Dear parents/carers,

Welcome to the term 6 edition of our Safeguarding and Wellbeing bulletin and the final for this academic year.

In this bulletin we have a range of information from agencies to help support young people and parents over the holidays.

Holiday Activities and Food Programme / Free School Meals

If your child gets free school meals, North Northamptonshire Council will be providing food vouchers during school holidays and support with back-to-school essentials in the summer. They will be issued by schools directly and you don’t need to apply for them. Please make ensure we have your correct email address so we can send vouchers.

If you haven’t received your holiday or back to school vouchers, please contact school in the first instance. If school haven’t received a voucher for your child from the council, please email [email protected] with the name of your child and the school they attend. They will then investigate with the Free School Meals Team.

During the holiday The Holiday Activities and Food programme gives children access to funded activities during the summer holidays.

Each activity includes:                    a meal

a minimum of 60 minutes of physical activity

information about healthy eating and nutrition.

Eligibility: The main eligibility for the programme is for children 5 to 16 years old who are in receipt of or are entitled to benefits-related free school meals (this is different from universal free school meals for years 1 and 2).

Programme: The 2024 programme runs from 24 July to 2 September across Northamptonshire with exciting activities including; sport, music technology, arts and crafts, dance and drama, computer coding, science, technology, engineering and maths, cooking, soft play, go-karting, rock climbing, outdoor activities, whitewater rafting.

Click the link below for more information.

https://www.northnorthants.gov.uk/summer-activities/holiday-activities-and-food-programme

And finally, a reminder that every Morrisons cafe has a kids eat for free deal, which is especially good as it covers young people up to 16 years old (where most others usually stretch to 10). The kids eat free Morrisons deal gets you a free meal from the kids menu for every adult meal you buy (you must spend £5 or more).

Northamptonshire Children’s Trust – North Northamptonshire

Each year our partnership team at North Northamptonshire pull together and publish a newsletter that focuses on all the amazing events, clubs and groups that families, children and young people can access across the county that are free or affordable to attend. Click the link below to see what is available.

https://sway.cloud.microsoft/EZxl6KdU6wBYJNx3?ref=Link

Advice for Parents in Out of School Activities

Parents sometimes contact us for advice and guidance around safeguarding in activities and clubs outside of school. During the holidays it can be challenging to get hold of us so the link below takes you to the government guidance.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-parents-and-carers-on-safeguarding-children-in-out-of-school-settings

Online Safety

Over the holidays young people often spend more time online (particularly with the British weather!!) and they and us as parents sometimes need support when things turn unpleasant.

These websites are useful in offering advice and guidance around online safety and wellbeing.

https://www.childnet.com/help-and-advice/parents-and-carers

https://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/bullying-abuse-safety/online-mobile-safety/staying-safe-online/

CEOP Summer Challenge

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre work with safeguarding and child protection partners across the country. Following their summer challenge from last year, here is the link to the challenge for this year with themed activities for parents and carers to complete with their young people. 

https://www.ceopeducation.co.uk/parents/ceopsummerchallenge

Summer Activities from Public Health Northamptonshire

Sophie Coleman from Public Health Northamptonshire has shared a range of activities for over the summer for young people and families of all ages. This is available to view on our website by clicking the following link.

https://wollastonschool.co.uk/2024/07/226310/

Finally, a reminder that over the holidays if you do have any safeguarding concerns, you can phone 101 or contact the MASH team (telephone: 0300 126 1000 or email: [email protected]) who are there to support throughout the year.

Best wishes,

Ms A Walker

Assistant Headteacher (DSL/Personal Development)