Shefford Dawn Until Dusk

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

This provision meets requirements Children arrive happily at the club and are keen to find out what activities are on offer to them. Staff provide them with lots of choice, such as where and with what they want to play.

Many children are eager to play outside and staff give them sustained amounts of time to engage in active play. Children learn about democracy as they use a voting system to decide what areas outside they want to use. All children respect the choices that are made and join in with the chosen activities.

Inside, children choose to take part in creative activities such as wax painting and drawing. They show that they are learning how to keep ...themselves safe, for example by watching for traffic when crossing roads. Children demonstrate their understanding through drawing a large picture of a road.

They add pelican crossings, paths and lights and talk about safe places to cross the road. Other children choose to use word searches and puzzles sheets linked to the topic of road safety. Children are encouraged to develop healthy lifestyles.

One way staff help them with this is by planning activities showing how much sugar is in drinks. Staff talk about the positive impact this has on children's understanding of their daily sugar intake.

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

The provider has strong recruitment procedures in place.

This helps to ensure that staff are suitable to work with children. Induction procedures are comprehensive. This results in new staff having a very good understanding of safeguarding and health and safety procedures, right from the start of their employment.

Children are actively encouraged to be independent and to learn ways to keep themselves safe. For example, they help with food preparation and setting the table for mealtimes. Children enjoy being the daily health and safety person.

They talk confidently about the areas they are checking and what they will do if they find any hazards.Staff receive regular coaching and supervision from the managers and company directors. Managers actively encourage staff to talk about their well-being and look for ways to support them.

This results in a dedicated and motivated team. Staff have opportunities to access many different training courses. Some staff are undertaking further qualifications and talk positively about how this helps them to develop their knowledge and skills.

Parents speak positively about the club and staff. They say their children are very happy to attend and are always reluctant to leave. Staff encourage parents to give them feedback on the club using questionnaires.

Partnerships with the host school are strong and effective. The headteacher speaks positively about the club and feels it is of benefit to the school. Staff have opportunities to speak to children's teachers each day.

This helps them to share relevant information.Managers and staff evaluate the service they provide effectively and look for ways to improve. They seek the views of children and incorporate their ideas into practice.

For example, staff are currently identifying how they can develop areas where children can grow plants.Overall, children's behaviour is good and they mainly listen to instructions well. However, the staff do not always organise mealtimes well enough.

This results in a disorganised environment and some staff are not always assertive enough with their instructions to children.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.All managers and staff regularly complete safeguarding training and understand how to recognise concerns about children.

They know how to swiftly make referrals both within the setting and to relevant agencies. The staff proactively implement the provider's secure procedures into their practice. For example, they make sure children are supervised effectively, especially as they move from inside to outside.

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