Holiday Playscheme
Within in the Children's Centre we offer school holiday programmes for children aged 3-14years.
Children With Disabilities or CWD is a playscheme that offers children with disabilities a wide range of play opportunities including physical play and creative play. We are very keen to promote inclusion where it is seen to benefit individuals and therefore we offer children with additional needs an experienced key worker on a one-to-one basis. Please call the centre for more information.
The Children's Centre also provides day trips for children and families during the holidays to various attractions including Adventure Island, Tropical Wings, Colchester Zoo and the Science Museum. keep an eye out on this page for any day trips that might be coming up.
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Dear Parents/CarersHere is a list of details of all the family day trips that we are doing for the summer holidays. Following the sussess of last summer's family day trips, we will continue to offer a range of day trips throughout the summer holiday.
To book places on any of the trips, please call Sarah on 01268 690806 to tell us what trips your intrested in. We will be able to inform you if there are spaces on the trips of your choice, from here we ask that you secure your booking with a deposit of £3.00 per person per trip.
Most trips cost £7.50 per person aged 2+ (Under 2's are free of charge). This price includes attraction admission and coach travel.
Remaning balances can be paid at the Children's Centre at any time.
Bookings will be taken ona first come, first served basis and no bookings will be confirmed until a deposit has been paid. Should a trip of you choice be full we will operate a waiting list or offer you an alternative trip.
"Please Note that the meeting point for all trips during the summer holiday will be at the PADDOCKS. Cars can be parked here for the day. There will be no parking available at the Children's Centre."
Picnic Days:
Following suggestions from our families, we have included a selection of picnic days during the summer holidays so families can visit a variety of locations. We advice to pack a picnic for the day as there are limited food services. Please feel free to also bring along games or sports equipment for your day.
This trips are priced at £7.50 per adult with children under 12 charged at £1.50 to cover coach travel. Deposits for picnic days are £3.00 per adult and £1.50 per child under 12 (Under 2's are free of charge).
You will also see that there are a selection of FREE days trips. These trips are limited to one per family, to help us accommodate all of the families.
If you have any questions regarding holiday trips please speak to Sarah, Lindsey or Rachel Fleming at the Children's Centre on 01268 690806.
List Of Trips:
If highlighted in Red Bold the trip has become full.
If highlighted in Blue Bold the trip has become FREE of charge.
| Date | Place | Website |
| Thursday 22nd July | Battersea Park Children's Zoo |
>> WEBSITE LINK |
| Tuesday 27th July | Grays Beach | >> WEBSITE LINK |
| Thursday 29th July | Kent Life | >> WEBSITE LINK |
| Friday 30th July | Clacton - Picnic Day | >> WEBSITE LINK |
| Tuesday 3rd August | Old McDonald's Farm | >> WEBSITE LINK |
| Wednesday 4th July | Promenade Park - Picnic Day | >> WEBSITE LINK |
| Friday 6th July | Walton on the Naze - Picnic Day | >> WEBSITE LINK |
| Tuesday 10th August | Hop Farm Family Park | >> WEBSITE LINK |
| Thursday 12th August | Tropical Wings Zoo | >> WEBSITE LINK |
| Tuesday 17th August | Adventure Island | >> WEBSITE LINK |
| Thursday 19th August | Barleylands Farm | >> WEBSITE LINK |
| Friday 20th August | Lake Meadows - Picnic Day | >> WEBSITE LINK |
| Tuesday 24th August | Marsh Farm | >> WEBSITE LINK |
| Wednesday 25th August | King Georges Park - Picnic Day | >> WEBSITE LINK |
| Thursday 26th August | Paradise Wildlife Park | >> WEBSITE LINK |
| Wednesday 1st September | Colchester Zoo | >> WEBSITE LINK |
We have found it necessary to put new procedures in place to ensure the safety of all children and families accessing our family day trips. We are therefore asking for your co-operation with the following procedures.
In line with the coach regulations and government law, if you are travelling on a bus or coach you must wear a seat belt if one is fitted (or a child restraint if available). On a bus or coach, if you are aged 14 or over you must also wear a seat belt if fitted. Seat belt checks will now be carried out on all trips and anyone found not to be wearing their seatbelt will be asked to put it on. Failure to comply with these regulations will jeopardize your place on future trips.
Many parents have asked about procedures regarding the use of car seats. The coach company has advised us that many car seats do not fit the coach seating. However, you are welcome to bring along your car seat and fit it yourself but there are no guarantees it will fit. Young children are permitted to sit on laps but are allocated a seat nonetheless.
The coach company has also requested that there be no eating or drinking on the coach. Therefore all bags, with the exception of purses, mobile phones etc, are now to be placed in the storage underneath the coach along with buggies. Anyone found to be eating or drinking will be asked to dispose of it. This again will jeopardize bookings for future trips.
Please note that we do not have access to toilet facilities on the coaches. Please ensure that your children use the toilet prior to boarding the coach and before leaving the venue.
If you have any questions regarding the family day trips, please do not hesitate to contact or drop into the Children’s Centre.
Please may we remind families to promptly arrive at the times stated for departures as we cannot wait for late comers.
May we like to say once again thank you for your continued co-operation in making our family trips a success.