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Newsletter for
Holiday Activities and Food Programme Providers
Out of School Settings
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This newsletter contains the following items:
HAF Providers
- Winter HAF Network & Information Session
- Christmas Pantomime
- Key dates for winter delivery
- Summer HAF Data
Both OOSS and HAF Providers
- Online Network session for OOSS & HAF Providers
- Safeguarding guidance
- Keeping children safe during Community Activities, After School Clubs and Tuition
- Tax free childcare
- Single use plastic ban
Our winter HAF delivery Network & Information session will be held on Fri 10 November, at Holiday Inn, Brentford Lock. The session will run from 09:30-16.00. Refreshments will be provided, but delegates will need to bring lunch with them.
Please email the name of the person who will attend to represent your setting to christine.hicks@hounslow.gov.uk. The session should be attended by the most appropriate person, i.e. the person on site during delivery.
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HAF have funded two shows of the Dick Wittington pantomime at The Arts Centre in Hounslow. The shows will happen on the 29th December at 3pm & 7pm. HAF families will be able to attend the show by providing their HAF code at the door. Places will be limited, and will be offered on a first come, first served basis.
Marketing for this event will be provided in due course to all HAF & OOSS settings, and we ask you to share this with your families. If you can help us to reach as many families as possible, we would be very grateful!
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To help providers keep on track with the many aspects of delivery, Hounslow have created a timetable of key dates that you need to be aware of.
Please use the timetable below to ensure that you meet required timescales for the HAF programme over winter.
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Following the successful delivery of our summer HAF programme, key statistics were shared with providers at the summer HAF debrief.
This summer, 27,414 spaces were created for children eligible for a HAF place, across 53 sites.
We also had a record number of evaluations returned from both children and parents, reporting that attending a HAF provision helped support their mental health, helped children make new friends, eat more healthily and keep active over the summer holidays.
The HAF co-ordinator shared Local Authority reflections with providers, including what the key focus will be for winter provision. These will be shared at the Network and Information Session in November.
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Hounslow will be holding our online Autumn Term Network Meeting for HAF and OOSS Providers on 15 November from 18:30 - 20:00. The following areas will be covered;
- The role of the playworker
- Playwork principles
- Key updates
There will also be a virtual raffle taking place during the meeting! To be in with a chance to win a complete Loose Parts set, come along and join us.
To book your place, please email christine.hicks@hounslow.gov.uk
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The government guidance 'Keeping Children Safe in Out-of-School Settings' has now been updated and replaced by new guidance published on 19th September 2023.
The new guidance strengthens the older documents in a number of areas, particularly in governance, working with children who have SEN and disabilities, staff recruitment and management, the record-keeping of training, the steps to take when a child goes missing from the activity.
Please see the document below for further details. The updated guidance can be found here.
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So many working families in Hounslow are missing out on support with their childcare costs. Let’s together, help reduce this!
You may be familiar with the words Tax-Free Childcare, and you may have even signed up for it, but are you promoting it? Does every working family using your childcare provision know you are signed up?
For those of you that are unsure if you are signed up or want to sign up or even just get a reminder of what it is, these 2 links will get you on your way to helping your parents save money.
If you are already signed up and actively promoting this, a big thank you for your support in helping Hounslow families save money on their childcare costs.
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A ban on single-use plastic cutlery, food containers and other items has come into force in England. With regards to the HAF delivery, the DfE is committed to sustainable development practices and believes it is important for local authorities to consider these and their impact on the environment. Hounslow therefore reflect on sustainable development as part of our values and operators of the HAF programme are expected to:
- minimise the use of single-use plastics
- where possible, use locally sourced food and ingredients
- make use of food surplus organisations
- ensure there is a wide range of recycling and compost facilities for waste
- grow fruit and vegetables and show how they can be used and cooked.
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Thank you for subscribing to our Holiday Activities and Food Programme newsletter. If you'd like to subscribe to more newsletters on a variety of topics from Hounslow Council, please click here. For a full list of current job opportunities please visit our website. |
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