Harlequin Out of School Clubs - Coxheath

Harlequin Out Of School Club Limited Stockett Lane, Coxheath, Maidstone, Kent, ME17 4PS

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 18/02/2013 02/12/2008

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: 2 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 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 Children have excellent relationships with staff. This is because the staff members are very skilled in talking to children and helping them to feel valued.  Children develop an excellent understanding of how they are different from each other. This is because the staff promote children's different cultural backgrounds and differing abilities in highly effective ways.  Children are encouraged to be confident in their abilities and are willing to have a go at most activities. This is because staff take time to talk to children about what they can achieve.  The provider has an excellent working relationship with the children's parents. This is because she offers them outstanding practical support for all areas of their children's development.  Children use an excellent range of physical activities.

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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 talked with children to collect their views of the setting.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector discussed operational procedures with the registered person and her staff.  The inspector observed the interaction between staff and children.  The inspector took into account parents' written views about the setting.

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Information about the setting

Harlequin Out Of School Club is one of two settings owned and operated by Harlequin Out Of School Club Limited. The premises are situated in the town of Coxheath, Maidstone, Kent. It opened in 2006. The club operates from one room in a purpose-built building. All children share access to a secure enclosed outdoor play area. The premises are suitable for wheelchair users. The club is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 33 children on roll of whom two fall within the early years age range. Children come from a wide catchment area and attend for a variety of sessions.

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Information about the setting

The club is open each weekday from 7.30am to 9am and from 3pm until 6.30pm, term time only. During school holiday periods the club opens every day from 8am until 6.30pm. The club currently supports a number of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The club also supports some children who speak English as an additional language. The provider employs five staff, three of whom, including the provider, hold appropriate early years qualifications at National Vocation Qualification level 2 and above.

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

 provide more opportunities for children to freely move to the outdoor area and have choice over where to play.

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who attend

The provider has an exemplary educational programme to provide activities to foster each individual child's interests and ability. Children receive excellent support in all of the areas of learning but particularly in their personal, social and emotional development. For example, children are encouraged to consider their own feelings, and those of others, by writing about their experiences and frustrations in their journals. Staff have high expectations of the children's abilities which means that children are motivated, and eager to join in and be helpful. The key persons are highly skilled in working with children in the early years age range. They carry out precise observations and assessments on their key children to help them reach the expected levels in their learning, given their ages and stage of development. Parents see each recorded observation along with pictures of their child using the observed activity. This means that they are very knowledgeable about in

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who attend

their children's learning and are impressed that children choose to use replicate some activities at home. Parents also receive lots of excellent, practical support. They learn about their children's stage of development by borrowing books and extensive discussions with staff. This means they have very a very strong involvement in their child's learning.

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who attend

All children use an extensive range of rich and varied toys and activities to help them build confidence and develop skills for the next stages of learning. Children learn about the world as they search for bugs in the garden and catalogue what they find. They also learn about world cultures and different races as they use the provider's excellent range of equipment showing positive images from around the world. The provider encourages children who speak English as an additional language to use picture cards to show what they need. All of the children play word games often made up by them. They work together in teams which helps the younger children learn from the older ones, and increases their social development. Children use the quiet area very well. They read to each other and use books to copy craft activities from. For example, one child copied a picture as she face-painted a member of staff. Everyone praised her for her attention to

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who attend

detail. Children learn about size as they construct spiders and bugs from cellophane paper and then shrink them down using heat from the oven. They measure and record what they have done. The children's language skills are exemplary because staff take time to talk with children about all sorts of topics, including news items. Children competently explain how they learn about hygiene and the spread of germs through practical demonstrations, such as using glitter to illustrate cross-contamination. They learn how their bodies work through an excellent range of outdoor play opportunities overall and gentle reminders from staff about rest and drinking plenty of water. Children report they are extremely happy to be at the club because there is always something interesting to do.

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

Children are extremely happy at the setting and enjoy excellent relationships with staff and each other. This is because they are encouraged to talk about their feelings with staff or write about them in their diaries. Staff are skilled in helping children recognise their achievements even if children feel they have had a bad day. This means that children learn to think positively. All children have a key person in whom they can confide and whom they can trust to meet their needs. Children select their own activities from the extensive range available in the well-resourced, welcoming environment. Children can also select toys from the setting's excellent activity catalogue. They are inventive in the use of equipment and will suggest their own activities. For example, one child suggested making key fobs from previously constructed mini models. The provider immediately found key rings for the children to use and they considered how they would fix the two items

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

together. This demonstrates that children display the characteristics of effective learning.

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

Children are extremely well behaved. They take part in deciding the setting's behaviour strategies. Children understand why they need to behave in a particular way in different situations and gain an excellent understanding of risk in the environment. For example, photographs show children using a bow saw to cut logs in the garden. The provider explains that staff fully discuss the dangers with children before touching the saw. They talk about how they must behave whilst using it. Therefore, children learn to behave appropriately and use equipment effectively. The children undertake many innovative outdoor pursuits such as kayaking. Children's safety is an extremely high priority to the provider. She demonstrates this as she carries out extensive risk assessments to help ensure children are safe during all the activities they undertake. Children make excellent choices regarding the food they eat and have regard to the variety of excellent visual

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

prompts around the room. For example, children can use the fridge door and magnetic food pictures to play games. Children use the garden extensively for finding mini beasts, planting and growing activities, and cooking on the bonfire. However, children do not have free access to the outdoor area which means that their choice of where to play is occasionally reduced. Children use the provider's excellent self-care procedures and know the extensive hygiene procedures when working in the kitchen area. This means that children have a healthy lifestyle at the setting.

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provision

The provider demonstrates her excellent organisational skills through her meticulous record keeping and her clear, concise policies and procedures. She has a variety of excellent procedures which help safeguard children effectively. For example, her rigorous and robust staff recruitment and vetting procedures mean that staff are suitable to work with children. All staff are required to know and understand the provider's in-house procedures for reporting concerns. For example, a member of staff competently explains how she monitors children's demeanour and behaviour in order to support them if there are areas for concern. This shows that the staff have an excellent understanding of wider implications of the safeguarding procedures. The provider has an excellent understanding of her responsibilities towards her staff. She demonstrates this by ensuring all staff undergo an extensive induction programme and has recently instigated a highly effective

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provision

supervision system for all staff. In this way she can effectively monitor staff practice and the implementation of her procedures. This means that children receive consistent care.

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provision

The provider provides an outstanding educational programme for all children. The key persons who work with the youngest children have an excellent understanding of how young children learn and develop. They adapt activities very skilfully to meet the abilities of the children. This means that all children can participate in all events. The provider understands it is important to collect staff views about any improvements of the setting. She assesses all suggestions for improvement from staff, children and parents and whenever possible, implements them. This means that she encourages all users, especially the children, to feel the setting belongs to them. She has also included comments from her local service improvement partner. Therefore, the provider demonstrates through her excellent self-evaluation and resulting improvement plans that she is always aiming to improve the environment for children. The provider and her staff work extremely closely

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provision

with local schools to meet the needs of the children in their learning and development. They also implement excellent partnership working with other support networks when children have particular individual needs. This means that children receive excellent, coherent support. Parents' written comments show they are extremely happy with the setting and feel included in their 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 EY333465 Local authority Kent Inspection number 847608 Type of provision Out of school provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 4 - 8 Total number of places 30 Number of children on roll 33 Name of provider Harlequin Out Of Schools Club Ltd Date of previous inspection 02/12/2008 Telephone number 01622 749773

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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

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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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