Jam After School Club

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

This provision meets requirements Children arrive happily at the club and warmly welcomed by staff who know children's unique personalities.

This helps them to provide a personalised approach to children's care and play. Children demonstrate that they feel safe and secure. They know to place their personal belongings on the designated chairs and greet authorised visitors.

Children enjoy the freedom to choose what they would like to play with and where. They ask staff inquisitive questions as they become deeply engaged in activities, such as making a pirate boat using either a sponge or the base of a plastic bottle. Children eagerly predict if their boat wi...ll sink or float in the large tray of water and test out their ideas.

Children are very imaginative; they pretend to be doctors and nurses and write prescriptions for their friends and staff. Staff are positive role models and have high expectations of children's behaviour. They have identified that following the COVID-19 pandemic some children appear more anxious and occasionally need support to regulate their behaviour.

Therefore, staff have invested a considerable amount of thought to create a welcoming calm area. Children use this as a sanctuary with the support of staff to gain a deep understanding of their emotions using the richly resourced calm box. A heart of kindness, designed by children, is beautifully displayed in this area.

Children have written what kindness means to them, alongside their hand print. This serves as a prominent reminder of the importance to show patience, compassion and kindness towards others.

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

Children are independent and follow a good hygiene routine.

They choose what they would like to eat from a nutritious range of foods. Children are well supported to prepare some of their meal, such as spreading butter on their crackers or roll and safely use a knife to cut raw vegetables. They have a positive attitude about healthy lifestyles.

Children benefit from lots of physical exercise outdoors. They persevere to master new skills, such as swinging across the monkey bars. Staff limit children's time on appropriate tablet apps to ensure they continue to develop strong social skills.

The provider and staff team are highly reflective of the provision they offer. They actively seek and implement suggestions from parents and children to continually enhance their service. In response to children's feedback, the provider has expanded the selection of nutritious foods even further to include those that children have enjoyed during holidays with their parents.

This has a positive impact by introducing all children to a broader variety of tastes.Strong partnership working with children's teachers of the host school are embedded. Staff actively seek information about current topics that children are learning in school, in addition to the individual learning needs of children.

Staff use this information exceptionally well in the club to implement fun yet meaningful experiences that help to build on what children know and can do.The provider ensures that all staff understand their roles and responsibilities through a comprehensive induction. They hold regular supervision meetings to effectively support staff's continual professional development.

Training is targeted to specifically support the needs of children attending, in addition to meeting the individual requirements of staff. Regular staff meetings enable staff to share new knowledge with the whole team. This helps to provide a consistent approach.

Highly effective aids created by the staff team, such as the 'walk around book' is used to help ensure that children benefit from a highly enabling environment and rich experiences. This is also shared with children to inform future planning. They enjoy looking at photographs of past activities and engage in deep discussions with the staff, recalling what they enjoyed and express a desire to repeat certain activities.

Children behave well. They consistently show a high level of respect towards other children and staff. Children listen intently to their friends as they share their achievements from their day at school and know to use good manners when speaking to staff.

The club's golden values are designed and agreed by children. This helps them to understand what is expected of them. Children play harmoniously together.

Older children are positive role models for younger children. They warmly invite them to join in with team games and help them to understand the rules.Parents are highly complimentary about the club.

They comment about the great range of activities available to their children. Parents are particularly impressed with the level of communication from the 'highly attentive' staff team which they describe as 'incredible'. They talk about how their children always have the 'biggest smile' on their face when they come to collect them.

Children also express how much they love attending the club and joining in with the activities.

Safeguarding

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