Holiday activities and food programme annual report for 2023 to 2024

Summary

During 2023 to 2024 we have provided:

We have collaborated with a diverse range of activity providers to offer a variety of opportunities for children and young people through the holiday activities and food programme (HAF).

We have providers who have been with us since the start of the project while others have joined throughout the year.

Working with and acting upon feedback from our partners including Early Help, Children’s Social Care (short breaks) and the parent/carer forum.

It was identified that although many of our providers were meeting the needs of some children with SEND, those with more profound and complex needs may benefit from a more bespoke provision. This has been a key focus for the year resulting in 3 new clubs.

Training and meetings have taken place both face to face and online to support the delivery of the programme. We have also worked with partners to deliver training to support the programme including:

• training to support children and young people with SEND
• a webinar by educational psychologists on neurodiversity
• Public Health team visited providers and delivered fun activities and quizzes to help children learn about health and healthy eating

Additional resources shared with providers have included:

• SEND resources to support inclusion
• a sensory bag full of resources that the children could access outdoors, for those sport providers who are outside frequently - this bag also folded out as a mat so children could access and take indoors or outdoors with them
• air heated popcorn makers - the popcorn makers use only hot air to cook the popcorn, eliminating fats and sugar, a healthy and cheaper alternative to crisps
• invested in Eat Them to Defeat Them resources - this is a scheme used in schools to promote the eating of fruit and vegetables - clubs were provided with posters, reward charts and stickers to help promote healthy eating in the HAF clubs

Feedback

Parents have praised the HAF programme and the wide range of clubs and activities and the healthy meals that have been provided for their children.

Results from a recent parent survey included:

Food

We collaborate with all our holiday club providers to make sure of high standards in food preparation and distribution. Our HAF programme is part of the Early Years Quality Improvement Team at Bracknell Forest Council staffed by individuals with backgrounds in childcare, sports and nutrition.

In preparation leading up to the holidays:

• we are in regular contact with providers
• we request information from all providers on the types of food they are providing, whether this is hot or cold meals, where the food will be prepared and served and whether it meets the school food standards
• we make sure that all allergy and cultural preferences are taken into consideration
• all our clubs provide 1 main meal while the children are at their club, access to fresh water and most offer a snack as well - a few offer a free of cost full day attendance and provide breakfast and tea as well as lunch and snacks
• a small number of HAF provisions have partnered with local food providers to offer both hot and cold food - most providers offer a cold buffet style lunch, allowing children to choose from a range of healthy options including fruits and vegetables

Post-holiday surveys from parents indicate that both parents and children were happy and satisfied with the food provided, particularly when children could make their own meals.

Feedback from providers revealed that some hot meals were wasted as some children would not eat them and then started to bring their own.

Enriching activities

A wide range of enrichment activities are offered, some may be related to the time of year, for example:

• creating bonnets, egg painting, pop up bunnies at Easter
• crackers, cards, bauble decorating at Christmas
• fruit salads, sandcastles, beach themes during the summer

Other activities included:

• cooking
• messy play, water play, clay modelling, graffiti classes
• bouncy castle
• birds of prey, reptiles, petting farm
• science experiments
• mini first aid
• rocksteady music school, magic show, theatre performances and dance
• construction – plastering, bricklaying, carpentry.
• visits to theme parks and bowling
• zorbing

Children reported enjoying the opportunity to practise and develop their skills, with one child expressing a desire to gain a scholarship.

Parent feedback highlighted that their children gained in confidence, learnt how to make new friends and one noted that their child had learnt how to prepare a meal and make a sandwich for lunch for himself, something he had not done before.

The inclusion of a wide variety of clubs covering activities and hobbies that children already enjoy and participate in during their free time, such as sports, dance and theatre allows them to continue to develop their skills and knowledge during the holidays.

Physical activities

Sports specific clubs include football, basketball, multisport and golf. Activities are based around the sport and coaches make sure the activities are adaptable to meet the needs of the children attending. They also cover nutritional advice and the importance of a healthy lifestyle.

Sports related clubs have the highest amount bookings and the best attendance rates.

Feedback from a parent of a child with SEND:

Thank you to all the HAF teams. My son enjoys HAF holidays. He attends football at [name removed]. He loves to play football. He has 1:1 support too so thank you for your ongoing support to enjoy his HAF holidays.

Other physical activities offered included:

• theatre
• dance
• cheerleading
• gymnastics
• swimming
• playground activities, climbing frames, natural gardens area
• archery
• cricket
• table tennis
• trampolining
• go-karting
• ice skating

Nutrition

Regular provider meetings with an emphasis on nutritional education and promoting healthy living.

Eat Them to Defeat Them (ETTDT) resources. A scheme used in schools to promote the eating fruit and vegetables. Clubs were provided with posters, reward charts and stickers to help promote healthy eating. We aim to help children become more familiar with the campaign and continue this during the holidays.

Links to online information regarding healthy eating, food standards, and HAF and school approved recipes for providers and families.

All clubs promote healthy eating and all cooking, baking and food activities are based around preparing healthy meals and snacks.

Public Health team have information for parents regarding healthy packed lunches, the Eatwell plate information and 12-week weight loss diet plans. They also visited providers and ran some fun activities and quizzes with the children to help them learn about health and healthy eating.

Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)

Following feedback we funded 3 SEND specific providers to offer HAF provision for children with complex needs. This enabled a higher staff:child ratio to be implemented to meet needs.

One SEND provision is delivered by a mainstream school with staff from their SEND unit for children with complex needs.

A theatre group skilled in supporting children with complex needs, delivered HAF sessions which enabled children and young people with SEND to take part in a variety of sensory activities, musical, singing and theatre work. The theatre group are also staffed with adults who have SEND.

We supported an established dance club for children with SEND to join the HAF programme. This group offers musical dance sessions and provides a high staff ratio to help meet the needs of the children.

Funding is also available for children with SEND to access mainstream settings who may need the additional support. The short breaks coordinator has helped identify both children who will benefit from this support and agencies who are able to provide staff.

Key challenges

One of the main challenges is funding and preparation of hot healthy meals. Many of the clubs do not have premises where they can prepare and cook meals, or the staffing to do this. The organisation and logistics of delivering hot meals presents yet another challenge, as numbers of children attending clubs can fluctuate from day to day, making planning numbers of meals each day difficult.

The cost for using external providers to supply meals is too high. Schools do not allow providers who operate on their school site to use the kitchens and the cost and logistics of employing additional members of staff to come away from the activity is not affordable or safe for numbers.

Recently, there has been less of a challenge to provide hot healthy food following the agreement that children attending a HAF club could be provided with a cold lunch offer to match that of fee paying children attending the same club.

While we work closely with various teams and organisations, we have had difficulty establishing a regular steering group. Virtual meetings have been planned. However, attendance and participation has been very limited. We continue to explore opportunities and respond to feedback regarding the programme.

We have found it a challenge to be able to offer more variety and scope for secondary age children, but continue to work with youth teams for ideas.

Marketing and communication

We:

• have a HAF page on the website
• hold contact details of all parents who have registered and email parents and carers in advance of our go live booking date on our HAF booking system, Eequ
• distribute flyers and posters every holiday to share and promote HAF across the local authority
• have regular contact with schools to promote HAF with families including the schools regular newsletter
• request providers to include information about HAF and their engagement when advertising their clubs
• inform all child related departments of the council about HAF and the booking dates
• advertise in parents' newsletters, our school traded services platform (Can-Do), council newsletters and on council social media

Finance

Total available grant for 2023 to 2024: £255,200

Total grant funding received for 2023 to 2024: £228,281