Coventry Holiday Activities and Food Programme - Print version

What is HAF? Frequently asked questions

HAF is a national Department for Education funded programme aimed at enabling children and young people to attend activities and experiences in the Christmas, Easter and Summer school holidays. It is all free for eligible children and young people. Coventry’s HAF programme is delivered by a wide range of organisations across the City.

What do HAF activities and experiences include?

Every HAF-funded activity includes the following:

• Positive activities (enriching and physical)
• A nutritional meal/food (normally hot)
• Nutritional education for pupils (usually within a session, if not available online)
• Nutritional education and families of eligible pupils (including linked to an activity or online)
• Signposting/information for families to wider services and support (in person or online)

How many activities can each eligible child attend each holiday?

Coventry HAF has a credit approach. Each eligible child has an allocation of a total of 4 credits for the Christmas and Easter school holidays and 16 credits for the Summer school holiday. Credits are dependent on each activity and where most use 1 credit, some use 2 where clubs are offering breakfast in addition to lunch. 

Do children and young people attend by themselves or do parents/carers attend as well?

Our booking system gives information about this for each of the specific activities. There are four different types of situations. These are:

• Children/young people only
• Children/ young people must be accompanied by a parent/carer
• Parents/carers and under 5 year olds are welcome
• Parents/carers and under 5 year olds are welcome (children must be accompanied by a parent/carer)

Are all the activities and experiences inclusive for all eligible children?

One of the selection criteria for our delivering providers is that their clubs are inclusive. If your child has additional needs or requirements, please contact providers directly for a conversation so they can discuss any necessary adjustments to provision. There are some activities that are aimed more specifically at children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. More information can be found on our SEND webpage [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/holiday-activities-food/coventry-holiday-activities-food-programme/5].

What are Coventry experiences?

Coventry experiences are one-off experiences such as trips, sports matches or special days. As there are a limited number of these, they are limited on our booking system to one Coventry experience per eligible child per holiday to ensure each child is able to attend one.

How do I book my child onto Coventry HAF activities and experiences?

There are just a few steps needed to book your child onto HAF activities and experiences. For simple booking instructions, view our booking system user guide [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/download/7465/booking-system-user-guide]. Please note, you no longer require a HAF code to book onto activities. 

What if I don’t have access to the internet or need help with my booking?

Please call 08085 834 333 and a member of our Customer Contact Team will be able to assist you with making a booking. Or, if you would like to speak to someone in person, please visit one of our local Family Hubs or libraries. For more information about opening and location please call 0800 887 0545 or visit the family hubs webpage [http://www.coventry.gov.uk/familyhubs] or libraries webpage. [http://www.coventry.gov.uk/libraries-1]

Who do I contact if I have any questions about Coventry HAF?

Please email the Coventry HAF team at hafprogramme@coventry.gov.uk [mailto:hafprogramme@coventry.gov.uk] if you have any other questions, feedback, or comments regarding the programme.

Where can I find more details about the national HAF programme?

Visit the Department of Education HAF guidance [http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/holiday-activities-and-food-programme] for more details about the national HAF programme.

Am I eligible?

Children and young people need to be school-aged children (reception to year 11 inclusive) and meet one or more of the following criteria:

• In receipt of benefits-related free school meals (FSM). The eligibility for benefits-related FSM [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/benefits-1/free-school-meals] webpage has information about applications and eligibility for benefits-related FSM.
• Assessed (through a Children and Families assessment, undertaken by Children's Services) as a “child in need”
• On a child protection plan
• A child in care
• A young carer
• Assessed (through an early help assessment) to be in financial hardship
• Part of the Ukrainian Family Scheme or the Home for Ukraine programme
• Receiving Free School Meals through having No Recourse to Public Funds

Children and young people in Years 12 - 13 are eligible if they are in receipt of benefits-related free school meals (FSM) and either have an EHCP or are receiving SEN support at their place of education.

If you are unsure if you are eligible, you can create an account on our booking system [https://eequ.org/coventryhaf] and we will complete an eligibility check with the details you provide.

Look back at highlights from previous Coventry HAF holiday programmes

Summer Fun 2024 Celebration 

Food help for families

We know that many families face tight budgets and this can put pressure on feeding your family. Food is a big priority for Coventry HAF, that’s why each of activities has a free meal included. Below we’ve pulled together some very useful information about food help.

Accessing food support

• Household Support Fund [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/householdsupportfund]
• Social supermarkets, food hubs and foodbanks map [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/foodmap]
• Free school meals [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/benefits-1/free-school-meals]

Budget-friendly family recipes

• Sainsburys budget recipes [https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/recipes/browse/quick-and-easy/on-a-budget-recipes]
• Good to know recipes [https://www.goodto.com/food/recipe-collections/cheap-family-meals-33813]
• COV Meals of Joy recipe booklet [https://www.creativeoptimisticvisions.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/HAF-cook-book-3.pdf]

Family meal plans

• BBC good food family meal plan [https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/budget-family-meal-plan]
• Tesco week family mean plan for under £25 [https://realfood.tesco.com/weekly-meal-plans.html]
• Budget meal planner [https://www.netmums.com/life/budget-meal-planner]

Using leftovers

• 10 Creative ways to make meals from leftovers [https://www.realfoodcourt.com/blog/2018/3/28/10-ways-to-use-leftovers]
• BBC good food leftover recipes [https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/leftovers-recipes]
• Love food hate waste [https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/foods-and-recipes]

Batch cooking

• BBC good food budget batch cooking [https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/batch-cooking-recipes]
• Netmums batch recipes [https://www.netmums.com/life/budget-busting-batch-cooking-recipes]
• Pinch of nom batch freezer recipes [https://pinchofnom.com/category/batch-cook/]

Recipe videos to watch

These budget-friendly recipe videos were produced by Groundworks for Festive Fun 2021, we hope you find them helpful.

