Safety at Camp

The safety of the campers is our primary concern at Kids Inc Camp. We have specific rules and policies that secure your child’s safety to the utmost extent. Our safety policies must be adhered to by staff, parents, and campers at all times. Failure to comply will eliminate our ability to serve your camper/s and camp family. Familiarizing yourself with the following points will provide you with valuable information on how, together, we can achieve a safe and secure environment for the children.

GENERAL SAFETY

Only registered camp participants, staff, and registered guests will be permitted on camp property during camp hours. We ask parents to respect this policy.

All Counselors must maintain a current First-Aid and CPR training certificate.
Criminal Record Checks are on file for all staff and adults who are working with our campers at Kids Inc Camp
There is a minimal 7:1 camper to staff ratio for Junior General Camp
There is a minimal 12:1 camper to staff ratio for children in General Camp who are entering grades 1 and 2 in September following the camp season
There is a minimal 15:1 camper to staff ratio for children in General Camp who are entering grades 3 to 6 in the September following the camp season
There is a minimal 20:1 camper to staff ratio for campers in General Camp and LIT Camp who are entering grades 7 to 9 the September following the camp season
Our Code of Conduct that can be found below is in place for yours and your campers and our staff safety

DROP-OFF & PICK UP

Your child must be signed in and out of camp each day. You are required to provide a list of adults who have permission to sign your children in and out.
Any changes in drop off and pick up info must be cleared by the admin office 24 hours prior to the change in question. This will avoid any confusion that could lead to an unsafe situation with regards to drop off and pick up person, location, sharing a drive with another family, and or any other change that will require our advanced attention. Thank you!
If you wish for your child to walk to and from the bus without parental supervision, you must provide a letter of permission. In this case the camper must be a minimum of 10 years of age of older.
Parents may not speak to our staff or the bus drivers in any way that is aggressive or intimidating. Our buses do their best to be on time but transportation issues can come up. All complaints, concerns and feedback about transportation rules, sign in/out policies, and/or late buses should be directed to Kids Inc Headquarters. registration@kidsinc.ca is the best way to send your communication our way. Thank you.
Parents must not ask Kids Inc staff to break any rules or policies with regards to pick up or drop off of a child. Failure to understand the importance of all of our safety policies may result in the cancellation of your registration from our program. Thank you.

THE CODE OF CONDUCT

Please review this information for your own knowledge and with your children and all members of your family/support system who will be encountering the camp and camp staff prior to signing-up for camp. Failure to comply with the code of conduct will result in a verbal warning, suspension, and if non-compliant, dismissal from camp. In some cases the warning phases mention will be eliminated and removal from the program may be nessiccary. This will be decided on a case by case basis. Campers who are asked to leave Kids Inc. will receive a refund which is subject to a $25.00 service charge for each remaining session for which they are registered.

THE KIDS INC CODE OF CONDUCT

All campers, and camper family members will treat one another with respect.
All campers and camp family members must respect the property of the park and of other campers and camper families. Camp families must also agree to respect speed limits, driving instructions, pick up and drop off times, and understand that rules administered by our staff are not negotiable. If you encounter a staff member who is enforcing our rules and systems and would like to ask questions – we ask that you call our office or email us to discuss the matter with the owners of the camp.
Teasing, and bullying behaviour will not be tolerated.
Campers, and members of camper families will be asked to leave Kids Inc. Summer Camp if they use abusive language, or an abusive tone with campers or staff.
Campers, and members of camper families will be asked to leave Kids Inc. Summer Camp if they exhibit violent behavior with campers or staff. This includes verbal, physical, and emotional violence. This also includes inappropriate communication with our staff about matters that are beyond their control and/or issues arising from the camp program. This includes e-mail communication, online posts and all other forms of communication that are negative in any way towards our staff, our services or our camp program. We ask that all matters requiring our attention be brought to the camp owners attention. Thank you.
Campers, and camper families will be asked to leave Kids Inc if a parent, sibling, or guardian is not behaving within our facility rules or behaving in keeping with our code of conduct. This is very important to us at Kids Inc Camp – and it is important for you to note that no warnings will be issued in these cases.
There is no trespassing on the Kids Inc Camp property. We are happy to host Kids Inc Camp on this private property but failure to adhere to our no trespassing rules will render us unable to serve you. You will be removed from the property right away.
We do not have an office where you can come to get registered, or meet with us in person. If you need to organize a meeting in person to discuss anything this can be done via email to registration@kidsinc.ca but driving to the camp to meet with us unannounced will lead to disappointment as we are not able to do so. Your issue is important to us and we do wish to resolve it with you so please email us to set up a time to discuss. Thank you.

In cases where a camper or a camper family member has caused cancellation from our program we will provide a refund for remaining sessions whenever possible. Every effort will be made to get this mailed to you within 60 days of the end of the camp season in question.

Any person exhibiting behaviour that in anyway compromises the safety, security, or health of themselves, a fellow camper, or staff member will be removed from the camp immediately. More information about the Campers Code of Conduct is available in the Parent’s Handbook. You can access the Parent’s Handbook on our Forms and Documents Page of the web site.

