These continue to be difficult and distressing times for us all. As an experienced childcare provider we have looked in detail at ways in which we can continue to operate in order to not only keep children happy and healthy and enhance their well-being during this unusual time. But also to help support key workers and parents return to work during the school holidays.
For Easter 2021, we will be offering Day Camps at 2 locations – Culford School and St Joseph’s College
In order to operate, we have put in place safety measures to conform with Government guidance and advice, allowing children to still participate in our activities whilst maintaining their safety, and the safety of others.
This of course has meant some significant changes to how we will be operating, which we ask for your understanding and patience with.
Please also note that camps we are offering during Easter 2021 are subject to change, dependent on the Government directives on Covid-19.
We will be sure to keep this website and customers informed of any changes as and when they occur.
In line with Government directives, we will be operating slightly differently to normal. Firstly, activity groups will be separated by age, these will form “bubbles”. In each bubble will be 12 children along with a member of Xplore staff who will stay with the group.
The children will remain together in their bubble for the whole week, participating in the same schedule of activities as one another. Xplore staff will endeavour to keep children apart and will constantly remind all campers within their bubble that they must still remain 2 metres apart, however we ask for your understanding that especially with young children this may prove difficult to uphold at times but all efforts will be made.
During group activities, equipment will also be separated by 2 metres. Other activities that are ‘individually’ based may require a member of Xplore staff to come within 2 metres in order to check safety equipment such as (but not limited to) buoyancy aids, harnesses or helmets. In these instances, Xplore staff will be wearing PPE and trained in applying and removing this safely.
We will continue to review government guidance for educational and childcare settings to ensure what protective measures are required to ensure a safe experience for children, parents and staff, these are subject to change as restrictions are eased.
For Easter 2021, only a whole week (4 days) can be booked for day camps.
This is to ensure we are following government guidance on being covid-secure and to ensure easy track and trace should any symptoms occur amongst our campers. Each week, the campers will be split into small groups or bubbles, and will stay together during the entire week following the same programme of activities rather than the whole camp interacting and mixing together, each and every single day. The problem with allowing new bookings on a daily basis is that we would then be unable to track who potentially came into contact with who; whereas by closely monitoring small groups, we can contain any transmission to a small number.
We are also taking preventative steps to ensure no body with any signs or symptoms of Covid-19 are on-site, but bubbles and asking parents to only book a week at time strengthens this protection even further.
Morning drop off/ sign-in and afternoon pick up/collection times will be separated by sport in order for us to manage and maintain social distancing for our parents. This approach will also help to avoid queues getting too long and prevent bubbles mixing.
We kindly ask parents to support us in upholding this.
On the ‘first day’ of camp, parents will be asked to complete a ‘symptom checker’ for their child/ren attending. This form is designed to audit all children in our care to ensure safety for all.
Our Camps and high-contact areas will be cleaned thoroughly and regularly.
Increased hand washing and sanitising for children throughout the day, before and following each activity.
All equipment will be cleaned at the start of the day and following every activity session. In addition to this, we will aim to minimise sharing of equipment between children in the same bubble.
In instances where sharing is required, our instructors will clean and disinfect shared equipment frequently.
We aim to offer a vast range of activities throughout the week, but we are constantly following Government guidance so certain activities may be unavailable. Some activities may be modified to maximise outdoor space and to ensure social distancing, whilst still ensuring the activities and camps are as fun as possible.
We have a list of all available activities here
Please do not bring your child to camp. Instead call our Head Office on 01449 742700 to let us know your child will not be attending.
Please see our booking T&C’s for more details on cancellation due to illness or Covid-19.
We will ask every parent upon arrival on first day at camp to complete a ‘symptom checker’ form to ensure that no child under our care has had any signs of Covid-19 symptoms prior to attending our camps.
If a child shows any Covid-19 symptoms whilst in our care (high temperature, new continuous cough), they must be sent home, Government
guidance should then be followed.
If another child has shown symptoms and been sent home, we will notify the other parents with children in the same bubble. There is no need to remove or cancel children from camp who have not shown any symptoms.
