Summer Courses Guide
Summer camp season is just around the corner!
The countdown has begun. Excitement is building as thousands of children prepare to head off on their 2026 summer camp adventure.
For many families, it’s a milestone filled with anticipation. For parents, however, those first few days can bring a familiar mix of pride, nerves and endless questions.
Will they make friends? What if they get homesick? Should I call them every day?
The good news is that a slightly rocky start is completely normal. In fact, most children experience a period of adjustment before settling into camp life and discovering just how capable they really are.
The trick isn’t to prevent every wobble but to prepare yourself for them and trust that your child is developing valuable life skills along the way.
The first few days are an adjustment for everyone
Even the most confident children can feel overwhelmed when they arrive at camp and find themselves surrounded by new faces, unfamiliar routines and a completely different environment. Excitement and uncertainty often go hand in hand. One minute they are throwing themselves into activities and the next they are quietly wondering what everyone is doing back home.
This is exactly what experienced camp leaders expect to see. The first few days are about settling in, finding new friends and getting comfortable with a different routine. You can help enormously by staying positive, reminding your child that feeling nervous is part of every new adventure and celebrating their bravery instead of focusing on their worries.
Homesickness is part of the journey
Homesickness rarely looks like the dramatic scenes parents imagine. More often it appears as a passing comment about the food, a complaint about being tired or a quiet admission that they haven’t quite found their group yet.
These moments are usually signs that your child is adjusting rather than struggling. As friendships develop and routines become familiar, confidence almost always grows naturally.
Advice 1
When your child calls, resist the urge to offer an immediate rescue plan. Instead, listen carefully, acknowledge how they feel and gently remind them that tomorrow is another opportunity to discover something new.
Staying connected without holding them back
Technology makes it easy to stay in touch, but constant communication can sometimes make it harder for children to settle into camp life. A regular message or an occasional phone call provides reassurance while still giving them the freedom to immerse themselves in new experiences.
Advice 2
Rather than asking if they miss home, ask what made them laugh today, what surprised them or what they are looking forward to tomorrow. These conversations encourage children to focus on everything they are gaining rather than everything they have temporarily left behind.
Trust that they are more capable than you think
Summer camps have decades of experience helping children find their feet. Staff understand the emotions that come with being away from home and are skilled at helping young people build friendships, confidence and independence.
Sometimes the hardest part of camp is not for the child but for the parent.
Advice 3
Taking a step back and allowing children to work through small challenges gives them the chance to discover just how resilient they really are.
By the end of the summer, those first uncertain moments are usually forgotten, replaced by stories of new friends, unexpected adventures and achievements they never imagined possible.
Advice 4
So as summer camps arrive just around the corner, take a deep breath, pack the extra socks and wave goodbye with confidence. Your child may leave with butterflies, but there’s every chance they’ll come home with wings!
And you don’t have to take our word for it. Students and parents consistently describe the same journey—from first-day nerves to lasting friendships, growing confidence and unforgettable memories. Below is a sample of positive reviews.
Real Experiences from Students and Parents
One student attending their first residential programme at Oxford Summer Courses summed up the experience perfectly:
At first I was worried being away from home but then I made lots of friends and it was perfect.
The same student went on to explain that they were still keeping in touch with the friends they had made after returning home, showing how quickly those first-day nerves had disappeared.
A parent whose daughter attended Oxford Summer Courses described the transformation they saw during the programme:
She quickly made new friends.
The parent added that the course offered the right balance of support and autonomy, giving their daughter the confidence to become more independent while feeling supported throughout her stay.
Another family, whose daughter had attended several summer programmes, described the experience as:
By far the best!
The parent recalled that their daughter was positively gushing over the phone every two days what a great time she was having, reassuring them that she had settled in beautifully.
Students at Bucksmore also highlight the importance of the welcoming environment. One participant shared:
The counsellors were all very welcoming.
The same student said that the best part of the programme was meeting so many nice people from various countries, proving that friendships can form remarkably quickly when everyone is sharing the same adventure.
Reviews for Summer Boarding Courses echo the same message. One parent simply said:
Our son had a great experience.
Another family reflected on the friendships their child made, explaining that they met friends from all over the world and returned home with memories that would last long after the summer had ended.
Perhaps the strongest message running through these independent reviews is that the nerves of the first day rarely define the experience. Instead, students leave with new friendships, exciting stories and a confidence they never expected to discover in just a few short weeks.
What Camp Leaders Wish Parents Knew
Ask experienced camp leaders what they notice every summer and you’ll hear the same reassuring message: children are usually far more resilient than they think.
The first evening is often the biggest hurdle. Everyone is finding their way, learning names and working out where they fit in. By breakfast the next morning, those same children are chatting over cereal, comparing activities and planning what they’re going to do after lunch.
Camp staff also know that the children who throw themselves into activities, even if they feel a little nervous at first, are often the ones who settle the quickest. A new sport, a creative challenge or simply sitting next to someone different at dinner can be the start of a friendship that lasts long after the summer is over.
Perhaps most importantly, camp leaders understand that independence isn’t something children arrive with – it’s something they build one small step at a time.
The Four Calls Every Parent Expects
If this is your child’s first residential camp, it’s worth remembering that almost every parent experiences a few emotional moments of their own.
There may be the phone call about missing a favourite snack or wishing they had packed another hoodie. There might be a message saying the food is different or that they’re still getting to know everyone.
What often happens next is the surprising part. The conversation ends quickly because there’s a football match starting, a talent show to rehearse for or a group challenge they don’t want to miss.
A day or two later, many parents find themselves receiving entirely different messages, filled with excitement about new friends, funny stories and adventures they never expected. Some children become so immersed in camp life that they forget to call home altogether.
What Your Child Will Really Bring Home
Of course they’ll return with photographs, souvenirs and perhaps a certificate or two, but the most valuable things won’t fit inside a suitcase.
They’ll come home knowing they can walk into a room full of strangers and start a conversation. They’ll have discovered that trying something new isn’t quite as frightening as they imagined and that small challenges can be overcome with a little determination.
Many parents notice subtle changes, too. Children become more confident in making decisions, more willing to take responsibility and more curious about the world beyond their own doorstep.
Those first-day butterflies are replaced by stories of midnight quizzes, team victories, new favourite foods and friends from countries they had only ever read about before.
The Summer They’ll Always Remember
Years from now, your child probably won’t remember feeling nervous on the first afternoon. Instead, they’ll remember laughing until bedtime, learning something completely unexpected, discovering a new passion and realising they were capable of much more than they thought.
And as a parent, you’ll probably remember something too. Not the moment you worried as they walked through the gates, but the moment they returned home just a little taller in confidence, carrying memories, friendships and experiences that will stay with them for years to come.
So as summer camps arrive just around the corner, take a deep breath, trust the process and enjoy watching your child begin an adventure that could become one of the defining experiences of their childhood.