Leisure Activities

Leisure activities and cultural experiences are an important part of everyday life. The guiding principle is that children looked after should, as far as possible, be given the same opportunity to take part in usual and acceptable age-appropriate activities as their peers. Judgment should depend on the assessed risks and needs of the child. See also Delegated Authority to Foster Carers Procedure.

Leisure activities benefit a child and can help develop their emotional, intellectual, social, creative and physical skills. Children  should enjoy and have access to a range of social, educational and recreational opportunities, including activities in the local community, as appropriate. They should have the opportunity to participate in after-school activities or community-based activities along with school trips and holidays, and be supported to engage in faith-based activities if they wish, enhancing their overall cultural experiences.

Arts and drama can help a child to express their feelings with the childbeing free from everyday pressures. Mental health and wellbeing can also be supported by sports and other activities as it gives a child  an outlet for their energy, emotions and/or focus.

Taking part in after school activities can increase a child  self-esteem and give them another skill such as piano lessons, football, drama classes etc. It can also help with structuring a child 's week and give them security.

The existing leisure interests of a child  can play an important role when a child  becomes looked after as it provides some stability and continuity for the child and helps maintain friendship groups.

The child's interests, hobbies and leisure activities should be considered when making the arrangements to place a child looked after in their new home. As far as practical, hobbies and interests should be maintained and encouraged. Direct work should be undertaken regularly to elicit the views of children, enabling the opportunity for co-producing plans with children around leisure activities. This will form part of the child's foster/residential home plan (see Decision to Look After and Initial Care Planning Procedure).

A child's personal education plan should also be used to encourage a child or  to develop leisure activities and cultural experiences both in and out of school.

The child's foster/residential home plan should also detail and add clarity around day to day decisions and activities such as education, leisure activities, overnight stays, and personal issues such as haircuts. Children  should be provided with opportunities to try out different activities and consideration given to any help and support they might need to access activities. Where children identify activities which adults are worried about because of their age, risk or the high cost, children should be provided with a clear explanation about why the activity isn't agreed and guidance should be offered about activities that would be suitable.

The child's looked after review should be used to evaluate the effectiveness of these plans and ensure that a child 's needs are being met.

Children  should be supported to take age-appropriate risks that are considered with carers, the allocated social workers and parents (as appropriate) and the children themselves, following appropriate risk assessment. Social Workers and carers should be mindful to balance demands on a child's time with events that may be occurring in other aspects of their life, their family time arrangements as well as their need for time to relax, play and have time to themselves. It would not usually be appropriate for a child to attend an activity provision every day or every day after school.

Foster carers and residential staff should be proactive and encourage the child to take part in leisure activities, and outside interests should also be encouraged to enhance their cultural experiences.

Leisure activities depend on what the child is interested in and their abilities. Where children have additional needs due to a disability, reasonable adjustments should be made and funded to support them to access activities of interest to them.