Time Out at South Milford

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

This provision meets requirements Children thrive in the care of the dedicated staff and management team.

They provide a welcoming, safe, and nurturing environment. Children are confident and develop strong bonds with staff, who know them well. For instance, children eagerly invite staff into their play.

Children choose from a wide range of resources and make independent choices about what they would like to do. They take part in many craft activities that allow them to explore their creative skills. For example, children concentrate well to cut out the rabbit-shaped face to make a mask.

Staff offer a good assortment of different resources, allowi...ng children to choose how they would like to decorate them. Staff are good role models. They offer plenty of praise and encouragement.

As a result, children are consistently kind and caring. Children say please and thank you without any prompting. They are happy to involve others in their play, and demonstrate the ability to take turns when playing games.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the manager has adapted the arrangements for the departure of children. Parents now collect their children from the school gate. Staff have prioritised hygiene routines to further reduce the risk of transmission.

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

Children show high levels of imagination during their everyday play. For instance, they work together to make a bus and pretend to go to a safari park. Adults support and extend their play by introducing money and a money bag for the passengers to pay for their ride.

Partnerships with the host school are strong. Staff communicate with teachers when they collect children from their classrooms. Furthermore, the manager regularly spends time in younger children's classrooms.

This helps her to get to know the children and their individual personalities better.Overall, staff support children's understanding of being healthy. For instance, children are given healthy foods at lunchtime and water to drink.

However, at snack time children are offered biscuits as an alternative to fruit.Children demonstrate good levels of confidence and self-esteem. For instance, they excitedly tell the inspector how they made their bead bracelets in a previous session.

Children know the routine of the club very well. They are independent and responsible individuals.Recruitment procedures for staff are robust.

Staff receive a thorough induction and regular supervision meetings, to support their ongoing professional development. There are clear systems in place to monitor staff's practice and to ensure that their skills continue to develop over time.Children take part in cultural activities throughout the year.

For instance, children enjoy craft activities to celebrate the Chinese New Year and practise painting their hands with henna. This helps them to develop their understanding of the world around them.Children have daily opportunities to be outside in the fresh air.

During holiday club, children are invited to take in their own wheeled toys. Children enjoy playing football and running games together. They say it gives them 'lots of energy' and makes them 'feel happy'.

Adults interact well with children. They get down to children's level to play. Adults listen carefully to what children say and ask a good range of questions to encourage children to think more deeply.

For instance, children are challenged to consider how they might make their bus bigger, so more children can get on.Partnerships with parents are good. Parents make positive comments about the care their children receive.

They describe staff as 'positive and caring' and that the club has a 'happy and welcoming' atmosphere. Staff gather information from parents about children's interests when they start to attend. This helps children to settle in quickly.

Children are happy, confident and sociable. They develop a strong sense of belonging through their active involvement in how the club is run. For example, children contribute their ideas in relation to behavioural rules in the club.

Staff help to reinforce certain skills that complement children's learning. For instance, they encourage children to write their names on their masks when they have finished.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff demonstrate a good knowledge of the signs and symptoms that may indicate that a child is at risk of harm. These include wider safeguarding issues, such as female genital mutilation and exploitation. They are confident about who to report concerns to, including concerns about their colleagues.

The manager ensures that staff regularly update their knowledge on current safeguarding issues. Staff complete regular checks on the environment to help them to identify and eliminate any risks. They deploy themselves effectively to ensure that children are closely supervised and always supported.

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