375 parents and carers had their say about the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme in the summer 2022 survey. Here’s what you told us, and what we’ve done as a result.

The food offer

You said

• Children would like more options for the meals offered. You want to know what food is on offer ahead of booking.

We did

• We have asked clubs to give examples of the food they will offer in the winter holidays and will include this in the programme of events for Christmas 2022.
• We will insist clubs provide details of the menu they will be offering each holiday in 2023 and will check the variety of options and nutrition.
• We have contacted colleagues in Public Health to arrange more workshops with HAF programme clubs around ideas for healthy, delicious meals for children for the winter holidays and 2023.
• We will do more to encourage clubs and parents to talk about what foods their children will eat and to provide alternatives to suit a child’s needs.

Booking places

You said

• Places are booked too quickly, and clubs are often fully booked.

We know

• Places are often booked quickly by families returning to a club because they enjoyed the activities. Many clubs run a ‘waiting list’ to offer an available place if a child is unable to attend one day, which has been successful in reducing empty places. The number of ‘no shows’ resulting in unfilled places was less this summer than last year.

We did

• We have published the programme of events earlier to give families as much notice as possible.
• We monitor the proportion of places booked by families who are not free school meal eligible to ensure the programme is supporting its target groups. This summer, 6.9% of HAF programme places were given to children who were not FSM eligible but met other eligibility options.
• We have planned the introduction of HAF programme codes to cross reference FSM eligibility when families book a place and prevent any double booking of places.

HAF programme provision

You said

• You want HAF programme to cover longer hours and offer more days.

We know

• More working families accessed HAF programme places this Summer, than in previous holidays. This increased interest in longer hours. The Department for Education fund a limited numbers of days for Easter, Summer and Christmas so we cannot extend the offer without additional funding.

We did

• We encouraged and signposted clubs to apply for other streams of funding for Summer to expand their offer. In total, over £80,000 was awarded.
• We are planning a workshop with clubs around Ofsted registration and other potential sources of funding to supplement HAF programme funded places.
• We will work with clubs to raise awareness of where parents and carers can get help to pay for childcare using existing government funding streams.

Supporting every child’s needs

You said

• You wanted more support for children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

We did

• We grant funded clubs to recruit additional staff to support children with SEN and any additional needs to take part in their chosen HAF programme activities.
• We spoke with families and clubs to see what arrangements could be made to ensure each child had their needs met, and to discuss alternatives if arrangements were unsuitable.
• We will work with clubs in 2023 to ensure more of their workforce is trained and experienced in supporting children with complex needs.
• We will improve our communications to make it clear that HAF programme will work with parents and carers to support a child’s needs and ensure SEND is not a barrier when booking.