Free school holiday activity programme available for young people in Torbay.
Parents and carers across Torbay may be able to benefit from a free holiday club programme. This is known as ‘Healthy Holidays’.
Children aged 5 to 16 years are eligible if they:
They will have the chance to take part in a range of free activities during the school holidays. The clubs involve helping young people learn new skills. They will have the chance to take part in enriching activities. These include:
The clubs are also a great way to improve socialisation. They help young people have fun with friends both old and new.
This local programme will be operating over the school holiday period. Schools will contact families with the holiday club details and booking information. Everyone gets a healthy meal while they are there.
We are proud to work with a variety of providers. Together we have developed an exciting and enriching programme of activities. Our providers include:
This year’s Easter holiday club providers are:
The programme is continuing for the coming financial year. It will cover the Easter, summer, and Christmas holidays for 2024.
Sadly, unless we hear otherwise from the Department for Education, it looks like this will be the final year of the programme. The HAF programme has proven to be a great success. We have had more and more children and young people attending. There have been lots of activity providers registering to be part of the delivery.
The aim is to provide activities and a healthy meal during the school holidays. It is a condition of the DfE funding that places go to children and young people who are eligible for FSM.
If your child is eligible, you can book places when activities become available. The provider will take the details of your child. They share these details with us so we can check the FSM register.
We have decided to also make spaces available for those who are Electively Home Educated (EHE). We know that many of these children do not have regular contact with other people outside of the home.
Unfortunately, we get lots of children and young people not turning up to booked sessions.
If your child does not turn up, it means other eligible children miss out on the opportunity to attend. There are over 5,000 children in Torbay eligible for benefits related free school meals. We want to make sure as many children as possible have access to food during the holidays.
Please only book your children on the days they can attend.
We know that plans can change. We know there may be times where your children can’t attend. If this happens, please cancel their place. Give as much notice as possible, preferably 48 hours. This means another child can have the place.
To cancel a booked session, please contact the HAF club provider by telephone or email.
We will cancel all bookings for the rest of the holiday if:
We appreciate your help in making sure we spend the limited HAF funding efficiently. We can give cancelled funded HAF places to other families who are trying to access a holiday club.
We hope that everyone attending the Healthy Holiday clubs have a fabulous time!
There is clear guidance for holiday club providers. They must make sure they are running good quality holiday clubs. Quality assurance visits take place during the holiday periods.
Find out more about this guidance
If you have any questions about Torbay’s HAF Programme: