Starfish Kids Club

Starfish Kids at St Andrews St Andrews Church Hall, Church Road, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 2AD

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 04/11/2013 09/01/2013

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early years provision

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

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This provision is inadequate

 The owners have failed to meet several of the safeguarding and welfare legal requirements of the Early Years Register and the Childcare Register.  Staff do not assess risks to children well enough, which compromises their safety.  Staff do not manage older children's behaviour well, which has an impact on the behaviour of children in the early years age range.  Some furniture and resources are not clean or safe enough for children to use.  Staff do not provide a hygienic environment for children eat their meals and contents of the first aid kit are inappropriate, which impacts on children's health.  Staff fail to meet legal requirements with regards to the administration of medicines.  Procedures for ensuring, and providing evidence of, staff's suitability are not robust, which compromises children's safety.  There is no named deputy in place who is capable and qualified to take charge in the

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This provision is inadequate

managers absence.  Self-evaluation is weak and has little impact on improving outcomes for children.  Staff do not provide children with opportunities to relax or play quietly.  Staff do not provide opportunities for children to gain independence and decision making skills in some areas such as in the outside area.  Required records to underpin children's care are not available for inspection.

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It has the following strengths

 Staff show a genuine interest in what children say and do and engage in friendly conversations. This helps children to develop good relationships and develop their communication skills.  Staff promote physical development of children well through a good range of outdoor and indoor activities which children enjoy.

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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 children in all areas of the setting, including the outside area.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled a range of documentation, including medication and accident records, children's attendance records, staff records and the settings safeguarding and complaints policy and procedures.  The inspector held ongoing discussions with the children, staff and the manager.  The inspector gathered parent's verbal views.  The inspector held discussion with manager and nominated person.

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Information about the setting

Starfish Kids at St Andrews registered in 2012. It is one of two privately-owned groups. It operates from a large room in St Andrews Church Hall in Hove, East Sussex and provides after school care only. The group opens five days a week during school term times. Sessions are from 3pm to 6pm. All children have access to an enclosed outdoor play area. They also regularly use a nearby school playing field. The group is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently five children attending in the early years age range. The group supports children with English as an additional language.

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Information about the setting

The group employs nine members of staff. Three of these staff, including the manager, hold appropriate play work qualifications. One member of staff is working towards a qualification.

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enforcement action:

We will issue a Welfare Requirements Notice requiring the provider to:

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enforcement action:

- implement a robust policy and procedure for administering medication, with particular regard to recording each time medicine is administered to a child and informing parents and/or carers on the same day, or as soon as reasonably practicable.

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must:

 ensure a well understood policy, and procedures, is implemented for assessing any risks to children so that risks are removed or minimised, with particular attention to the outside area

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must:

 ensure that furniture and equipment are safe, clean and fit for purpose, in particular the tables, chairs and foam mats

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must:

 ensure there is a first aid box with appropriate content for use with children

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must:

 ensure staff promote the good health of children with particular attention to providing a safe and hygienic areas for them to eat their food from.

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must:

 ensure there is a named deputy in place who is capable and qualified to take charge in the manager's absence

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must:

 develop and implement effective systems to evaluate the provision and foster a culture of continuous improvement to improve outcomes for children

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must:

 provide appropriate provision and furniture to give children opportunities to relax or play quietly

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must:

 provide opportunities for children to lead their own play and learn to explore with particular attention to the organisation and storage of outside equipment

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must:

 ensure records are made easily accessible and available, with particular reference to records of vetting processes completed and criminal records disclosures.

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who attend

Staff do not always help children to learn how to keep themselves safe in the outdoor area as they do not identify all risks, and therefore teach children about all potential hazards. In addition to this, although children can look into the storage facilities to make choices for the outside equipment, equipment is not effectively stored to enable children to clearly see and decide about what they wish to use. This means they cannot freely extend their play by selecting and using additional resources.

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who attend

Children enjoy participating in lots of physical activities that staff provide, for example, table football, table tennis and ball games in the outdoor area. They also have regular opportunities to visit the local playing field and enjoy games in the wide open space. Such activities effectively support physical skills such as running and developing children's co- ordination. Children are able to learn, consolidate and extend their understanding of the world through engaging in activities that reflect cultural celebrations such as Chinese New Year. Staff encourage children to join in with activities together, such as football games. This in turn encourages children to develop good relationships with their peers. They also enjoy using a computer, which staff make available and develop their creative skills by creating pictures, exploring with a range of materials such as paint, glue and glitter.

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who attend

Staff are friendly and interact well with children as they play. They have a good rapport with children and display a genuine interest in what children are doing. They ask open- ended questions as the children play and do their art and craft activities. This encourages children to feel at ease and talk confidently about their experiences, what they are doing and try new skills.

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who attend

Staff use a basic observation and planning system in place, which supports children in making some appropriate progress in their development. They gather information from parents to help them appropriately identify starting points through the parents completing 'All About Me' booklets on their children. There are systems in place for parents and other professionals involved in the caring and learning of children to appropriately to share what they know about the children. For example, the staff hold discussions with school staff, concerning the children's care needs effectively. This allows staff to support the children's care needs. However, the sharing of information about their learning is variable.

