Mini Beast Out of School Club

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

This provision meets requirements Children happily enter the safe and stimulating club with great levels of energy and excitement. They eagerly take part in a broad range of highly accessible activities and have great fun. Children demonstrate excellent friendships, confidence and independence.

They readily choose what they want to play with and are clearly at ease during familiar, well-established routines. Children play imaginatively with dinosaur figures and express their creative ideas. Children have an active involvement in how the club is run, which helps them to develop a strong sense of belonging and feel valued.

Children enjoy staff's positive and... friendly interactions as they engage in their play. For example, when children lack confidence to write their own name, staff warmly support and encourage them to try. This helps to foster children's self-esteem, can-do attitude and sense of achievement.

Children show great motivation, engagement and focus. These are just some of the key skills that staff reinforce to support children's successful learning as they move through school. Children are highly sociable.

They chat away while playing and having tea. Children demonstrate exemplary behaviour as they follow the club's rules, which they help to set. They are kind, polite and respectful to one another, something which staff model exceptionally well.

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

Staff support children's transitions to the club effectively. For example, they gather extensive information about each child through an 'all about me' document. This helps staff to settle children in during stay-and-play sessions and to promote their emotional well-being.

Staff plan and organise activities and the environment exceptionally well, in most respects. This enables children to take part in a wealth of meaningful experiences and play opportunities. These build on children's knowledge, enhance their enjoyment and help them to grow in confidence.

Staff base comprehensive planning around children's interests and ideas, national events and a wealth of topics, including those taking place in school.Staff establish excellent partnerships with Reception Year staff to complement children's learning. Staff undertake observations, including through annotated photos.

These are reflected in folders that capture children's first year at the club. Staff share this information with Reception Year staff to contribute to their assessments, and work together to prepare children for moving up through the school.Staff provide expansive activities that foster children's friendships and social skills.

Children enjoy making Mother's Day cards together. They show great concentration as they colour petals and use flower stencils. Staff enhance children's enjoyment through their effective interactions.

For example, staff explain the pattern on one stencil is that of a 'rose'. They offer to write the letters in children's names for them to copy.Staff contribute well to children's physical well-being and understanding of healthy lifestyles.

For example, children take part in activities that compare healthy and unhealthy foods, and events to promote physical activity, such as 'The Big Skip'.Staff plan many fun activities that reinforce children's early mathematical and literacy skills. As part of this, staff provide board games, create a cosy reading area and set out spring-themed mark-making activities.

Staff enrich children's activities and areas of play with pictures, labelling and opportunities to practise writing. For example, staff place a clipboard holding a 'repair shop record' in the construction area.Staff reinforce the club rules effectively.

For example, when the noise level increases due to children's excitement, staff gain children's attention by shaking the tambourine. Staff praise children for remembering to use good manners. They share in children's achievements and display children's artwork, such as still-life paintings of daffodils.

This helps children to feel proud.Staff help children to learn about certain aspects of diversity through planned activities linked to topics and multicultural celebrations. However, staff do not consistently represent this further in the environment to expand on children's understanding of a broader representation of difference.

The provider undertakes excellent self-reflection, in extremely close consultation with staff, external networks, children and parents. She distributes questionnaires for parents and children, sharing the outcome of her evaluations. Parents share highly complimentary feedback with the inspector.

The provider's and deputy manager's qualifications, and continued mentoring of staff, have an extremely positive impact on practice.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff give a high priority to children's safety and welfare.

The provider implements rigorous recruitment and vetting of staff. Staff can identify the possible indicators of abuse and understand how to report their concerns to help protect children. Staff undertake rigorous risk assessments and provide excellent opportunities for children to learn about potential risks and dangers.

For example, they plan activities around national events, such as Safer Internet Day, and children help to assess risks. For example, after taking photos of a particular walk, children consider potential hazards. Visitors from the emergency services help to reinforce additional safety messages to children.

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