Which activity or class did you attend?
Tech Camp, Camp Primary School, 08 August
“Tech Camp was advertised as teaching coding, computer skills and engineering, so I was expecting something really special.
I was met with a teenager at registration and could see older children sitting the in the room as helpers, but couldn't see any older adults in the vicinity. I had previously emailed to request my 6 year old be paired up with people she knows going that day, but was told to advise this info at registration on the day. When I told the girl running registration she didn't write any names down, so I asked if she wanted to do this. She simply said that they ask the children to speak up about this when they get put into groups. I don't think this is the best approach with younger ones or kids that don't feel confident at speaking up like this. So I left not feeling overly reassured about the camp.
When I picked my child up, she said they'd "played Mindcraft and other games on an ipad that we borrowed from an older girl". Bit disappointed to hear that's all they did, as the holiday club had been advertsed as coding and game design, and more ££ than any other camp around. It sounded like my child, and having spoken to a couple of other parents, that their kids had not done anything like this but just played games on a tablet all day.”
Which activity or class did you attend?
Summer tech camp - Full 10 days
“Week 1 of robotics was very engaging and my child had learnt something new everyday.
Week 2 of lego and Minecraft had very exciting elements but I felt there was too much screen time.
Overall, an excellent camp that my child is already asking to be signed up for next year.
However, there was an imbalance of boys to girls ratio. I would love to see more girls attracted to this camp.”
Which activity or class did you attend?
Minecraft and Lego engineering
“My son said he enjoyed some of the activities but said it wasn’t as exciting as he hoped it would be. They were often left to their own devices and became bored easily.
He found the staff rude, often shouting to “shut up” ,they were frequently on their phones and offered little support with learning.
When we looked at the daily emails about what should have been covered, he often said that they didn’t cover all subjects listed - no Minecraft coding for example.
With this (and his friends similar feedback) and the cost of the camp being what it is, I would not book again unfortunately.”
Which activity or class did you attend?
Summer camp
“My 6 year old daughter has given the camp at St Helen’s Primary school a big thumbs up. She’s spoken enthusiastically about the range of different activities they do and has thoroughly enjoyed her time there. She said the staff were super friendly and helpful which is what I have found too. They also have strong safeguarding procedures as I turned up early to collect my daughter but the internal access door was locked so that was extremely reassuring. I would definitely recommend the camp and hope it inspires a love of tech going forward.
I have not given 5 stars on the basis that the daily costs are higher than other camps in Ipswich when it appears that the overheads are the same. Also, when emailing about a date change in advance, I didn’t receive any response.”
