OFSTED see also Adventure World 9.10.10 A trawl of OFSTED reports and letters had found a further ten
unfavourable comments about facilities for children at LC/Harpers run leisure
centres. Carnival Pool Crèche in Wokingham visited on 5.1.10 led to the following imposed actions: · Ensure children receiving childcare are kept safe from harm and
implement effective systems to ensure any person caring for, or in regular
contact with children is suitable to work with children; this must include
obtaining an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau check (Suitability of persons to
care for, or be in regular contact with, children). · The registered person must have a written statement of procedures
to be followed in relation to complaints which relate to the requirements of
the Childcare Register (Procedures for dealing with complaints) · The registered person must inform Ofsted of changes of
circumstances as soon as they can (no later than 14 days after the change occurs),
with particular regard to current registered individuals and nominated persons
for the setting (Providing information to Ofsted) · The organisation is inadequate. · “The quality and standards of the care are inadequate -
enforcement action. The registered person does not meet the National Standards
for under 8s day care and childminding.” · During the inspection, two acting managers were running the
provision. Neither member of staff holds appropriate qualifications for the
post nor is there a named deputy with an appropriate qualification who is able
to take charge in the absence of the manager. Lack of training and experience
has a negative impact on the provision's ability to meet children’s individual
needs effectively. · No evidence could be located regarding criminal record bureau
checks. Records, policies and procedures required for the safe and efficient
management of the provision and to promote the welfare, care and learning of
children are not fully implemented in practice or regularly updated to meet
changes in legislation. · The management of care does not effectively take account of the
overall safety, welfare and development of children. At times, there are
insufficient staffing levels to ensure that children are supervised safely. In
addition to this, daily registers do not include children's hours of attendance
to ensure that they can be safely accounted for at all times. · There is no child-height furniture available for the children.
They are unable to join in craft activities comfortably. · At lunch times, children duly wash their hands so they are nice
and clean and ready to eat, then, as there is no furniture, they sit on the
dusty, dirty floor to eat and drink. · Child-accessible storage is inadequate and badly organised, with
heavy items stored on upper shelves. During the inspection children accessed a
walk-in storage cupboard unchallenged, which contains units with collapsed
shelving and sweeping brushes with the sweeping contents still in-situ on the
floor. The storage of the lunch boxes creates a potential tripping hazard for children
as they run and skate around the sports hall. · Members of staff have not completed relevant first aid training
in order to protect children in the event of an accident or emergency
situation. · No clear systems in place to promote good hygiene practice, in
particular the cleanliness of the sports hall floor and areas where children
sit to eat their snack or lunch. In addition, whilst the setting's policy
states that packed lunches are refrigerated as necessary, this is not implemented
in practice to protect children from high risk foods, such as meat and egg
products. The policy also states that staff have completed food hygiene
training, however, during this inspection no members of staff had completed
this training and there were no systems in place to check that lunch boxes had
cool packs added. · Due to lack of staffing on some days, swimming is cancelled, much
to the disappointment of the children. There are no facilities enabling
children to rest or join in quieter activities, if children do not want to join
in a particular game or need to rest if they are tired, the only facilities are
two wooden benches. · There are adequate public toilet facilities for the children to
use. However, due to limited staffing, children are allowed to access these
independently without members of staff always checking first that it is safe
for them to do so, in order to protect them from harm.
· The manager does not have a secure knowledge of all aspects of
the setting's safeguarding procedures. Although the manager is aware to report
concerns regarding a child, she is unaware that the policy details that it is
the manager's responsibility to make a referral. Not all staff members are
aware of the requirements of the safeguarding policy or how to implement it. As
a result, children are not fully protected. · The rear door to the building has been secured to prevent
unauthorised access to the premises and children are not able to leave the
premises unsupervised. However, although there are specific designated areas of
the premises for the sole use of the provision, these are not used. As a
result, children use areas of the premises that are readily accessible to
members of the public, including the toilets. · The welfare requirement notice to request parental permission
for any necessary emergency medical advice or treatment to promote children’s
wellbeing in the event of an accident has not been met. · Evidence has not been made available to demonstrate that the
staff members are vetted. For example, there are no Criminal Record Bureau
disclosures for any of the staff present. In addition there is no evidence that
staff members are suitably qualified or that all supervisors hold a full and
relevant level 3 qualification. An interview under caution has been arranged to
discuss the reasons for failure to meet the welfare requirements. This interview
will inform any further action that Ofsted may wish to take. · Managers are ineffective in organising the staff to care for and
safeguard children. There was not a suitably qualified ‘person in charge’ on
site and at times, children are left in the sole charge of a student. This is a
breach of the requirements for registration. · The required records relating to children’s care are in place
but those relating to staff do not clearly demonstrate that staff are vetted,
which is a breach of the requirements for registration. · Staff have a general understanding of the setting’s policies and
procedures but those arriving from other settings to act as bank cover lack
familiarity with key procedures, such as those for evacuation. This diminishes
their ability to keep children safe. Staff have not implemented the setting's
risk assessment procedures, which results in hazards to children within the
premises. · The learning environment does not ensure all children are
engaged and included in purposeful play. · At times poor organisation results in the cancellation of
activities such as swimming at short notice, which causes disappointment to
children. Plans do not address the differing needs of younger children or those
who do not wish to participate in planned games, for example, children who do
not wish to take part in badminton or aerobic exercise. Overall, the lack of
planning results in periods of boredom and disengagement for younger children,
who find the activities are often not appropriately differentiated. · Staff plan for and teach children to be safe when moving around
the sports centre and crossing the car park but are not vigilant in checking
for hazards and consequently miss some potential risks to children’s safety.
