How Can Your Holiday Club Support a Child at Risk of Exclusion?

You have a child who swears, walks off or winds others up. The school has suspended them before, and you're wondering whether to keep going. This article shows how to support a child at risk of exclusion, so your club can be the place they finally get it right.

Why do children at risk of exclusion often do better at clubs?

Clubs offer smaller groups, physical activity and adults who sit outside the school system. A coach or club leader can become the "third adult" a child listens to, when they've stopped listening to parents and teachers.

The Department for Education revealed that there were just under 10,000 permanent school exclusions in the 2024/25 academic year. Persistent, disruptive behaviour accounted for 40% of these. So how would club attendance reduce the risk of exclusion?

The third adult concept

Parents and teachers are often caught up in rules and consequences, so their words stop landing. The third adult (such as a coach, a club leader or a teaching assistant) holds a different value. You become more than a leader full of instructions. You become a mentor.

Smaller groups

From my own experience as a teacher, when the volume peaked a little too much, I found "focus pairs" to save the day. By introducing a full group project (such as writing a novel), I gave each pair of children a very specific role. One pair would focus on the character names, whilst another pair would draw the illustrations. This reduced arguments and encouraged autonomy.

Wholesome activities

A College of Policing review found that sports programmes can help reduce offending among young people. Encouragement and positive reinforcement are among the most successful ways to keep children coming back.

⭐ Eequ Pro Tip: Your skills could attract council funding. Councils run the Holiday Activities and Food programme, which gives children free holiday clubs with a healthy meal. As well as children who receive benefits-related free school meals, councils can use up to 15% of their funding for other children they believe could benefit. Contact your council's programme team to ask how to become a provider. Eequ works with around 80 local authorities to run bookings for programmes like this, so places, registers and records are handled in one system.

How do you find out what's behind a child's behaviour?

Watch first, act later.

If possible, rope in the whole team for an observational assessment. Take notes on the child's behaviour at different points throughout the day. Observe the moments at which things go wrong or they become upset, but also the points at which the child is at their best. This is going to become key in working towards improved behaviour.

⭐ Eequ Pro Tip: A quick, factual note after each incident helps every member of staff respond the same way and makes patterns easier to spot. Eequ's new incident reports let you log a behaviour incident from the register, share it with your manager and the child's parents, and add follow-up notes, so parents hear what happened from you, the same day.

Let's say you notice the child is unusually loud, restless and hyperactive just after snack time. It may be tempting to blame the chocolate biscuit at snack time. But the "sugar high" is a myth. A review of 16 controlled studies found that sugar doesn't affect children's behaviour. What really changes after snack time is the excitement, the noise and the change of activity. So consider what's happening around the child, not just what they've eaten.

Perhaps your colleague notices the child becoming extremely unhappy every day after football, just as a more mellow activity like crafts begins. It might be a sign that the sudden transition from a physical activity to a sedentary one is too difficult for the child to cope with. So, you might consider posting them as the "Collecting Captain" whilst still keeping them involved in the group activity, to maintain their social skills.

The key is to look for a link between behaviour and activity.

Try this: a five-minute staff huddle at the end of each day about one child. What went well? When did it go wrong? What happened just before?

How can you calm a child without constant instructions?

Give the child something to do rather than something to listen to, and keep the day predictable. Fewer instructions mean fewer chances to refuse.

If the child's behaviour has become defiant, for example knocking over another child's model, allow the child to act on their mistake. Rather than sending them out, encourage them to right their wrongs, helping their teammate to rebuild the model.

Secondly, establish a routine. A chaotic schedule can create uncertainty and insecurity for a child, a potential catalyst for unruly behaviour. For example, it's snack time. Instead of an adult shouting "everyone inside now!", you designate the specific child as "leader", giving them the opportunity to prepare the food. Make it fun and give them a title (something silly like Captain Crunch). As the sight and smell of freshly prepared sandwiches drifts to the other children, you'll find them filing inside on their own. There are no commands to disobey.

How do you get a child who refuses everything to join in?

Show them something worth joining. Children follow adults they admire, and they join in when they have a real job to do.

Be a role model

Children follow adults they respect, not adults who simply have power over them. A child who has rejected every teacher at school will often respect a talented coach. Use your skills to your advantage and encourage your staff to "show off" a little.

Try this: create a "talent show" where the children are the judges and the staff are the participants. Let the staff show what they're good at and allow the children to come forward and learn from them.

Give them a purpose

This is essential to growing a child's sense of social standing and self-worth. Children at risk of exclusion rarely get the opportunity to feel useful. It is often overlooked at school or at home. If a new child is feeling nervous, our guide on how to help a nervous child settle in has a few more tips.

A few more ideas for increasing a child's sense of purpose might be:

Setting up equipment before an activity and clearing up afterwards
Helping to prepare and cook lunch for the group
Assisting in building a shelter for poor weather conditions
Becoming the "attendance supervisor" for registration

Notice the "bad" behaviour and re-label it

Often, teachers reprimand certain behaviours without understanding their deeper value. For example, a "bossy" child could be the "camp leader". A "hyperactive" child could be the "equipment manager". A "chatterbox" could be the "team representative" and the "argumentative" child could become the "referee".

How do you work with parents and schools to support a child at risk of exclusion?

Share good news first, agree how you'll keep parents updated, and only talk to the school with the parents' permission.

⭐ Eequ Pro Tip: Make the first call home good news. Parents of children at risk of exclusion often dread every call from school. Tell them about something their child did well before you ever raise a problem. When you do need to talk about behaviour, you'll be speaking to a parent who trusts you, rather than one who is braced for bad news.

Collection time is often the easiest moment for a quick, positive word with a parent. Our guide to managing drop-off and collection has more on making that handover work.

With the parents' agreement, tell the school what works at your club, such as the jobs and routines that keep the child calm. This can help the child at school too.

What records should you keep about behaviour?

A group effort from all staff members is necessary to keep short, factual notes of each incident: what happened, what came before it and what staff did. This helps spot patterns and supports conversations with parents.

When does behaviour become a safeguarding concern?

Behaviour becomes a safeguarding concern when it suggests a child may be at risk of harm, for example signs of neglect, unexplained injuries, money or gifts they can't explain, or older people waiting for them after club.

If you're worried, follow your club's safeguarding procedure and speak to your designated safeguarding lead straight away to decide the next steps. Don't raise the concern with the parents first unless your safeguarding lead agrees, as in some cases this could put the child at more risk.

Children who are out of school can be more vulnerable to criminal exploitation, such as being drawn into county lines drug dealing. The Home Office's guidance explains the signs to look for.

Frequently asked questions

Can a holiday club refuse a child because of their behaviour?

Speak to the parents first and agree on a plan. If the behaviour may be linked to a disability, the Equality Act 2010 may require you to make reasonable adjustments before you refuse.

Should I tell the school what happens at the club?

Yes, if the parents agree. This could be a pivotal step in helping the child's development and behavioural improvement.

Do I need special training to support children with challenging behaviour?

Everyone working with children needs safeguarding training. Beyond that, the ideas in this article rely more on patience and observation than on qualifications.

How do children get a place on the Holiday Activities and Food programme?

Most places are for children who receive benefits-related free school meals. Councils can also use up to 15% of their funding for other children they think would benefit, and schools or social workers can often suggest a child. Ask your council's programme team how referrals work locally. The Holiday Activities and Food programme guidance sets out the rules.

Put your energy into the child

Running a holiday club pulls your energy in many directions. Supporting a struggling child takes time, patience and attention. By keeping this as your priority, you can allow Eequ, the booking system for children's activity providers, holiday clubs, wraparound care and sports clubs, to handle the surrounding admin of council programme bookings, live registers and behaviour records shared with staff and parents. Set up your listing on Eequ.

Accurate as of October 2026. Always check GOV.UK and your local authority for the latest guidance.