Club St John’s

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

This provision meets requirements The provider and staff work hard to create a warm and welcoming space for children.

Children arrive eager to join their friends and are happy at the club. The very youngest children settle quickly, carefully supported by the kind, gentle and caring staff. Staff are positive role models.

They have high expectations for children's behaviour. The provider and staff support children to understand how to respect each other. They have clear strategies in place to enable children to negotiate and resolve different points of view.

These skills will support children in their future lives. Children are very polite to staff ...and each other. Children's emotional well-being is central to the ethos of the cub.

Staff keep children safe and well. They carry out regular risk assessments and respond immediately to any potential hazards. Children learn how to keep themselves well.

They wash their hands when arriving at the club, before eating and after outside play. Children remember to take their water bottles outside on a warm day. They enjoy plenty of exercise.

Children run, climb, hop and jump. Staff support children in taking risks while talking to them about how to use equipment responsibly.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

The provider and staff are skilled at supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

They work hard to create an inclusive club, where all children are encouraged to take part in activities. Staff respect children's interests and needs. For example, children who like to read have a soft, comfortable area where they can curl up with a favourite book.

Children form strong bonds with staff and express this in different ways, for instance, by smiling and creating a heart shape with their fingers.Children say they enjoy being at the club. They describe it is 'exciting' and give it '10 thumbs up'.

Children benefit from a wide range of activities. They plan and build using construction resources. Children concentrate as they draw and colour pictures.

They delight in making up games to play together. Children become engrossed and busy, concentrating for long periods of time. They chat and laugh with each other.

Children help each other, if needed. There is a contented hum of activity within the club.The provider constantly reflects on the service provided for children and their families.

Since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, the provider has welcomed parents back into the club. The provider encourages parents to see what their children are doing and join in their play at the end of the day. Currently, the provider is seeking to develop different themes and activities offered by the club, to enrich children's experiences.

Parents praise the club. They describe it is a 'lifeline'. They particularly highlight the excellent two-way flow of information between the provider and themselves.

They say the provider and staff are responsive to their, and their children's, needs. Parents say they appreciate the flexibility provided by the club. They feel their children are safe and well cared for.

Staff say their professional skills and knowledge are supported well. They receive training and have regular meetings with the provider. Staff use their training, for example, to deepen their understanding of how to keep children safe.

The provider understands that not all children have the same advantages. The setting provides resources and experiences that children may not have access to outside of the club. The provider, staff and children work with community organisations to support disadvantaged families in the local area.

Staff support children to think about others whose life experiences may be different to their own.Children learn to make healthy choices. They enjoy a range of different fruit and vegetables.

Staff support children's independence skills well. For example, they encourage children to help to lay the tables before snack time. Children count how many plates and cups they will need for each table.

They build on the knowledge they learn at school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.There is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first.

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