Welwyn Garden City - Ridgeway

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

This provision meets requirements Children settle quickly at the holiday camp. Friendly staff greet them warmly and introduce themselves. This helps children to feel welcome and they soon engage in play.

Children enjoy activities which link to their experiences at home. For example, they excitedly talk about their preparations for Halloween as they colour in pictures of bats, pumpkins and ghosts. Children are excited to find others who share their interests.

This leads to new friendships being made. Staff interact positively with children, joining in with their play and activities. This results in mutual respect between children and adults.

Childr...en's behaviour is very good. Children have many opportunities to be active. They enjoy sports, team games, dance and drama.

Children understand the rules of the games and play cooperatively, sharing toys and resources well. Daily discussions around the rules and values of the club help children to stay safe. They know to have regular drinks of water to stay hydrated after being active.

Children organise their own food they bring from home, knowing to choose what to have for snack and lunch. This helps children to have sufficient nutrients for the day to keep them energised.

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

The enthusiastic manager and staff team organise the camp very well.

They are all aware of their roles and deploy themselves effectively to make sure all children are supported and supervised. Staff use radios to communicate between the different groups. This means they can immediately support each other when they are needed.

There is an appropriate key-person system in place for the younger children to ensure their emotional and care needs are met. Staff obtain detailed information about children before they start, which supports their transition into the camp.Children enjoy the many activities provided.

They develop their creative skills and concentrate well, such as when they design treasure maps. Children enjoy imaginative play, for example taking on the role of pizza chefs. They show their understanding of money and value as they sort out play bank notes and work out how much their pizzas cost.

Parents talk positively about the camp. They say their children enjoy the activities provided and are excited to attend. Parents say they have peace of mind that children are safe because of the effective health and safety procedures that are in place.

Children have many opportunities to make choices. They decide what activities they want to take part in through each day. Staff give children clear information of what each activity is.

This results in children making swift decisions and being excited to try out new experiences.There is a good relationship between the managers and the school. Open communication and detailed information sharing enables managers to know who is expected on site and of any maintenance work that is happening.

This helps to promote consistency in keeping children and staff safe.The provider has a robust recruitment procedure in place. This ensures all staff are suitable to work with children.

They receive good support to build on their knowledge and skills. The management team regularly observe staff as they lead activities and give them constructive feedback. This enables them to swiftly identify areas for development in staff practice.

Staff talk positively about the support they receive from the managers. They report they thoroughly enjoy working at the camp and many return year on year.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The managers and staff have a good understanding of their role and responsibility to protect children from harm. They accurately describe the possible signs and symptoms that may indicate that a child is at risk of abuse. Safeguarding policies and procedures are well understood.

As a result, staff are confident in what they must do should they have any concerns about children's well-being or the conduct of their colleagues. Staff are also aware of wider safeguarding issues, such as how families may become exposed to extremist views. Effective health and safety policies are securely embedded in practice.

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