Bandley Hill Playcentre

Bandley Hill Playscheme Featherstone Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SG2 9PP

p.1

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 29/07/2013 21/04/2011

p.1

early years provision

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

p.1

This provision is satisfactory

 Children choose to use and get for themselves a wide range of exciting equipment and imaginative resources which expand their skills.  Children display a good understanding of keeping themselves safe. The staff teach them how to look out for risks and use equipment safely.  Staff have a detailed knowledge about children's development, which supports their good progress in the prime & specific areas of learning.

p.1

It is not yet good because

 Children do not have a named key person to ensure that their individual needs are thoroughly met.  There is room to improve the arrangements for displaying and sharing information with parents regarding complaints.

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

p.2

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.

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 observed the staff interacting with children indoors and in the outside play areas.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector took into account of the views of parents attending with younger children through discussion

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector examined a selection of information and documentation relating to the children's safeguarding and welfare.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to and interacted with the staff and the children at appropriate times throughout the inspection.

p.2

Information about the setting

Bandley Hill Playscheme was registered in 1993 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is situated in a purpose-built play centre in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, and is managed by Stevenage Borough Council. The playscheme serves the local area and is accessible to all children aged between five and 14 years. There is an enclosed area available for outdoor play.

p.3

Information about the setting

The playscheme employs nine members of childcare staff. Of these, five hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and the manager holds a degree. The playscheme opens during the school holidays, Monday to Friday from 9am to 12.30pm and 1.30pm to 5pm. Opening times during term time are Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 3.30pm to 6pm, and Saturday from 10am to 12.30pm and 1.30pm to 4pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently two children on roll who are within the early years age range.

p.3

Information about the setting

The playscheme is an open-access facility, which enables children aged between five and 14 years to attend and leave as they please. Children under five may attend provided they are accompanied by an adult.

p.3

must:

 provide a named key person for all children who are in the early years age group.

p.3

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

 improve the way information relating to making a complaint is shared with parents and carers.

p.3

who attend

Children enjoy their time at this playscheme. Staff motivate children's interest in the wide range of equipment, resources and activities. This enables them to master new skills and make sound progress.

p.3

who attend

Children choose to attend this playscheme during out of school hours. The ethos of the open-access playscheme is to provide adult-supervised, free, open-access play opportunities for children aged between five and 14 years, in a safe and stimulating environment. Early years children are making sound progress in the prime and specific areas of learning. They communicate well at a level typical for their age. Children are supported consistently by the staff, who welcome them and take the time to talk to and get to know the children attending. Children display good communication and language skills, and they listen and take turns to speak. Children show a respect for others when talking, and they participate well in conversations, discussions and when planning ideas and learning game rules.

p.3

who attend

Children register with the playscheme as soon as they reach their fifth birthday. They are then able to use all the playscheme facilities and be supervised by staff while they are in the play centre or participating in an activity. The nature of open access clearly states that 'Children cannot be confined to the play centre or its grounds or prevented from coming or going as they choose'. Children display high levels of confidence and self-esteem. They are fully aware of the open-access nature of the playscheme, and they respond by displaying good levels of behaviour and understanding of the rules. Children are given choices and decisions to make about what activities they want, which resources and where they want to play.

p.4

who attend

Children learn about mathematics through working out the tuck shop prices and playing card games. They develop their literacy skills in activities, such as reading books and posters displayed around the setting. Children make their own posters and banners using their knowledge of phonics. They are beginning to write words and explore making marks and emerging writing using a range of different tools.

p.4

who attend

Parents share information on children as soon as they start, completing detailed information which enables staff to have information on children's knowledge, skills and abilities. The staff make sure that children of all ages are included in activities equally. Incidental opportunities are used to expand children's learning, for example, children using one of the stilts as a toy gun is shown how to use it correctly with the other stilt as a pair. Staff praise children's efforts and celebrate their achievements as children count the number and compare the colour of the cards in the card game. They show they are able to share and take turns, joining together to praise and complement each other. This promotes children's self-esteem and confidence.

p.4

who attend

Children have free-flowing open access to a wide range of equipment and open space to participate in physical exercise. They choose from a wide selection of tools and equipment, which are suitably challenging. Children climb up and down ladders, zoom along on the zip wire and negotiate climbing frames and platforms. Staff provide a good choice of challenges for children to learn new skills. For example, how to hold, balance and safely walk using stilts. Staff place high priority on promoting children's good levels of confidence, self-esteem and independence. This ensures that they have the skills they need, which complements the learning they receive in schools.

