How to choose a holiday club you can trust

Ask about the adults first

Everything else about a holiday club can be brilliant, but the adults in the room matter most. Ask whether every member of staff holds an enhanced DBS check, whether volunteers are ever left alone with children (the answer should be no), and who on site is trained in paediatric first aid. A good club answers these instantly and without prickliness.

The safeguarding backbone

There should be a written safeguarding policy, regular training for staff, and a named Designated Safeguarding Lead you could actually speak to. Ask what the adult-to-child ratio will be on the day and who counts in it. School-age holiday clubs do not have one fixed national ratio in the way nursery-age childcare does, so what you are listening for is a confident, specific answer rather than a shrug.

Then the practical layer: public liability insurance, clear drop-off and collection procedures, how allergies and medical needs are recorded and handled, and a proper photo policy. The best clubs photograph children only with parental permission, on a club device rather than anyone's personal phone.

What Ofsted registration does and does not tell you

Not every holiday club has to register with Ofsted, and an unregistered club can still be excellent. What registration gives you is independent checks against national standards, plus one very practical thing: Tax-Free Childcare and childcare vouchers only work where the setting is registered and the provider has signed up to accept them.

Registration is per venue, not per brand, so ask about the specific site. We hold ourselves to the same standard: St Dominic's in Brewood is Ofsted registered and accepts Tax-Free Childcare, while Woodthorne is awaiting Ofsted registration, so we cannot accept Tax-Free Childcare there yet. Any club should be able to give you a per-venue answer that straight.

Questions that reveal the actual day

Ask what a typical day looks like hour by hour, how much of it is screens and how much is hands-on, what happens when a child struggles to settle, and how they support children with SEND. Ask who you would contact during the day and how. Clubs worth trusting thought about all of this long before you asked.

Quiet red flags

Vague answers about staff checks. No named safeguarding lead. Nobody who can tell you the ratio. Reluctance to talk before booking, or irritation at being asked. None of these alone proves a club is unsafe, but each one tells you how seriously the basics are taken.