and what to do if a session finishes early.
For residentials and sports camps, ask about overnight supervision, room arrangements, and how the provider manages one-to-one time between staff and young people. Make sure your teen knows who the safeguarding lead is and that they can call you at any point, no questions asked.
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