Looking for a reliable, responsible and well run vacation care program then I would suggest this service.
The fees are fair in price, they have organised excursion days which included the movies, parks, beach, canoeing, sports days etc etc.
My child seemed to like the workers, the other kids, and the atmosphere and I certainly felt relaxed leaving him in their care.

place is well decorated. staff are quite friendly and helpful. children seem to get along well when playing with other children

WHAT ACTUALLY IS 'VACATION CARE' ? - it is a similar service to childcare, where children between the ages of 6 and 11 are offered care during the school holiday period. It is usually operated at a childcare centre or at one of your local public schools. The fees range between $1.00 per day for a council run service (thus $1.00 being the daily fee for single parents, and approximately $8.00 for working parents) AND a privately run centre can charge between $5 to $28 per day (dependant on whether you are recieving centrelink benefits or are a working parent).

WHY CHOOSE VACATION CARE, WHAT CAN IT OFFER MY CHILD ?. Well, for starters your child is given the chance to form new friendships with other children, socialise, and relieve holiday boredom. They can choose to be involved in a varied range of centre based activities such as crafts, sports, technology, computers, games, theme based days and in centre displays/programs/visits.

They are also offered excursions to places such as mini golf, putt putt, the movie cinema, horse riding, iceskating, swimming, muesems, kayaking, fun based educational facilities and much, much more. In all honesty and due respect, these may be places that we, as parents, can not take them due to working or due to not having transport or not knowing where these activities & services are located.

The staff were fabulous and friendly and had alot of related experience in the childcare industry and came highly recomended by other parents (which is a good thing) making me at ease with making the choice to use their service. Their experience came from running 3 other types of childcare services - long day care, child care centres and vacation care. They also owned and ran small businessed in my local community that offered activities for adults and children, and are in the process of opening new businesses related to community based services and activities. Thus meaning that their serices are well known and established.
My kids attended the service for 3 days per week. They made new friends, had the oppurtunity to go places that i wasnt aware of or probably wouldnt drive to, and really enjoyed it. Like most children, my kids were nervous on the first day (and to be honest, so was i), but all nerves were set aside when they came home with glowing reviews of their day and an eagerness to attend the next day.

I was lucky to find this service but as i have lived in different areas i have in the past had to find care or holiday programs etc etc which isnt an easy task.

My suggestion is to look in your local paper, ring your local public schools and ask if they know of any services, use the internet and try googling services in your area, call your local council as they usually run holiday programs or know of services that do, ring childcare centres and ask them as they usually run holiday programs as well as childcare and before and after school care, also try reading the 'sydneys child' magazine issued at every local school for free and ask other parents as word of mouth is a powerful tool and if other parents recommend the service then it is usually good.

Approximate cost: $5.00