Funtastic Club

Funtastic Club Wigmore Primary School, Twyford Drive, LUTON, LU2 9TB

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 06/11/2013 14/12/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 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 4 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 4

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This provision is inadequate

 Staff do not fully understand the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, which means that children's learning, development, and welfare are compromised.  The lack of a key person system means that children's individual needs are not met.  Information is not provided to parents about how the Early Years Foundation Stage is being delivered, the name of a key person for their child, or details of the policies and procedures to meet the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage, hence partnerships with parents is poor.  Staff understanding of safeguarding does not take account of the use of mobile phones and cameras in the setting and this means that children's welfare is not fully promoted.  Performance management is weak because staff appraisals are not carried out, there is no programme for monitoring staff or identifying training, or improvement plan driven by self-evaluation. Consequently, there is no focus to improve provision for children.

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This provision is inadequate

 Children do not have opportunities to judge risks for themselves in the premises and during everyday routines.

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It has the following strengths

 Teaching is sound because the staff support children sensitively and enable them to solve problems. Children contribute their ideas to the planning and, as a result, develop self-confidence.

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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 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 activities in the playroom and spoke with the manager, staff and children at appropriate times throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a selection of policies, procedures and information provided by the provision, including suitability of staff.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents from information supplied in the setting's own questionnaires.

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Information about the setting

Funtastic Club was registered in 2007 and is on the Early Years Register and on both the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. It operates from rooms within Wigmore Primary School. The setting is managed by a committee and serves the host school. The setting is accessible to all children and there are enclosed areas available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The setting employs five members of childcare staff. All staff hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2 and level 3. The setting opens Monday to Friday during school term times. Sessions are from 8am to 8.45am and from 3.25pm to 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions.

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must:

 gain an understanding of the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage to ensure that children's learning, development, and welfare are fully supported

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must:

 assign a key person for each child in the early years age group and ensure that children's individual needs are met

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must:

 provide parents with details of the Early Years Foundation Stage and the name of their child's key person. Provide policies and procedures that meet the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage

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must:

 update the safeguarding policy to reflect camera and mobile phone use in the setting

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must:

 complete regular staff appraisals to identify training needs and update staff knowledge, thereby improving the provision of care, learning and development for children

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must:

 implement rigorous and effective systems for self-evaluation, including supervision of staff, to foster continuous improvement and to inform priorities and set challenging targets for improvement.

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

 improve children's understanding of safety by providing opportunities for them to take responsibility for assessing, judging, and minimising risks during everyday activities in the premises.

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who attend

Children show enthusiasm for play and a keenness to attend the out-of-school club. Members of staff working directly with the younger children generally recognise what they can do to enhance their learning and development. For example, they involve children in mixed age groups during activities to enhance their confidence and support self-esteem. Children enjoy helping to make malleable dough, during which the staff urge them to help to read the instructions, to count the quantities of different ingredients needed and share. Hence, children use practical everyday skills to achieve an objective together. Planning of activities, and staff's sound skills in teaching, ensure that children are provided with a suitable range of play opportunities. This helps them to continue making steady progress across all areas of learning and development. For example, staff develop themed activities to follow children's interest in mini-beasts and the natural world. They incorporate

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who attend

mathematics by counting insects in the soil and looking at the spots on ladybirds. Children use their imagination when they make models of insects and develop wall displays together. They investigate the natural world by making a wormery and observing the differences between wet and dry soil, and how it affects the number of living creatures that they can find. These activities help children to practise the learning that is taking place in school. In addition, these group activities help to prepare children for being part of a larger mixed-age group when in their school setting.

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who attend

Children are keen to explore creative media and to write. They select writing materials and draw and write freely, showing that they can form letters and 'sound' them to spell simple words. They work alongside older children, hence they develop good social awareness. Children also enjoy simple baking and make milk desserts to share at teatime with the group. They ask questions about the process and demonstrate their vocabulary skills as they describe what they are seeing and doing. Children show concentration and take turns to stir ingredients. Consequently, they are practising emergent knowledge and skills; this prepares them for progressing between classes in school. Children freely select technology and enjoy using the computers. Staff use sound teaching to support children who ask them for help; they use gentle questioning and talk about thinking and recalling previous activities to help children to achieve their aims, without stepping in and doing things for

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who attend

them. As a result, children learn to solve simple problems and use previous learning within current tasks. This helps to foster their self-esteem.

