Care and Social Services Inspectorate

Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010 Child Minding and Day Care (Inspection and Information for Local Authorities) (Wales) Regulations 2010 The Child Minding and Day Care (Wales) Regulations 2010

Inspection Report

Simply Out of School - Tondu Primary School Meadow Street Aberkenfig CF32 9BE

Type of Inspection – Baseline Date(s) of inspection – 02 December 2014 Date of publication – 03 February 2015

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Summary

About the service Simply Out of School Tondu was registered in June 2009 to provide care for a maximum of thirty-two (32) children aged 3 – 8 years. The setting is overseen by Georgina Price, who is the new registered person and person in charge on a day to day basis.

The setting provided childcare from Tondu Primary School in Aberkenfig, Bridgend. Children had access to the large hall, toilet facilities and the outdoor yard. The kitchen and all other rooms within the school building remained out of bounds to children.

What type of inspection was carried out? This was a scheduled, unannounced, baseline inspection that looked at the four quality themes; quality of life, quality of staffing, quality of leadership and management and quality of environment.

This report was based on the following; A review of the history of the service. Discussions with the person in charge and the staff and children present. Discussions with two parents Inspection of a sample of the records held by the service.

What does the service do well? Close links are maintained with the school. Very good relationships are maintained with the parents Offers a collection service from the second school site at Heol Persondy

What has improved since the last inspection? New resources have been purchased including, games for the PSP, jigsaws and board games. Numbers of children attending the service have increased since a lot more advertising has been organised to market the club.

What needs to be done to improve the service? At the time of the inspection visit we found the service to be non-compliant with the following regulations from “The Child Minding and Day Care (Wales) Regulations 2010”

Regulation 15: Statement of Purpose is to be sent to CSSIW annually and whenever it has been reviewed as a result of changes within the service. The Person in charge has confirmed that this will be forwarded to CSSIW immediately, which has since been complied with. Regulation 16: Quality of Care Report to be written following the annual review of the service and made available at the service for staff and service users to view, as well as to CSSIW. The Person in charge has confirmed that this will be forwarded to CSSIW immediately, which has since been complied with.

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The registered person was informed of the following good practice recommendation as detailed in the National Minimum Standards for Regulated Child Care 2012:- Staffing ratios, NMS 15. 6 – The adult to child ratio relate to staff time available to work directly with children. Additional staff and management resources may be required to prepare meals or snacks, if it involves a member of staff leaving their child care duties. The person in charge has confirmed that this will be addressed immediately and that at no time will the children be left in the sole charge of one member of staff. The person in charge has since forwarded CSSIW details of the proposed arrangements to address this situation.

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Quality Of Life

Overall we (CSSIW) found that children are cared for in a safe and relaxed environment, and that they have access to a range of age appropriate activities that keep them engaged and entertained.

Children are encouraged to express their views and exercise choice because free play was an integral part of the session and their views were taken into account when planning activities. We observed the children confidently choosing their own toys and activities and instigating their own play.

Parents can be assured that their children’s individual needs are met because the staff had obtained all relevant information prior to the start of the placement. We found that both staff members knew the children well and demonstrated that they were aware of their needs and preferences. Comprehensive records were seen to reflect the needs of the children. The person in charge confirmed that there had not been any complaints since the last inspection and the children told us that they were really happy at the club and enjoyed the activities. All of the children were seen to be well behaved and polite.

Children are cared for in a warm and caring environment because we saw that positive relationships had developed between the children and the staff. The interactions between the staff and the children were relaxed and affectionate. The children were at ease in the setting and we saw plenty of teasing and laughing. The positive and complimentary comments by parents spoken to during the inspection visit indicated that their children were happy at the setting.

Children’s physical well-being and health is promoted as the daily routine included games and outdoor play and the club offered healthy snacks and drinks. In addition, children were encouraged to develop an awareness of a healthy lifestyle, including personal hygiene and safety, because of the way in which good health was promoted at the setting. We saw children being encouraged to act appropriately and, where possible, independently e.g. hand washing before eating and after going to the toilet.

Children are encouraged to manage their behaviour in a positive way, and we were told that appropriate systems were in place to manage behaviour. On the day of the inspection the behaviour of the children was seen to be very good, and we saw that they responded positively to reminders from staff about safety issues. There was a behaviour policy in place and we saw that staff remained calm and patient with all of the children. There was a lovely relaxed atmosphere and children played together well.

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Quality Of Staffing

We noted that both of the staff members present during the inspection visit were experienced and qualified child care practitioners and they had the skills and knowledge to meet the needs of the children in their care.

Parents can be confident that their children are being cared for by competent staff because both staff members are NVQ Level 3 trained and had worked in child care for many years. Both members of staff held valid first aid, food hygiene and child protection training certificates. During the inspection we saw both staff working well together as a team and they demonstrated a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities.

Children benefit from motivated carers who make a positive difference to their experience. The staff present, were seen to be enthusiastic and confident, and we noted the positive relationships that had been built between them and the children. We saw that the staff were keen to use their skills to benefit the children, and supported them within their activities. We saw that children were comfortable and confident to ask for the activities that they wanted and that the staff members tried to accommodate these requests wherever possible.

