Castle Holiday Club At Finstall

Castle Holiday Club At Finstall Inspection report for early years provision

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EY369895 Unique Reference Number 29 May 2008 Inspection date Esther Gray Inspector

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Finstall First School, Carnforth Road, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, B60 2HS

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E-mail

Castle Nursery Ltd Registered person Childcare Type of inspection Out of School care Type of care

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E-mail

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000

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ABOUT THIS INSPECTION

The purpose of this inspection is to assure government, parents and the public of the quality of childcare and, if applicable, of nursery education. The inspection was carried out under Part XA Children Act 1989 as introduced by the Care Standards Act 2000 and, where nursery education is provided, under Schedule 26 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. This report details the main strengths and any areas for improvement identified during the inspection. The judgements included in the report are made in relation to the outcomes for children set out in the Children Act 2004; the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding; and, where nursery education is provided, the Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage. The report includes information on any complaints about the childcare provision which Ofsted has received since the last inspection or registration or 1 April 2004 whichever is the later.

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

For more information about early years inspections, please see the booklet Are you ready for your inspection? which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE

The quality and standards of the care are good. The registered person meets the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Castle Holiday Club At Finstall School is one of seven holiday and out of school settings run by Castle Nursery Limited. It opened in 2008 and operates from the hall, library and adjacent facilities within Finstall First School. It is situated on a small housing estate on the eastern side of Bromsgrove in Worcestershire. A maximum of 50 children may attend the holiday club at any one time. They open each weekday from 08.00 to 18.00 during all school holiday periods. All children share access to a secured outdoor play area.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 50 children aged from five to under 12 years on roll. Children come from the local and wider area. The club adapts the organisation of the provision to support children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The setting employs 16 members of staff. Of these, 11 hold appropriate early years childcare and playwork qualifications and three are working towards an appropriate qualification.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children enjoy very good opportunities to experience physical activity and develop their skills indoors and outside in the fresh air. They enjoy making salad wraps, smoothies and fruit salads. They talk about the different flavours, textures and colours of the fruit and delight in eating the end results. They also have further opportunities to investigate the ingredients of other foods such as biscuits when cooking. This means they gain knowledge of and begin to appreciate the benefits of making healthy food choices. Although the staff have not engaged with parents to support them in promoting healthy eating by making any recommendation about suitable healthy packed lunches, they advise parents of the essential need to ensure ingredients can be stored safely outside of a refrigerator until lunch time, recommending the use of ice packs for this purpose. Consequently, children are well nourished and individual dietary requirements

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Helping children to be healthy

Staff training needs are well met. All staff are required to maintain their qualification in administering first aid to young children. Parents and carers are made aware of the exclusion times for those children who are ill. This helps to prevent communicable diseases from spreading. Consequently, they are protected from infection and are well taken care of if they have an accident or become ill. Children are encouraged to wash their hands when preparing snacks or when cooking. They are provided with suitable toilet and hand washing facilities and there are posters to remind them of the importance of following good hygiene guidelines. Staff maintain a clean environment for children. This helps to prevent cross-infection and promotes children's understanding of the importance of good hygiene.

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Helping children to be healthy

There are many very good opportunities for children to develop their physical skills and play outside in the fresh air. Children enjoy excellent opportunities to experience physical activity and develop their skills. This promotes their understanding of the benefits of fresh air and exercise to their health and well-being.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is outstanding. Children’s safety is very well promoted because the registered person takes exceptional steps to promote safety. Children are learning to keep themselves safe as they use outdoor and indoor equipment and follow rules they have developed with the assistance of staff, which help to keep them safe. They learn to use tools and equipment such as cutlery, art and craft tools safely and manoeuvre around one another safely in their play whilst using large outdoor play equipment. Children are secure and very well supervised in school buildings, suitably used as a holiday venue, because the manager and staff ensure that the environment gives children excellent access to a comprehensive range of facilities that successfully promote children’s development. They engage with the school staff and caretaking staff to ensure their partnership ensures all security and safety measures have been addressed successfully and all risks are fully

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children are very well protected from harm because staff have a very good understanding of their role in child protection. They are able to put appropriate local safeguarding procedures into practice. They share this information very effectively with parents and carers in comprehensive policies which are clear and unambiguous. Consequently, all staff, parents and

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 carers are clear about their roles and responsibilities and the process which suitably safeguards children very well.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is outstanding. Children are very confident, independent and are developing very good self-esteem. Well prepared areas allows children to move from one activity to another of their own choosing and create their own play ideas from all the resources available. Children make many decisions and choices for how they will spend their time on holiday. For example, they choose to visit places such as Ragley Hall. Trips are organised with children who attend from one school holiday period to the next. Children are actively encouraged to request activities they would like to take part in. For instance, they put down their ideas onto the feet of a very long caterpillar and they have asked for such things as a 'spelling day'. These ideas are planned with staff and organised for coming days and weeks. As a result, children can feel a very good sense of pride and ownership of their holiday club, including the space, time and resources available to them.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

