School Holiday Programs
Bookings for Summer School Holidays are Now Open
Communities@Work offers School Holiday Programs throughout the year during all ACT School Holidays. Our programs focus on fun and delivering a new adventure every day for your child.
Our qualified and reliable educators provide more than just vacation care – they collaborate with children to ensure play, leisure and recreational activities are safe and meaningful. We place each child at the centre of our practice and build respectful and positive relationships with children, families and community to develop connectedness, confidence and wellbeing.
Our school holiday programs generally include a variety of incursions (external entertainment and activity providers conducting activities in-service) and excursions. We run our holiday programs in several locations across Canberra and the ACT region (see below).
We are still finalising the activities for each location for Summer School Holiday Programs and program highlights will be available for download below when confirmed. However, we have a sneak peek of some of the planned activities for you (see below). Please note that activities are subject to change, based on the latest COVID-19 health advice from the ACT Government.
Summer School Holiday Program Locations & Dates
Our School Holiday Programs run at the following locations across Canberra. All locations are able to care for children aged 4-12 years of age, except for Amaroo which is 5-12.
*Please note that Monash Primary School, Charles Weston Primary School, Neville Bonner Primary School, and Maribyrnong Primary School will be offering School Holiday Programs from 21 December 2020 to 23 December 2020, in addition to 4 January 2021 to 31 January 2021.
All other services will be providing holiday programs from 4 Jan – 31 Jan 2021 only.
- Amaroo School
- Charles Weston School*
- Fadden Primary School
- Maribyrnong Primary School*
- Monash Primary School*
- Mount Rogers Primary School
- Neville Bonner Primary School*
- Palmerston District Primary School
- Wanniassa Hills Primary School
- Isabella Plains Early Childhood Service
- Narrabundah Early Childhood School (only available to in-service families)
- Ngunnawal Child Care and Education Centre (only available to in-service families)
Summer School Holiday Program 2020-21 Sneak Peek
Get your children ready for lots of fun and adventure in a supportive and engaging environment these summer holidays:
1. Horsing Around with three highly trained service horses: An experience that not only educates, but gives children the chance to interact with the mild-mannered, intelligent and adorable horses, and even jump back in time and experience the transportation of the past in an 8-seater carriage!
Wellington and Claudia are equine therapy Clydesdale horses specializing in visiting aged care facilities, respite for disabled individuals and visiting schools. During a school incursion, the children are able to get up close and personal for brushing, pats, and cuddles and are also able to enjoy a pony ride or carriage ride. The horses are all beautifully tempered with a love of humans great and small and are always ready to put a smile on faces! For more information, visit Horsing Around – Vacation Care.
2. Surreal Racing Experience with GO-Karts2U: An AR (augmented reality) experience to remember – children will have lots of fun battling their friends in one of the greatest arcade racing games of all time inside an inflatable track, a perfect combination of RC cars and gaming consoles!
GO-Karts2U is a mobile business designed to provide a unique and memorable experience for children. Their karts have added safety features, longer run time, and due to a change in design allow slightly older children to enjoy a spin in the go-karts. All karts have a remote shut-off which allows the staff to stop the karts instantly. There is also a Slime Workshop designed to give the children something to do whilst they are not riding the track. The team is dedicated to delivering a fun and safe experience for all children.
3. Raptor Reptiles: Enjoy fascinating insights into the lives of spectacular wildlife! Children will have the opportunity to touch the animals, learn about their history and unique traits, and have fun with all things scaly!
The facilitator for this incursion has over 10 years’ experience in the animal industry and possesses a wide wealth of knowledge. He is a certified snake handler and has worked with all animals from giraffes to tigers though his passion lies with the scaly and slimy! Visit Raptor Reptiles for more information.
4. Farmers Challenge with The RuffTRACK Crew: Always a popular incursion, Farmer Dave will be back to take children on a learning journey of Australian culture, with lots of high energy team games and fun that will leave the children totally ‘bushed’!
The children will learn to interact, make friends and work together in the spirit of mateship and inclusion. After going on a fun learning journey with mates from the Outback, they will then take each other on in team games to show how much they learnt about inclusion, mateship, teamwork and bush skills!
*Please note that not all activities will be available at all locations. All Activities are subject to change, based on the latest COVID-19 health advice.
“Great diverse activities in the program. My child loved it.”
“My daughter came home both days that she attended very happy and excited about her day. She said that the educators were lovely.”
– Happy parents from our Spring School Holiday Program 2020
Our School Holiday Programs
Our July School Holiday Programs were a hit with activities like Hatching Chicks, Dr Hubble’s Bubble’s, interactive game shows, winter crafts, science experiments, Mini Olympics, scavenger hunts and more! View what our clients had to say from our July school holiday program survey.
In Spring, we celebrated dance and expression through Mission Movement, engaged in an Obstacle and Activity Course with an Active Warrior incursion, played in teams with Aim4Fun Inflatable Laser Tag, experimented with earth’s secrets during Dynamic Earth incursion, and became a Masterchef with Cooking Craze.
With Summer, expect a lot of fun across a variety of incursions and in-service activities, and possibly excursions permitting COVID-19 guidelines from the ACT Government.*
*Please note that activities are subject to change, based on the latest COVID-19 health advice from ACT Government. Please note that all activities may not be available at all locations – refer to the program highlights for more information.
Important Information
Bookings for Summer School Holiday Programs (2020-21) will open on Friday, 6 November at 12 PM.
Information will be updated as required in this section, including changes and cancellations of activities, as well as information pertaining to COVID-19.
If you’re looking for information on Child Care Subsidy, Additional Child Care Subsidy, and answers to other Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), please click here to download our Information Sheet for the School Holiday Programs.
Communities@Work’s Response to COVID-19
Communities@Work is working to ensure that we are in the best position to support children, families, clients and our community during the COVID-19 crisis. We will continue to be guided by the latest regulatory advice from the ACT Government and ACT Health, ensuring the safety of your child is paramount. We have implemented hygiene, increased cleaning and other measures across all of our services to reduce the risk of infection and spread of COVID-19. Communities@Work has a commitment to the Canberra community, and we aim to ensure that we can continue to provide our essential community services in the face of this crisis.
The government is also offering support for families experiencing hardship, including Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS). Please visit our children’s services page for more information.
More information about this can be found on the dedicated COVID-19 page on our website
EXPLORE OUR CHILDREN’S SERVICES >
Program highlights for each location coming soon.
