Playtime

Playtime Mayfield School, Warwick Road, CAMBRIDGE, Cambridgeshire, CB4 3HN

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 05/02/2014 14/11/2011

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early years provision

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

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This provision requires improvement

 Staff provide a child-orientated environment where children explore activities freely and make good relationships with others.  The partnerships with parents are good and parents indicate they are pleased with the quality of the provision.  Children have good opportunities to play active games outdoors according to their individual preferences, which supports their health and physical development well.

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It is not yet good because

 The provider was not able to provide evidence that suitability checks had been taken up on all staff. This is a requirement of the Early Years Register and the Childcare Register.  Methods to track and monitor children's achievements do not fully ensure they all make the best progress possible.  Documentation is disorganised; some records are hard to locate, and some policies and procedures have not been updated to ensure the efficient management of the provision.  Not all children have the privacy they need when visiting the toilets.

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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 staff and children during the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector talked to a number of parents to find out their views on the quality of provision.

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Inspection activities

 A range of records were examined, including registration forms, accident records, risk assessments and policies and procedures.  The inspector looked at the areas of the premises used by the children.

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Information about the setting

Playtime was registered under the current provider in 2004. It operates from the Mayfield primary school in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, and is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The club primarily uses the community hall, which has its own toilet and kitchen facilities. There are accessible outdoor play areas.

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Information about the setting

There are currently 54 children on roll and of these, five are in the early years age range. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The club is open from 3.15pm to 6pm, every weekday during term time and from 8.30am to 6pm during school holidays, subject to parental demand.

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Information about the setting

There are currently five members of staff working directly with the children, including the manager. Of these, three hold relevant childcare or playwork qualifications at level two or three. There are also relief staff and a cleaner. The club receives support from the local authority.

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must:

 ensure that records about staff vetting processes, including the Disclosure and Barring Service checks are kept to demonstrate each staff member's suitability has been assessed

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must:

 develop further effective ways to observe and assess children's development to plan challenging learning experiences that complement children's learning in school, follow their interests and meet their individual needs.

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

 ensure documentation and records required for the safe and efficient management of the provision are well-organised and kept up-to-date. This is with particular reference to staff records and the policies and procedures

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

 consider ways to enable children to access toilet facilities that provide them with levels of privacy as appropriate for their age and stage of development.

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who attend

Children enjoy attending the club and are engaged in self-chosen activities through most of the session. They confidently access the resources, and ask staff if they need more, or cannot find what they need. Staff listen to the children and try to meet their requests. For example, they wanted some circus skill toys, which have proved a great success. Children practise hard with them, and compare their progress with others. Some show real skill, which has given them a good sense of achievement. Staff encourage friendly competition and help children to achieve their aims, enabling all of them to have some success in their chosen activity, such as flying paper aeroplanes.

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who attend

Staff are experienced and work confidently with the children. They have built good relationships and engage them in friendly conversations. Teaching skills are generally good. Staff understand about appropriate interventions, for example, they sit back to allow children to independently explore how to make a paper aeroplane fly. However, staff do not note young children's individual achievements to make them fully aware of their emerging interests and learning needs. Additionally, there is no method to track children to be sure they are making the progress they should. This, coupled with some lack of information from school about children's learning and development, means that children's good progress is not assured. Nonetheless, children enjoy the activities and their good relationships with staff supports them to be enthusiastic learners and benefits their future learning experiences.

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who attend

Staff plan a range of adult led activities that help children to develop their imagination and design skills. They enjoy threading activities and have frequent opportunities to use paint, glue and collage materials. During the holidays the children have trips into their local community, such as walks to the park, or visits to a cinema. As a result, they have some opportunities to learn about the wider world. They demonstrate their writing skills, for example, they create posters and pictures for the notice board. Children indicate one of their favourite activities is playing monster hunt in the dark with torches. Staff talk with parents about their children's activities and ask about home experiences during collection times. Therefore there are some opportunities to build on children's learning at home. Staff work with parents of children who are learning English as an additional language to find out about their level of understanding. Posters and displays around the room reflect

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who attend

the cultures and languages of the children on roll so all children feel valued.

