Summer holiday Break Time survey 2023

We asked:

Did your child or young person use their Break Time hours to access an activity during the summer holidays?

78% of respondents said yes.

We asked:

If your child did not access any activity, please could you provide reason/s why not?

You said:

• Too complicated to find activities.
• Nothing in my area.
• We signed up but my son would not attend the sessions. It would be great if we could get more activities for send during weekends and half terms. There's not a choice in our area.
• Couldn’t access the facilities.
• too expensive and no local activities, Activities are primarily sports based which my child can't access due to physical restrictions.
• Didn’t feel they would be safe. Our son needs 1-1 and a lot of places won’t cater for this and he also isn’t toilet trained.

We asked:

If your child enjoyed the Break Time activity.

76% of respondents strongly agreed and 14% tended to agree.

You said:

• He likes some time to play without parents there all the time.
• They both enjoy being outside. And Hothersall Lodge is fantastic.
• My child values structure and routine to his day, which is lost when they are at home (especially) during the summer holidays when as parents we have to juggle working. For this reason, my son enjoyed immensely the opportunity to engage with structured activities, which were fun and supportive to his development.
• Ark barn are brilliant at supporting a child with additional needs and meeting the child where they are. They have complete understanding of Sen needs. It the first holiday club that I’ve left my child at without a ounce of anxiety from either of us and when I pick him up he’s full of smiles and enjoyment telling me all about it.
• He had some anxiety in fully accessing the session.
• Without break time hours, my son wouldn't have the opportunity to socialise with his friends. He loves the group he attends and it is his chance to be with other children with similar needs.
• The social activity at slime for fun helped my child to build a connection group to do crafts, puzzles, word games and feel a sense of belonging.
• He couldn’t wait to go each day.
• Looked forward to going and had a really good time!
• My child enjoyed attending his Break Time Activity as he liked making new friends. The only problem was the limit to what he could access due to the 78 hours he wanted to attend more days, but I have to spread the hours over a year.
• Not a lot of choice for her.
• Well planned activities/day trips. Inclusive activities and promotes positive interactions with their peers.
• Happy and smiling on pickup. She’s not able to tell me how much she’d enjoyed it but her face said all I wanted to know.
• Had a lovely time at Ark Education. They completely catered for his needs and personalised his experience to suit him.
• Because he didn’t want to go back, he managed there but it wouldn’t be somewhere he would go by choice.
• The holiday club was at my child's school, so, familiar environment, high level of care and support.
• They were keen to go every week and it was a struggle to get them to leave at the end.
• They are happy to go to PIP and always come back having had fun.

We asked:

Did the Break Time activity provider meet the child's personal/specific SEND requirements?

85% of respondents strongly agreed and 10% tended to agree.

You said:

• Ark Ed Barn is ideal for children with SEND My son has mild CP, some mild mobility issues. He is always well looked after.
• He was happy, his anxiety at a low and not once did I pick my son up near to meltdown. Which has never happened before.
• Personalised support that is natural and unhurried. Amazing.
• They met the individual needs of each child and got to know their likes and dislikes
• They made sure he had sensory breaks, asked me to provide info about his likes dislikes and needs and followed this, seemed to understand his triggers by day two, let him sit out if he needed to.
• My child needs a lot of adult supervision more of a 1-1 ratio.
• The staff always make a point of asking what my son would like to do and listen to his choices. They take in to consideration his needs and likes/dislikes to select the activities for the day. They have boosted his self esteem, resilience & confidence.
• The environment was adapted for my sons needs in mobility.
• I think it would have been beneficial to have more ICT based opportunities in relation to their interests.
• My provider was able to meet all my child's needs including intimate care and administration of medication. I have found some Break Time Providers do not offer this service.
• Play Inclusion Project offer activities to suit a variety of needs. There is always lots of different activity options available for my son.
• Play Inclusion Project manage personal care and medications, they do regular care plan updates and have always met all needs.
• My child is listened to, staff are patient and understanding.
• Slime group and Tor View School play scheme are both fantastic services and are able meet my child's individual needs such as the level of supervision and toileting in a safe environment.

We asked:

Whilst your child is at their Break Time activity, did you have the opportunity to have a break yourself?

62% of respondents strongly agreed and 22% tended to agree.