p.4

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

Children show strong bonds and attachments to the regular staff members. They are happy and confident and show high levels of trust and security in the staff. Children freely choose equipment, toys and games from the wide range of accessible resources. However, all children in the early years age group do not have a key person assigned to them. The role of the key person is to ensure that every child's care is individually tailored to meet their needs.

p.5

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

Children are competent in their self-help skills, appropriate to their age. The staff hold back and only intervene if asked or needed. For example, helping remove the top from the bottle of water and filling it up from the drinking water tap when asked. Staff initially encourage the children to try for themselves before intervening, or wait until the children ask. This is effective in supporting children's personal, social and emotional development. Staff give children clear and consistent messages about safe and acceptable behaviour. They are shown how to use the large equipment safely and they display generally good behaviour and a good understanding of boundaries.

p.5

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

The children's welfare and emotional well-being are supported by appropriate care practices. They are adopting healthy lifestyles which are adequately supported by staff. Children are encouraged to choose healthy options at snack time because the staff have priced healthy choices, such as fruit, cheaply, and unhealthy choices, such as crisps, are more expensive. Children are reminded to cleanse their hands with anti-bacterial gel while ordering their tuck. Staff further develop their understanding of keeping healthy by reminding them to drink often during hot weather.

p.5

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

The play centre is a welcoming and well-resourced environment where children settle quickly and are happy. Information sharing ensures that the staff have a generally good knowledge of the children's likes and dislikes, health needs and abilities, right from the start. This helps children's confidence in attending out of school activities and adapting to different environments. Children's personal, social and emotional development and physical abilities are at good levels as expected for their age range. These skills enable children to have the competence and confidence to continue making rapid progress in their learning and development.

p.5

provision

The staff display a generally good knowledge and understanding of the learning and development requirements in relation to the wrap-around care provided. Staff effectively deliver a wide range of interesting and challenging activities and resources that enable children to make sound progress in all areas of learning. Activities, resources and equipment are carefully monitored to ensure that early years children receive a broad range of learning experiences to complement their experiences in school.

p.5

provision

All members of staff have a good knowledge and understanding of the safeguarding and welfare requirements. They have a detailed understanding of the action to take if there are any concerns about the safety or welfare of a child. Robust recruitment, training and induction processes ensure that all adults who are in contact with children are checked to ensure that they are suitable. This includes screening building contractors. Staff supervisions and regular appraisals promote good practice. Professional development is encouraged, which results in a well-qualified and knowledgeable staff team.

p.5

provision

Written policies displayed on the notice board, on the web page and in the brochure ensure that parents and visitors are clear about most of the playscheme policies and procedures. However, the complaints policy displayed on the parents' notice board only shows details of how to make a complaint to the management. The information on contacting Ofsted is displayed in a different room on another notice board. Therefore, there is room to improve the clarity of information sharing.

p.6

provision

All children who attend the playscheme are at full-time school. Staff are fully aware of the guidance within the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage in regard to wrap-around care. The playscheme staff provide supplementary experiences and activities designed to complement the learning that children receive in school. The open-access playscheme requires written permissions for children aged five years and above to attend. Parents of these children do not usually attend, once children are registered, and they can come and go as they please. Staff have the parental details and work with them, other settings and external agencies if children need interventions and support. Therefore, the further development of the key person system in establishing partnerships is essential in ensuring that staff make a strong contribution to meeting children's all-round needs.

p.6

provision

The staff team are committed to developing the quality and quantity of play opportunities offered to children. They regularly review and evaluate their practice through comprehensive self-evaluation processes. Parents' comments and views of all children and staff are sought, and they are very complimentary.

p.6

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 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.

p.7

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.7

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.8

Setting details

Unique reference number 146456 Local authority Hertfordshire Inspection number 874907

p.8

Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 17 Total number of places 40 Number of children on roll 2 Name of provider Stevenage Borough Council Date of previous inspection 21/04/2011 Telephone number 01438 218848

p.8

Type of provision

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.

p.8

Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

p.8

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.8

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.8

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.

p.9

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.9

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.10

Type of provision

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

p.10