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

Staff do not organise all the furniture well and this compromises children's safety. For example, there is no quiet area available for children to relax or play quietly. Staff do not make sure resources are safe and clean. For example, children use a table that is broken around the edges and chairs, tables and resources such as foam mats are unclean.

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

Although children in the early years age range behave well, staff are not effectively implementing effective behaviour strategies with older children when they are together with the younger children. This puts all children at risk of harm. For example, while children are waiting for staff to unlock the premises after being accompanied from their schools, they run chaotically about between a busy car park and a cemetery. They also climb up and down upon gravestones, as staff chase and shout at them to come back. In addition to this, staff do not always respond to older children climbing on furniture whilst engaging in their activities in the setting. This lack of behaviour management results impacts on the younger children's safety as they are not well supervised and are not taught about what is appropriate behaviour.

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

Children are active and learn to make healthy choices regarding food, through making their own choices of snacks and in the quantity they wish to eat. However, staff do not effectively promote children's health. The system to administer medication is not robust and fails to meet legal requirements. For example, the record that must be made when medication is given is either not completed or unavailable. This means that children are in danger of not receiving medication appropriately. In addition to this, some of the contents of the first aid kit are not suitable for use. For example, sterile bandages, which should be kept sealed are left open within the kit. This means that children are not able to receive the emergency treatment they may require and it compromises their health. Also, staff do not always provide a safe and hygienic place for children to eat their meals. For example, some children eat their food from activity tables while paint and glitter is being used. This

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

does not teach children about good hygiene practices.

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provision

The management team have an inadequate understanding overall of their responsibilities in meeting the learning and development requirements. There are weaknesses in the behaviour management strategies used and in providing a safe healthy environment, which in turn, restrict the children in making sufficient development in areas of their learning. The staff's knowledge and understanding of implementing the safeguarding and welfare requirements is also inadequate. This results in a number of breaches of requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage and of the Childcare Register. For example, the owner is unable to provide evidence of all staff's suitability checks. There is no named deputy in place who is capable and qualified to take charge in the manager's absence. This compromises children's welfare and learning.

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provision

The inspection took place because of a notification of an accident to a child. Evidence gathered at inspection confirmed the incident did take place. However, the provider did not notify Ofsted of the details, as required within 14 days. It is a legal requirement to do so. This inspection found the provider now understands the systems for notification and, on this occasion, Ofsted do not intend to take further action. In addition to this, evidence gathered at the inspection showed that there was not, and is still not, a clear and well understood policy, and procedures, for assessing any risks to children's safety. This is a breach of a legal requirement and results in children's safety being compromised. Leadership and management have some systems for self-evaluation that help them to inform the club's priorities. They use these to create action plans and make some improvement in the outcomes for children. For example, they took account of a parent's

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provision

suggestion and provided more opportunities for children to participate in junk modelling. This has successfully given children more opportunities to develop skills in expressive art and design. However, the self-evaluation system is weak and has too little impact on the children. For example, a new computerised system for recording observations and assessing the learning needs of the children is not always accessible, which means staff are sometimes restricted in completing these and in sharing information with parents on the children's development. The management have implemented appropriate weekly team meetings which offer supervision opportunities for staff to discuss any issues concerning children's development or well-being. This in turn, helps to ensure the staff appropriately support children's individual needs.

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provision

Staff provide suitable information for parents, which include the setting's policies and procedures. This helps everyone be aware of his or her responsibilities. Parents rate the care and education of children as very good and are pleased with this. They state their children are happy; they enjoy and participate in lots of physical play after a structured day at school. They also feel their children are safe and staff share information about their children session through daily conversations.

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provision

There are some developing links with other professionals. For example, staff have recently welcomed and taken advice from the local authority support worker in how to address issues regarding the accident that occured. They also speak with school staff when collecting children and are effective in meeting the care needs of those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are

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actions)

The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

 put into place effective systems to ensure any person caring for children is suitable to work with children; including through obtaining an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check and undertaking other checks (compulsory part of Childcare Register)  ensure a risk assessment is undertaken of the premises and equipment and all necessary measures are taken to minimise any identified risks (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure the premises and equipment used for the purposes of childcare are safe and suitable for children (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure the behaviour of children over the age of eight years do not have a negative effect on younger children (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure a record is held of any medication administered, including the date and circumstances and who administered it (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  put into place effective systems to ensure any person caring for children is suitable

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

to work with children; including through obtaining an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check and undertaking other checks (voluntary part of Childcare Register)  ensure a risk assessment is undertaken of the premises and equipment and all necessary measures are taken to minimise any identified risks (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  ensure the premises and equipment used for the purposes of childcare are safe and suitable for children (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  ensure the behaviour of children over the age of eight years do not have a negative effect on younger children (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  ensure a record is held of any medication administered, including the date and circumstances and who administered it (voluntary part of the Childcare Register).

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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 EY449169 Local authority Brighton & Hove Inspection number 940834 Type of provision Out of school provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 11 Total number of places 32 Number of children on roll 5 Name of provider Starfish Kids Club Limited Date of previous inspection 09/01/2013 Telephone number 01273719520

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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

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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