K@Boom Before and After School Club and Holiday Club

Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated. St.Francis Out of School Club Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 509380 Inspection date 02/03/2009 Inspector Carol Johnson

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Setting address St. Francis Centre, Sycamore Road, Bournville, Birmingham, West Midlands, B30 2AA Telephone number 0121 472 7215 Email Type of setting Childcare on non-domestic premises This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under Sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of the registered early years provision. ‘Early years provision’ refers to provision regulated by Ofsted for children from birth to 31 August following their fifth birthday (the early years age group). The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and welfare, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Introduction

The provider must provide a copy of this report to all parents with children at the setting where reasonably practicable. The provider must provide a copy of the report to any other person who asks for one, but may charge a fee for this service (The Childcare (Inspection) Regulations 2008 regulations 9 and 10).

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Introduction

Children only attend this setting before and/or after the school day and/or during the school holidays. The judgements in this report reflect the quality of early years provision offered to children during those periods.

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Introduction

The setting also makes provision for children older than the early years age group which is registered on the voluntary and/or compulsory part(s) of the Childcare Register. This report does not include an evaluation of that provision, but a comment about compliance with the requirements of the Childcare Register is included in Annex B. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Description of the setting

St Francis Out of School Club has been registered since 1994. It is located within the St Francis Centre in Bournville. The club operates from various rooms within the centre and these include a hall, a large room with a sliding partition and a further room on the lower ground floor. There is no lift access to the lower ground floor. There are no accessibility issues at the front of the building. The club is registered for 60 children aged 4-8 years; the group admits children up to the age of 15 years. The club operates a before and after school facility for children that attend Bournville Junior and Infant Schools and is part of the 'Border Busters' Extended Schools Cluster Group. The club operates each weekday during term time from 08.00 to 08.50 and 15.20 to 18.00. The club also runs a playscheme during school holidays for local children and this operates from 07.00 until 18.00.

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Description of the setting

The club is registered on the Early Years Register and on both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 147 children on roll, 25 of whom are within the early years age range. There are currently no children attending with English as an additional language or learning difficulties and/or disabilities but there are suitable systems in place to support such children.

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Description of the setting

The club employs nine staff members, seven of whom hold relevant childcare qualifications, and two others are completing training to achieve a Level 2 childcare qualification.

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Overall effectiveness of the early years provision

The provision offers children and their families a warm and welcoming environment where communication is informal and relationships friendly. However, children are insufficiently safeguarded and the provision is not meeting the needs of all children or helping them to reach their full potential. The registered person and staff demonstrate a lack of understanding of the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and systems for identifying and making any necessary improvements to the provision are ineffective. Many of the required policies and procedures are missing and some of those that are in place inadequately protect children's welfare and safety.

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Overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall, the early years provision requires immediate action. Ofsted will take enforcement measures to ensure children’s safety and compliance with the welfare, learning and development requirements or will cancel registration.

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further?

To comply with the requirements of the EYFS the registered person must take the following action by the specified date:

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further?

 ensure procedures for recruiting and vetting staff are effective; this refers to keeping a record of the dates 23/03/2009 This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 when Criminal Record Bureau disclosures are obtained, in addition to the unique reference numbers and using evidence from the checks, including health, to evidence how decisions of staff suitability are made (Suitable people: also applies to both parts of the Childcare Register)  demonstrate how an effective policy for administering medicines will be implemented; including effective management systems to support individual children with medical needs and prior written permission for each and every medicine from parents before any medication is given (Safeguarding and promoting children's welfare) 23/03/2009  ensure all adults looking after children have appropriate training skills and knowledge; this refers

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further?

to developing knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage and providing induction training for new staff that includes matters such as child protection (Suitable People) 23/03/2009  ensure that the necessary information from parents in advance of a child being admitted to the provision is obtained including who has legal contact; and who has parental responsibility for the child and provide information to parents about policies and procedures including equality of opportunity and child protection (Safeguarding and promoting children's welfare) 23/03/2009  ensure children are assigned a key person, enabling staff to respond effectively to their needs and ideas and to make sure that children are cared for appropriately for each family (Organisation). 23/03/2009  demonstrate how you ensure an effective safeguarding children policy and procedure is implemented. This must include the procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation being made

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further?

against a member of staff. The provider must also ensure that all members of staff understand the safeguarding policy and procedure (Safeguarding and promoting children's welfare) 23/03/2009  ensure that the risk assessment identifies aspects of the environment that need to be checked on a regular basis: providers must maintain a record of these particular aspects and when and by whom they have been checked and take all reasonable steps to ensure hazards to children are kept to a minimum (Suitable premises, environment and equipment). 23/03/2009

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further?

