Holidays & Overnight Stays – planning memories safely
A holiday—whether a weekend in Cornwall, a camping trip with Scouts, or two weeks on the Costa del Sol—gives looked-after children the same chat-worthy experiences their classmates enjoy, broadens horizons and often uncovers a new spark of interest (kayaking, photography, mythology, new foods). Positive Aspirations Group therefore expects foster carers to include children in most family breaks, while following the safeguards laid out in the Holidays & Overnight Stays Risk-Assessment procedure.
1 | Talk to the team first—well before you book
- Give your SSW and the child’s social worker early notice of dates, destination, accommodation type and who else will be present.
- Check the Care Plan for any restrictions (court orders, no contact with certain relatives, supervised contact only).
- Share the Risk-Assessment form (one page, tick-box plus narrative) so it can be signed by all parties and uploaded before deposits are paid.
Long-haul or first-time passports take time; EHIC/GHIC cards, vaccinations and travel insurance need social-worker consent. Start the paperwork months in advance.
2 | Budgeting—the allowance already covers it
Holiday costs come from the weekly fostering payment. As with any family, this means planning ahead: putting aside a little of the accountable allowance each week for the child’s share of travel, meals out, admission fees or ice-cream money. If a trip involves an unusually high cost—e.g., a school ski trip—raise it with your SSW early; some Local Authorities or charities have discretionary funds for educational travel.
3 | Room sharing and accommodation
At home each foster child has their own bedroom unless a specific sharing agreement exists. On holiday that separateness may not be possible, yet the child’s sense of privacy and safety remains paramount. Discuss room layouts in the Risk Assessment: who shares with whom, are bathrooms en-suite or shared, what supervision is needed at night. If the child’s history makes sharing unsafe, look for self-catering apartments or adjoining hotel rooms rather than squeezing into one caravan.
4 | Keeping routines—and sparks—alive on the road
Children often feel safest when familiar rhythms follow them: similar bedtimes, favourite cereal, two chapters of a bedtime book, asthma inhaler in the same bedside drawer. Pack comfort items, medication, the Health Passport and contact numbers for the social worker and Emergency Duty Team. Use the break to nurture sparks: rock-pooling for the budding marine biologist, holiday riding lessons for the horse-mad teenager, museum sketchbooks for the young artist.
5 | Overnight stays with friends or relatives
A single sleep-over or weekend scouting camp still needs a quick verbal check:
- Are adults DBS-checked (if an organised group)?
- Is there any court order preventing the visit?
- Does the child have medication and the carer’s phone number?
If everything is routine and low-risk you can authorise under delegated-authority, but log the details in your weekly recording and mention it at the next supervision.
6 | Must-do checklist for trips abroad
| Task | Timeline |
| Confirm social-worker agreement & delegated authority | 12–16 weeks before travel |
| Order / check passport (child & carer) | 12 weeks |
| Apply for GHIC card | 10 weeks |
| Travel insurance (names, pre-existing conditions) | 8 weeks |
| Vaccination consent if required | 6–8 weeks |
| Complete & file Risk-Assessment, including room plan | 4–6 weeks |
| Pack Health Passport, medication, consent letter for border control | 1 week |
Keep scanned copies of passport and consent letter on your phone and in cloud storage in case documents are lost.
7 | When permission is refused
Rarely, a Local Authority may decide a holiday is unsafe or not in the child’s best interests. Reasons might include pending court hearings, a no-flight medical condition or urgent therapeutic work scheduled in the same week. When this happens communicate the decision to the child calmly, offer local “holiday-at-home” adventures, and ask your SSW to explore alternative dates.
8 | Recording & reflection
On return, upload the completed Risk-Assessment with any incidents noted (minor illness, travel sickness meds given, change of room arrangement). In supervision, focus on the positives: the spark you spotted, new skills learned, friendships strengthened. Those observations feed into the child’s Life-Story work and your own evidence for reviews.
Take-away: a well-planned holiday teaches children that they belong to a family that budgets for them, thinks ahead for them and delights in sharing new experiences with them—turning a simple trip into a powerful statement of inclusion and hope.
