Torbay Healthy Holidays HAF 2023 Annual Impact Report
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 2023, which is the second of the three-year commitment.
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.
We undertake 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.
Budget: The DfE allocate a set amount of grant funding for Torbay HAF, of which 10% is then allocated for administration costs which includes the coordinator and a contribution towards business support staff, and the remainder is allocated for face-to-face holiday club provision. In 2023-2024, this equated to: £552,844.94. £55,492 for the administration of the programme, and £497,352.94 on face-to-face delivery.
Steering Group: We have a Steering Group made up of colleagues from Children’s Services, Public Health, Active Devon, Sanctuary Housing, the Participation Team, Vulnerable Pupils Team, Early Years 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.
| 2023 | Easter | Summer | Christmas |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. of providers | 10 | 8 | 9 |
| No. of holiday clubs | 20 | 19 | 19 |
| Total places available | 621 | 574 | 606 |
| Total no. of CYP reached | 947 | 1,571 | 706 |
| No. of FSM eligible CYP | 764 | 1,229 | 584 |
| No. of FSM Primary CYP | 637 | 947 | 484 |
| No. of FSM Secondary CYP | 127 | 282 | 100 |
| No. of Primary aged CYP with SEND | 116 | 213 | 96 |
| No. of Secondary aged CYP with SEND | 43 | 105 | 32 |
Nationally 2023 has seen challenges with the cost of delivering holiday clubs rising, staff recruitment concerns for some providers, and locally we have seen that the unpredictability of the weather can impact on attendance.
HAF Providers for 2023: Imagine Torbay Multicultural Group, Kinetics Sports Group, Glo Torbay/Love Enterprise CIC, Play Torbay, Shear Soccer, Taleblazers, Great Parks Community Centre, Turning Heads, Sporty Stars and Imagine This…/CDT.
Not all providers delivered during each holiday period due to staffing commitments and venue availability.
2023 saw the start of the Community Youth Clubs, which is an all-year-round youth club provision funded by Torbay Council Children’s Services, and they, along with the Youth Service also run holiday activities for the older cohort in Torbay, and they all ensure that food is built into their offer.
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, sporting activities, crafting, bushcraft cooking, 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, Torquay United football shirts etc. thanks to some of our holiday club providers, local groups 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!
Sustainability: We are encouraging providers to become Ofsted registered to ensure that they can deliver holiday club provision in 2025 in the absence of HAF funding and for them to potentially become wraparound childcare providers if/when this is an option.
The intention for 2024 is to continue to deliver good quality, fun and thriving holiday clubs for children and young people in Torbay within the allocated budget.
The learning from HAF and the HAF Extension project has led to the Youth Service group sessions becoming open access, and for the Community Based Youth Clubs funded by Torbay Council including the offer of food and being based in community settings where young people are.
We have also looked at our groups offer which includes what we offer for young carers and are starting a new group in Torquay in the new year.
Please contact sarah.pengelly@torbay.gov.uk with any questions. Thank you.