The Camp will start after the three Inset days at the end of the summer term. It will run for three weeks, from Monday 25^th July through to Friday 12^th August 2022.

This scheduling will allow Lumen staff who secure a role at Camp to attend a training and set up day on one of the Inset Days in readiness for the Camp start on the 25^th July.

It will operate from our Saxon site again for 2022. The exclusive use of a swimming pool is a real draw for parents and children and is an essential activity on the Camp timetable. In addition, the Saxon site is in a central position for all Lumen schools so is able to attract the maximum number of parents.

Previous parent surveys highlight the need for wraparound care for full time working parents. We will therefore be offering an Early Club and Late Club which means the Camp can accommodate children from 8.10am through to 5.45pm.

As well as our standard Camp offering for children aged 3 to 11 years we will also offer a limited number of daily spaces for children aged 12-16 to help families with older siblings who may struggle to find appropriate childcare elsewhere. These older children will have the opportunity to assist Camp staff similar to that of a work experience set-up. Opportunities for work experience can be difficult to find so combining childcare with a chance for older children to build their teamwork skills and problem solving resilience within a safe environment is a unique selling point.

The minibus shuttle service we provided last year between Saxon and all our Lumen schools is an enormous draw for parents. Demand for seats is always high. We will be charging a daily fee of £1.00 per return journey but despite this, it still remains an affordable and unique service that cannot be offered by other local summer childcare providers.

Our staffing structure for 2022 will closely follow the same in place for 2021. We have been mindful to craft roles that can flex depending on the structure of the Camp, ensuring effectiveness in a bubble scenario or in a more relaxed, non-restricted format.

We have exciting new roles available this year including Camp Leader and dedicated Activity Specialists.

We have again increased our daily pay rates for 2022 which even more competitive when benchmarked against other local summer childcare providers.

Being part of the Summer Camp provides staff with the chance to spend time with the children simply having fun. You are not bound by the constraints of the curriculum or the formality of the school environment. Camp allows staff and children to form a camaraderie and take part in activities that allows more of a child’s (and staff member’s) unique personality and interests to shine through.

For 2022 you are able to apply for the following roles:

• Camp Leader

• Early Years Co-ordinator

• Group Assistant

• On-call Group Assistant

• Activity Specialist

More detail on each role can be found below.

We are looking to appoint an exceptional candidate to work alongside Pippa Kober whilst the Camp is in session to deliver a positive and rewarding Camp experience for children and staff alike for the full duration of Camp.

The Camp Leader will:

• Develop the timetable of events and activities for all child groups at Camp.
• Ensure that Activity Specialists and Group Coordinators effectively deliver scheduled activities in accordance with the Camp ethos.
• Provide inspirational leadership to all Camp staff members.
• Work with the Early Years Coordinator to ensure the provision for Early Years children is exemplary in accordance with the specific needs of the age group.
• Lead on all Camp social media communication.
   

A key feature seen at every one of our Camps is the high proportion of Early Years children attending. This demonstrates parent trust in us to care for their children and gives us the opportunity to get to know children early in the education careers, introducing them to Lumen and our ethos. Unsurprisingly, the level of need for the youngest Camp attendees requires more focused and specialised care and attention, often with the aid of other members of Camp staff.

This role will require the successful candidate to coordinate the Early Years provision in totality with the support of our Camp Leaders for the full duration of Camp.

The Early Years Coordinator will:

• Oversee the programme of activities in accordance with the timetable, ensuring adequate levels of resources are available and activities are tailored for the specific needs of the age range.
• Ensure morning registration and end of day dismissal is completed.
• Lead on communication with parents.
• Devise smaller activity groups within the Early Years area to ensure all children can access the activities on offer. This will include managing and providing guidance to Group Assistants of these smaller groups to ensure delivery of activities.
• Ensure all daily preparations prior to children arriving as well as tidy up routines at end of day are completed.
   

In order to ensure all age ranges at Camp have a full, varied and stimulating programme of activities supported by suitable staff:child ratios we will be offering a defined number of groupings each day at Camp, capped at a maximum of 25 children per group. Each Group Assistant will be allocated just one group to lead each day, the demographics of which will be dependent on daily bookings and the needs of the children attending.

