Thumbs Up Club located at Addington School

Thumbs Up Club Addington School, Woodlands Avenue, Woodley, Reading, RG5 3EU

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 04/04/2013 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: Not Applicable 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

 Staff meet children's individual needs exceptionally well; and therefore children have fun, and feel content and secure in their environment.  Staff fully fulfil their responsibilities in caring for the children attending. They have an excellent understanding of children's backgrounds, routines and needs; and a very good partnership with parents. Consequently children have very warm relationships with the staff who care for them.  The out of school club provides a highly stimulating and extremely well-resourced provision indoors and outside; and consequently children are making very good progress in relation to their starting points and abilities.  Children's safety is fully embedded into day-to-day practice.

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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

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Information about this inspection

 scheduled more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example where provision was previously judged 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 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  scheduled 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 compulsory part 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 children in their play and their interactions with the staff who care for them.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector engaged in conversation with the children, staff, management team and committee.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector was provided with, and took into account, information and guidance by the management team throughout the inspection in relation to children's activities and abilities.  The inspector sampled children's records and the out of school's documentation.

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Information about the setting

Thumbs Up Club registered in 2009, although was originally known as the 'Addington Holiday Club' and was set up for children at Addington Special School in 2002. The holiday club primarily caters for children with special needs and/or disabilities. It is run by a small committee. The holiday club is based at Addington school in Woodley and operates from various halls and classrooms. Children have access to the school grounds for outdoor play. Thumbs Up Club is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. The holiday club operates for two weeks in the Easter holiday and four weeks during the summer holidays, each every weekday from 9.30am to 4pm. Children can attend for various days throughout the holidays. The holiday club employs 19 staff, of which the manager is a qualified teacher and four other staff hold early years qualifications. Of the other staff most hold appropriate qualifications relating to working

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Information about the setting

with children with special needs and/or disabilities.

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

 continue to promote children's independence and abilities in line with their starting points, through the use of available resources and advances in technology to extend how children learn and develop the important skills for their futures.

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who attend

Thumbs Up club achieves very high standards in all aspects of their work with children and makes a significant impact on children's development and learning. The extremely well planned environment and innovative approach from staff support's children's special needs and/or disabilities. Staff are highly effective in complementing the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. The management team, working directly with the early years stage children, have a secure understanding of these requirements and complete daily observations on children's play. These observations promote children's progression and challenge their learning. Staff share these observations effectively with parents and children's schools through exceptional partnership working.

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who attend

Children benefit from highly stimulating, rich and motivational experiences at the club, which extend and complement their developmental progress through their school activities. Children enjoy sensory playrooms, art and craft, board games, construction and floor play activities. Staff actively challenge children within their physical skills, verbal and non-verbal communication, their confidence and social well-being through outstanding interaction and enthusiastic care. Staff thoroughly understand children's ability to process information and how they understand instructions.

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who attend

Staff are aware continuing to extend and provide resources to fully support children to develop their independence and enhance their understanding of technology. Children have exciting opportunities to use touch-screen tablets to construct a story by choosing their characters and engaging with the theme of their adventure. For example, the Humpty Dumpty character takes a journey on a motorbike to a castle where he finds treasure. Another child explains how he is feeling by using a technology device and can therefore explain his frustration to staff. As a result, the club is significantly supporting children to acquire the important skills they need for the next stage of their learning in relation to their starting points and individual abilities.

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

The very welcoming club, based within a purpose built environment meets children's needs exceptionally well. Staff are excellent role models who are very caring, organised and approachable. This means that children are happy, and feel extremely safe and content. Consequently, they form secure emotional attachments with the staff. The staff that provide care for the children are highly skilled and extremely sensitive in helping children to develop their independence in line with their abilities. Staff are deployed exceptionally well in order to meet children's individual and delicate needs. For example, children's privacy is very highly safeguarded and therefore, children's trust in staff is extremely well embedded. The highly detailed care plans provide the very important information that support children's toileting and self-care skills. Children are encouraged to be as independent as possible. Staff collate extensive information in respect of incidents,

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

accidents and medication administered as this is vital to children's health and well-being.

