After Three Club

After Three Club Abbeymead Primary School, Mead Road,Abbeymead,, Gloucester, GL4 5YH

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 16/10/2012 15/01/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 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 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision is satisfactory

 The snack caf readily encourages children's independence and skills as they serve themselves, and eat with their friends at the table before taking dirty plates, bowls and cups back to the kitchen server when finished.  Strong emphasis is given to encouraging children's decision-making within the club. As a result, they have fun and take the lead in choosing what they do, where they play and the toys they want to play with, based on their interests.  Children take an active part in the After Three Club Children's Council to help shape the services provided. Council members regularly seek children's views and ideas on different subject matters, which is resulting in improvements in the healthy options for snack.  Children help to devise the rules and boundaries enabling them to develop secure understanding of acceptable behaviour. They feel happy and enjoy coming to the club, confidently talking with their older friends who readily encourage them to join in their

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It is not yet good because

 Children feel secure because staff supervises their play well. However, children gain little awareness of safe action to take in the event of a fire or emergency because discussion and practice of the escape plan rarely takes place.  The staff team are less secure in their knowledge of the educational programmes to monitor them effectively. Information about children's starting points is limited. Staff do not yet share information with children's teachers to agree collectively the support they intend to offer to complement the learning taking place in school.  Children can access a wide range of writing materials but staff are not consistent in encouraging them to write their own names, such as when making lists on white boards to help monitor numbers outside and support turn taking.  Staff do not seek information about children's backgrounds in order to promote children's learning about cultural differences within the group.

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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.

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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.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed three tracked children during snack time and free-play inside and outside and a sample of written observations of children's play.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of discussions with the manager and staff at appropriate times throughout the observations and two parents on collection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector met with the manager to review a sample of policies and procedures, tracked children's registration forms, risk assessments and staff records.

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Information about the setting

The After Three Club opened in 1992. The club is privately owned and operates within, but independent of, Abbeymead Primary School. The school is situated in the residential area of Abbeymead on the outskirts of Gloucester. The club has use of the hall, which has its own kitchen area, and various classrooms, toilets, playing fields and playgrounds. The club serves children attending the school between the age of four and 14-years-old. The club is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The club opens each weekday between 3pm and 6pm during school term times and currently there are 67 children on roll, 6 of whom are in the early years age group. The club supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The club employs seven adults to work directly with the children and of these, four, including the club manager, have a relevant childcare or playwork qualifications to

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must:

 improve the assessment systems to identify and plan for children's key learning points and progress by a) gaining information about their starting points; b) evaluating observations of children's play and achievements; c) sharing information with parents and other early years settings that children attend.

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

 be alert to children's safety with regard to emergency situations, for example by involving them in practising the emergency escape plan so that they know how to keep themselves safe in a real situation

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

 strengthen the positive impressions children have of their own cultures and those of others in their community, by sharing and celebrating a range of practices and special events.

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

 improve children's opportunities to develop their writing skills by providing opportunities for children to record findings, for example by writing the numbers of children outside and lists to support turn taking.

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who attend

Staff demonstrate adequate knowledge of the seven areas of learning. They provide access to an extensive range of resources that generally capture children's interests and hold their attention. As a result, children are happy, have fun and enjoy coming to the club. Although information about children's starting points is not actively sought, children benefit from a strong play-based approach in the club. Staff are flexible and encourage children to be independent in their selection of toys, games and activities. This encourages children's interests and ideas as they excitedly get out the tents, small building blocks and material to make dens. However, there is no activity planning in place and little emphasis is given to help children engage in activities based on their starting points and individual learning needs across the seven areas of learning indoors and outdoors. A discussion with parents and the children's teachers is yet to take place to help guide staff in planning a

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who attend

balance of activities that help to reinforce skills and learning taking place in school. The management team complete observations of children's play. However, staff do not evaluate the observations to help assess any learning or skills taking place to help guide future planning ideas.

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who attend

Staff supervise children's play generally well and occasional interaction provides sufficient opportunities for children to test what they know and can do. They select different types of media to make their card, carefully gluing and sticking them in place as they confidently talk about what they are making. Older children help their younger friends to identify their name on the 'stars' at snack time. Children happily talk about what they doing when making their card and with encouragement from staff write their names. However, children are not given the opportunity to practise their writing skills further. For example, staff, or older children, always record children's names on the white boards to show who is outside and whose turn it is to play on the various electronic games centre. Outside play focuses on developing children's physical skills. Children are confident as they climb over the pirate ship, kick balls to their friends and use glue sticks and scissors. They enjoy

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who attend

kicking balls across the playground and have fun as they chase each other.