We saw that children’s independence was encouraged because the staff praised the children’s achievements and provided good role models for the children. We saw a child handing out snacks to the other children and the children were encouraged to help to clear the table. Children also tidied up after playing with activities and painting. The parents we spoke to during the inspection visit praised the service for encouraging the children to mix and play with children of different ages and they told us that as a result of this, their children’s emotional and social skills had developed.

Generally, children benefit from a ratio of adult: child ratios that conformed to best practice as the number of staff present in the club sessions, as evidenced in the registers, met the legally required number. On the day of the inspection there were eleven children present with eight children under the age of eight and two staff members present. However, at the time of the inspection it was evident that one member of staff was left with the children whilst the other member of staff left the room to prepare warm food for the children. The person in charge assured CSSIW that this would be addressed immediately and although this had been brought up in the last inspection report she had followed the wishes of the parents for the children to have warm food. It was explained that this was a safety issue and that if warm food was needed an extra member of staff would need to be employed to ensure that the children were supervised appropriately, in line with the “National Minimum Standards for Regulated Child Care 2012”:-Staffing ratios, NMS 15.6.

Parents are kept informed about their children because we found that the care provided was relaxed and unhurried as the staff had plenty of time to talk to the parents when the children were collected.

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Quality Of Leadership and Management

Overall, we found that the service generally is well run and that the registered person was committed to providing and continuing an after school service in the school.

Parents are provided with adequate information to assist them to make an informed choice about the setting because a statement of purpose was available to anyone who made an enquiry, however, the last statement of purpose produced by the service had been sent to CSSIW in October 2013. The person in charge was therefore informed that the service was not compliant with Regulation 15 of “The Child Minding and Day Care (Wales) Regulations 2010”. The service has since forwarded an updated statement of purpose to CSSIW and is therefore now compliant with regulations. Additional information was available at the (setting) including the policy file and certificates.

Children and parents are consulted about the service provided because the registered persons were aware of the need to undergo an annual quality of care review. Informal discussions had been held with the children, staff and parents and questionnaires had been distributed to parents and committee members, however, a copy of the service’s Quality of Care Report was not available on the premises for parents to view but has since been forwarded to CSSIW.

We found that children are safeguarded by the setting’s record keeping because all of the regulatory records were maintained to a good standard. Records were clear, kept up to date and stored securely. The following records were viewed at this visit :-

Accident/incident records Record forms, contracts and consent forms Attendance registers Visitors Book.

The setting had valid public liability insurance and the certificate was displayed on the premises.

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Quality Of The Environment

We found that children are cared for in an environment that was safe, secure and suitable for its purpose.

We saw that children are cared for in an environment that is welcoming and stimulating because the club is based in the main hall within the primary school. There was appropriate child sized furniture throughout the room and the toys and resources were easily accessible. The layout of the room ensured that there was adequate and safe play and rest space for the children. An enclosed large outdoor yard area was also available for the use of the club and the person in charge confirmed that the children were supervised whilst playing outside at all times. Photographs of children involved in activities and the children’s work was displayed on the cupboards belonging to the club within the school hall.

Parents can be assured that their children are cared for in a clean and healthy environment because the setting employs a cleaner and a school caretaker and there were systems in place for daily cleaning of the premises. The staff working in the service had been trained in food hygiene and we saw good hygiene practice taking place at snack times by the staff and the children.

We found that children’s safety is safeguarded when attending the setting because:

The registered person confirmed that risk assessments had been completed Children were supervised appropriately Staff were overheard giving safety messages to the children throughout the session A collection book was seen to be in use and signed by parents collecting their children Fire safety procedures were in place and a fire management plan was seen

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How we inspect and report on services We conduct two types of inspection; baseline and focussed. Both consider the experience of people using services.

Baseline inspections assess whether the registration of a service is justified and whether the conditions of registration are appropriate. For most services, we carry out these inspections every three years. Exceptions are registered child minders, out of school care, sessional care, crèches and open access provision, which are every four years.

At these inspections we check whether the service has a clear, effective Statement of Purpose and whether the service delivers on the commitments set out in its Statement of Purpose. In assessing whether registration is justified inspectors check that the service can demonstrate a history of compliance with regulations.

Focused inspections consider the experience of people using services and we will look at compliance with regulations when poor outcomes for people using services are identified. We carry out these inspections in between baseline inspections. Focussed inspections will always consider the quality of life of people using services and may look at other areas.

Baseline and focused inspections may be scheduled or carried out in response to concerns.

Inspectors use a variety of methods to gather information during inspections. These may include;

Talking with people who use services and their representatives Talking to staff and the manager Looking at documentation Observation of staff interactions with people and of the environment Comments made within questionnaires returned from people who use services, staff and health and social care professionals

We inspect and report our findings under ‘Quality Themes’. Those relevant to each type of service are referred to within our inspection reports.

Further information about what we do can be found in our leaflet ‘Improving Care and Social Services in Wales’. You can download this from our website, Improving Care and Social Services in Wales or ask us to send you a copy by telephoning your local CSSIW regional office.

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