EGASC

Emmer Green After School Club Emmer Green Youth & Community Centre,, Grove Road, Emmer Green, Reading, RG4 8LN

p.1

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 18/09/2012 21/11/2008

p.1

early years provision

This inspection: 4 Previous inspection: 3 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 4 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 4

p.1

This provision is inadequate

 Staff lack sufficient knowledge and understanding of the settings safeguarding policy, which compromises children's welfare.  Staff have a poor awareness of the learning and development requirements and this means they are not always able to provide interesting and challenging experiences, securely identify children's progress or support their next steps of learning accurately.  Staff do not fully engage with the schools that children attend, to enable staff to offer complementary care and education to children.  The systems to monitor staff practice and promote continuous improvement are weak, which means staff do not attend regular training opportunities to update their knowledge and skills and are not proactive in identifying key priorities for improvement.

p.1

It has the following strengths

 The setting has secure relationships with parents. They provide a sound range of information about their service, including daily feedback to parents about children's daily care and activities.  Children benefit from some suitable activities inside and out of the setting, which support their interests appropriately.

p.1

Information about this inspection

Inspections of registered early years provision are scheduled:  at least once in every inspection cycle. The current cycle ends on 31 July 2016  more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example where provision was previously judged as inadequate  brought forward in the inspection cycle where Ofsted has received information that suggests the provision may not be meeting the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage; or where assessment of the provision identifies a need for early inspection  prioritised for inspection where we have received information that the provision is not meeting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and which suggests children may not be safe  at the completion of an investigation into failure to comply with the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

p.2

Information about this inspection

The provision is also registered on the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. This report includes a judgment about compliance with the requirements of that register.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector held discussions with the manager.  The inspector observed children's activities in the main room and garden.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector undertook a joint observation of staff practice with the deputy manager

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector observed staff and spoke to them at appropriate times throughout the inspection, both during after activities.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled relevant documentation, including some policies and procedures.

p.2

Information about the setting

Emmer Green After School Club is run by a parent committee. It first opened in 1997 but re-registered in 2007. The After School Club operates from rooms within the Youth and Community Centre in the Emmer Green area of Reading. The club is open each weekday from 3pm to 6pm, term time only. The After School Club is also registered on the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. Children over eight years may attend also. Currently, there are 55 children on roll, of which 30 children are under eight years, with five children in the early years age group. The children share access to an enclosed outdoor play area. The club employs six permanent members of staff and one additional staff member who provides cover. Of these, four staff members have relevant childcare qualifications.

p.2

must:

 ensure that staff are aware of the settings safeguarding policy and procedures and how to implement these to safeguard children .  ensure staff have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities in relation to the key person approach to ensure that every child's care and education is tailored to their individual needs.  put in place systems for the supervision of staff including support, coaching and training to promote effective self-evaluation, monitoring of staff practice and continuous improvement.  develop systems to liaise with other providers that children attend in order to find out the support needed for children, to complement the learning they receive in the setting in which they spend more time.

p.3

To further improve the quality of the early years provision the provider should:

 improve the organisation of snack time by ensuring children's behaviour does not have an adverse effect on others.

p.3

To further improve the quality of the early years provision the provider should:

 mromote opportunities for children to make choices by providing stimulating resources which are accessible, to create a stimulating play environment for children to explore and play in.

p.3

who attend

Children's development is not as good as it should be given their starting points, and this is due to the staff's very limited understanding of the seven areas of learning. Planning is weak and the educational programme and interaction from staff fail to adequately inspire or challenge children in their play. Although the club has suitable level of qualified staff, the staff have a poor understanding of how to promote children's learning; this in turn impacts on their ability to support children during activities and provide them with adequate challenges.

p.3

who attend

Children generally enjoy their time at the club and take part in some suitable activities and play experiences that they are able to choose themselves. However, not all children are engaged and some children wander around aimlessly. Other children playing alongside staff do not have their ideas valued or supported, which as a result hampers their learning and development for communication and language. For example, during role play and dressing up games, staff do not take note of the children's emerging story lines, and take over, directing the play themselves. Younger children spend time playing alone with toys and resources, such as action figures, as staff are not proactive in supporting children in making friends at the club.

p.4

who attend

Some children are confident in the setting, although younger children lack the confidence or awareness to ask for additional resources when required from the cupboard. Children make some independent choices from the toys and equipment on offer through self- selection. However, toys and resources are not invitingly displayed or used to promote and support children's learning and development. For example, during a game of cricket, staff watch the children and do not become involved. In addition, staff are not aware of how this activity can benefit the children's development.

p.4

who attend

The club cares for children who attend school. However, they have not yet established systems with other settings to ensure a two-way flow of information is shared about children's well-being and learning and development. This impacts on staff's ability to promote continuity of care and learning for children. Overall, the staff communicate well with parents about their child's time with them.