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

Through their enriching activities, children demonstrate their warm relationships with staff and the other children attending. They thoroughly enjoy a pizza making activity, which uses a wide range of strategies to help children make choices. They also learn about food preparation regardless of whether their communication is verbal or non-verbal. They cut up vegetables and consider their decisions about their pizza toppings, which they eat later during snack time. These motivational activities enable children to develop their self- awareness and confidence and provide a wealth of opportunities to enrich children's future lives.

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

Children have regular opportunities for outside play, where staff inspire children to be physically active and consider their own safety. They enjoy team games using the parachute or bouncy castle, climb, run, or ride on tricycles and bicycles. The purpose built outdoor areas are highly stimulating and further provide vibrant spaces such as the sensory garden. Children therefore benefit from fresh air and exercise, which challenges their achievements. Children's behaviour is outstanding overall. However, staff fully appreciate the need to understand how to manage children's behaviour in order to foster children's safety. Children are encouraged to understand the routines of the club and respect their boundaries. Staff explain safety to promote children's awareness through language or sign language. For example, they understand about sitting still at lunchtime and eating slowly; or in not touching one another as they take part in activities or are

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

moved using hoists and chairs. Children enjoy healthy snacks and meals provided by their parents. They are learning how to make healthy choices and understand about a balanced diet. Before eating, children acknowledge their personal hygiene routines, relative to their abilities. Lunchtime is a very sociable occasion. Staff nurture children very well and in relation to their starting points are developing securely in their physical, emotional and social well-being.

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provision

The leadership and management of the club are inspirational. The management team is highly motivated, which greatly enhances staff moral, dedication and enthusiasm. Staff have an excellent understanding of the welfare requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. They fully acknowledge their responsibilities to safeguard the children attending and understand the procedures to take should they have a concern about a child in their care. All staff complete safeguarding awareness training as part of their induction. They fully embed the safety of children into their practice. Effective risk assessments for the environment, activities and for individual children's needs, fully support children's safety and therefore allow them to play safely indoors and outside. Exceptional ratios of staff to children ensure that staff are able to quickly identify children's needs. Consequently, these ratios have a significant and positive impact on the

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provision

very high quality of care that children receive.

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provision

The club shares their robust policies with parents so they understand the procedures in place, which support their children's health and well-being. Very effective recruitment, induction and training practice makes sure that staff working at the club are suitable to do so. The club works exceptionally well with parents, staff and the committee in evaluating their practice. They are highly reflective on the provision of care for the children. As a result, they are confident to acknowledge their strengths and targets for future improvement, Evaluation takes into account how they will support the ever-growing provision of need due to a high increase in the level of applications.

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provision

All children attending the club have special needs and/or disabilities and many have sensory, motor or behavioural difficulties. Staff have an exemplary understanding of these needs and consequently enrich children's lives through the nurturing support they provide. The club has an exceptionally welcoming and inclusive ethos and as a result, children feel valued, safe and content. Staff at the club deliver highly stimulating activities for the children that successfully enhance their independence, social skills, physical development and communication in relation to their abilities. Staff have highly productive relationships with parents. Each of the children has a personal care and learning plan that provides extensive and robust information from parents to support the care given to the children. These are working documents and therefore, staff use their professional knowledge and experience to plan further for the children. At the same time, through these care plans,

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provision

they are able to offer children challenging opportunities to promote achievements in relation to their starting points. Consequently, children are engaging happily in their play and are making significant progress.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory 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 action. 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 EY401960 Local authority Wokingham Inspection number 729880 Type of provision Out of school provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 4 - 19 Total number of places 61 Number of children on roll 60 Name of provider Activity Club for Children with Special Needs (Berkshire) Committee Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 07967189368

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Setting details

set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: 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, which are usually the childminder’s 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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