7 - Physical activity

How did you ensure the physical activities you delivered were engaging and inclusive? Did you have any particular successes?

All HAF provision included an element of physical activity. We were able to offer a wide choice of activities to suit a variety of preferences and abilities. We funded some specialist SEND providers and also offered additional funds to universal providers to support individual needs of young people.

Every club had to deliver versions of Dodgeball, as this was the most requested activity of all clubs.

Providers used a variety of methods from soft balls, ‘glow in the dark’ Dodgeball and age/size tournaments to ensure these sessions were inclusive regardless of the children and young people individual abilities.

The horse-riding club is our most successful club and a SEND provision specialist. Places are offered on a first come first served basis, and there are warm up exercises before the riding lessons start, with parents and carers required to join in.

Swimming lessons were on offer at six clubs each holiday, and again providers were careful to ensure that children swimming for the first time felt comfortable and safe before even changing into swimming costumes.

One of our clubs working from a leisure centre had cycling track and athletics track which were fully used by the HAF club. They had also invested in a variety of specialist bicycle types to ensure inclusiveness, enabling, and including all children, regardless of ability, to learn how to cycle around a track.

Several the more rural clubs included walking and woodland trails as part of their physical activity element. Walks were designed around the make-up of children and young people attending t ensure inclusivity. Parents and carers have reported back that their children have wanted to go on walks as a family at the weekends - a great unexpected positive outcome of the walking trails included in some HAF clubs.

One club included ‘free fall sessions’ in their programme, which built confidence as well as delivered to the physical elements of HAF.

Football was a key focus of many clubs, building on the success and popularity of the England Women’s football team pend up lots of interest from girls and young women. Burton Albion football club were a key partner for the HAF programme in East Staffordshire.