Parents Q & A
What times do the camps start and finish?
Boarders: Camp starts at 2pm on Monday afternoon and you are welcome to arrive on Monday anytime from 12 noon onwards to drop your children off. Your children will be ready for collection at 3pm on Friday.
Day campers: Please drop your children off at the registration area at 1.30pm on Monday. Camp finishes each day at 5pm, except on Thursday when we would like them to join us for our Celebration BBQ and team games, which should finish by 8.30pm. Your children will be ready for collection at 3pm on the Friday.
What to bring?
Please pack a selection of running shorts, tee shirts (long and short sleeve), running tights or track-suit bottoms, a light-weight waterproof running jacket and a couple of fleeces or warm tops. Pack some casual clothes for the evenings. Running shoes are required but it’s not necessary to bring track shoes. Don’t forget to pack a swimming costume, sunglasses and sun-tan cream as well as a towel, wash kit and toiletries. Please don’t bring any valuable jewellery, camera, watches, mobile phones or iPod/personal stereos . There is no need to bring large sums of money, just perhaps a bit of pocket money for your child to visit the tuck shop in the evenings.
Who to contact in an emergency?
For all emergencies, in the first instance please contact Jackie Cadman, Head of Pastoral Care, on 07518 368398. We will supply a list of all other emergency contact numbers in your camp details information pack.
Where do campers sleep?
On arrival, campers will be met by their Pastoral Care Leaders, Coaches and team. After registering, campers will be shown to their boarding house and will have time to settle into their rooms. We have separate and private boarding houses for girls and boys, both with residential staff in attendance 24-hours a day. Most of the accommodation is in private single rooms but we will try to accommodate friends who wish to be next-door to each other. We also have a small number of shared rooms which vary in size, sleeping from 2-4 people. These rooms are offered on a “first pay, first served” basis which we can offer to friends/relatives who wish to share. Please note: we will give priority to younger athletes for shared rooms.
What happens in the evenings?
We like to give our young athletes a chance to chill-out, so we always have a variety of evening challenges and activities. We think one of the highlights of the camp is our evening entertainment programme, as this is the time when the entire camp gets together to relax, enjoy the atmosphere and the company of others and to have some fun.
What about bed times?
All children have to report to their boarding house by 10pm for a team check in and lights out at 10.30pm. This can (subject to the week’s performance) be a little later on the final evening. Each child is checked in by the pastoral care team and our boarding houses are locked and alarmed at night for security reasons. Our campers are normally tired after a full day of activities and therefore it is important that everyone gets a good night's sleep.
How do we handle on site security?
While life at camp is very much aimed at learning and having fun, supervision, security and safety are a vital part of our 24-hour daily operation. We have a full risk assessment of all the activities that take place, all Coaches and pastoral care staff are resident on site, each boarding house is fully alarmed and Wellington College also has regular security patrols, operates CCTV cameras and security lighting.
Night time security
A key part of our dedicated Pastoral Care Group Leaders' role is to get all our young athletes to go to bed - sometimes easier said than done! Just before ‘lights out’ our pastoral care team carry out a room check and reassure the anxious and encourage the high-spirited to settle down and they continue their vigil until all is quiet. When this is achieved our pastoral care team will turn in for the night to their rooms, which are spread across the different floors in the boarding houses. All external doors to the boarding houses are secured and alarmed, although these can be opened from the inside in case of an emergency. Should any person wilfully attempt to leave the boarding house after lights out and thereby risk their safety and that of others, they will be sent home. If your child has any problems, our staff can be contacted at any time throughout the night.
Supervision
All children must remain on site during their stay unless accompanied by a member of our staff. Any guests are supervised at all times.
Camp Behaviour & Code of Conduct
At the camps we always try to create an atmosphere which is relaxed and fun but we insist that there is high level of respect for our accommodation, facilities, staff and most importantly each other. We want to ensure every child has a fantastic time and for that reason we keep a close eye on behaviour.
Fortunately, because the camps are for focused young athletes, we have had very few instances of any type of teasing or bullying. However, please do tell your children that if this does happen they should quietly inform any member of staff immediately and we will take appropriate steps to rectify this. If problem behaviour is persistent or serious, we will contact the parent or guardian to decide on further action but we reserve the right to send any child home immediately. Children’s parents/guardians will be asked to pay for any damage deliberately caused to the College facilities.
Behaviour deemed inappropriate includes, but is not limited to:
- Leaving the grounds unless accompanied by a member of staff
- Threatening behaviour or offensive/insulting language
- Any consumption of alcohol, tobacco or drugs
- Entering the bedrooms used by the opposite sex
- Leaving or attempting to leave accommodation blocks (unless in an emergency) after lights out
- Theft or any illegal activities