Cool Kids After School Club

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

This provision meets requirements Staff provide a welcoming, safe environment and greet children in a friendly manner as they enthusiastically arrive at the club. They establish positive relationships with children and get to know their individual personalities.

This enables them to plan experiences that they know will engage children in their play opportunities. Children enjoy taking part in these activities and make their own choices about where to play. For example, children become fully engaged in playing in the spaceship they made yesterday.

Staff are supportive to this play and encourage children to dress up as space people and use their imagination.... Staff ask questions, such as 'Where are we going in the spaceship?' They receive a response of 'Sweetie Planet'. Staff extend this play and explain to the children about gravity and going on a spacewalk.

Children listen and proceed to walk very slowly around the room, pretending to walk in space. Children thoroughly enjoy playing outside and use the equipment confidently. Staff encourage children to develop their physical skills as they play.

For example, staff join in with the children's play and suggest the children chase the hoops down the playground. This encourages the children to use their hand-eye coordination as they catch the hoops. Staff remind them to be careful as they run down the slope in the playground.

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

This small staff team has clear roles and responsibilities and work well together to offer enjoyable experiences for children. The managers work directly with children and staff daily. They provide ongoing support and guidance to staff to build on their knowledge and skills.

In addition, staff benefit from ongoing supervision sessions that help monitor their performance and to support their well-being.The managers support staff to extend their professional development. Staff complete mandatory training, such as safeguarding and first aid, to help them to update their knowledge about how to keep children safe.

They gather information from the internet to find new ideas for activities. For example, staff have researched how to extend the use of the outside area, to encourage all children to play outside.Staff support children's speaking skills well.

Children share their ideas and thoughts with confidence and happily talk about what they have done at school with their friends. They listen to each other with interest. Staff engage in deep conversations with the children.

They use these conversations to get to know about children's experiences and their home lives. This is evident as they talk about their experiences of Easter and as they take part in activities making Easter cards and decorating Easter eggs. Their discussions also include ideas about Easter egg hunts and estimates of how many eggs they might receive.

Parents praise the staff. They say that their children are settled and enjoy coming to the club. Parents praise the wide range of activities on offer and comment that they feel well informed about their children's experiences at the club.

Staff have established good working relationships with local schools from where they pick up and drop off children. There are robust systems in place for sharing information between schools and the club, so that parents are well informed about their child's day.Staff support children's independence, overall.

They encourage young children to hang their coats and bags up as they arrive. They provide opportunities for the children to make their own play choices. However, staff do not give the children the opportunity to extend their independence at mealtimes.

Staff serve all the food, such as wraps with cheese and ham, fruit and salad and pour the children's drinks, and do not encourage children to serve themselves.Staff are good role models to children for how to behave. They speak gently to children and treat them with respect.

This helps children to behave well. Children share and take turns as they play games, such as board games. They are polite and courteous towards others.

They use please and thank you as they interact with staff and their friends.

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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