Camp Group Coordinators will:

• Oversee the programme of activities for their allocated group in accordance with the timetable, ensuring adequate levels of resources are available.
• Have the autonomy to lead and influence the activities their group takes part in for the day, putting their own creative stamp on activities.
• Ensure morning registration and end of day dismissal is completed.
• Carry out daily preparations prior to children arriving as well as tidy up routines at end of day.

In addition to this we are also introducing a bonus payment for those staff who wish to commit to and work a full week in a Group Assistant role (Monday to Friday of the same week) as follows –

As well as permanent members of staff we are looking to recruit on-call Camp Group Assistants for each day the Camp is in operation. This will allow us the necessary ​flexibility to ensure our ratios remain at suitable levels taking into account the level of bookings, any staff illness absence and other exceptional circumstances.

On-call staff will carry out the same duties as a permanent Camp Group Assistant.

Please note that the full week bonus is not applicable to the on-call Group Assistant role.
 

Given the level of interest in Camp places each year, we have explored how we can deliver exciting, varied and stimulating content to the children to ensure not just one type of activity is the primary Camp focus. This is especially key for the older children at Camp who require activities tailored to their maturing interests.

We are looking for Activity Specialists to support the Camp as follows:

• Use their experience and skill set to diversify and deepen the activities on offer.
• Design and deliver a particular task centred on their specialist field and linked to the Camp daily theme to all seven Camp groups within the day.
• Tailor the activity for the age specific range of the group, from ages 3 to 11.
• Have the support of each child group's Group Assistant to support with the delivery of the activity and behaviour management.

There will be some necessary training and preparation prior to the Camp starting. For 2022 training will take place on the Inset day on Friday 22^nd July. This will enable Camp staff to familiarise themselves with the Camp location and prepare materials and resources in readiness for the first day of Camp as well as meet the Camp team and ask any questions they may have prior to Camp starting.

All Camp staff are expected to attend, permanent and on-call staff alike. Camp staff will not be paid for attending these sessions as it is being held on one of the Trust’s Inset days; however, TA and admin staff are able to add these hours to their training record.

Below you can hear from staff who have been a member of previous Camp staff teams to understand some more about what it is like to be part of the Camp:

Harriet Code

Hi, I'm Harriet from Echelford and I have worked at Summer Camp since it started 5 years ago. I love working at Summer Camp because it is a fun and relaxed environment where you can spend time with staff from your school and get to know them more but also staff from other Trust schools. 

My favourite thing about Summer Camp is seeing the children have the best time, they get so excited by the different themed days and you get to know more about their interests - whether it is children from your school or other schools. With having different themed days there is always something that really sparks their interest and so you see them with the biggest smiles on their faces. Working in a school means most days are centred on teaching, learning and making progress and at Summer Camp you get to have so much fun with the children and see them develop in so many different ways - one of my favourite moments was a child persevering on the monkey bars and she was so proud of herself when she got the whole way across!

I work every day but you can choose to work the days that suit you - whether it is 1 or 2 days or 1 week. The Summer Camp leaders Hannah and Pippa are really accommodating as they know and understand it is our summer holiday. 

Whatever you choose to do, it would be lovely to see you, even for one day, and I can imagine children from your school would love to see you there as well!

Zoe Lester

I had always wondered what it would be like to work at the Summer Camp but always held back due being unsure of how much it would differ from my normal teacher role and it being out of my comfort zone. However, I'm so glad I gave it a go and, after only signing up for 1 week, I ended up doing all 3! Although the role uses the skills we all have as school professionals, it is a much more relaxed environment, with the children calling you by your first name and days filled with crafts and games. One thing I really enjoyed, was the opportunity to meet and work with different people from across the trust that you wouldn't do so normally, as well as meeting a variety of new children. Everyday is different, exciting and full of opportunities to use your creativity and have fun whilst earning some extra money. I'd recommend anyone who is thinking about it to give it a try!

If you think a role at our Camp sounds like an exciting and unique opportunity to have a positive and fun influence on our children’s holiday time this summer we would be delighted to receive your completed application using the online form via this link: