1. What makes this provider outstanding
Tunnicliffe Education, led by Coby Tunnicliffe, has created exceptional HAF camps that children remember as places where they can experiment, create, move, eat well and feel that learning belongs to them.
Coby recently left full-time science teaching to focus on developing HAF and related activities. He brings the instincts of a teacher and the imagination of someone who wants children to see the world differently.
The quality of this approach was clear during our Quality Review Visit to the Science Explorer HAF Camp in the summer of 2025. Children were settled and absorbed as they moved through activities including flower dissection, fingerprint-based art, themed puppet work, outdoor games and local visits. The day felt carefully organised without feeling rigid, and children had space to be curious, practical and sociable. One child summed up the experience simply as “amazing”.
Coby’s sessions also build life skills in practical, everyday ways. Children are encouraged to speak, present, perform, cook, host parents and carers, and, where appropriate, support younger children. This helps them practise confidence, teamwork, communication and responsibility through real tasks, rather than through ‘lessons’ about personal development.
Coby pays close attention to children who may need extra help to take part. Families are contacted before sessions where needed, especially where a child has SEND or a parent is worried about whether their child will manage. Staff are given useful information, activities are adapted, and children are supported as individuals. Inclusion is part of the everyday running of the club, not an add-on.
Food and wellbeing are treated with the same care. Children receive breakfast and lunch, are encouraged to try healthy and varied foods without pressure and use mealtimes as a calm part of the day where they can talk, belong and learn simple messages about healthy choices. This focus on wellbeing continues beyond mealtimes, with children staying active through outdoor play, performance, games and movement, alongside creative and educational activities.
Tunnicliffe Education’s provision is also outward-looking and uses museums, schools and community venues to open opportunities that some children and families may not otherwise access. His partnership with Oxford University Museum of Natural History is a good example: children are not simply taken to an impressive setting; they are helped to feel confident and welcome there. Coby’s staff provide the pastoral, behavioural and SEND support that makes this possible.
This is why Coby’s HAF camps are outstanding rather than simply well run. His energy, enthusiasm and creativity allow him to deliver an inclusive and exciting HAF offer that widens children’s horizons.
2. Partnership and standards
A local authority representative has visited the provider and confirmed that the provider has met all HAF programme standards.
Oxfordshire County Council has been in partnership and contact with the provider since Easter 2024.
3. How the programme meets local need
Coby’s programme is designed around real local needs: children needing safe and enriching holiday provision, families needing trusted support, and communities where there is not enough provision. He looks for places where poverty may be less visible because it sits within or alongside more affluent areas. Just as importantly, he makes good use of local places and resources — museums, schools, community centres and neighbourhood venues — so children can feel more connected to the area around them, rather than spending the holidays isolated, indoors or on their phones.
He chooses sites for the HAF camps with care, thinking about what each place can offer children and families. Through Oxford University Museum of Natural History, children can access cultural opportunities that may otherwise feel out of reach. In schools, they can experience adults in education in a more relaxed and supportive way. In community venues, a local building can become a place where children and families feel expected, included and welcome.
The programme responds well to children who need extra confidence, structure or encouragement during the holidays. Some children arrive with low literacy, limited English, SEND needs or worries about joining in. Coby makes the programme more accessible for established migrant communities by recruiting staff who are conversant in locally used languages, helping children and parents feel informed and welcome. He asks families what will help, shares that information with staff, and makes practical changes so children can take part. This can include adapting instructions, seating, materials, adult support or pace, and communicating carefully with children who are partially sighted, use hearing aids or have other access needs.
This matters because holiday periods can be a time when vulnerable children become less visible to the adults who usually support them. Coby’s background in education helps him notice what children need beyond the activity in front of them. Where appropriate, he communicates with schools, DSLs and pastoral staff, and has contributed observations that help professionals understand how a child presents outside the classroom. This supports children during the holidays while helping schools maintain a fuller picture of their needs.
Coby listens to what families and local organisations say they need. When parents asked for longer days to help with work and caring responsibilities, he found ways to make this work without simply passing extra costs on to families. He also makes good use of what is already around him. A local school, community centre or neighbourhood venue can become a welcoming HAF space, while cardboard that might otherwise be thrown away becomes material for puppets, sets and creative projects. Leftover supplies are passed on to community art groups, so they continue to be used after the camp has finished.
Overall, Coby’s programme gives children more than a safe place to go during the holidays. It gives them food, routine, trusted adults, new experiences and a sense that they belong. For parents and carers, it offers confidence that their children will be welcomed, understood and well supported.