Funtastic Kids @ Hawthorns

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

This provision meets requirements Children are very settled and happy at the club. They arrive eager to take part in the wide range of sports and creative activities that are on offer to them.

Staff are extremely welcoming and caring. They help children to settle quickly and are attentive to their individual needs.Children are encouraged to make choices, use their imagination and thoroughly enjoy creative activities.

For instance, they eagerly work together to make a dinosaur island, using a wide range of creative materials and different tools to create their pictures. Younger children receive sensitive support from staff who get to know them well. Older c...hildren develop their social skills as they take part enthusiastically in games that require teamwork and problem-solving.

All children are encouraged to participate and enjoy activities to their full potential. Children behave well and show compassion and care towards their younger friends. They are confident and have high levels of self-esteem.

Staff have high expectations of all children and are good role models. They know the children well, which helps to support their well-being. Children demonstrate that they feel safe and secure at the club.

For example, they talk confidently about the rules in place at the club and how to keep themselves safe.

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

Children have very good opportunities to develop new friendships and build positive relationships. They happily cooperate as they work with friends of different ages.

Older children help their younger friends as they carefully cut around drawings and use glue, paint and other creative materials. Children delight as they make choices and complete creative projects to proudly show staff.Staff engage well with the children, interacting with them effectively.

They plan exciting and challenging activities and encourage children to extend this further. For example, children use the hoops to jump in and out of. They enjoy balancing activities and move the hoops by rolling them to each other to extend their play.

Staff promote the importance of good health. Mealtimes are sociable occasions where children eat together and discuss what they have been doing and the activities they enjoy. Staff encourage children to select the healthier options in their lunch boxes at mealtimes.

This helps children to understand how to make healthy choices.Parents speak positively about the club. They comment that their children enjoy coming to the club and that they are happy with the service provided.

Parents say that staff are kind and caring with their children. However, leaders recognise that the feedback arrangements at the end of the day could be improved. This is to ensure that parents of younger children are consistently well informed about what children do during the day.

Staff are well supported by the leadership team. They receive a detailed induction about the organisation of the club to help them to understand their roles and responsibilities. Staff work well together and share their skills and knowledge.

They complete regular training, such as safeguarding and first aid, to help keep children safe.The club encourages older children to join their 'Young Playleaders Programme'. This allows children from 11-15 years the opportunity to develop their leadership and communication skills by supporting younger groups.

This helps children to build their self-esteem as they take on responsibilities and learn how to organise and support their peers and younger children.Children have good opportunities to be physically active, such as during outdoor team and other group games. They have access to plenty of outdoor space to run, climb, explore, throw, kick and roll.

Children use the space well to extend their movements, using equipment to challenge their existing skills.There is a strong leadership team in place and, together, they accurately evaluate the effectiveness of the club. They seek the views of parents and children and then use the resulting information to plan improvements.

Leaders continually reflect on the provision and staff's practice to identify further areas of improvement. They use training opportunities effectively to enhance their own and staff's skills and knowledge.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff have good knowledge of the signs and symptoms of possible abuse and neglect, including wider safeguarding issues. They know the procedures to follow should they have any concerns about a child in their care. The management team follows safe recruitment procedures to ensure staff are suitable to work with children.

All staff attend mandatory safeguarding training and keep up to date with changes in legislation and policy. Staff are deployed well to ensure good levels of supervision and support for all children. The premises are safe and secure, and staff complete daily risk assessments of the areas used by children to minimise the risk of harm.

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