p.4

The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Poor levels of adult interaction hinder the children's ability to develop secure attachments as staff are often watching activities or are pre-occupied in leading games to give children the attention they need. Although the setting operates a key person system, the staff fail to implement this, which reduces their ability to meet the needs of the children. This is because they rely on one member of staff to complete observations of the children and each key person does not, therefore, have a suitable understanding of each child's individual learning and development needs. In addition, lack of staff training, results in them not being able to support children's learning and development sufficiently.

p.4

The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Children do not demonstrate a secure sense of belonging in the setting as some children wander around or fail to engage in purposeful play. Some children are given opportunities to take on a responsibility, such as preparing the tables for tea, and at times children are offered some appropriate learning opportunities, such as counting how many cups they need to lay out. Children generally behave in a suitable manner and some children show kindness as they show other children where additional resources are. At tea time, children's behaviour is not effectively managed to support children's health. Staff are not aware of how to deal with some of the older children's challenging behaviour, which poses a risk to other children's health. This is because older children flick water at each other out of their cups. Some staff just tell the children to stop, but do not offer any explanation as to why or the consequences of their behaviour on others. There are too few opportunities

p.4

The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

for children to learn about keeping themselves safe.

p.5

The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Children show a suitable understanding of healthy lifestyles as they follow appropriate hygiene routines, for example setting the tables, holding the cutlery appropriately and washing their hands prior to eating. Children enjoy a range of healthy snacks and drinks to help them make healthy choices with regard to food. They show an understanding of the importance of regular exercise and they enjoy opportunities to engage in physical activities, both indoors and outside using the equipment.

p.5

provision

Self-evaluation is not sufficiently rigorous, as staff do not identify the strengths and weaknesses of the club. There are currently no systems in place to monitor and evaluate staff practice to identify training needs to improve outcomes for children. This impacts on the experiences offered to children and the way in which their learning is supported. The manager demonstrates a poor commitment to improving the service they provide. The overall leadership and management team are unproductive in promoting and maintaining their responsibilities with regard to the Early Years Foundation Stage requirements. For example, the setting do not have a copy of the revised framework and have failed to gain knowledge of this to enable them to implement it. This means the staff team do not have a secure knowledge and understanding of the requirements, which compromises children's safety and the efficiency of the educational programmes.

p.5

provision

Children's welfare cannot be assured as not all staff have a sufficient understanding of current child protection procedures. They are unaware of the procedure to follow to report a concern about a child and are not aware of the policy to follow if they were concerned about another staff member's practice. This compromises the children's safety and welfare in the event of a child protection concern.

p.5

provision

The club has some suitable documentation in place, such as consent forms, registration details and a daily record of the children's hours of attendance. In addition they have a detailed range of written policies and procedures. However, the management team are not proactive in ensuring that the staff fully understand these, which as a result has led to significant breaches in safeguarding and promoting children's welfare.

p.5

provision

Recruitment procedures are satisfactorily rigorous and the committee ensure all staff have a current Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) check. Parents spoken to at the inspection stated they were happy with the routines and care offered at the setting. Parents receive daily informal verbal feedback on their child's time at the setting. However, staff have a poor understanding of their responsibilities to liaise with professionals as required, which as a result prevents children from acquiring the skills to develop and learn effectively.

p.5

The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are Met The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are Met

p.6

Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding Outstanding provision is highly effective in meeting the needs of all children exceptionally well. This ensures that children are very well prepared for the next stage of their learning. Grade 2 Good Good provision is effective in delivering provision that meets the needs of all children well. This ensures children are ready for the next stage of their learning. Grade 3 Satisfactory Satisfactory provision is performing less well than expectations in one or more of the key areas. It requires improvement in order to be good. Grade 4 Inadequate Provision that is inadequate requires significant improvement and/or enforcement. The provision is failing to give children an acceptable standard of early years education and/or is not meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be inspected again within 12 months of the date of this inspection.

p.6

Grade Judgement Description

Met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider continues to meet the requirements for registration. Not Met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider does not meet the requirements for registration.

p.6

Inspection

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under Sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and care, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

p.7

Setting details

Unique reference number EY364352 Local authority Reading Inspection number 815500

p.7

Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 4 - 8 Total number of places 32 Number of children on roll 55 Name of provider Emmer Green After School Club Date of previous inspection 21/11/2008 Telephone number 07598 976016

p.7

Type of provision

set out in the guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

p.7

Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

p.7

Type of provision

Full-time provision is that which operates for more than three hours. These are usually known as nurseries, nursery schools and pre-schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the higher fee for registration.

p.7

Type of provision

Sessional provision operates for more than two hours but does not exceed three hours in any one day. These are usually known as pre-schools, kindergartens or nursery schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the lower fee for registration.

p.7

Type of provision

Childminders care for one or more children where individual children attend for a period of more than two hours in any one day. They operate from domestic premises that are usually their own home. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage.

p.8

Type of provision

Out of school provision may be sessional or full-time provision and is delivered before or after school and/or in the summer holidays. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. Where children receive their Early Years Foundation Stage in school these providers do not have to deliver the learning and development requirements in full but should complement the experiences children receive in school. 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 assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children,

p.8

Type of provision

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. 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. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

p.9

Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.9