HAF - Partners

The HAF Programme funding is primarily for school aged children from reception to year 11 (inclusive) who receive benefits related Free School Meals (FSMs). Benefits related FSMs are available to pupils if their parents are in receipt of one of the qualifying benefits and have a claim verified by their school or local authority.

For further information on eligibility, visit Apply for free school meals - GOV.UK Children and young people who have a social worker or early help worker who feels their attendance at a HAF Programme would be beneficial, may also be able to access a funded place. HAF Programmes are also available to those children not in the above categories and can be paid for in advance/on the day.

Children who attend the HAF Programme will have opportunities to:

• receive healthy and nutritious meals
• maintain a healthy level of physical activity
• be happy, have fun and meet new friends
• develop a greater understanding of food, nutrition and other health related issues
• take part in fun and engaging activities that support their development and wellbeing
• feel safe and secure
• get access to the right support services
• return to school feeling engaged and ready to learn.

Families can also benefit, when HAF providers include their needs in planning and delivering their Programme. This could be through:

• providing opportunities to get involved in sessions, for example, cookery classes
• ensuring they are signposted towards other sources of information and support, such as health services or employment and education opportunities.

Funding for this programme is available for the Easter, summer and Christmas school holidays.

The expectation is that programmes for Easter and summer run for a minimum of four hours a day, for four days a week (across one week at Easter and Christmas and across for four weeks over the summer), although we recognise that this is not always practical or possible.

Each programme will run at different times and in different ways, but every programme is free for eligible children and their families to attend. There is also flexibility to offer longer or shorter sessions when considering the needs of older children and children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or additional needs.

Whilst the HAF Programme is primarily focused on providing support to disadvantaged families, there are many benefits to providers in expanding the holiday care offer to include paid for provision alongside HAF funded places.

There have been some changes in Kent the way organisations apply to deliver the HAF Programme. From summer 2025 onwards, you will need to be on the Kent procurement framework to deliver the HAF Programme and information about this can be found on the ProContract site under Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) services (SC240025)

You will need to register on the system and once the window opens for HAF applications, submit through the portal.

Any questions about this system, will need to go through the KCC team that are manging this, using their online messaging system.

Schools hold information about the children that attend and often know which families are eligible. You can get in touch with the school to ask who the best contact person for your programme would be.

If families have not yet checked their eligibility for FSM, they can use the Eligibility Checker.

If you need any further support, please email the HAF Programme team.

In Kent we use an online eligibility checking system for the HAF Programme. Each eligible child will be issued an Evoucher and through this families can search for local HAF programmes and request a place. These are issued by the child/young person’s school on the lead up to each HAF Programme holiday period.

Please note: Families who are not eligible for benefits related free school meals or not referred by their Social Worker or Early Help Worker cannot be funded through the HAF Programme but can still attend activities through self-funding.

HAF Programme partners can advertise the programme in their usual way. This may include getting in touch with local schools, using social media, and approaching other local organisations who have contact with families. We will also advertise your programme on the HAF Programme information for families area of our website (with your consent).

Each programme will have its own information and booking system.

When sharing information:

• provide a range of contact details (for example phone number, name of lead person, email address, website)
• make it clear which delivery model you plan to use
• be clear about how flexible you can be, if at all, once a booking is made
• be prepared to support families who may need help in completing the forms.

For some children, the opportunity to enjoy a hot meal at a HAF club is important and our aspiration is that providers should, where possible, try to offer hot meals to children attending HAF clubs. However, we acknowledge that this is not always possible and that alternatives to hot meals can sometimes be more suitable.

All providers must provide at least one meal a day (breakfast, lunch or an evening meal) and all food provided at HAF clubs (including snacks) must meet school food standards.

Useful links and resources

Food standards resources for schools

School Food Plan

School food standards

Food standards and regulation

Providers where applicable, should be registered as a food business. This provides reassurance to all of those involved that food safety standards are being met.

Click here to register with the Food Standards Agency.

All food provided as part of the HAF Programme must comply with regulations on food preparation and consider allergies and dietary requirements in line with the new allergen legalisation ‘Natasha's Law', along with preferences and any religious or cultural requirements for food.

Further guidance is available on the Food Standards Agency website.

