Grange Kids Club

Grange Kids Club Fell Drive, GRANGE-OVER-SANDS, Cumbria, LA11 7JF

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 16/12/2013 29/06/2010

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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

 The management committee and staff have insufficient knowledge and understanding of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. Consequently, there are breaches of the learning, development and welfare requirements, which impact on children's progress and welfare.  The management team has not established a programme of appraisals and supervision of staff. This results in a lack of support, coaching and monitoring of staff performance and practice, with too little focus on supporting children's learning and development.  There is no key person system in place to tailor the individual care and learning needs of all children and to fully support their emotional well-being.  Staff are not adequately supporting children's learning and development by complementing their learning at school.  Self-evaluation is not undertaken to clearly identify the strengths and weaknesses of the provision. The targets that have been previously identified have not been

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This provision is inadequate

implemented, resulting in insufficient improvements in the standard of care and learning for children who attend.

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It has the following strengths

 Staff provide a safe and welcoming environment, which helps children to relax and have fun with their friends after a busy day at school.

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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 spoke with the nominated person, the head teacher, the manager of the club, staff and children during the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at documentation relating to the running of the club, including policies, risk assessments and children's records.  The inspector observed activities undertaken in the classroom.  The inspector took account of parents views during the inspection.

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Information about the setting

Grange Kids Club opened in 2003 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is managed by a voluntary management committee. It operates from classrooms one and two in Grange-over-Sands Primary School in Cumbria. The children also have use of the school hall, the library and the computer room. There is an enclosed area available for outdoor play. The club serves children from the host school and local area. It opens five days a week during school term time. Sessions are from 3.15pm until 6pm. A holiday play scheme is also provided for two weeks during the summer school holidays and runs from 8.30am until 5.30pm. There are currently two children on roll in the early years age range. The club also offers care to older children. It employs two members of childcare staff to work directly with the children, both of whom hold early years qualifications at level 3.

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must:

 improve knowledge of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage to ensure that all of the legal requirement are met to fully promote children's learning, development and welfare needs

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must:

 put effective arrangements in place for the appraisal and supervision of staff by providing coaching, support and training to foster their continuous professional development and effectiveness and ensure all staff are clear about their roles and responsibilities, with particular focus on supporting children's learning and development

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must:

 implement a key person system to ensure that every child's learning and care is tailored to meet their individual needs and support their emotional well-being

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must:

 improve staff's knowledge and understanding of the learning and development requirements and ensure that they support individual children's progress fully by complementing their learning at school

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must:

 ensure self-evaluation is undertaken in order to clarify areas for improvement and to make a concerted and effective plan to bring about sustained improvements in the standard of care and learning for children who attend.

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who attend

Managers and staff do not have sufficient knowledge and understanding of how to support children's learning and development and therefore the quality of teaching is poor. There is no system in place to ensure the continuation of children's learning undertaken during their day at school. Staff carry out some planning, however, the lack of information gathering and assessment means that staff do not always identify and meet the learning needs of individual children. They therefore are not effectively supported to make progress as activities are not always precisely matched to their needs.

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who attend

Due to the lack of a key person system, information gathered from parents when their children begin at the club is minimal. Staff share information with the parents, however, this does not include any information about the children's learning and development. That said, staff are friendly and approachable and provide a reasonable range of activities for the children to choose from.

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who attend

Children enjoy making dens using chairs and blankets and sit chatting to their friends. Children's communication and language skills are promoted through conversations. For example, at snack time children and staff talk about their day at school. Children enjoy making Christmas decorations and calendars to take home. This promotes their skills in art and design. Children have opportunities to use the school computer suite and the interactive white board. This promotes their skills in technology. The children generally initiate their own play and staff supervise them and offer support if needed. Due to the lack of assessment of children's progress and capabilities, staff are unclear about their level of progress. Also, whether they are providing sufficiently challenging activities to further promote children's progress in all areas of learning.

