How to choose a summer camp in Sant Andreu

The race starts in March. The good places go fast, and a lot of families end up signing up for whatever's left. It's worth putting aside an evening in February and deciding with a clear head.

The real calendar

Council-run and school-run camps usually open enrolment between March and April. Small, independent camps run by local organisations open earlier or later depending on the case, and often fill up by word of mouth before any announcement goes out.

Practical tip: in February, write to the camps you're interested in and ask them to let you know when enrolment opens. It costs nothing and saves you the scramble.

The three questions that tell you the most

• How many children per supervisor? Don't ask "are the ratios good", ask for the actual number. A group of thirty with two supervisors is not the same as a group of fifteen.
• How stable is the team? A team that comes back year after year knows the project. A new team every summer improvises more.
• What's the camp actually about, and what do they really do each day? Ask for a specific week's programme, not the brochure.

What's included in the price

This is where you end up comparing apples with oranges. Check whether these are included:

• Lunch, and whether it's cooked on site or brought in
• Breakfast and afternoon snack
• Morning and afternoon drop-off, and how much they cost separately
• Trips, transport and admission fees
• Materials
• T-shirt and insurance

A camp that looks fifty euros cheaper can end up costing more once you add drop-off and trips.

Signs worth watching for

• A generic programme. "Games, workshops and pool time" could mean almost anything.
• Very large groups. Past a certain number, a camp turns into pure logistics.
• Chilled, mass-produced food. A whole month of pre-packaged trays is not a minor detail.
• No communication with families during the week.
• They won't let you visit. A project that's genuinely working well is usually happy to show it off.

Things people rarely ask, and should

• How allergies are managed during trips.
• What happens if it rains and a trip's cancelled.
• Whether there's support for children with additional educational needs.
• Whether you can book single weeks or have to pay for the whole month.
• What the refund policy is if a child falls ill.

What ours looks like

We deliberately keep groups small so everyone genuinely gets to cook: peeling, chopping, eating what they've made. We go to the market, tend the vegetable patch and get out into the neighbourhood. Lunch is sustainable and cooked in our own kitchen the same day, with the same standards as the canteen.

Write to us and we'll let you know when enrolment opens.