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

Children feel secure in the club because information about their likes, dislikes and interests are sought through parents and discussion with children. Older children support the new and younger children really well helping them to settle, have fun and build strong relationships quickly. Children laugh together as they play and chase around the playground. Children take an active part in the club, making choices about their play, helping to devise the club rules and contributing to decision making. Most children are confident and take turns to be on the After Three Club Children's Council, which includes a mix of children from different age groups. They seek all children's views and ideas about different topics. They take these to the termly meeting with the manager to collate responses and inform decisions about topic ideas, toys and menu plans. This gives children a strong voice within the club and helps promote their inclusion. Children help to

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

devise the rules and boundaries for acceptable behaviour. This gives them ownership and confidence to manage their own behaviour. Children understand that playing co- operatively with their friends and taking turns is important.

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

Children develop good self-care skills that help prepare them for the future. Children enjoy making choices about the food they eat, selecting wholesome snacks including cereals, toast, fruit and a drink at the 'caf'. Children are encouraged to increase their independence by pouring their own drinks, spreading toppings on their toast and taking their plates, bowls and cups up to the kitchen server when they have finished. Children are beginning to develop healthy lifestyles with free access to the playground and other outside areas throughout the session. Measures to help children learn to keep themselves safe are satisfactory. Staff sometimes use explanations for safe play, but do not practice or talk about the escape plan. This limits children learning about appropriate action to take in the event of an emergency or fire. Children show respect for their surroundings and the toys, readily helping to pack away the toys at the end of club, receiving stickers and a treat in

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provision

Safeguarding arrangements are sound to keep children safe. Staff understand child protection issues adequately and access to regular training helps to reinforce their knowledge. Procedures for the recruitment, vetting and induction of new staff are strong to confirm their suitability. Methods to coach, mentor and support staff in developing their skills and awareness of their roles and responsibilities are sound. A meeting with new staff after the first week and at the end of the first month in conjunction with a 'buddy' staff member to show them key duties, roles and routines means the club runs smoothly and overall staff understand their responsibilities. The numbers of staff present offer flexibility for children to enjoy free-flowing indoor and outdoor play. This is encouraging children's confidence and enabling them to take risks safely, with the knowledge that staff are on hand to support when necessary. Staff are sufficiently vigilant and implement appropriate

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provision

head counts to monitor the ratios and flow of children. Staff complete risk assessments that help to provide a suitably safe, secure environment for children to play.

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provision

Staff, on the whole, supervise children's play generally well with a clear ethos of encouraging their interests and independent play. Children easily access a comprehensive range of well-organised toys, games and equipment for themselves. Clear labelling with pictures and words helps them to see what is available and make informed decisions. Staff supervise children's play inside and outside, monitor the caf and provide sufficient support during craft activities to help keep children stay safe. Staff give satisfactory emphasis to promoting children's awareness about the wider world. They learn about the club's charity abroad and participate in some activities that help raise awareness of other cultures. These are sometimes in response to the cultural background of staff or those taking place in the school, such as Chinese New Year. However, no steps are taken to learn more about the children's backgrounds and other languages spoken within the family to

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provision

successfully promote children's positive attitude to cultural differences within the group

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provision

Methods to monitor and evaluate the quality of the provision are adequate in bringing about some improvements in children's care and wellbeing. Occasional parent questionnaires seek their views about some aspects of club practice. As a result, there have been some improvements to the range of healthy snacks provided. Children sometimes share their ideas through the children's council enabling them to discuss how they can improve or change things in their club to inform some decision making. An action plan or other forms of self-evaluation are not in place. This limits the management and staff team from identifying securely key areas that will bring about sustained improvement for children. Acceptable steps have been taken to address the recommendations from the last inspection. This shows the management and staff team have the capacity to bring about some improvements to the quality of practice and children's welfare.

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provision

The team have friendly relationships with parents and seek adequate information about children's care and interests to meet their individual needs appropriately. Parents praise the wide range of activities and resources available for the children and value the familiarity and continuity in their children's care as the club is on the school site. General discussion with some parents on collection provides them with basic details about what their child has eaten and enables the manager to share any messages from school. Termly newsletters keeps parents generally well informed about the club, including staff arrangements, events taking place and details about the charity the club supports. The manager attends the reception class introductory meeting for new parents in the summer term to inform them about what the club offers. She spends a morning in the children's class to help them get to know who she is, so that they have a familiar face when they

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provision

start attending the club. She plans to attend a joint meeting with the children's teachers and other practitioners and providers involved with children in the class. This shows partnerships are starting to develop, although the sharing of planning and progress information does not take place currently, to help guide the clubs' planning and reinforce children's learning.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 101447 Local authority Gloucestershire Inspection number 813188 Type of provision Out of school provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 50 Number of children on roll 67 Name of provider Louisa Lowe Date of previous inspection 15/01/2009 Telephone number 01452 547865

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Setting details

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.

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Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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,

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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’.

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Type of provision

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

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