The HAF programme, known as ‘Healthy Holidays’ in Torbay, was a pilot scheme in 2021 funded by the DfE (Department for Education) and rolled out nationally. The Government then announced their commitment for a further three years. This report will outline the impact of the first two years of HAF in Torbay.
The core aims of the HAF programme are to ensure that children and young people (CYP) who are eligible for income-based free school meals (FSM) have access to food, physical activities, and enrichment activities during the longest holiday periods when their school is closed, i.e. tackling ‘holiday hunger’ and isolation. These holiday periods are the Easter, Summer and Christmas holiday periods.
All HAF provision is to be available for a minimum of four hours per day, for four days per week and for one week in Easter, one week over Christmas period and for four weeks in the Summer holiday.
Both 2021 and 2022 saw some unpredicted challenges with COVID-19 and Strep A impacting on a lot of the HAF delivery across the country, but on the whole, we have seen good take up of the holiday club offer in Torbay and have had some brilliant feedback from parents/carers, children and young people and the providers running the holiday clubs.
The DfE allocate a set amount of grant funding for Torbay HAF, of which 10% is then allocated for administration costs, and the remainder is allocated for face-to-face holiday club provision.
We operate a procurement process to determine the best-placed holiday club providers in Torbay to meet the necessary requirements for the HAF Programme and work with those providers to ensure that the standards set out by the DfE and by Torbay Council are met.
We look to ensure that our HAF provision offers suitable activities for primary and secondary aged children and young people, provision for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), is geographically well situated and is accessible during the main holiday periods. We try to ensure there is a good mix of school-based and community-based venues and that the holiday clubs offer a good mix of activities for the children and young people.
We also focus on offering spaces to children and young people who are Electively Home Educated (EHE) in Torbay to offer them the opportunity to socialise with others during the school holiday periods. We made this decision locally because we have a relatively high number of children and young people who are EHE and this has increased since the pandemic. We
understand that attending the holiday clubs can offer so much more than just ensuring that children have access to food, and we wanted to share the opportunity with children who wouldn’t normally spend time with other children.
We have a Steering Group made up of colleagues from Children’s Services, the Imagine This…partnership, Public Health, Active Devon, the Food Alliance and the Sports and Events Team. They help to evaluate the applications from potential providers, help guide and advise the Project Manager, visit the holiday clubs when they’re in session and ensure that the whole programme is fulfilling its intentions and meeting the needs of eligible families in Torbay.
| 2021 | Easter | Summer | Christmas | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of providers | 6 | 8 | 9 | N/A |
| Number of holiday clubs provided | 12 | 21 | 12 | 45 |
| Total places available | 387 | 856 | 696 | 1,949 |
| Total number of children and young people reached | 321* | 1,496 | 635 | 2,452 |
| Number of FSM eligible children and young people attended | 321 | 1,275 | 629 | 2,225 |
| Number of FSM eligible CYP who are primary school aged | 239 | 986 | 563 | 1,788 |
| Number of FSM eligible CYP who are secondary school aged | 82 | 289 | 72 | 443 |
*Only recorded FSM eligible CYP
| 2022 | Easter | Summer | Christmas | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of FSM eligible children and young people attended | 796 | 2,608 | 449 | 3,851 |
| Number of FSM eligible CYP who are primary school aged | 602 | 2,225 | 337 | 3,164 |
| Number of FSM eligible CYP who are secondary school age | 194 | 381 | 112 | 687 |
| Number of holiday clubs provided | 16 | 17 | 13 | 46 |
| Number of providers | 8 | 7 | 7 | N/A |
| Total number of children and young people reached | 998 | 3,591 | 507 | 5,096 |
| Total places available | 580 | 711 | 545 | 1,836 |
| 2021 and 2022 totals | Total |
|---|---|
| Number of providers | 12 |
| Number of holiday clubs provided | 91 |
| Total places available | 3,785 |
| Total children and young people reached | 7,548 |
| Free school meal eligible children and young people attended | 6,076 |
| Number of CYP who are FSM eligible and primary school aged | 4,952 |
| Number of CYP who are FSM eligible and secondary school aged | 1,130 |
There have been a huge number of activities available for children and young people to date, and we hope that we can continue to add to this list of activities. Some of the activities on offer were nature walks, cycling and bike maintenance, go carting, zorbing, sporting activities, crafting, bushcraft cooking, silent discos, surfing, mobile petting zoo, drama productions, music production, camping, yoga and many more!
Children and young people also had the opportunity to take home the food that they’d made, craft and artwork, invited parents and carers to talent shows and plays they’d practiced, and had parents and carers join in with learning football tricks and surfing.
They have also took home activity packs, Christmas presents, food hampers, Easter eggs etc. thanks to some of our holiday club providers and local businesses.
Children and young people learned some new skills such as riding a bike, football trick shots, sign language, surfing, cooking etc., and they have also learned about nutrition, nature, growing fruit and veg, history, maths, animals, and much more.
Children and young people made new friends, said their confidence had grown and most definitely had fun!
The intention is to continue to deliver good quality, fun and thriving holiday clubs for children and young people in Torbay. We aim to grow the support from external providers and businesses and to increase the impact that the HAF Programme has for families, children and schools.We are committed to ensuring that holiday club providers are well trained and well equipped to deliver to a high standard and feel well supported by Torbay Council.