Little Acorns Children's Club

Little Acorns Children's Club St Francis Centre, Community Hall, 144 Fencepiece Road, Hainault, Essex, IG6 2LA

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 18 March 2016 Not applicable

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management Requires improvement Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement Outcomes for children Requires improvement

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This provision requires improvement. It is not yet good because:

 Not all children progress as well as they should. Some staff do not make efficient use of information gained from observations to track children's progress across all areas of learning, and to provide sufficiently challenging experiences for each child.  Staff do not make the best use of opportunities during planned activities and children's play to extend children's mathematical development.  Children do not have enough opportunities to see examples of their own language to build their communication skills, or learn about other languages used in their locality to increase their understanding of diversity.  Self-evaluation is not effective. The provider has not identified inconsistencies in staff's assessments of children's learning or gaps in the curriculum programme.

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It has the following strengths

 The premises are secure and staff follow good procedures to prevent unauthorised visitors gaining access to children.  All children follow good hygiene routines. They regularly take part in physical activities and enjoy healthy meals, which promotes their good health effectively.  Staff develop trusting relationships with parents, children and other settings to promote continuity. They use various communication methods to keep parents and others involved well informed about the children's care and learning.

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

To meet the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage the provider must:

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Due Date

 ensure staff regularly and consistently assess children's progress in all areas of learning, to challenge and extend children's knowledge and skills effectively 01/04/2016

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Due Date

 improve the programme for mathematics to fully promote children's early mathematical development and build their individual understanding. 01/04/2016

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Due Date

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

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Due Date

 increase opportunities for children to recognise their home languages to extend their communication skills, and build their understanding of other community languages to help them learn about differences between themselves and other people  strengthen the self-evaluation process further to identify all gaps in current practice and prioritise areas for improvement effectively.

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Inspection activities

 The inspection was carried out following the risk assessment process.  The inspector had discussions with the provider and managers about the setting's practices and procedures.  The inspector observed the staff's interactions with the children.  The inspector had discussions with the staff at appropriate times and also spoke to some parents.  The inspector sampled some documents, which included the safeguarding policies, staff records, risk assessments, assessment records and the attendance register.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management requires improvement

Safeguarding is effective. The provider uses secure systems to check staff are suitable to work with children and to support their professional development. She encourages staff to undertake relevant training. For example, staff attend regular training to ensure they understand child protection procedures, including how to proceed if they suspect a child is at risk of harm. Staff carry out regular risk assessments to reduce hazards to children and follow clear procedures for outings to keep children safe. However, checks on the quality of teaching and assessments are not sufficiently robust to consistently meet children's learning needs. The provider works with external agencies to improve the environment and she is developing the evaluation process. However, this is not effective enough to identify where requirements are not being met and improvements are needed.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

Staff support children's communication and language skills appropriately overall, including children learning to speak English as additional language. However, staff do not ensure that children have enough opportunities to recognise their home languages to extend their communication skills. Younger and older children gain useful experiences from being grouped together at the beginning and end of the day. However, staff do not promote all areas of children's learning equally. For example, staff do not build children's understanding of simple measurements and mathematical language effectively. Staff monitor children's progress. However, this is inconsistent as staff do not use assessment effectively to identify and close any gaps in children's learning over time.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare require improvement

While there are weaknesses in supporting children's learning, the staff obtain information from parents to gain knowledge of children's needs and help them settle. Staff use an effective key-person system to enable children to feel secure, happy and form close attachments. Staff are consistent in their approach to behaviour management and use appropriate strategies to help children understand boundaries. Staff support younger children in sharing and taking turns, and encourage older children to become responsible in looking after the environment. Staff provide children with experiences to help them develop some awareness of diversity. However, children do not learn about other community languages to increase their understanding of similarities and differences.

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Outcomes for children require improvement

Children acquire some of the key skills in preparation for the next stage in their development and for school. However, the weaknesses in the assessment process means that some children are not sufficiently challenged to make the best possible progress.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY493845 Local authority Essex Inspection number 1041923 Type of provision Sessional provision Day care type Childcare - Non-Domestic Registers Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register, Voluntary Childcare Register Age range of children 2 - 8 Total number of places 28 Number of children on roll 30 Name of provider Little Acorns Children's Club (UK) Ltd Date of previous inspection Not applicable Telephone number 07926825667

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Setting details

Little Acorns Children's Club registered in 2015. It is located in a church hall in Hainault in the London Borough of Redbridge. The club opens each weekday from 9.15am to 3.15pm. The club is in receipt of funding for free early education sessions for children aged two, three and four years. The breakfast club opens from 7.30am to 8.50am and the after- school provision runs from 3.30pm to 6.30pm. There is a holiday play scheme and it runs from 8am to 6pm during the school holidays, not including the Christmas period. The club employs 11 staff; of these, eight are qualified at levels 2 and 3.

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Setting details

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

procedures set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. 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, safeguarding and child protection.

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Setting details

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Setting details

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Setting details

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