Organised holiday courses can be a wonderful way for your children to spend their time off school – if they go to the right one!

As a parent you have no doubt spent many an hour ensuring that the school that your child goes to is providing an excellent educational experience, and it’s imperative that you find out whether any holiday courses that they attend are just as good.

Holiday courses are not as regulated as schools and as a result just doing a few checks will put your mind at rest and ensure that your son or daughter has a fun time that they’ll remember for the right reasons even when they’re back at school. A few questions you need to get answered are as follows:

• Are all the staff CRB checked and trained in safeguarding children?
• Are the staff qualified to deliver the activity being offered, and do they have any previous experience with the ages of children involved, and if so how much?
• Does the company have an efficient booking service, and do they keep full and thorough registers, and do they have a plan in place in case of emergency?
• Are the activities being offered suitable and fun for the age group concerned?
• If the children are there for a full day, is there a suitable plan in place with regard to regular breaks and lunch?
• Does the company offer references or recommendations of their courses?
• Are they happy for you to stay and watch if you prefer?

As well as researching these key points before your child attends the holiday course, it is also important to be on the ball during the course too:

• You may not be able to stay and watch but when you drop off and pick up your child do the staff look organised?

• Do they talk to the children appropriately?

• As soon as they’re dropped off are the children made to feel welcome and engaged?

• If your child has had a good time they should be keen to talk about what they’ve done throughout the day.

• You can ask them what the staff were like, what games they played, and what the other children were like.

• From the feedback of your child does the course seem to be tailored to the correct age group, do they offer extras like theme days to make the courses as much fun as possible?

School holidays should not be a stress, being out of school for a week or more is a great chance to have some fun for your children, and holiday courses should be a great way of them doing that while learning skills at the right time.