This means they look forward to the events they have arranged themselves and settle happily to play, confident that their opinions have been respected and heard.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

All children have their individual needs very well met and are developing an excellent range of knowledge and skills. This is because there are effective plans which provide activities and play opportunities that help children achieve well to their own age and ability. Experienced staff develop a very good rapport with the holidaying group and encourage imaginative, creative and sporting ability very well. This is illustrated by the way children adapt play. They begin a game using the parachute, which later becomes a tent under which they enjoy their lunch outdoors. Later, children move the parachute to the other end of the outdoor area and, gaining the assistance of adults, they make another tent like area in which they continue to develop their imaginative play. Imaginative stories are played out in the sunshine for most of the afternoon. Meanwhile indoors other children develop their skills in art, craft and in the use of

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

construction materials. They enjoy making a list of ingredients judged to make the best tasting 'smoothie'. Consequently, children continue to learn and achieve well whilst having a lot of fun on their holiday.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Staff promote children's understanding of diversity. For example, they talk about prejudice and relate this to things which children will readily understand. For example, linked to sporting affiliations they discuss being prejudiced against someone wearing a red shirt. They learn about diversity as they mix with children of all ages from the local community. There is a good anti-bullying policy which includes rules of the club devised by children. The spontaneous nature of the play includes good use of a wide range of resources. These include those that support staff in promoting diversity. The staff use food from alternate cultures such as wraps, stir fries and other types of cookery to develop children's awareness of the wider society. Consequently, children are developing respect for others and an understanding of responsible behaviour. They learn about boundaries because staff are able to manage a wide range of

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Helping children make a positive contribution

children's behaviour and organise interesting events to prevent children from becoming listless and bored, keeping them engaged in interesting activities and play.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 Children's needs are met through good partnership with parents and carers. This partnership also closely involves the relationship with the school in which the setting is situated. The Head Teacher reports to parents that children have told him that they really enjoyed the club and the activities that were on offer. Parents and carers have folders of policies and procedures and also letters of information. They are reminded to put cool blocks in the food lunch boxes and they are reminded to send their children in clothes suitable for the activities, some of which are outside and are also likely to be very messy. Parents and carers are consulted about children's individual needs and give appropriate permission for outings, medication, emergency medical treatment and photographs to be taken. As a result, children are developing good relationships

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Helping children make a positive contribution

with adults and other children in a setting where they see consistent messages and good working relationships between parents, carers and staff in meeting their needs well.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. Children benefit from good effective organisation of the setting. The management are proactive in ensuring the practice of all staff contributes positively to children’s good health, safety, enjoyment, achievement and ability to take an active part in the setting. Staff are committed to continue to update their skills and knowledge by attending training, attending local forums and having a clear sense of purpose and a commitment to continual improvement. Staff appraisal and training allows them to keep up-to-date with current best practice in childcare, playwork and education. Children are protected from harm as the staff are aware of the importance of ensuring that all unvetted visitors are suitable and are not left unattended with children in the setting or whilst on outings.

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Organisation

Staff make good use of the school resources such as the library. Local areas of interest are well utilised as interesting outings. Staff maintain good records of children's individual medical and religious requirements. Parents are kept fully informed of the daily events, however, do not have a specific key person to refer to if they are concerned or worried in any way. Children are not assigned to a particular member of staff, although they may naturally defer to a member of staff that they naturally bond with. Staff take notice of children's suggestions and adapt organisation such as changing notice boards to accommodate good ideas. However, they do not focus their attention on, or make notes about the developmental and educational needs of individual children. This means that attention to the full integration of and ability of all children to fully participate in and get the most out of their stay has the potential to go unmet.

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Organisation

Any developmental or social and emotional needs may potentially go unnoticed during the days events. Further plans to ensure children's personal, social and emotional needs cannot, therefore, be identified to support child development and social skills effectively.

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Organisation

All policies and procedures protect children well and are effectively implemented to promote good outcomes for children. Records are available and retained for inspection. They are well organised and kept confidential. Overall children’s needs are met.

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Complaints since the last inspection

The provider is required to keep a record of complaints made by parents, which they can see on request. The complaints record may contain complaints other than those made to Ofsted.

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Complaints since the last inspection

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 Since registration there have been no complaints made to Ofsted that required the provider or Ofsted to take any action in order to meet the National Standards.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE

The quality and standards of the care are good. The registered person meets the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding.

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The quality and standards of the care

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • ensure that staffing arrangements meet the individual needs of children; this refers to grouping of children and identification of their key person for support.

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The quality and standards of the care

set out in the leaflet Complaints about Ofsted Early Years: concerns or complaints about Ofsted's role in regulating and inspecting childcare and early education (HMI ref no 2599) which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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The quality and standards of the care

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000

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