Cherry Tree Kids Club Crook Log

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

This provision meets requirements Children arrive eager to engage in activities, and excitedly seek out their friends at the club. Staff get to know the children well.

This helps children settle quickly and develop trusting and encouraging relationships. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported particularly well at the club. For example, arrangements are made for them to enter the club a little before their peers, when it is less busy.

In this way, they are helped to establish a smooth transition from school to the club. Older children are particularly kind in the club, sharing resources with younger children. Children beha...ve very well.

They enthusiastically participate in a wide range of opportunities to support their physical development. Children enjoy it when staff join in with their games. For example, children eagerly enjoy teaching staff how to play pool.

Children settle down and eagerly talk to staff about their day. They demonstrate positive attitudes towards their play and learning, and engage well with the variety of activities on offer. Children play games with one another and happily engage in conversation.

Children use their small-muscle skills while drawing and folding paper aeroplanes, which they enjoy testing to see how far they fly. Children enjoy a calm and focused environment at the club where they can relax and enjoy themselves, and where staff meet the individual needs of them all.

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

The managers and staff develop strong partnerships with parents and children's teachers.

They share what they know about children's welfare needs, and work together to help children feel safe and well cared for. Parents say that their children thoroughly enjoy their time at the club. They value the feedback that staff provide about their child's daily experiences, and say that the club's feedback bridges the gap between school and home.

This helps to promote a consistent approach to support children's development and learning.The managers and staff are passionate about providing high-quality care. Children enjoy many play opportunities planned by the staff team to support their interests.

However, staff do not routinely offer children opportunities to share their ideas of what happens at the club. As a result, children do not feel they have ownership at the club.Children are well supported to enjoy healthy lifestyles.

They say they like being outdoors in the school's playgrounds where they have plenty of space to be active and energetic. Children are served healthy, freshly prepared snacks at the club. Staff encourage them to be independent, and teach them good hygiene practices, such as regular handwashing.

Children enjoy carrying out small tasks, such as preparing tables for their snacks.Children take part in physical activities, indoors and outdoors. For example, children work together to carve a spooky pumpkin, enjoy games of air hockey and take part in games of football and races on the scooters.

Staff join children in activities supporting children's communication and language skills, as well as their mathematical skills. Children enjoy discussing the book they are making, quickly prompting a conversation about what to draw to add to the book. Children eagerly calculate with staff how many spiders are left to find in the bowl of cooked spaghetti if they have already found six.

Staff are well supported by the managers. They receive regular supervision and access to training which enables them to carry out their roles and responsibilities well. Staff work well as a close, cohesive team and demonstrate a shared commitment to keeping children safe and happy.

They undertake their responsibilities meticulously, each having a comprehensive understanding of what is expected of them. However, new staff would benefit from a more detailed induction when they first start at the club.The managers and staff provide a safe environment for children to explore, and carry out thorough risk assessments on all areas of the setting.

The managers and staff also assess the safety of all activities and resources. They make changes where necessary to support children's safety and well-being. For example, due to heavy rain, staff explained why the climbing apparatus would not be safe.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The managers and staff have a good understanding of their responsibilities around safeguarding. Staff attend relevant training, and know the action to take if they have a concern about a child's welfare.

They have a good knowledge of wider safeguarding issues. The premises are secure, and only known adults can collect children. Staff carry out effective risk assessments of the premises.

Children are always supervised indoors and outside to make sure they are kept safe. The management team implements robust recruitment, selection and ongoing suitability procedures. This helps them to check that staff are suitable, and fully understand their role and what is expected of them.

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