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

Children are generally happy at the club and are able to help themselves to their chosen activities. The staff are welcoming, friendly and caring towards the children. However, there is no key person system in place for individual early years children. This means that there is a lack of continuity of care and no system for gathering and sharing comprehensive information about the children's well-being with the school and parents. Some information is exchanged verbally but this is not done consistently. Therefore, children are not fully supported in their transitions when moving between the school and club. Staff are unaware of what progress the children are making in the prime areas of learning and do not know if they are meeting the expected developmental milestones in their physical, social and emotional development. The staff are therefore not effectively complementing what the children are learning at school during the day.

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

Children are involved in deciding the club rules, which are displayed on the wall. These include being polite, sharing toys and not running inside. Consequently, they know what is expected of them and learn about keeping themselves safe as they follow the positive example set by the staff. Children have opportunities to develop their physical skills and hand to eye coordination as they master the art of building towers with wooden blocks and thread beads to make necklaces and bracelets. Staff encourage the children to have healthy snacks, which further supports them to develop an understanding of the importance of healthy lifestyles. Children are encouraged to be independent and manage their own personal care needs, such as, washing their hands after using the toilet.

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provision

Leadership and management of the out of school club is inadequate. The management committee and the manager are not sufficiently familiar with the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage document and do not therefore fully understand their responsibilities to meet all of the relevant legal requirements. This results is some breaches of the learning, development and welfare requirements, which have an impact on children's progress and welfare. There are appropriate recruitment and vetting procedures in place to ensure the suitability and safety of staff to work with children. These include undertaking Disclosure and Barring Service checks on all staff and committee members. However, the management committee has not put in place systems to provide ongoing support for staff. Appraisals and supervision of staff do not take place. This results in a lack of support, coaching and monitoring of staff performance and

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provision

practice. Consequently, the manager and staff are not fully clear about their roles and responsibilities to meet all of the children's individual learning and welfare needs. Some of the staff's professional knowledge and understanding is not fully effective in ensuring all aspects of the Early Years Foundation Stage are understood and consistently applied. This results in care and education practices being variable and on occasions, inadequate. The manager is unaware of the need for a key person system. This means that there is no key person system in place to tailor the individual care and learning needs of all children and to fully support their well-being and development.

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provision

The manager and staff have undertaken safeguarding training and have a secure understanding of how to safeguard children. Staff are able to identify signs and symptoms that would cause concern and they know the correct procedures to follow as a result. There is a safeguarding policy, which has been updated to include guidance about the use of cameras and mobile phones in the setting. All staff have completed first-aid training and are confident in providing emergency first aid. Daily records, such as, attendance registers and accident records are suitably maintained. Risk assessments are used to identify and address any risks before the children arrive, therefore keeping children safe. The management committee and staff do not understand their responsibilities to be guided by the learning and development requirements, in order to plan activities for children that complement their learning during the day at school. While staff do talk to the school staff

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provision

at handover time, this focusses mainly on care needs and does not include information about children's individual learning needs and progress. There is no system for monitoring the educational programmes or children's progress. Managers and staff therefore do not have a clear knowledge of children's progress and how they can best support them to maximise their learning.

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provision

Parents report that their children enjoy attending the out of school club and are settled and happy. They receive verbal feedback from staff about their children's well-being when they collect them at the end of the session. However, they do not receive information about children's learning and development progress and they are not aware of a key person system. Therefore links with parents are not strong enough to ensure that children's individual needs are fully identified and met. Links with the reception class are in place, however, the system for sharing information about children's individual needs is not robust. This was a recommendation from a previous inspection. Self-evaluation is not undertaken to clearly identify the strengths and weaknesses of the provision. The targets that have been previously identified have not been implemented, resulting in insufficient improvements in the standard of care and learning for children who attend. The manager

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provision

is, however, prepared to work with the local authority early years advisor to address the weaknesses and strive to ensure future improvements in the care and education provided for the children.

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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 EY268362 Local authority Cumbria Inspection number 860709

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 24 Number of children on roll 30 Name of provider Grange Kids Club Committee Date of previous inspection 29/06/2010 Telephone number 01539 532 392 and 07931 637 244

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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

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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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