Ofsted will take enforcement measures to ensure children’s safety and compliance with the welfare, learning and development requirements or may take action to prosecute or cancel your registration. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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provision

The leadership and management of the setting is ineffective and this compromises children’s welfare, learning and development. The registered person and the manager have not kept abreast of changes in legislation and are unaware of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS); they have no knowledge of the legal requirements relating to children’s welfare and their learning and development. Staff have not received training in respect of the EYFS and little information is recorded in relation to any other training that they have attended. Consequently, there is no clear system for identifying staff training and/or development needs. All staff have a copy of the provision's safeguarding policy and some have recently attended a training session in this respect, however, not all are clear with regards to appropriate recording and reporting procedures. There are no procedures in place for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness

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provision

of the provision and recommendations made at the setting's last Ofsted inspection have still to be satisfactorily addressed. There is no staff appraisal system and vetting and induction procedures are not rigorous or robust enough to fully protect children.

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provision

Staff visually check the premises and equipment before sessions but a record is not kept of when and by whom these checks have been carried out. A full risk assessment, in relation to the out of school provision, is not carried out and as a result some potential risks to children are not identified and suitably minimised. For example, children are at risk from unprotected radiators in some areas of the premises and there is a potential for children to leave the premises unsupervised via insufficiently secured fire exits at the rear of the main hall. Staff do not carry out a full risk assessment for outings including the school run and this is a requirement of the EYFS. Policies and procedures are not suitably reviewed or updated to ensure they are in line with current guidance and legislation and some are missing and others contain insufficient information to be effective. The provision does not have an effective policy on administering medicines and

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provision

although management have made good efforts to support some children with medical needs, insufficient information is shared to ensure that all staff know what to do in the event of an accident or emergency in respect of these children. Consequently, children's health and well-being is at risk.

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provision

The provision is part of an Extended Schools Cluster Group and has forged links with Bournville Infant and Junior Schools. The provision receives support from the Extended Schools co-ordinator and the manager attends regular meetings with the head teachers from these schools. They have worked together to ensure some consistency and continuity, for example, with regards to behaviour rules and expectations and the school promoted a competition to choose a new name for the club. The competition winner came up with the name ‘K@Boom’ and this is something that staff, parents and children can relate to and helps form a sense of identity and ownership of the setting. However, links with parents and others are not strong enough to ensure that all children's individual needs are known and met. Minimal information is shared to support and promote children’s learning and development and the lack of a key person system hinders the development of a

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provision

This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 close relationship between staff, children and parents.

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provision

Staff have developed friendly relationships with parents and many spoken to during inspection were keen to emphasise how happy they are with the provision and the wealth of activities and experiences their children receive at the club. Many parents commented on the flexibility of the provision and the good level of support that they have received from staff. Most information is shared verbally with parents, although some additional information is displayed on notice boards and given to them when they register their children. Staff chat to parents about how their children have been and what they have been doing and parents spoken to during the inspection consider that staff know their children well. However, some required information is not shared and this means that children’s safety and welfare is not effectively promoted. For example, parents are not provided with the procedures that would be followed should a child go missing or not be collected.

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provision

Also, information is not obtained regarding who has legal contact and parental responsibility for children in their care and the safeguarding and equal opportunity policy is not explained to and accessible to parents.

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

Children's learning and development is ineffectively supported due to staff's inadequate knowledge and understanding of the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. There is no clear system in place for ongoing observational assessment and as a result staff have limited information about individual children’s interests, preferences and needs. Staff talk to children and their parents and gather some information through general observations during sessions. However, these observations are not systematic and are insufficient to ensure that children’s individual needs are known and met. Planning is focused on the group as a whole rather than taking into account what staff know about each child. Staff informally plan sessions and a selection of resources are put out by staff at the beginning of each session. However, whilst these activities are enjoyed by most children there is little opportunity for them to be involved in the planning process

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

or to self select from other available resources. There is no system in place for staff to reflect on their practice and evaluate whether implemented activities were successful and met the needs of all children. Consequently, children may not be sufficiently supported or challenged to learn, develop and achieve.