ALLERGIES

Kids Inc. camp is a peanut-free environment. Please do not send your child with any peanuts or peanut products. If your child has peanuts or peanut products in his or her lunch or snacks he / she will be required to eat them in isolation from the rest of the children. There will be a call home in order to address the violation of our policy on this matter.

There are many other kind of allergies and we do understand that. We will do our best to work with you with regards to your campers allergies – however – please note that we are not able to guarantee that they will not come into contact with items that they may have a reaction to. You will need to send us all medications that can be used in the case of contact with an item that may cause a reaction.

We will also require instructions and information that will require in some cases for us to give you a call prior to the camp season in order to be sure that we have all of the information that we need. If you feel that talking with us would be helpful and you have not heard from us yet – please do reach out to our registration office. Thank you.

Contact with items that your camper may be allergic to can happen via touch, air, injection (bee sting) and ingestion and therefore it can happen at any time. Please note that sending your child to a camp program where your camper will be in contact with other campers who may have had contact with items that you camper is allergic to can cause a reaction. It is best to educate your camper how they themselves can stay safe with regards to their allergy.

Please also note that there are times that contact with such items are out of our control. It is imperative that we are in communication with one another and on the same page when it comes to working together with regards to our campers who have allergies. If you have questions about our policies with regards to allergies please contact us directly. Please fill in a medication form for all allergy medication that will be sent to camp for your camper. This form can be found in our Registration Package and/or in our Parent’s Handbook. You can get both of these documents on the Forms and Documents section of this web site.

SWIMMING

Our pool is staffed by more certified lifeguards than required by the Ontario Public Pool Regulations. All of our lifeguards are certified by the Canadian Lifesaving Society with their National Lifeguard Certificate, First Aid and CPR Certificates.
Junior General Campers will wear life jackets at all times while in the water, at the beach and on the pool deck.
General Campers and Junior General Campers entering Grade 2 and under in the September following the camp season in question will be in life jackets at all times. They will not take the swim test. There are no exceptions to this rule. We understand that there are some campers at this age who have taken swimming lessons and can swim well – but this policy is in place for the safety and fun of our youngest campers and will be in place for all campers at this age/grade level.
Life jackets will be provided for all campers that require one so please do not send life jackets or other personal flotation devices from home. This way we are not worried about how they work or if the item you send will work in the context of our program and facility. Thank you.
There is a mandatory swim test for all other campers who are going into Grade 3 + who wish to enter the pool without a life jacket. Swim “check” will be conducted strictly under the supervision of our life guarding staff. There is also a swim “check” for the pond. for swimmers of the appropriate age/grade who have passed the pool “check”.
All General Campers and LIT’s will get a swimming wristband. The colour will help us to see if they need a lifejacket (RED) – can use the pool without a lifejacket (YELLOW) or have passed the pond test and can swim in the pond as well as the pool (GREEN). Swim “checks” are only opened to campers of the appropriate age in any given area. The pond swim “check” is very challenging and parents should not be surprised if their camper does not pass. We wish to keep Kids Inc fun by putting safety first! Thank you in advance for your understanding.
Swimming wrist bands must be kept on your child’s wrist for the duration of the session. If their wrist band must be removed for some reason, please send your camper with a signed note explaining why it was removed. Please contact us if there are questions in regards to this matter.
More information about swim “check” is available in the Parent’s Handbook. You can access the Parent’s Handbook on the Forms and Documents Page of the web site.

WASHROOM BREAKS/CHANGING FOR JUNIOR GENERAL CAMPERS

Washroom breaks are conducted in groups with one or more Junior General Camp staff members present. The female washroom is always used for washroom and change room purposes for all Junior General Camp participants. A staff member will be present outside of the washroom stalls to make sure that everyone is alright and that proper hand washing takes place after washroom use.

Changing for swim time is done in a communal setting with all Junior General Campers male and female and our Female Camp Staff in the Female Change room. If your camper is more comfortable changing in a change room stall in a private setting they are welcome to do so – however – they will not be able to receive any assistance from our staff in the private area. If you have questions about this policy and how Junior General Camp Washroom and Changing will work please contact us. This way we are always in an area and in a setting with many care providers at all times. If you have questions about this please clarify prior to attending our program.

More information about washroom use is available in the Parent’s Handbook. You can access the Parent’s Handbook on the Forms and Documents Page of the web site.

MEDICAL INCIDENTS

If your child has sustained an illness or injury at camp we will follow the appropriate course of action which may include:

A phone call to a parent at work during the day to report the incident.
A phone call home in the evening to report the incident.
A conversation upon pick-up of your child/children to report the incident.
Calling parent or emergency contact to pick up the child.
Providing First Aid or Aquatic Emergency Care treatment.
Calling EMS to transport the child to the appropriate health care facility. If this aspect of our protocol has been put into effect we will do our best to call you as promptly as possible to discuss the situation at hand – but – care of the child in question will take priority at the moment of the situation in question and this may delay or affect our ability to discuss the matter with you to some extent.

Please contact our office to discuss if you have any question about this. Thank you. For more information about our safety policies, please download the Parent’s Handbook. You can access the Parent’s Handbook on the Forms and Documents Page of the web site.