All HAF-funded provision must provide fun and enriching activities that allow children to:

• develop new skills or knowledge
• consolidate existing skills and knowledge
• try out new experiences
• have fun and socialise.

This could include but is not limited to:

• physical activities, for example, football, swimming, table tennis or cricket (holiday clubs must provide activities which meet the Physical Activity Guidelines)
• creative activities, for example, putting on a play, junk modelling or drumming workshops
• experiences, for example, a nature walk or visiting a city farm
• free play, for example, fun and freedom to relax and enjoy themselves.

All HAF providers are expected to provide a balanced programme. For providers whose primary focus is set around a specific activity or sport, we expect them to ensure that children attending their provision benefit from a holistic and varied experience.

We expect providers to incorporate helping children to understand more about the benefits of healthy eating and nutrition into their Programme. These do not need to be formal learning activities. This could include:

• getting children involved in food preparation and cooking
• growing fruit and vegetables
• taste tests
• discussing food and healthy eating during mealtimes
• including food and nutrition in other activities

Offering positive learning and development through HAF activities creates stigma free opportunities to support children and young people in learning about healthy lifestyles and exercise. This could cover, for example, the use of vapes, cigarettes, drugs, and how this can lead to issues including economic, social, personal safety, exploitation and criminality.

All organisations delivering the HAF programme must be able to demonstrate that they have in place relevant and appropriate policies and procedures:

• safeguarding, including the recruitment of staff and volunteers
• food safety policy and procedure
• health and safety policy and procedure
• relevant insurance policies (Employers Liability Insurance and Public Liability Insurance)
• accessibility and inclusiveness policy and procedure
• staff code of conduct
• Ofsted registration.

Programmes must be compliant with the Ofsted requirements for working with children. Holiday clubs may need to legally register with Ofsted depending on the provision they offer; they may also be eligible to register with Ofsted on the voluntary register or they may be exempt from registration entirely. Both clubs and providers that would require registration with Ofsted, and those that are exempt, can participate in the HAF programme. To support the raising of quality and to better meet the safeguarding needs of children and young people, certain providers can choose to register with Ofsted even if they do not have to.

Further information can be found here:

How we are providing free holiday club places and healthy meals for children that need it most

Ofsted: early years The HAF Programme - when you need to register with Ofsted

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility. We want every HAF club to be a safe and happy place for children, and for parents, carers and families to feel confident that their child is well looked after and that robust safeguarding arrangements are in place.

Safeguarding requirements

• A Designated Safeguarding Lead with up-to-date training that includes a working knowledge of the Kent procedures.
• Making sure that all staff understand safeguarding and the policy and procedures that are used by the Programme.
• Ensuring that enough information is collected about children and young people in case any action needs to be taken. This includes the child’s full name, date of birth, address, who has parental responsibility for the child/young person, the school that the child/young person attends (this also helps with eligibility), and emergency contact details for the parent/carer.

Programme partners are encouraged to reflect on ways that their programmes can be more environmentally friendly and sustainable.

This may be through:

• minimising the use of single-use plastics
• sourcing locally produced food and ingredients
• making use of food surplus organisations
• growing fruit and vegetables
• encouraging uniform banks and exchange schemes
• ensuring there is a wide range of recycling and composting facilities for waste.

All programme partners must commit to making their programme accessible for a wide range of children, ensuring that they meet the legal requirement of the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments.

With parental agreement, it may also be helpful to contact the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) at the child’s school to help build a picture of what support may need to be offered. Using forms to get detailed information about each child and their needs, will also enable programme partners to ensure that every child is fully included and can enjoy the opportunities that are offered.

A toolkit for providers of Wraparound Childcare, Breakfast Clubs and Holidays Activities and Food Programmes

An interactive digital toolkit developed to support schools, private, voluntary and independent (PVI) providers, childminders, and local authorities in creating inclusive wraparound provision that is accessible to families of primary aged children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). This includes breakfast clubs, afterschool childcare and holiday provision.

Creating Inclusive Provision Toolkit - childcareworks.org.uk

'All About Me' form

The following resources have been produced by NASEN on behalf of Childcare Works to support inclusive practice in wraparound provision.

They include ten bitesize videos to support providers to enhance inclusivity and better support the needs of children with SEND. Inclusive practice in wraparound provision.

Inclusive Practice in Wraparound Provision resources