HAF Provider Nutritional Education Toolkit

We’ve collated a set of Nutritional Education resources for HAF club and activity leaders which we hope will inspire your planning and support you as you continually seek to refresh your resources and find new ways to help children and young people to grow in their understanding of nutrition and eating well for life.

Food a Fact of Life resource bank [https://www.foodafactoflife.org.uk/]

A bank of resources to support the delivery of nutritional education based on up-to-date evidence-based, consistent and accurate messages managed by the British Nutritional Foundation (BNF) in partnership with the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB). The link will take to you a range of resources, organised by age groups (key stages) and learning objectives with associated Activity Packs all of which can be edited and tailored to share with your group.

Learning with the NHS food scanner app [https://www.nhs.uk/healthier-families/food-facts/nhs-food-scanner-app/]

This Children’s healthier eating toolkit [https://digitalcampaignsstorage.blob.core.windows.net/campaign-resource-centre/production/asset/file/6070/Better_Health_-_Childrens_Healthier_Eating_Toolkit.pdf] includes 10 different activities using the NHS Food Scanner app to support families to make positive changes to their diet with a particular focus on making healthier swaps, ideal for primary-aged children.

The Scan, Swipe Swap Activities toolkit [https://campaignresources.phe.gov.uk/schools/resources/scan-swipe-swap-activities-toolkit] introduces children to the Food Scanner app, giving them an awareness of how to find out which foods are healthier than others, and why it is important to know what is in our food.

Public Health England healthy eating resources [https://campaignresources.phe.gov.uk/schools/topics/healthy-eating/resources]

A bank of resources for all ages, including activity sheets, lesson plans, videos and printable parent packs and leaflets.

Healthy Eating Toolkit  [https://foodwiseleeds.org/project/healthy-holidays/]

FoodWise Leeds has co-produced a Healthy Eating Toolkit to support HAF providers embed healthy eating messages and activities throughout their provision. Collaborators include local third sector organisations, schools, community hubs, key food providers, Leeds City Council and Leeds Community Foundation.

Get Set to Eat Fresh [https://getseteatfresh.co.uk/]

A collaboration with Aldi, Team GB and Paralympics GB to deliver free, curriculum-linked resources to inspire students aged 5–14 to cook and eat healthy, fresh food. Resources are packed with a wide variety of flexible, curriculum-linked content, including films, downloadable student sheets and lesson plans alongside online content for students, teachers and families to allow you to pick and choose activities to suit your setting. 

Find primary and secondary Get Set to Eat Fresh resources specially selected for HAF clubs here [https://getseteatfresh.co.uk/resources/holiday-activities-and-food-programme-resources]

Cookery Sessions 

We have also developed a series of template cookery sessions [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/download/7388/cookery-sessions-pilot] for children, both primary and secondary age, and families to support you with your nutritional education offer to children and family food education offer. We hope that they will help give children the skills that they need to buy, cook and enjoy eating and sharing healthy meals in the future and support families to eat healthily on a budget. 

Session ideas

Please take advantage of the resources below for session ideas for your club.

Hydration

Learn why water is good for us, where water comes from and the role it plays in the body. How much we need to drink and tips for making sure you get enough water

Sugar Savvy

Learn why it is important not to eat too much sugar. Learn about the types of food that can affect the health of our teeth

How much salt?

Learn why it is important to limit salt and the effects it can have on our body

Where food comes from

Learn about plants and animals, how food is grown, reared, or caught and farming and processing

From seed to feed

Learn how the fruit and vegetables we eat grow from seeds

Balanced diet

Learn the importance of variety across different food groups and limiting junk food

From grass to glass

Learn how milk gets from cows to our tables, where cows live and what happens at a dairy farm

Food labelling

Learn about food labels and how to identify foods that are healthy and unhealthy

Processing food

Learn about how and why food is processed

Sustainable diets

Learn about how we all can eat a diet that has a lower impact on the environment - eat a wider variety of protein foods and choose plant protein sources more often – consider food miles and the impact our food has on the environment

Love your gut!

Explore the topic of digestion, friendly gut bacteria, what it does, how to protect it and the fascinating link between gut and brain

What is energy?

Learn why our bodies and brains need energy from food to function

Fun food science experiments 

Please do let us know how you rate the resources or if you have any that you would like to share with us.

Visits to Coventry Holiday Activities and Food programme activities

Download and print the guidance and record form [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/38725/visit-record-to-haf-activity-club].

School Food Standards and HAF menus

HAF Programme and School Food Standards - a guide for organisations, their cooks and caterers

The School Food Standards are designed to make it easier to create nutritious menus, to help children develop healthy eating habits, and to ensure that they get the energy and nutrition they need across the whole school day. It is a requirement of the HAF Programme to meet the compulsory school food standards and to ensure nutritionally vulnerable children have access to a balanced and nutritious meal every day, preferably hot.

Find out more about School Food Standards here:

School Food Standard menus and recipes

A bank of resources to help you with planning and delivering hot meals that meet School Food Standards:

The School Food Plan recipe hub

Produced in conjunction with Public Health England, the What Works Well Recipe Hub [http://whatworkswell.schoolfoodplan.com/site/article-files/977da74c-7df8-4b81-98db-c41b179945f3.pdf] brings together over 100 recipes for pupils’ favourite school meals and snacks, all checked against the School Food Standards. These tried and tested recipes have been created by school cooks and caterers and cover food served across the whole day: breakfast, mid-morning break, lunch, and after school. Go to the recipe thumbnail to access the full ingredients list, preparation time, method, portion sizes and top tips on how to adapt recipes.

HC3S Hampshire County Council - School catering recipes

Recipes to cook healthy meals on a budget based on Hampshire County Council's school catering service, all following School Foods Standards. Select from around 100 breakfast, lunch, or dinner recipes [https://www.hants.gov.uk/educationandlearning/hc3s/about-us/recipes].

Leicester City Council – School catering recipes

Why not try cooking some of Leicester City Council's favourite quick, easy, and affordable recipes from their menus [http://www.leicester.gov.uk/media/xilhjcnk/city-catering-captain-carrot-and-colonal-cucumber-s-favourite-recipes_print.pdf]? All recipes follow the School Food Standards.

Food for Thought - School recipes 

Recipes developed for schools, by schools [http://foodforthoughtschools.co.uk/recipes/].

The Super Yummy Kitchen

Chartwells, a leading provider of catering and support services to schools have teamed up Chef Andrew with Chef Allegra McEvedy MBE of CBeebies and Junior MasterChef, to bring together a series of fun, educational cook-a-long videos, recipes and tips, for young children to follow along at home with their families.

The Super Yummy Kitchen [https://www.youtube.com/@thesuperyummykitchen4007/featured]

Example HAF School Food Standards Compliant Menu

Example 4 week menu [http://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/download/7385/haf-four-week-example-menu]

Most of the recipes in the menu can be found on the What Works Well Recipe Hub [http://whatworkswell.schoolfoodplan.com/site/article-files/977da74c-7df8-4b81-98db-c41b179945f3.pdf]

HAF Cold Sample Option [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/41133/haf-cold-sample-option]

HAF Hot Sample Option [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/41134/haf-hot-sample-option]