More information can be found in our booking terms & conditions
Kit list can be downloaded here
We recommend wearing comfortable, weather-appropriate clothing that doesn’t matter too much if it gets muddy or wet, layers are a good idea and it is always best to bring a change of clothes, just in case (including socks!) Trainers or shoes with a good grip and that covers the whole foot are best, wellies or sandals are not suitable. Waterproof raincoats for wet weather, sun hat and sun cream for hot weather. Water bottle – we will ensure lots of breaks throughout the day to make sure this is filled up. Please make sure all items have your child’s name clearly printed inside. There is no need to bring any electrical items or items of high worth – it is likely that you won’t get time to use them and we would hate for anything to get broken or lost!
Yes! Lunch will be provided for our Easter 2021 day camps.
If parents wish to pack snacks, we operate a nut-free policy and ask all parents to refrain from packing any nuts or nut products.
We will aim to split children into rough age groups so we can tailor activity sessions for those ages but if we know that your child wishes to be with a sibling or friend in a different age group we will do our best to keep them together – this can be decided on the first morning of camp.
We have split children into different age groups to help them settle and make friends with children of a similar age. It also means we can deliver activities at an age-appropriate level, for example the outcome of an archery session for a 9 year old will be very different to the outcome for a 14 year old.
We also abide by staff to child ratios as set out by Ofsted, which is 1:12.
COVID-19 UPDATE
We will be unable to move any child between groups/bubbles, this is for the safety of your child and the safety of others to prevent potential transmission between groups.
We can offer some flexibility (ie. a more mature 11 year old joining the 12-14 year old group) but this will be at the camp managers discretion as we will have staffed the activities according to the age of the children we are expecting to attend and to allow us to operate with correct staffing ratios.
We are Ofsted registered as a provider of childcare on on-domestic premises on the voluntary part of the Childcare Register.
Our Ofsted setting reference numbers are:
Camp Culford: EY2592158
Camp St Joseph’s: TBC
If your child is at Day Camp, please call Head Office on 01449 742700 and we will speak to the relevant member of staff at the camp.
We endeavour to offer the opportunity for all children to attend camp however this can only be achieved if we have the correct information about a child’s needs upon booking. We would appreciate it if you are able to let us know if there is anything currently affecting your child so we can better meet their needs and help them interact with others.
It is the responsibility of the parent(s)/guardian(s) to fully advise Xplore of any disability, social or behavioural problem that the child has or recently had which might affect them or others during their time with us. If your child has additional needs, we are happy to discuss how we can accommodate them at camp.
However unfortunately, Xplore is unable to provide 1:1 support for children with additional needs. We are happy for children with 1:1 support to join us if this can be organised or provided by the parent/guardian, however Xplore cannot take responsibility for children and carers following Covid-19 guidance.
We also reserve the right to not accept a child in our care if full information about medical or physical conditions or behavioural matters is not provided at the time of booking or they are deemed incompatible with the well-being of the camp and others.
Safety is fundamental in the activities we provide and our extensive list of external accreditations and internal safety processes ensures activities only pose a ‘perceived’ risk. Each activity session begins with the issuing of appropriate safety equipment and the safety briefing.
For all activities, the appropriate safety equipment is provided for all participants. For example, harnesses or buoyancy aids.
Our equipment standards are high, and a logbook system is in place to monitor all safety-critical items.
Here is a useful list of all our activities including a short description.
Use the tabs below to navigate the list and click on the activity you would like to find out more about.
In small groups and after careful instruction, campers are given their own paper targets to challenge their shooting accuracy and technique.
Take it in turns to perfect and practice the historic sport of Archery.
From fun balloon popping challenges to points-based target shooting for math practice.
An activity combing problem solving and engineering. In teams, work together in order to travel from one side to another by constructing a bridge. Materials will include barrels, poles, rope, a slack-line as well as others.
*only available at Camp Finborough
Use survival skills to build shelters, light fires, make tools, ‘catch’ animals and cook food all to survive in the wild.
In small groups, we challenge campers to progress to the next level(s), be the fastest and beat the rest. This session develops map reading skills, communication and teamwork.
*only available at Camp Finborough
For the protection of our customers, we have taken the decision to remove Quad Biking as an activity choice during summer 2020. Our quad bike safety precautions require riders to wear a full-face helmet that would be shared between the group and despite trialling different PPE and cleaning measures, we feel it is not appropriate to offer this activity.