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

The provision places a strong emphasis on play and staff endeavour to support and facilitate children through providing a wide range of resources and activities. The club caters for both infant and junior school children and care is provided in several areas of the premises. Staff arrive early at the setting and work hard to transform the room into a welcoming and child friendly environment. Space is organised to suit a variety of different activities, for example, ball games, craft activities, watching television and board games. Children have plenty of space and most arrive at the setting eager to participate in their chosen activities. However, not all children enjoy their time at club; some of the younger children are daunted by the noise and boisterousness of the older ones and some say that there is nothing out that they want to do. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

The club has access to a small outdoor area at the rear of the premises but this is not used on a regular basis and children that attend just before and after school rarely go outside during sessions. However, during holiday club there are lots of opportunities for children to enjoy fresh air and be active as regular outings are arranged, for example, to the local park, swimming baths and the play area at Cadbury World. Visitors are also invited into the setting to widen children’s range of experiences and sessions enjoyed in the past have included an exercise and fitness workshop and a visit from a local chef. Children bring their own food into the club and staff advise parents as to what food items can be stored safely. Children that attend after school are encouraged to eat their snack and have a drink shortly after they arrive from school. However, children do not always wash their hands before eating their food and there is no system in place for staff to

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

ensure that they do so. Consequently, children’s health is at risk from the spread of infection.

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

Attractive displays of children’s work adorn wall boards around the setting and these help to raise children’s self-esteem and provide some information for parents about children’s experiences. Displays show that children are learning to show care and concern for others as they considered their approach to the statement, ‘If I ruled the world…’ They have created posters explaining the changes that they would make, for example, ensuring everyone had enough food and making sure that people did not drop litter and recycled more. Children are learning about the wider world through everyday discussion and participating in activities based around a range of religious and cultural festivals. Children display good manners and show respect for staff and the environment. They are aware of the setting’s rules and boundaries because they helped to create them. They know that they have to share and take turns with equipment and they understand what areas of

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

the premises are out of bounds and why. Generally, children adhere to these rules and readily follow staff instructions and this helps to maintain a supportive and friendly atmosphere. Friendships are evident between many of the children and some children have siblings that also attend the club. Older children are frequently seen to offer the younger ones support and children generally, chat happily with both staff and others. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Annex A: record of inspection judgements

The key inspection judgements and what they mean

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Annex A: record of inspection judgements

Grade 1 is Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Grade 2 is Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Grade 3 is Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Grade 4 is Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough

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of children in the Early Years Foundation Stage?

How well does the provision promote inclusive practice? 4 The capacity of the provision to maintain continuous improvement.

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Foundation Stage led and managed?

How effective is the setting’s self-evaluation, including the steps taken to promote improvement? How well does the setting work in partnership with parents and others? How well are children safeguarded? 4

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Years Foundation Stage promoted?

How well are children helped to stay safe? 4 How well are children helped to be healthy? 4 How well are children helped to enjoy and achieve? 4 How well are children helped to make a positive contribution? How well are children helped develop skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being?

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Years Foundation Stage promoted?

procedures set out in the guidance available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

The provider confirms that the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are: Not Met (with actions)

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

The provider confirms that the requirements of the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are: Not Met (with actions)

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

The registered provider does not meet the requirements of the compulsory and or voluntary part/s of the Childcare Register.

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

To comply with the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register, the registered person must take the following action/s by the specified date:

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

 take action as specified in the early years section of the report (Suitability of persons to care for, or be, in regular contact, with children) 23/03/2009  take action as specified in the early years section of the report (Suitability and Safety of Premises and Equipment) 23/03/2009  make sure that a written copies of the safeguarding procedure are available to parents (Providing information to parents) 23/03/2009

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

To comply with the requirements of the voluntary part of the Childcare Register, the registered person must take the following action/s by the specified date:

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

 take action as specified in the early years section of the report (Suitability of persons to care for, or be, in regular contact, with children) 23/03/2009  take action as specified in the early years section of the report (Suitability and Safety of Premises and Equipment). 23/03/2009  make sure that a written copies of the safeguarding procedures are available to parents (Providing information to parents) 23/03/2009  provide parents with information about the registration system for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register ( Providing information to parents). 23/03/2009

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