You said:

• I used the time to work, I can't take 6 weeks holiday off over the summer, and there are no other childcare options that can manage his needs. I just need way more than the allocated hours.
• We home educate so I NEVER have opportunity to have a break. These sessions were 4 hours long which meant I could run errands, go to the gym, read a book, catch up on chores, meet friends. It was invaluable to me.
• As yet I haven't felt able to leave my daughter at the venue, but I have been able to have a little head space.
• This is a very welcome part to the school holidays which can be incredibly difficult when caring for someone with SEN, which can often be for 14 hours a day without any break. It also enables me to work and help support my family.
• It's nice to know that your child is enjoying themselves in a safe environment.
• I am comfortable with leaving him in the hands of the staff, as I know that my son is at ease with their supervision. If I didn't feel confident in their abilities in looking after my son, I would not be able to relax and leave him to enable a break/some free time for myself.
• I have 6 hours to do things I can’t do when my child is at home!
• Know that my child is well cared for with appropriate activities for their needs.
• Absolutely, time to refuel mentally and emotionally. 🙂
• Whilst my child was at their activity I was able to get the housework done and go shopping which is a struggle when they are at home. Would have been beneficial if I could have accessed another day as well though so I could actually relax.
• Pip have everything under control which enables me to relax and take some time out.
• Some weeks it’s the only respite I get.
• None of the activities are hosted in the Wyre/ eastern part of the district. It takes 45 minutes to drive to drop off and collect and the activities are no more than 5 hours. It's a lot of driving for 3 hours break.
• I use the summer Breaktime as childcare whilst working but the Saturday sessions are beneficial to offer time to our family to have a break.
• It's important for my child to be in a group they enjoy and it gives me time to spend some 1:1 time with my other child and some ME time.

We asked:

When your child attends an activity do you believe it benefits the whole family?

85% of respondents strongly agreed and 10% tended to agree.

You said:

• He needs interaction with other children, break time develops his social skills and gives experiences he can't get with family or school.
• My son has been so motivated at the sessions. It's continued at home as we've created more home ed learning around it, been on family days out relating to farms and animals. I've been able to recentre myself with the time 'off'.
• I’m a better mother because I have space to breathe.
• Completely and strongly agree with this statement as we are all better for Break Time. Thank you!
• The whole family need breaks from my SEN child as he is very demanding and I cannot leave the house with both children as it’s unsafe alone.
• We all have a chance to do our own thing, mental health wise this is great!
• We get to spend time with our child that doesn’t have special needs.
• My child has the chance to make new friends and be around other children of similar age regularly at the groups. It gives me time to spend time with my other child who has other interests.
• It benefits my child as he loves his activities. It doesn't particularly benefit the whole family. Again, we don't have enough hours given through breaktime.
• It gives us time to spend quality time with the other children.
• I spend quality time with my husband, older daughter or grandchild and give them my full attention.

We asked:

Would you like to make any comments about the Summer Holiday Break Time service?

You told us:

• We desperately need more hours allocated. We have found a suitable service but can't use it as we need.
• Limited activities/availability in our area. This activity is 30 mins car travel. We are fortunate we can travel.
• The Ark Education Barn team are amazing! My daughter has loved every minute - my only problem is the distance to travel (1hr-ish) - however we will do it because it benefits us all and the provision is wonderful. Feel very blessed to be able to access something so meaningful.
• We think it’s fantastic!
• The Break Time service is excellent and everyone involved with it should be proud of what they achieve for young people and families with SEN children. We have benefited considerably as a family to have this support during school holidays. It is honestly so amazing. The only way in which this provision could be improved would be to expand it to more hours, but I fully appreciate this is unlikely given the funding implications of such a move. However, to have the dedicated time that we do via Break Time for our son is great for him and great for the family. Thank you to everyone who is involved in administering, managing and delivering the Break Time service. You are all doing an amazing job!!!!!
• Fantastic initiative that benefits our family and helps my daughter gain some much needed independence.
• I would like to see more options for full time break time or just full time holiday childcare that can meet an autistic child’s needs.
• Very good service, just need some more choices with a range of activities. Would be good if all the centres had the option for siblings to attend, as being able to attend with a familiar face (even if just for the first time) really helps.
• As my son becomes older, I am worried that he won’t want to access the service as much. Possible scope for separate activities for older children?
• My daughter went to SEN Funda Holiday Club, it was amazing. Good for both of us.
• The break time holiday service is excellent, it's just a shame we only get 78hrs to spread across the year. It's by far not enough hours for parents to get a reasonable break/respite throughout the year.
• We look forward to the next holiday as we know we get some peace to recharge our batteries knowing our child is happy with his friends on some fantastic trips.
• Excellent service provided by fantastic child orientated people who have children's best interest at heart.
• 78 hours is not enough! Especially for working parents of children with SEN.
• Too few providers; need more that offer one to one. Need to standardise paperwork to access the services and clear information should be available.
• There is still a shortage of choice for break time activities in our area.