Halsall Kidz Club

Halsall St Cuthberts Kidz Club Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY395420 Inspection date 08/03/2010 Inspector Frank William Kelly

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Setting address St. Cuthberts C of E School, New Street, Halsall, Ormskirk, Lancashire, L39 8RR Telephone number 01704 840253 Email head8026@halsall.lancs.sch.uk Type of setting Childcare on non-domestic premises to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It rates council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. Royal Exchange Buildings St Ann's Square Manchester M2 7LA

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T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk 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.

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Introduction

Please see our website for more information about each childcare provider. We publish inspection reports, conditions of registration and details of complaints we receive where we or the provider take action to meet the requirements of registration. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Description of the setting

Halsall Kids Club opened in 2002, and was re-registered in 2009. It is based in the Parish Centre and Halsall Primary School located in Halsall, Lancashire. Children use the small hall in the parish centre, the school hall, and computer and library area for their care, play and learning experiences. There is a secure fully enclosed outdoor play area. It serves children attending the school.

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Description of the setting

The provision is registered to care for a maximum of 24 children aged from three years to under eight years, and of these not more than 24 children may be in the early years age group at any one time. There are 11 children on roll in this age group. They also provide care for 78 children aged over five years, and this provision is registered by Ofsted on the compulsory and voluntary parts of the child care register. The setting operates term time only, Monday to Friday from 3.30pm to 5.30pm.

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Description of the setting

The provision employs five staff to work with the children. Three staff hold relevant early years qualification to level 3 and two staff are working towards a qualification. Additional staff are employed for weekly cleaning of the premises. Staff receive support from Lancashire Early Years and an early years teacher advisor. They are members of '4 Children'.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is satisfactory.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

This is a pleasantly organised setting for children to relax and play in after a long day in school or nursery. The staff have good relationships with the children, which mean that children are confident to explore activities that interest them. While no formal planning is undertaken, staff ensure that there is a suitable range of resources, to allow children to encounter experiences that span all of the six areas of learning. The premises are well maintained and staff ensure that children are supervised to promote their safety and welfare. However, the current system for self-evaluation and management monitoring means that some aspects of the welfare requirements are not kept fully up-to-date. Policies and procedures are well written and most regulatory documentation is held. Partnerships with parents and significant others, is secure enough to ensure that children’s essential needs are known and appropriately met.

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further?

To fully meet the specific requirements of the EYFS, the registered person must:

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further?

 ensure information about who has legal contact with the child and who has parental responsibility for the child has been obtained in advance of a child being admitted to the provision (Safeguarding and welfare). 22/03/2010 This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 To further improve the early years provision the registered person should:

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further?

 review the risk assessments to ensure that they are updated at least annually ensure that all the contents of the first aid box are up-to-date and meet the needs of the children  ensure that fire evacuation procedures are practised with a greater frequency develop the self-evaluation and quality improvement processes to include a robust internal system of review which includes secure management monitoring systems to ensure that all policies and procedures are followed  consider ways to formalise the information sharing systems between parents and other settings that care for the children; so that what is provided can be used to complement the education and care the child receives in other settings.

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the early years provision

Children are suitably safeguarded through sound policies and procedures. The management has secure systems for vetting staff, which are in line with regulatory guidance, and procedures are in place to ensure that any adults, who are not cleared are never left unaccompanied with the children. Staff have undertaken some training for safeguarding and common assessment and are able to discuss their responsibilities and any steps they should take, to report concerns they may have about a child’s safety. Regular maintenance of the premises, as well as testing and servicing of fire detection and electrical equipment is undertaken by the school. However, some of the formal risk assessments have not been updated annually as required, and the setting does not have a secure management monitoring system to ensure that the emergency evacuation procedure is practised on a regular basis. In addition checks on the contents of the first aid box are not

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the early years provision

sufficiently rigorous to ensure that items past their expiry date are replaced.

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the early years provision

Many policies and procedures are informative and staff are clearly familiar with their guidance as they go about their daily routines. For example, they confidently discuss the procedures for administration of medication and recording of accidents reflects the guidance of the Early Years Foundation Stage. However, there is still some statutory documentation that has not been obtained, for example, parental information, relating to legal contact and parental responsibility. This is a regulatory requirement of the Early Years Foundation Stage. However, on this occasion it has not directly impacted on the safety and well-being of any of the children, and in this instance Ofsted has asked that the provider take immediate action to address this.

