St. Mary & St. Michael Holiday Scheme

St. Mary & St. Michael Holiday Scheme

Unique reference number (URN): EY349265 Address: St. Mary & St. Michael Primary School, Sutton Street, LONDON, E1 0BD Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 14/05/2007 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: London Borough of Tower Hamlets

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, children are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect settings for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The setting has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not met: The setting has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Staff have embedded a respectful culture, where children increasingly manage their own feelings and behaviour. Staff respond swiftly and sensitively when children become frustrated, guiding them to resolve conflicts independently. For example, children are encouraged to ask peers to join play in the home corner and to share equipment. Staff remain close by to monitor wellbeing, ensuring children quickly re-engage positively in their play.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Staff model positive social skills, enabling children to develop kindness and mutual respect. Children benefit from warm and polite interactions and gentle reminders about the rules, for example not running in corridors and respecting their own and others' belongings. Daily briefings co-construct the holiday scheme agreement, and children demonstrate an impressive understanding of the rules, confidently suggesting additions and explaining what respectful behaviour looks like. Staff use role play and scenarios to reinforce expectations around sharing and turn-taking. Consequently, children's behaviour is excellent.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Well-established routines create a calm and purposeful environment. Transitions are smooth and seamless, supported by staff using consistent strategies, such as songs at tidy-up time. Even children new to the provision quickly follow established routines, demonstrating positive attitudes and independence as they prepare for the next activity.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Leaders take decisive and proactive action to promote attendance and safeguard children's wellbeing. Registers are carefully monitored and parents receive prompt follow-up calls if a child does not arrive as expected, reinforcing the setting's high expectations for attendance and ensuring children's safety during holiday provision.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Leaders consistently prioritise children's welfare and create an inclusive environment, where every child feels safe and respected. Personal privacy and appropriate behaviour in toilets are discussed with older children, who understand how to report concerns. Leaders operate an open admissions policy, including children who are not fully toilet trained. Staff are well trained to support toileting needs sensitively, particularly for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children's emotional wellbeing is thoughtfully supported through structured and responsive provision. Leaders recognise that children may arrive with their own worries and have established a calm zone with a 'worry box' and carefully selected books, including stories, such as 'The Worrysaurus', to help children understand and manage their feelings. As a result, children are supported to express emotions appropriately.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Embedded routines promote independence and healthy lifestyles. Children self-serve and manage their lunch routines confidently while staff supervise carefully to ensure food safety in line with choking guidance. Staff encourage children to make healthy choices and discuss nutrition positively. On rare occasions, staff are less consistent in their approach to supporting healthy packed lunches. However, this does not significantly impact children's experiences, as supportive approaches are applied consistently across the provision.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders have established a highly inclusive culture of supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Through close partnership with local authority services, leaders secure additional funding for vulnerable families and those with SEND. Detailed information is gathered from parents and schools well in advance, enabling staff to be exceptionally well prepared to meet children's individual needs from the outset.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Children with SEND receive tailored and consistently reviewed support that makes a difference to their experiences. The special educational needs coordinator reviews special needs assessment forms and plans bespoke activities and reasonable adjustments. Enhanced staffing ratios, including one-to-one support, alongside specialist resources and limitless training, ensure children access the full offer of the holiday scheme confidently and successfully.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders close monitoring of support and strong multi-agency partnerships ensure that adaptations have a positive impact on children and their family's wellbeing. For example, staff receive ongoing specialist training, including medical needs training, such as supporting children with diabetes. Parents report that children settle quickly, feel safe and thrive and that the provision provides meaningful respite.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders have an accurate understanding of the holiday scheme's strengths and areas for development. They use evaluation effectively to inform improvement. At the end of each programme, leaders gather feedback from children, parents and staff. They analyse this carefully to identify which activities have the greatest impact and why families choose to return. For example, leaders use this information to plan future trips based on those that have proved most popular with children, helping to maintain high levels of engagement and enjoyment. Leaders also take account of staff feedback when organising the provision. They consider staff preferences and strengths, including when staff identify the age groups of children with whom they feel they make the most positive contribution. This helps leaders to deploy staff effectively and supports staff wellbeing. This information is used for future planning so that the provision remains responsive to children's interests and family needs.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders work constructively with other children's services within the local authority. They signpost families to additional support, including weekend respite care and community projects. This helps to extend support for children beyond the holiday period and demonstrates leaders' commitment to acting in the best interests of children.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Despite the periodic nature of the scheme, leaders prioritise professional development and staff wellbeing. Pre-scheme meetings, structured feedback and one-to-one coaching are used to identify training needs and provide support. Leaders ensure that staff can access training, including providing laptops and additional guidance where needed. Staff report that workloads are manageable and that they feel valued. Parents appreciate the consistency of familiar staff, which contributes to children feeling secure and settled.

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Compulsory Childcare Register requirements

This setting has met the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register.

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Register

When we check if settings meet the Compulsory Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes:

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Voluntary Childcare Register requirements

This setting has met the requirements of the voluntary part of Childcare Register.

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Register

When we check if settings meet the Voluntary Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes:

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Children arrive eager to take part in activities that are both enjoyable and purposeful. Leaders plan activities that provide children with stimulating experiences and help them practise the skills they are typically developing at their age. For example, when making play

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Inspector:

Davinder Dhaliwal dough, they follow instructions carefully, measure ingredients and practise turn-taking. Staff model and repeat key vocabulary, such as 'squash, squeeze' and 'tablespoon', encouraging children to use these words confidently in their play. Children talk enthusiastically about using the play dough to create animals, showing imagination and pride in their ideas.

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Inspector:

Children benefit from warm, high-quality interactions. Staff join in play thoughtfully, extending children's thinking without taking over. When building a train track, one child explains the challenges he faces. A staff member helps him reflect and consider possible solutions, supporting his problem-solving skills and resilience. Outdoors, children explore the garden using magnifying glasses to search for minibeasts. Staff share their excitement, encouraging them to look closely, describe what they see and use their senses. These positive interactions help children feel valued and motivated to keep exploring.

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Inspector:

Key adults are allocated to early years children, and pre-scheme meetings ensure staff understand children's individual needs before they attend. This careful preparation enables children to settle quickly and develop trusting relationships with familiar adults. Parents speak positively about these arrangements and say this is one of the reasons they choose to return to the scheme.

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Next steps

Leaders and those responsible for governance should sustain their work to ensure continued improvement and high standards. They should focus on creating a transformational impact on the outcomes and experiences of disadvantaged children, those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, those who are known (or previously known) to children's social care, and those who may face other barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with leaders, parents, staff and the special educational needs coordinator during the inspection.

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About this inspection

We carried out this inspection 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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Address:

St. Mary & St. Michael Primary School Sutton Street LONDON E1 0BD

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Registered person: London Borough of Tower Hamlets

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Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 18:00

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other settings can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The setting reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The setting is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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