Start by learning basic controls to pass the quad driving test, then progress to time trials. This is an ‘individual’ challenge, where campers take it in turns to drive around our trackIn teams, campers learn to listen and trust one another in order to complete the blindfolded trail – great activity for team building!
Take to the water in a small group (canoe) or individually (kayak) and develop paddling skills to travel upstream. As speed and manoeuvring skills develop, the session can progress with challenges and games.
*only available at Camp Finborough and Camp Taverham
In small teams, campers are challenged with constructing a water-worthy vessel from barrels, rope and poles to transport the team and complete a challenge.
*only available at Camp Finborough
Lifeguard supervised time in the pool. Please note, swimming will only be available if and when Government restrictions allow us to do so.
*only available at Camp Pangbourne
The ultimate confidence building activity.
Practice the technique at ground level before climbing our tower and lowering to the ground by managing ropes and nerves.
*only available at Camp Finborough
Confidence and team building activity. Individually, campers navigate their way up our climbing tower. The activity can be simplified for younger campers or for older teens we throw in some challenges whilst they are on the wall.
*only available at Camp Finborough (outdoor) and Camp Pangbourne (indoor)
Working together as a team, campers try to build a tower out of milk crates as high as they can whilst their ‘climber’ balances on top of the tower.
Individually, campers are challenged to get move around course made from slack-line ropes and obstacles.
*only available at Camp Finborough
Handled by Xplore staff, campers can choose to be temporarily ‘tattooed’ with a fun design of their choice.
Using brightly coloured thread, learn different methods of threading and tying to create a variety of bracelet designs. The ultimate friendship bracelet masterclass.
Campers learn to turn pieces of coconut shell into necklaces and jewellery by shaping them and arranging them along coloured thread with knots.
Using pre-formed moulds, students choose coloured beads to make shapes and patterns. Xplore staff then iron the design to bond the beads. Great activity to create something to take home.
Campers are let loose with mod roc, a form of clay to make fun masks that can then be spray painted
General painting session using poster paints and brushes. Often these sessions will be themed with something going on that week at camp.
Working in groups, the campers aim to orientate themselves around a course of team challenges testing skill, teamwork and speed.
A lesson in how to run away to the circus – learn to juggle, spin plates, walk on (short) stilts, Diablo tricks and walk the tightrope
A great wet weather session, this is a mind-boggling problem solving games to be completed by working together in teams.
A great group activity for all campers to participate in together, completing various active challenges to gain points and usually ending in one big flour or water fight to finish (can get messy!)
A fun and enjoyable games session using a parachute. Perfect for groups of younger campers.
Competition based outside games that may involve one of the following; flag capturing, protecting their team item or taking the opposition’s glow stick stash.
Campers put their problem solving skills to the test with our big challenge. In teams, we ask them to solve mental puzzles and physical challenges to beat the others.
Practice your individual skills before playing a mini-match or 5-a-side tournament
Frisbee Golf – work your way around a course to get your frisbee in to a basket (instead of a hole!)
Ultimate Frisbee – Fast and furious. A great team game!
A nice easy way to learn how to play golf or for the more advance golfers to practice their skills.
Like baseball but faster! Hit the ball and race around the stops without getting run or caught out
Skills, drills and mini-games for all ages and abilities.
Age or size doesn’t matter in this fast paced, less physical version of rugby.
Who needs ice?! Hockey with plastic sticks and a puck, played indoors. Great for a rainy day!
Adapted for all ages and abilities, perfect for a sunny afternoon.
We only accept online booking and payment, which is now available. Visit our Day Camp page, select which camp you would like to book and add to cart. Then click your cart and proceed to checkout.
We will then ask for some key information about your child attending.
We monitor our bookings constantly and adjust our staffing accordingly, however we can reach capacity and can get fully booked in which case the option to book will be removed from our system.
If spaces remain, booking availability will stay open until Friday morning before the week you wish to book. The reason for this, is to allow us the Friday to organise programming and staffing for the following week.
For example, for week commencing Monday 29th March, bookings must be made by 9am Friday 26th March .
By booking you verify that you have read our T&C’s, please could we ask that you make yourself familiar with them. Please click here to read a copy
You can view our privacy policy here.
