School’s Out Activities At Colchester Royal Grammar School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

This provision meets requirements Children clearly enjoy their time at camp.

They are happy, settled and eager to take part in the wide range of interesting activities on offer. Each week is based around a theme, such as inventions and inventors. Children have opportunities to develop new skills and use resources they may not have used before.

For example, they use tripod easels and water paints to create paintings of rockets. Children are very well behaved and readily share resources with each other. Children come to the camp from numerous schools; many come back to the camp at each school holiday keen to see their friends from other schools.

The...y happily chat to each other and with children they have just met. Children eagerly rise to challenges that staff provide. For example, staff ask them to invent and draw a fantasy robot and then create the robot model in coloured dough.

Children demonstrate a keenness to draw their interpretation of a robot. They share ideas, which helps them to develop their designs further. For example, when children suggest including legs and hand controls, their friends adapt their drawings to include these features.

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

Staff build excellent relationships with the children. They know their characters and interests, helping them to support children in their chosen activities. For example, staff offer suggestions and advice to help children build large structures from bricks and other construction resources.

Children enjoy exciting, age-appropriate physical challenges. For example, children aged seven and over participate in energetic dodgeball and inflatable wipe-out games. Younger children jump around on bouncy castles and take part in life-size 'hungry hippo' games.

The provider identifies different age groups by colour, which helps to ensure that children enjoy age-appropriate activities and experiences. He encourages teenagers to take part in the 'Next Gen' programme, enabling them to volunteer at the camp and work through a written development programme at the same time. This helps to provide early career opportunities, such as possible employment.

All staff receive regular supervision and opportunities to attend training to help develop their skills. For example, some staff choose to learn how to teach children archery. Other staff complete lifeguard training and are then able to supervise children swimming.

This helps to provide children with an ever-increasing range of activities.Children and staff make full use of the facilities and space at the school from which they operate. For example, they use the canteen area to run a tuck shop and provide space for children to eat their snacks and packed lunches.

Staff take children over to another building to use the hall for dance lessons. The main stage area provides a venue for the end of week show, where children show off their new skills and achievements to their parents and carers.Partnerships with parents are very good.

Parents receive feedback at the end of each day about what their children have done and are encouraged to provide their thoughts and ideas to staff. Children complete feedback cards to share what they have enjoyed, which helps staff and the management to reflect on what they offer and make changes were necessary.A highly organised morning arrival routine ensures that parents know where to leave their children.

They receive a card with a security code written on it, which they repeat to staff when they collect their children at the end of the day. This helps to maintain high levels of security to keep children safe.Staff work closely together to offer children a varied, interesting and well-organised range of activities.

These change daily, helping to excite and occupy children. Large trolleys full of resources enable staff to quickly alter activities according to children's interests and their needs. For example, activities planned for outside play can be changed for indoor resources when the weather disrupts plans.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff have a good understanding of child protection and wider safeguarding issues. They are aware of the possible signs that may indicate that a child is at risk of harm and the reporting procedures to follow should they have any concerns about children.

Risk assessments are ongoing and help to keep children safe while they are at the camp. Staff regularly carry out head counts as they take children to different areas, such as the canteen or outside. This helps to ensure that all children are accounted for and safe.

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