Hearty Vegetable Soup

Chilli Con Carne

Tuna Pasta Bake

Vegetable and chickpea curry

Apple and pear crumble

Shortbread

Inclusion and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

Our approach to inclusion and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

The Coventry Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme aims to have a wide range of inclusive activities, experiences and clubs that are accessible for eligible children and young people. We are developing this approach through our relationships with providers, parents/carers, children and young people. We value your feedback on our activities (see below).

Information on the inclusivity of activities

In our descriptions of each HAF activity (see: HAF interactive activity searcher), there is information about the inclusivity of each activity. Please note that we have some activities that are only shared with particular parents/carers and children as they have been specifically designed to meet particular needs.

How to make providers aware of your child(ren)’s additional needs

A key part of enabling effective support for children with additional needs is for parents/carers and providers to have conversations about the needs of your child(ren).  We promote this in the following ways:

• You can provide information about additional needs when you add your child(ren) to the HAF booking system.
• Through the “All About Me” approach. Where you have provided this information and booked onto an activity, HAF providers should contact you for an “All About Me” conversation based around the following questions (see below) about your child(ren). This can be done by completing a template and/or a phone conversation. If your provider has not contacted you about this, please contact them.

All About Me Questions

Below are the questions that can be discussed about children with additional needs from the perspective of the child:

• What are your strengths?
• What are your needs?
• Do you know anyone else coming to the activity/club? (e.g. children or staff) If so, who?
• How do you like to communicate?
• How do you understand instructions?
• What can make you feel upset?
• What can help you calm down?
• What are your favourite things to do?
• Will anyone come with you to the club? If so, who?
• Is there anything else we should know?

What should a parent/carer do if a HAF provider cannot meet the needs of their child(ren)?

There may be situations where a HAF provider is not able to meet the needs of individual children. Where this is the case, please email: HAFprogramme@coventry.gov.uk [mailto:HAFprogramme@coventry.gov.uk] and we will explore alternative options. If this is not possible for the current holiday programme, we will look at how we could improve this for future holidays.

We value your feedback

We are always aiming to improve the range of activities available. We welcome and value your feedback on inclusion and Special Education Needs and Disabilities and will follow up on every email. Please let us know of any positive feedback, areas of improvement, and ideas or ways in which we can make our activities more inclusive.

Non-attendance Policy

We are delighted that you have booked onto the Coventry HAF Programme, which includes free access to a fantastic range of activities and good, tasty food. Below is a summary of the key points on this page:

• Please only book your child/ren onto the days they can attend.
• Please cancel bookings if you can no longer attend - this is easy on Eequ [https://help.eequ.org/en/articles/3729772-how-do-i-cancel-a-booking].
• New rules on non-attendance.
• Providers will try to contact you if you do not attend.
• Providers will cancel bookings if there are more than 2 non-attended days.

On average, a third of the children booked onto the Coventry HAF programme do not attend. When your children/family doesn't attend a space:

• It leads to another child/family missing out on their opportunity to attend a holiday club and receive a hot meal
• Hot meals are bought in advance and therefore go to waste

The number of HAF-eligible children in Coventry has risen from 15,000 to 18,000 in just four years. This means that there are more people who may need support of the programme than there are spaces.

Please only book your child/ren and families onto the days they can attend.

What to do if you can't attend:

We appreciate that plans may change and there may be times where your child/ren can’t attend. If this happens, please cancel their place/s and give the holiday club provider as much notice as possible, preferably 48 hours. This allows another child/ren the opportunity to attend the club and benefit from the programme.

It is easy to cancel a booking on Eequ from your Schedule page. Please follow the link for further instructions: How do I cancel a booking? | Eequ Help Center [https://help.eequ.org/en/articles/3729772-how-do-i-cancel-a-booking]

New rules on non-attendance:

If a child doesn’t attend two or more booked sessions and their place isn’t cancelled in advance, this will result in all bookings being cancelled for the remainder of the holiday with that provider (mentor). This will enable other child/ren to be offered the place(s).

Communication with your provider:

Providers can contact you through the Eequ messaging function as well as through phone numbers provided when booking. Please ensure you are regularly checking for messages through Eequ, Coventry HAF and the providers.

Remember the providers are here to help and you can contact them easily through Eequ by messaging the provider. Simply:

• Open your menu and go to Messages [https://eequ.org/messages]
• Select the Mentor you have booked with
• In the message box, type and send your message

There is also a helpful article from Eequ for HAF bookers here - Quick guide on how to book a HAF session | Eequ Help Centre [https://help.eequ.org/en/articles/220821-quick-guide-on-how-to-book-a-haf-session]

If you have any queries regarding the Coventry HAF Programme, please contact haf@coventry.gov.uk [mailto:haf@coventry.gov.uk] or visit our website. [http://www.coventry.gov.uk/haf]