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Setting up a Holiday Club

This article provides information about some of the issues that you need to consider if you are setting up a holiday club or playscheme from scratch. If you are already running an out of school club and just want to extend your existing provision to cover the school holidays, see the Extending your Provision page.

Ofsted registration

If you are not already running an Ofsted registered setting, you may need to register your holiday club or playscheme with Ofsted. You do not need to register your club with Ofsted if:

• The club will operate for 14 days or less per year; or
• All the children are over 8 years of age; or
• The club is an activity-based setting offering not more than two types of activities. These types of activities could be very broad, eg: 'sport' and 'arts and crafts'. This exemption is aimed at clubs which are focused on a particular activity (eg: a football camp or a drama workshop) as opposed to those which are basically offering childcare with some activities thrown in.

For more information about whether your holiday club needs to register with Ofsted, see their Registration not required factsheet.

If the only reason that your club does not need to register with Ofsted is that it will be operating for 14 days or less per year, you still need to notify them that you will be running the activity by completing the exemption notification form. You should notify Ofsted at least 14 days before the start of the holiday club.

Note that even if you are not registered with Ofsted, they still have the legal right to make an unannounced visit (for example, if they have received a complaint) and require you to make changes to your setting so that it reaches minimal acceptable standards.

If your holiday club does not fall within any of the exemptions listed above, you will need to register with Ofsted before you can open. Ofsted registration can take up to 25 weeks so this step cannot be left to the last minute.
More about registering with Ofsted >

Staffing

If your holiday club is registered with Ofsted on the Early Years Register or Compulsory Childcare Register, you must adhere to the same staffing requirements—staff ratios, qualifications and safe recruitment practices—as out of school clubs.
More on staffing ratios >
More on qualifications >

If your holiday club does not need to be registered with Ofsted, there are no legal standards regarding staff qualifications or staffing ratios that you have to meet. However, it is a good idea to use the standards outlined above as guidelines for best practice.

CRB checks

Parents will expect that staff and volunteers at your club are CRB checked whether you are registered with Ofsted or not.

If your setting is Ofsted registered, you can obtain free CRB checks. If it is not Ofsted registered, you may be able to obtain free checks through your school, or else via a relevant umbrella body (for example, through your church if you are setting up a church holiday club, or through a sports body if your club is sport based). Note that unpaid volunteers are usually exempt from the CRB charge.
More about CRB checks >

Policies and procedures

If your holiday club is registered with Ofsted you must have at least the Ofsted minimum set of policies and forms in place. Even if your club is not registered with Ofsted you may still find it useful to have defined policies and procedures in place to help you deal with common situations (eg managing behaviour, complaints, uncollected children etc).
More about paperwork required by Ofsted >
Buy template documentation for holiday clubs >

Insurance, marketing and activity planning

For more information about running your holiday club, including insurance, ideas for marketing and tips for activity planning, see the Holiday Club Tips page.