Holiday Camp Transfer Policy: What to Do When a Child Can't Attend

It's 9.40pm on the Sunday before camp starts and your inbox has three new messages: a parent asking to swap Wednesday for Friday, another whose child has broken a wrist, and a third wanting to transfer a spot to a cousin. Without a written holiday camp transfer policy, every one of those becomes a fresh negotiation, and you'll answer each one differently depending on how tired you are.

This post gives you the decisions to make once, a decision flow your staff can follow without ringing you, and wording you can paste straight into your registration page and email replies. The aim is simple: one reply per request, not six.

Why camp withdrawals turn into email chains

Most camp operators don't have a bad policy. They have no policy, or a vague one. "Refunds at our discretion" sounds flexible, but it invites every parent to make their case.

The thread grows because each reply raises a new question. Can I swap instead? Does the credit expire? Can it go to next holidays? What if my other child uses it? Each question is reasonable. Each one is another email.

The fix is to answer those questions before anyone asks. If you've already worked through your sports venue refund policy, this is the camp-specific layer that sits on top of it.

The four requests you'll actually get

Almost every camp change falls into one of four buckets. Name them in your policy and your staff will sort requests in seconds.

1. Withdrawal — the child isn't coming at all, for some or all booked days.
2. Day swap — same child, same camp, different day.
3. Transfer — the spot moves to another child (a sibling, a cousin, a friend).
4. Illness or injury — the child can't attend for a reason outside the family's control, often at short notice.

The fourth bucket matters because it's the one where a rigid rule feels harsh. Decide in advance how you'll treat it, so kindness is consistent rather than random.

Write your holiday camp transfer policy in five decisions

You don't need a long document. You need five decisions, written down.

1. Your cutoff. Pick one notice period that changes the answer. A common setup is seven days before the camp week starts. Before the cutoff, families get the generous option. After it, the stricter one applies.

2. Refund or credit. Decide what each bucket earns before and after the cutoff. Many operators refund before the cutoff (minus an admin fee) and offer a credit after it.

3. Credit expiry. Credits without an end date sit on your books for years. Tie expiry to something parents understand, such as "the next two school holiday periods".

4. Swap conditions. Swaps only work if the new day has space. Say so plainly, and say what happens if it doesn't.

5. Who decides exceptions. One named role, not whoever answers the phone. Exceptions are fine. Inconsistent exceptions are what start arguments in the car park.

One pointer: your policy sits alongside Australian consumer law, not above it. Check the ACCC's guidance on refunds and confirm what applies to your business before you publish.

A decision flow for withdrawals, swaps and credits

Print this and stick it next to the desk. Staff should be able to answer most requests from the table alone.

Three questions drive the whole flow:

1. Is this before or after the cutoff?
2. Is there space on the requested day, or someone on the waitlist for the vacated one?
3. Is this illness or injury?

If staff can answer those three, they can answer the parent.

Worked example: what a swap or credit actually costs you

Operators often worry that a generous policy bleeds money. Run the numbers on your own camp. Here's an example with stated assumptions: a camp charges $70 a day, caps each day at 30 kids, and pays the same coaching staff whether 26 or 30 turn up.

The pattern: when you have a waitlist, generosity costs very little, because the spot resells. When you don't, the cutoff protects you. That's why a healthy waitlist matters as much as the policy itself. Our guide to running school holiday sports camps covers how to build demand so those spots refill.

Ready-to-use wording you can copy

Adjust the numbers to suit, then paste.

Policy text for your registration page:

Changes and cancellations. Need to change your booking? Here's how it works. Before [7 days] prior to camp: withdraw for a refund minus a $[X] admin fee, or take a full credit. Within [7 days]: we'll offer a credit if we can fill your spot from the waitlist. Day swaps: free any time, as long as the new day has space. Transfers: you can pass your spot to another child. We'll need their details and forms before day one. Illness or injury: let us know before the day starts and we'll credit the missed days. Credits can be used for any of our camps in the next two school holiday periods.

Reply to a day swap:

Hi [name], happy to help. Friday has space, so we've moved [child] from Wednesday to Friday. Nothing else you need to do. See you then.

Reply when the new day is full:

Hi [name], Friday is full, sorry. We've added [child] to the Friday waitlist and kept the Wednesday spot for now. If a Friday spot opens, we'll move them and let you know.

Reply to a late withdrawal:

Hi [name], thanks for letting us know. As it's within seven days of camp, we'll offer a credit if we can fill [child]'s spot from the waitlist. We'll confirm either way by [day].

Reply to illness:

Hi [name], sorry to hear [child] is unwell. We've credited the missed days to your account, usable at any camp in the next two holiday periods. Hope they're back on their feet soon.

Each reply answers the next question before the parent asks it. That's what closes the thread. For more on writing messages parents actually read, see our sports parent communication guide.

What happens at drop-off on day one

A setup we see a lot: the camp opens at 8.30am, two coaches are on sign-in, and a parent arrives with a child who isn't on the list. They "emailed on Friday" to swap days. The email is sitting in an inbox nobody on site can see.

Now the coach has to choose between turning a child away and blowing the ratio. Neither is good, and both happen in front of a queue.

The policy only works if the roster reflects it. Every swap, transfer and withdrawal needs to land on the same sign-in list the coaches are holding, not in a separate email folder. When a transfer goes through, the new child's medical and emergency details have to travel with it, because the coach needs them at 8.31am, not after lunch.

This is where keeping registrations, waitlists and attendance in one system pays off. In Sweepa, those live together in program and camp registration, so a change made at the desk shows up on the coach's list.

Common mistakes that reopen the thread

• Vague cutoffs. "A week before" — before what? Camp week, or the specific day? Pick one and write it.
• Credits with no expiry. They pile up and turn into awkward conversations two years later.
• Swaps that ignore capacity. Approving a swap into a full day means a ratio problem on the floor.
• Transfers without forms. A new child is a new set of medical details and permissions. Don't skip it because it's "just a sibling".
• Exceptions from whoever's on. One parent gets a refund from the casual coach, their friend gets refused by you. Name one decision-maker.
• Replies that don't confirm the outcome. "Leave it with me" guarantees a follow-up email.

Put the policy where parents will see it

A policy nobody reads is the same as no policy. Put the short version in three places: on the camp registration page, in the confirmation email, and in the reminder sent a few days before camp. Repeating the cutoff in that reminder heads off most late requests before they happen.

Then make the first reply the last one. When staff use the decision flow and the template wording, parents get a clear answer the first time.

If you're weighing up tools to hold all this in one place, our pricing page lays out the plans and the 30-day free trial. On Monday, start smaller: write your five decisions on one page and share the table with whoever answers the camp inbox.