St Paul’s Stars Breakfast and After School Club

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

This provision meets requirements Children are excited to arrive at the club. They are greeted by warm and friendly staff, who are familiar faces from school.

Children have access to a wealth of resources, both inside and out. They engage in playful experiences, such as hide and seek, and they happily sit with others, developing hand muscles as they play with dough. Play leaders put great emphasis on being active and they encourage children to maintain a healthy balanced diet.

They support children to make healthy choices around exercise and food, providing opportunities for children to help prepare healthy snacks and tea, such as fruit kebabs. They go on ...to serve these to their friends. Children are at the centre of club and staff know them extremely well.

Therefore, their individual needs are met consistently well. Play leaders meet children's emotional needs effectively. For example, new children to the club are supported if they become upset.

Staff reassure them and check in on them frequently during the session to make sure they are happy and settled. Children benefit from opportunities to play with children of different ages and they are building great friendships across age groups. Children respond to the high expectations staff have of them.

They behave well and, consequently, the club is very calm.

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

Children are greeted warmly by the staff team as they arrive at the club. It is well organised, and children are familiar with the routines expected, such as where to put their belongings.

Key people are deployed well for the younger children, and they understand each child's individual needs. This enhances the already secure attachments children demonstrate towards the staff team.Staff provide opportunities for children to explore a wide range of activities that support their personal interests.

They provide a rich environment, which further supports children's emotional and physical well-being. For example, children enjoy opportunities to rest and relax in a purposely placed quiet reading area that staff have created for them.Children are encouraged to risk assess in their play.

For instance, they test these skills as they work out how to move and navigate pull-along vehicles along a route. They consider with their friends if they should stand or sit before they are pulled along. Staff support these conversations and ask questions that allow children time to reflect and think.

This promotes children's confidence.All children demonstrate positive behaviour. They interact beautifully with each other across age groups.

Friendships are clearly made, and the children show mutual respect for others. For example, children build birthday cakes from play dough and offer to a friend who has a birthday that day. Children are supported by a nurturing team, who help them regulate their feelings and emotions.

For instance, staff listen and respond in a nurturing manner to all children. This demonstrates positive relationships that help children feel safe and secure.The club has positive partnerships with parents, committee members and the school.

Parents and school staff comment positively on the support from and community feel of the club. Leaders put a great deal of energy into managing the club. They are clear that the children are central through a strong sense of values.

The emphasis on working together with staff at other settings children attend helps to meet children's individual needs. For example, the school staff support with daily communications around additional support needs. Partnerships with the school are highly effective in promoting children's personal development.

The staff team comment that they are valued and respected. They say that they feel part of a wider team and family. Leaders ensure that staff receive adequate supervisions and have opportunities to meet as a team regularly.

They provide effective training for staff that further enhances the opportunities for children.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Leaders ensure that the staff team are deployed effectively across the club.

This ensures that children are always safely supervised. They work alongside the school to ensure regular risk assessments are carried out to ensure that the spaces used are safe and suitable each day. For example, they share information about routine assessments of outside play equipment.

Staff complete regular training, which helps to ensure that their safeguarding knowledge is up to date. For instance, through discussion, staff demonstrate a secure knowledge of how to identify possible signs of abuse. They know what action to take should they have concerns about a child's welfare.

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