This summer, we’re introducing our ActivePlus wraparound provision at our Swanmore College camps.
Over the years, we’ve had parents regularly ask us about extended childcare provision during the school holidays, and if we could one day provide a solution like that of term time wraparound….so we did just that.
For many working parents, school holidays can bring on a sense of unease and stress, trying to manage annual leave and working commitments whilst also wanting to provide fun, safe and engaging activities for their children. We don’t want our camps to add to this burden, we want them to be a solution.
The blog below aims to answer your questions around what ActivePlus during the holidays is and why it’s there to help you.
What is ActivePlus?
ActivePlus is our extended childcare provision that takes place outside of standard school hours. This includes before and after school care, and holiday provision. The full day runs from 7:30am – 6:00pm with options for shorter bookings.
From September 2024, the Government has made funding available to ensure all working parents have a viable extended childcare solution during term time. We understand that work doesn’t stop during school holidays and following parent feedback, we have made the decision to mirror our term time offering during the holidays.
Kicking off this new holiday provision at our very first holiday hub, Swanmore College, from summer 2024, we will be your childcare solution in the Swanmore community for 51 weeks of the year. This is so we can be there for you when you need us most.
How does ActivePlus work during the school holidays?
We want to ensure parents have access to the same level of wraparound provision all year round, which is why we’re aligning our existing holiday and wraparound services.
We will now be offering a wider range of activities in our 360 Active Camps (formerly 360 Sports), as well as extending the day to mirror our term time offering. This will mean parents can plan accordingly safe in the knowledge that cost and timings will remain consistent across our services.
What’s included in your ActivePlus holiday provision?
ActivePlus both during term time and during the holidays will include:
- Wide range of activities on offer including different sports, games and wellbeing sessions.
- Light breakfast and healthy snacks in the morning and evening extended sessions.
- Extended day services charged at £5 per hour + food.
- Core day for holidays charged at £3.50 per hour (lunch not included).
What’s different to your previous Holiday offering?
We recognise that the previous holiday and wraparound provision did not align, creating confusion and inconvenience to our communities. We listened to your feedback and acknowledged the need for a longer day, with a wider range of activities.
From summer 2024 our 360 Sports camp will become 360 Active and include a variety of activities as seen on our wraparound programme, including a number of exciting new activities yet to be revealed. This change comes as a result of your feedback to include more than just sports as a solution to keep your children active.
Our extended day provision now incorporates the cost of a light snack both in the morning and in the evening, as well as extended drop off and pick up times.
What are the different times slots you offer with ActivePlus?
As a standard offering, we start our breakfast clubs 1 hour and 15 minutes before the day starts (typically 7:30am). During holidays we then offer our Standard Day from 8:45am – 3:45pm.
Once the standard day has finished, we offer two extended day options. Option 1 being an after school club / a 1 hour 15 minute extended activity day during the holidays, and option 2 being a final session ending at 6pm (during holidays and school time).
Typical times slots –
- 7:30 – 8:45am
- 8:45am – 3:45pm
- 3:45 – 5:00pm or 3:45 – 6:00pm
How can you pay for our ActivePlus provision?
Tax free childcare
If you’re a single parent, or if you and your partner both work a minimum of 16 hours a week and earn more than the National Living wage, then you qualify for the governments tax-free childcare scheme.
This allows you to continue to book on to our Active Holiday camps with a further 20% price reduction, and you can still apply our Active Saver 15% off discount too on top of this (Only during the active saver window). Read more about the scheme, here: https://www.activeme360.com/government-tax-free-childcare-scheme/
Universal Credit
You may be able to claim back up to 85% of your childcare costs if you’re eligible for Universal Credit.
You (and your partner if you live with them) will usually need to either:
- be working – it does not matter how many hours you or your partner work
- have a job offer
How much you’ll get
The most you can get back each month is:
- £1,014.63 for one child
- £1,739.37 for 2 or more children
You can claim Universal Credit online.
Why is this only running at Swanmore College?
Due to Swanmore’s ongoing success and the regular questions we have from parents around our extended childcare provision, we made the decision to launch our ActivePlus holiday provision at Swanmore first. However, it is our intention to roll out our ActivePlus offering across all of our Hub venues moving forward.
To find out more about our ActivePlus offering during term time and holidays, including how to maximise savings using Tax Free Childcare vouchers and Universal Credit, please read our knowledge base article here: What is ActivePlus? or get in touch by giving us a call on 02382 511 844, or emailing us at [email protected]