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

Staff welcome children into the club as they arrive from their classrooms. A range of suitable activities are set up ready, inviting children to begin to play. The club is well equipped with a suitable range of resources. Children are encouraged to access these independently from storage cupboards. As a result, they are happily occupied. Young children have a key person allocated from the outset, who gets to know them and helps them to settle in. New children are encouraged to develop relationships with 'buddies'. This gives them confidence when they first start and makes their transition from school to club smooth. Staff support children to learn good behaviour by encouraging them to devise their own rules. Although children are sometimes boisterously active after their day in school, they show consideration for others. They remember to say sorry, and please or thank you. Children are learning about safe routines and a sense of responsibility, for

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

example, they remember to put chairs away and not to leave them in doorways.

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

Children confidently manage their own hygiene, such as washing their hands. However, the toilet facilities available from within the room do not enable the children to have enough personal privacy because the cubicles are designed for pre-school children, and only have half-doors. This is especially important to the older, developing girls. Children enjoy a good range of healthy, nutritious snacks and have easy access to fresh drinking water through the session. Staff plan a range of food related activities and games to support children's understanding of healthy diets. Children have good opportunities to be physically active in the fresh air and develop their physical skills. They play interactive ball games, and enjoy running around. In good weather children spend a good deal of time outdoors. Even in inclement weather staff support children's wishes to be active outside. This effectively promotes their sense of well-being.

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provision

Staff demonstrate a suitable understanding of safeguarding procedures and regularly attend child protection training. There are clear, written procedures to follow, including an appropriate agreement to share information with the school as necessary. This helps to keep children safe if there are concerns about their welfare. The owner has a suitable process for determining the suitability of staff. For example, he applies for references and collects information about job histories and qualifications. However, at the inspection he was unable to demonstrate he had obtained Disclosure and Barring Service checks on all his staff. The risk to children is minimal as staff who work in school have their checks taken up there and none of the staff have unsupervised contact with the children. Nonetheless, absence of a complete record of these checks means this requirement of the Early Years Register and the Childcare Register is not met. Staff carry out risk assessments

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provision

and do daily visual checks of the premises and grounds to reduce hazards to children.

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provision

Most required documents meet the requirements, but generally, they are disorganised, and not always easily accessible. Some staff records were not available at the inspection and not all policies and procedures have been updated to reflect the revisions in the Early Years Foundation Stage framework. Additionally contact details of some agencies, such as Ofsted, are sometimes incorrect. This affects the safe and efficient management of the provision. The owner meets regularly with his staff team to discuss the routines and activities of the club. Although one-to-one supervision meetings are not held formally, he ensures staff have suitable opportunities to discuss any issues or concerns they may have. Staff morale is good and they work enthusiastically with the children. As a result, children enjoy their time in the club. Staff evaluate the success of activities to ensure they are enjoyable and successful. However, these evaluations do not take account of individual

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provision

children's achievements and the monitoring of children's progress is not fully effective. There is a tendency to rely on information from the school to identify any areas for concern relating to learning and development. As a result, addressing any delay in learning is reactive, rather than proactive. The owner is in the process of developing self- evaluation with the support of the local authority. Through discussion he demonstrates that there is a clear understanding of most of the priorities for development, giving the club a sound capacity for improvement.

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provision

Parents spoken to at the inspection indicate their children enjoy attending the club. They say staff are approachable and friendly. The owner keeps parents informed about events and dates by displaying notices. There is a flexible approach to attendance to meet the variable needs of working parents. Several staff work in the school, which has helped to develop sound links with teachers. Information about children's needs is generally exchanged verbally when staff collect them from classrooms, although this is mainly focused on their care needs, rather than their learning. The provider meets with the head teacher to share information where there are concerns about children's individual circumstances. This helps to ensure consistency of care.

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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 EY280529 Local authority Cambridgeshire Inspection number 819971

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 60 Number of children on roll 54 Name of provider Benjamin Michael Thorp Date of previous inspection 14/11/2011 Telephone number 01223 712127

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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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