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the early years provision

Children are protected from accidents and harm on a daily basis, as staff supervise the children at all times and implement a series of visual checks, to ensure that hazards have been minimised. The play areas are nicely presented, clean and well- organised, which promotes the children’s comfort and well-being. In particular the children benefit from the varied and challenging outdoor play spaces, which This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 provide fun, ongoing physical challenges. The resources are of a good quality and organised to allow children personal choices about what and where they play.

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the early years provision

The management demonstrates some ability to improve and build further improvement for the future. For example, further investment has been sought for the outdoor play space and staff have had some training opportunities, such as first aid and Early Years Foundation Stage awareness updates. The management however, has no formal self-evaluation, relying more on daily discussions and exchanges as ideas arise. This means that there is no secure system for the planning of future development of the provision, nor the monitoring of the every day effectiveness and consistency of approach within the setting.

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the early years provision

Partnership with parents is relaxed and supported by the seeking of key information at the time of registration. It is further facilitated through daily discussions, notice boards, displays and newsletters. The setting verbally shares information with other significant carers, such as staff from the nursery, to allow for children's immediate needs to be met.

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and outcomes for children

This setting has a small team of staff, who either work together within the school or the independent nursery which is also based on the site. Consequently, the staff in the after school provision do not formally plan activities on a daily basis. They promote the implementation of the Early Years Foundation Stage through allowing the children free access to the range of activities and materials organised, so as to allow for experiences that span all six areas of learning. Information about the children’s current interests and any significant events that have taken place during the day, are shared verbally between the staff during the collection period. However, currently there is no formal method for sharing or recording this information between the different parties to ensure that the provision provided, complements the education and care the child receives in each of the settings.

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and outcomes for children

The warm and friendly interactions between the staff and children mean that the children are relaxed and happy. They play with confidence and purpose, using technology, such as the computer, freely mark making and spontaneously joining in counting when getting ready to go outside. These activities help children to build on their life skills for the future. Practically the setting is suitably organised to promote all the outcomes for the children. Daily routines are used to good effect to help children learn about keeping themselves healthy and safe. For example, the staff clean the tables thoroughly and actively encourage children to wash and dry their hands, before they sit down for a snack. Children are able to quench their thirst, as drinks are available at all times and the children are encouraged to be active and play outside in the spring sunshine. The children in turn relish the outdoor space exploring and developing their balancing and physical skills as they

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and outcomes for children

negotiate activity equipment, such as the wobble plank and the rattle bridge. Others play ball games or enjoy running around. Those children that wish to relax are able to draw with chalks on the playground or choose to take the mythical small world figures into a quieter part of garden to act out their adventures. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 There is a good sense of community at the setting with children being well behaved and respectful to each other. This is because the staff present positive role models for the children to mirror. They help the children to share when taking turns with the equipment and encourage them to think about the safety of others when they twirl around with the hoops on a cord or while swinging on the bars. Activities linked to helping others, such as, making cakes for ‘Children in Need’ help develop a greater social awareness. In addition, discussions and experiences linked

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and outcomes for children

to the celebrations of other cultures are effectively used to help children broaden their understanding of their own and other people’s cultures. For example, during Chinese New Year, the children experienced a range of new or less familiar foods and were invited to join in activities, such as the ‘Chop-Stick Challenge’. Here children had to use chop sticks to pick up jelly sweets. This type of activity is helping the children learn about similarities and differences through the use of different tools in a fun way. 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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children in the Early Years Foundation Stage?

The capacity of the provision to maintain continuous improvement

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and managed?

The effectiveness of leadership and management in embedding ambition and driving improvement The effectiveness with which the setting deploys resources 2 The effectiveness with which the setting promotes equality and diversity The effectiveness of safeguarding 3 The effectiveness of the setting’s self-evaluation, including the steps taken to promote improvement The effectiveness of partnerships 3 The effectiveness of the setting’s engagement with parents and carers

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Stage

The quality of the provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage 3

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 3 The extent to which children feel safe 3 The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which children make a positive contribution 2 The extent to which children develop skills for the future 3

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Stage

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: Met

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

The provider confirms that the requirements of the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are: Met

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