Two weeks before half term
You run a holiday club for children aged four to eleven, many of them former nursery children and older siblings. Two weeks before half term the booking forms go out by email. They come back on paper, as photos, as emails saying 'Tuesday and Thursday please'. The office records them in a spreadsheet, day by day, and emails parents when a day fills up.
Payments come in by bank transfer with no reference, or not at all until the first morning. The day before the club starts, someone builds the register for each day from the spreadsheet, and realises Wednesday is over the number of places you planned for.
Why holiday club bookings are chaotic
- Bookings arrive in lots of formats and are keyed in by hand.
- Daily places are counted in a spreadsheet, so a day can be overbooked before anyone notices.
- Payment is separate from booking, so unpaid places are common.
- Holiday club families are often not in the nursery system, or are in it as nursery families with different rules.
- Registers and staffing for each day are built by hand from the bookings.
How many children you take each day and the staffing you plan is decided by your own rules and the requirements that apply to you. The booking system works to the limits you set.
What the scramble costs
Office time in the busiest part of the term. Overbooked days that need awkward phone calls. Unpaid days that are hard to chase once the club has happened. Parents who give up on a paper form and book elsewhere. Staff rotas planned without knowing final numbers.
Holiday clubs are often a useful source of income and a way to keep families connected after their children leave nursery. A messy booking process undermines both.
The booking system we build
- Each holiday period is set up with its days, the daily place limit, the price per day and any sibling discount.
- Parents book online, choosing days, and see immediately which are full.
- Payment is taken at booking by card, for example through Stripe, or recorded against the booking if you allow payment on account or vouchers.
- Booking details, such as contacts and consents, are collected once per child per year and reused, with parents asked to confirm them each time.
- Daily registers and numbers by age group are generated from the bookings for the staff.
- Cancellations and changes follow your terms, with refunds or credits recorded.
| Part of the club | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Booking | Paper and email, keyed in | Online, recorded directly |
| Full days | Counted in a spreadsheet | Closed automatically at your limit |
| Payment | Chased after the club | Taken at booking, or recorded |
| Registers | Built by hand the day before | Generated from bookings |
The next half term
The booking link goes out. Parents choose days, pay, and get a confirmation. Wednesday fills and closes. The office does not key in anything. The day before the club, staff see each day's register and numbers by age, so the rota is planned on real bookings.
After the club, there is nothing to chase, and next time the families' details are already there.
The owner can also see which days and which weeks fill fastest across the year, which helps decide whether to add places, change prices or run extra days. None of that was visible when the bookings sat in a spreadsheet per holiday.
Is your holiday club still on paper?
- Holiday club forms come back in all sorts of formats.
- Days are overbooked before anyone notices.
- Payments are chased after the club.
- Registers are built by hand the day before.
- Parents ask whether days are still available by email.