Schools close, up to 704 euro per child for a month of summer centre

With the end of the school year comes the race to find summer centres for students. A figure emerges: centres in private facilities spend around 704 euro per month per child, while the figure drops to 396 in public ones. Highlighting costs and services is the monitoring by the Onf, Federonsumatori's national observatory, which compared last year's data with this year's.

"Contrasting trends emerge from the survey," they point out at Federconsumatori. "While the weekly cost for the first child of the full-time formula decreases by -7%, the rates for the half-day formula and those for the reduced formula (i.e. not including lunch) increase. The average weekly cost of the full-time formula is 176.00 for a summer centre in a private facility, which drops to 120.00 for children who attend the summer centre only half a day (until 2 p.m.)'.

On the other hand, with regard to the price found for summer centres organised in public facilities, the cost is around 79.00 euro for half-day (+5% compared to 2024), and 99.00 euro for full-day (+4% compared to 2024). These things vary depending on the Isee bracket of the family. The study took into consideration the highest one, which is 26,000 euro.

"The difference found between public and private is due to several factors," Federconsumatori adds. "In addition to the facilities that host the children (which for public summer centres are mostly schools), the cost also varies considerably based on the type of recreational and socio-educational activities carried out. There is also an average +3.4% increase in themed summer centres, i.e. those that promote specific activities such as English courses, art workshops, and sports activities".

Then the tips for finding a reliable summer centre. It goes from checking the reliability of the manager 'Prefer accredited bodies, associations with documented experience or facilities with agreements with municipalities or schools. Check that the centre complies with local and health regulations', to checking the qualifications of the staff.
The programme of activities should also not be underestimated, and one suggestion concerns attention to safety. "Environments must be clean, accessible and safe, both outdoors and indoors".
No less important is transparency of costs, inclusiveness and attention to special needs. And then reviews, bonuses and conventions.