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An Ofsted-registered school holiday camp provider will be hosting fun and Covid safe camps in Kent this Easter.

With trained staff and a fun Multi-Activity curriculum, SuperCamps – one of the country’s most trusted school holiday camp providers for children aged 4-14 years - is preparing to open its doors at Russell House School in Sevenoaks.

The opening of the camps follows a new YouGov survey revealing parents’ top concern for the welfare of their children post lockdown is social mixing and interacting with peers. This is prioritised above catching up on education and missed schooling.

The research revealed that whilst nearly a quarter of all parents (22%) confirmed the opportunity to build more social interactions as the top priority for their children in 2021, this number rose to 29% among parents with children aged four years old or under.

Some 20% of all parents surveyed wanted to build on their children’s academic knowledge, whilst 16% wanted their children to experience more of the outdoors. 13% cited wanting their children to spend less time on tech and social media with 10% wanting to provide their children with an opportunity to build more extracurricular skills and 6% wanting them to exercise more.

The new SuperCamps research coincides with another study which shows 79% of parents are worried about their children’s mental health due to the lockdown restrictions.

Just last month, the Children's Commissioner, Anne Longfield, was quoted in the press saying: “Children aged three have spent a third of their life in lockdown and parents of very young children say they are very worried. We have reports of little ones being tearful and clingy, and are losing the ability to play with friends in the playground.”

Perhaps surprisingly, when asked to choose the single most important factor when deciding which school holiday camp to send their child to, the top answer was not Covid related.

Parents’ top priority was ‘the activities and courses available’ (15%). Next was the cost of the camp (10%) then followed by the Covid and safety measures (8%), whilst 6% of parents prioritised whether their children had any friends already attending.

In designing its holiday programmes, SuperCamps draws upon the wellbeing focus and resources of its parent organisation, Cognita, one of the world’s leading global education groups, which takes a pioneering approach to children’s wellbeing.

Beth Kerr, teacher and children’s wellness expert with an MSc from ULC in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, is passionate about the role of educators in improving the wellbeing of young people today.

Beth says: “When you put children’s wellbeing at the front and centre of their learning and development then children will flourish socially, emotionally and physically. It is evident from this new YouGov research.

"It is evident from this new YouGov research and indeed it is no wonder – that parents are desperate for their children to have the opportunity to relearn all important social skills and re-build peer to peer connections.

"School holiday camps like SuperCamps help bring children back together within local communities that have been apart for some time and encourage them to build bonds, connections and confidence through play in fun, social and safe environments.”

Ben Reynolds, managing director of SuperCamps says: “Our Easter camps at Russell House School in Sevenoaks will offer children the opportunity to develop important skills such as team-work, creativity, being active and interacting with others.

"Our fully trained staff and fun Multi-Activity curriculum helps children rebuild social skills and confidence whilst mixing safely and securely with their peers in a Covid safe and fun environment.”

To find out more about the Easter camps in Kent, visit www.supercamps.co.uk