Non-Attendance
As shown in previous post holiday reports, we continued to have challenges with non-attendance. We have been looking into what other local authorities have been doing to resolve this issue and are looking into ways we can minimise these. Some providers are using waiting lists, and this has made a small impact in reducing no shows however there is much more work to do.
Our Community Connectors work closely with providers to contact families who do not attend on the day, building an understanding of the reasons for non-attendance and exploring options and support to attend future sessions. Using learning from the outcome of these conversations to address barriers and reduce these accordingly, alongside discussions with the Specialist Community Connector for SEND barriers, District leads and providers
We are implementing a review of attendance following each HAF holiday using the providers monitoring forms and where attendance is less than 70%, contacting providers directly to discuss the measures they used to minimise non-attendance before receiving their final 20% payment for that holiday period.
Accessibility and Inclusivity
We have been consistent in finding new ways to increase engagement with SEND families and provide a range of inclusive provision during each HAF holiday. Our soft launch has supported families to be able to view the activities on offer before our bookings go live. Schools, Short Breaks, Social Care, and other professionals able to refer SEND families and other vulnerable families to our Community Connectors who can book these families onto suitable activities in advance of the live booking date to secure a place.
This has been helpful for families with children and young people with SEND as we know from feedback that it can take them much longer to find and book a suitable activity. Where the needs are high in complexity, Community Connectors can offer bespoke, personalised at home activities through direct conversations with the families about what the child’s interests are. We have also now embedded our All About Us document as a mandatory upload to providers booking sites, this provides families with detailed information about the activity, venue, quiet spaces. etc.
Despite this work, we know that there is more we can do to increase our engagement with SEND families and have now commissioned a Specialist Community Connector to support providers, district leads and families and gathering feedback directly from families to understand and improve the barriers they face.
Secondary age engagement
We have seen a slow increase in engagement from secondary aged young people during HAF holidays and this is due to the popularity and success of the HAF Youth Pass, which offers a range of activities collaborating with existing Gloucestershire HAF providers and external organisations, gym passes and trips (with transport) planned through conversations with the young people to ensure it was something they wanted to do. Some districts purchased tickets for adventure parks and experiences such as Ninja warrior, Cinema and VR experience tickets.
The Youth Pass has proven to be very popular with secondary aged young people as it promotes independence, and flexibility for young people to make decisions and attend activities that they are interested in. The gym passes have been particularly popular and most young people have taken up gym memberships outside of the HAF Programme.
We work with each district lead across the county to ensure sufficient provision designed at young people and what their interests are during the activity commissioning phase. We continued to work with providers to make sure the voice of the child is heard. We have a number of providers who deliver child-led activities keeping their provision flexible with a range of options of activities that can be delivered on the day dependant on the young people’s interests.
Moving forward and to further increase engagement with secondary aged young people in the HAF programme, we will be exploring collaboration with Gloucestershire County Council’s Youth Support, Social Care, CAMHS teams and external organisations working with young people such as, Young Gloucestershire and Teens in Crisis (TIC+).
Social Care & The Disabled Children and Young People Service (DCYPS)
Throughout 2023, we have been on an improvement journey to increase communication and partnerships with our Social Care and Disabled Children and Young People’s (DCYPS) teams. We held engagement sessions with each social care team manager to explain what HAF is, who is eligible and how they can support families they work with to engage in the programme. How HAF can become part of a safety plan for families and how a planned programme of enriching events can contribute to children and young people arriving back at school ready to learn while having had access to new learning opportunities over the holiday period.
We linked our district leads and community connectors with each locality and some have formed closer working relationships over time. In addition, we have been improving our communications with the social care teams to inform them of what is coming up for the next holiday and updates on what sessions are left to book. We have now taken this a step further and have a HAF advertisement displayed on the plasma display screens in each social care office across Shire Hall.
We met with DCYPs recently as we noted there was a little more work to do in line with our efforts on improving engagement with SEND families, the team managers are now more informed about HAF and its offer to support children and young people with SEND. Resources have been shared so practitioner are better able to the families they support to complete the All about Me forms and follow links to our web pages. The practitioners and Team Managers have also been linked to our Community Connectors and Specialist Community Connector for soft launch referrals.
