Holiday Activities and Food Programme

The Department of Education (DfE) has confirmed that all Local Authorities in England will receive funding to co-ordinate a local Holiday Activities and Food Programme (HAF) during Easter, summer and December school holidays of 2023-2024.

The overall purpose of the grant is to enable the Council to coordinate and provide free holiday provision during the Easter, summer and Christmas school holidays for children that are eligible for benefits-related free school meals. HAF holiday provision includes healthy food, access to positive activities and nutritional advice and guidance.

School holidays can be a particularly difficult time for some families because of reduced income or increased costs relating to food and childcare. For some children this can lead to holiday hunger and a holiday experience gap, with children from these families more likely to experience 'unhealthy holidays' in terms of nutrition and physical health. These children are also less likely to access organised out-of-school activities and more likely to experience social isolation. All of these issues can have a lasting effect on children and young people's health and wellbeing, and lead to lower levels of educational attainment.

We want children who attend HAF holiday provision to: • eat healthily over the school holidays; • be active during the school holidays; • take part in engaging and enriching activities which support the development of resilience, character and wellbeing along with their wider educational attainment • be safe and not to be socially isolated; • have a greater knowledge of health and nutrition and • be more engaged with school and other local services.

We also want to ensure that the families who participate in the programme: • develop their understanding of nutrition and food budgeting • are signposted towards other information and support, for example, health, employment, and education.

Free holiday club places, funded through the HAF programme, are for school-aged children and young people from reception to year 11 (inclusive) who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals. Newham's HAF programme can only provide free holiday club places to eligible children and young people who live in Newham or attend a Newham school.

Please note, every primary school aged child attending a school in Newham has the opportunity to have a free school meal even if their parents/carers are not in receipt of one of the qualifying benefits for free school meals. Only those children who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals are entitled to attend a HAF provision, subject to the exception below.

A small number of free holiday club places - up to 15% overall - will be for children and young people who are not eligible for benefits-related free school meals but who are assessed by the local authority, schools, the provider or other professionals as being in need, at risk or vulnerable.