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who attend

Staff use their general knowledge of children, through their work in the host school and informal observations during sessions, to plan the daily resources to promote general development in children's learning. However, while the staff communicate with parents on a daily basis, at collection time, and general information is shared, there is no information shared regarding the Early Years Foundation Stage and, consequently, little involvement of parents in the learning and development. Furthermore, the staff's lack of understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage means that the learning by children is not maximised by monitoring the progress made. Overall, the play facilities and teaching environment allow children to use the skills and knowledge that they have already acquired.

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

There is no key person system operating at the after school club, for children in the early years age group. As a result, younger children's care is not tailored to their individual needs and abilities. Children show an interest in the activities available and relate well to their peers and staff. Staff spend time talking to, and playing with, children and support their interaction. Conversations heard between the staff and the children are comfortable and they are developing clear social awareness. For example, they discuss the rules for table top games, use a timer to establish fair grounds for taking turns, and comfort each other, such as after a fall, to show empathy. As a result, children's behaviour is good. Staff spend time talking with the children about their day in school and consequently, they have a sound awareness of the types of activities to offer to children at the end of the day to

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

complement those undertaken in school. This relationship means that children develop secure bonds and attachments with staff that promote their sense of security. Children become familiar with new teachers because they discuss them with older children attending the setting. As a result, they approach any move between classrooms with confidence because they are secure and emotionally well-prepared.

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

Children's health is supported by regular exercise and fresh air; they have access to the outdoor areas. Children enjoy indoor games, such as table air hockey, during which they use large physical movement. They eat a varied selection of food at teatime and independently meet their own basic personal hygiene needs and wash their hands before eating. Children enjoy some responsibility during teatime as they hand out plates and cups, pour drinks, and pass round the plates of food. Afterwards they help to clear away and wash up, and this further enhances their understanding of the link between hygiene and good health. Children learn about food for health and carry out some planting activities. For instance, they plant potatoes in the spring and harvest them in the autumn, and prepare them for tea. This broadens children's awareness of natural unprocessed foods and good health. Children learn to keep themselves safe through practical daily

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

routines and staff guidance. They take part in regular evacuation procedures to learn about keeping themselves safe in the event of a fire. However, they have fewer practical play activities that support them to make independent judgements with regard to personal risk or risks in the environment. Consequently, children do not fully explore practical methods that help them to understand risk and are dependent on the staff to minimise risk for them. As a result, their own understanding of safety and how to manage risks safely is not maximised.

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provision

The manager and staff do not have a firm understanding of the requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. For example, the written safeguarding policy has not been updated to include the use of mobile phones and cameras in the setting. Consequently, while staff demonstrate a sound understanding of safeguarding and the procedure to follow in the event of concern about a child, they, and parents, are not aware of the requirement regarding mobile phones and cameras. Therefore, children's safety is compromised. Furthermore, while there is a set of policies and procedures in place, they do not relate to the current legislation, the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, which means that parents do not have a clear understanding of appropriate policies and procedures to protect the children's overall well-being. Employment procedures are secure and ensure that all staff are suitable to

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provision

work with children. Sound induction, ensures that the quality of care provided for children continues throughout staff changes.

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provision

The setting demonstrate, through their attention to addressing previous recommendations, that they are aiming towards some improvement. They seek the views of parents, each year, using a questionnaire. Parents comment that they value the care provided, that they are very happy with the club and its facilities, and that the club is friendly and supportive. However, there is no clear programme for monitoring staff or identifying an improvement plan based on an evaluation of practice, or staff, child and parents views. There is no system to carry out staff appraisals to identify staff training needs or update their knowledge. As a result, the performance management and self- evaluation is weak, and information is not used to identify priorities or set targets for improvement for better provision for children.

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provision

In other respects, children are safeguarded adequately. Children are well-supervised as they come to the setting, through the school premises, after school, and when playing outdoors. Staff are vigilant in ensuring that no person may have access to children in their care at any time because there is efficient security throughout the school premises. Clear risk assessments confirm that staff carry out regular safety checks around the premises to eliminate hazards. Visitors must sign the visitors book, in the main school building, and wear a visible badge identifying them; this means that staff and parents are aware of any person not connected with the provision. There are close relationships between the staff at the setting and class teachers. Therefore, information is shared to support children's well-being, and learning and development. The manager and staff are fully aware of the importance of working with other professionals where necessary and can draw on

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provision

previous experience to support children and families.

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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 Requires improvement The provision is not giving children a good standard of early years education and/or there are minor breaches of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be monitored and inspected within twelve months of the date of this inspection. 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

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Grade Judgement Description

the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be monitored and inspected again within six months of the date of this inspection. 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 EY342277 Local authority Luton Inspection number 873392

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 32 Number of children on roll 42 Name of provider Funtastic Club Committee Date of previous inspection 14/12/2009 Telephone number 07964540067

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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.

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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

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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