Eight in the morning at the camp gate
Parents arrive in a rush between eight and nine. The coach at the gate has a clipboard with printed lists by age group. Some children are not on it because they were booked late last night. Some who are on it are not coming, because a parent texted the owner at seven. A parent says grandma will collect today. Another child has an inhaler that must stay with the group coach.
At home time, a person the coach has never met arrives to collect a child. The coach checks a separate sheet of authorised collectors, which does not list them. The parent is phoned, does not answer. Everyone waits. Meanwhile, a coach on the other pitch is asking if anyone knows whether a particular child has any allergies, and the medical sheet is in the office.
Why the gate is so stressful
- Registers are printed from a spreadsheet the night before and are out of date by morning.
- Changes from parents arrive by message to whoever they happen to have a number for.
- Authorised collectors and key information for each child are on separate paper lists.
- Arrival and departure times are ticked, not recorded, so there is no reliable record of when a child left.
- Several coaches work across pitches or halls, but there is only one clipboard.
Why getting this right matters
Knowing which children are on site, and handing each one only to someone the parent has authorised, is one of the most basic things parents trust you to get right. A muddle at the gate is stressful for staff and alarming for parents, even when it ends well.
The records matter afterwards too. If a question is ever raised about when a child left or who collected them, a tick on a clipboard is not much help. What your procedures are for arrival, collection and medical information is set by your own policies and any guidance you follow; we do not advise on them. What we build makes it easy for your staff to follow those procedures and leaves a clear record.
A digital register for camp days
- Each camp day's register is built from live bookings, so a late booking or cancellation appears as soon as it is made.
- Coaches open the register on a tablet or phone, with children grouped by age group and venue.
- Tapping a child shows the key information parents entered at booking that your staff need, such as medical notes and emergency contacts, visible only to staff with access to that camp.
- Arrivals and departures are recorded with a tap and the time; the parent gets a short message that their child has been signed in or out, if you want that.
- Parents set authorised collectors in advance, with a photo or password if your procedure uses one; at collection the coach sees the list for that child and records who collected.
- A same-day change of collector goes through the parent's account, not a text to a coach, so it appears on the register with a record of who made it.
| At the gate | Coach sees | Record kept |
|---|---|---|
| Arrival | Today's children by group | Time signed in and by whom |
| Key information | Notes relevant to today's activities | Who viewed it |
| Late booking | Child added automatically | Booking time |
| Collection | Authorised collectors for that child | Time and who collected |
| Change of collector | Updated list with the parent's change | When the parent made it |
The register works offline on a tablet at a field with poor signal and catches up when a connection returns.
A calmer gate at both ends of the day
In the morning, coaches at the gate see an up-to-date list and sign children in as they arrive. Parents get a message that their child is in. The group coach sees on their own phone that their group is complete and which child has an inhaler.
At pick-up, grandma is already on the list, because the parent added her at breakfast. The coach checks the name, taps collected, and the record shows when and by whom. At the end of the week, you have a full record of every arrival and departure without anyone writing it up.
Does your camp gate look like this?
- Registers are printed the night before and are out of date by morning.
- Parents text coaches with changes about collection.
- Authorised collector lists are on separate paper sheets.
- Coaches on different pitches cannot see medical notes.
- You have no reliable record of when each child left.