By Jayne Coward,
Deputy Director for Early Years Regulatory Policy and
Practice
The Holiday Activities and
Food (HAF) programme is funded by the Department for
Education (DfE). The aim of the programme is to help families
with enrichment activities and food for children throughout the
holiday periods. The programme is for children who receive free
school meals, although providers are encouraged to make it open
to all.
HAF providers are encouraged to check if they are required to
register with Ofsted.
Ofsted is responsible for registering, regulating and inspecting
childcare provision that is required to register with us.
Do you need to register with Ofsted?
We continue to receive queries from HAF providers about whether
they need to register. We have updated our childcare exemptions
guidance with information about HAF provision to clarify
this. You can find the section on HAF providers and other
specific types of provision here.
If you are a childcare provider interested in offering the HAF
programme, the DfE sets out certain requirements
to receive grant funding. These are separate to the legal requirements of
Ofsted childcare registration.
If you are a HAF provider, it is your responsibility to
understand whether your provision is required to be registered
with Ofsted. You must continue to review your status if the
provision you are offering changes.
The requirement to register with Ofsted depends on:
- the nature of the childcare you are providing
- the ages of the children
- the number of days you will provide care each year
Even if you are not required to register with us, you may be
eligible to register on the voluntary
part of the Childcare Register if you meet the requirements.
This is necessary if you want parents to be able to use their
Tax-Free Childcare entitlements.
If you are considering setting up HAF provision, you
should work with your local authority to
determine whether you need to register with Ofsted.
The key things to consider for whether you need to register are
the type of provision, the age of the children and the hours
offered.
The type of provision you offer
If you provide activity-based sessions, you can only legally
offer 1 or 2 types of activities from the list below, otherwise
you will not be exempt from compulsory registration:
- school study support or homework support
- sports
- performing arts
- arts and crafts
- religious, cultural or language studies
Remember that we do not necessarily expect everyone working there
to be a specialist coach, but they should have relevant skills to
help children improve.
The age of the children attending and the hours
offered
You must register if you provide care for children aged under 8
for more than 2 hours a day.
However, there are exceptions in the activity-based exemption
that mean you can care for children aged under 5 for up to 4
hours, and for longer than 4 hours if children are over 4. Or,
for example, children of any age for only 2 weeks per year, if
you let Ofsted know in writing beforehand.
Why register with Ofsted?
It may allow parents to gain financial assistance with their
childcare costs.
Parents can redeem employer-supported vouchers against childcare
costs.
And families may be eligible for Tax-Free Childcare, or the
childcare costs element of Universal Credit (UC). Through UC,
families may be able to claim back up to 85% of
their childcare costs if they are attending and paying
for extra childcare at Ofsted-registered settings.
We recently took part in a HAF bitesize session on Ofsted
registration benefits and considerations. The session aims to
provide you with details on:
- childcare and the law
- where to find guidance on Ofsted registration
- the 2 registers
- registration exemptions
- the requirements of registration – supporting quality and
safeguarding
- the benefits of registering on the Childcare Register
Conclusion
This blog provides some pointers, but please make sure you read
the childcare registration
exemptions guidance to determine whether the type of
provision you are offering requires registration with Ofsted or
if you can rely on a registration exemption. It is your
responsibility to get this right. It is an offence to provide
childcare that requires registration without being registered
with Ofsted.
We want to support you and the DfE in making this programme a
success.