Children take part in practising emergency drills but not all staff are
familiar with these procedures, which put children’s welfare at risk. Parents
spoken with say their children enjoy coming to the setting. They have access to
the setting’s policies and procedures, and notices that provide general
day-to-day information, such as the children’s activities, the names of the
staff on site and nominated first aiders, but these are not always up-to-date. Entries below were added 20.12.08 Not for the first time (e.g. see Adventure World) , there are worrying reports from OFSTED concerning what is happening in centres managed by LC/Harpers. Harrow September 2009 http://ofsted.gov.uk/oxcare_reports/display/(id)/255928 OFSTED
inspected Harrow Leisure Centre Creche on 4.9.09 and found
it non-compliant. A letter said, "The inspector found that you
were not meeting all of the Requirements for the Childcare Register.
The inspector discussed the reason(s) for this during the visit. ...
The following actions are to be completed ... provide parents with
copies of the written statements of safeguarding procedures and
complaints procedures.." On 27/7/08 LC/Harpers announced - http://www.harpersfitness.co.uk/news/leisure--sport-and-fitness/leisure-connection-teams-up-with-fit-for-sport-to-deliver-summer-kids-camp/ "Leisure Connection has teamed up with Fit for Sport to provide Ofsted registered holiday programmes for children across nine Leisure Connection sites. Children will be introduced to a variety of fitness activities and nutritional information in an environment of peers that allow them to build their self confidence, develop team-work skills, improve their fitness levels and in many cases, help them to lose weight. Children will also be taught valuable life skills to take outside of the club which can help children to sustain and build on their achievements. Victoria Branch, Leisure Connection's marketing manager said: 'We are working with Fit for Sport because they are one of the most reputable holiday programme operators in the UK and have been doing fantastic work in improving the fitness levels of children for over 10 years. Last year through the Fitter Schools Challenge Fit for Sport increased children's activity by 14%, something we're keen to build upon and support the ethos of getting more people, more active, more often. Through working with Fit for Sport we can help children get into the habit of taking regular exercise both inside and outside of school and help them to lead a healthier lifestyle.' However, when Ofsted inspected Fit for Sport at Bisham Abbey in Marlow, a centre owned by the Sports Counciil and managed by LC/Harpers they were not so happy. They marked nine out of twelve catagories as "inadequate" and the other three as satisfactory. Findings included: "There are currently two permanent staff working in the setting; neither holds a suitable childcare qualification, although one holds sports coaching qualifications." "Overall
the quality of the provision is inadequate. Allocated rooms are not
always available to the setting to promote continuity to the children
and staff have to rearrange planned activities to accommodate these
changes. Details of staff’s vetting status are not available on site to
ascertain their suitability to work with children, and staffing levels
are not always maintained. A self-evaluation system is in place but has
not been completed; however, staff do ask the children for feedback and
evaluation about planned activities and re-plan popular ones. There is
no key person system in place to help staff become familiar with
children’s individual needs. "The setting does not carry out written risk assessments and the base room is not always available for sole use during operational hours, therefore children do not have a place to store their belongings. Areas used by the children change frequently and staff do not always have opportunities to visually check these areas to ascertain if these are safe before children use them. Ratios are not maintained at all times." "Contingency plans are in place to cover staff absences, although agency staff do not always have an induction about the setting’s policies, procedures and areas they use and do not always arrive at the beginning of the session. There are no opportunities for staff to take breaks away from the children during operational hours. The regulator are not always informed of changes to the premises where childcare is provided that may affect the space available to children and staff do not always identify potential hazards to minimise possible risks." "Staff caring for children have little knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage and therefore do not effectively promote this, nor plan for individual developmental stages and interests. There is no evidence of staff’s first aid training on site." Fit for Sport Kids' Camp Stoke Mandeville 31.10.08 http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/oxcare_reports/download/(id)/226907/(as)/EY347895_INSP.pdf Another worrrying low set of scores resulting in the summary conclusion, "Overall, the early years provision requires significant improvement." Other quotes include: "Fit For Sport Kids Camp was registered in 2007. It is owned by Fit for Sport Limited and operates from the Stoke Mandeville Sports Stadium and Lodge in partnership with Leisure Connect.""Managers are ineffective in organising the staff to care for and safeguard children. There was not a suitably qualified ‘person in charge’ on site and at times, children are left in the sole charge of a student. This is a breach of the requirements for registration." "The required records relating to children’s care are in place but those relating to staff do not clearly demonstrate that staff are vetted, which is a breach of the requirements for registration." "Staff have a general understanding of the setting’s policies and procedures but those arriving from other settings to act as bank cover lack familiarity with key procedures, such as those for evacuation. This diminishes their ability to keep children safe. Staff have not implemented the setting's risk assessment procedures, which results in hazards to children within the premises. However, staff are vigilant in teaching children to be safe when moving around the sports centre. There are also appropriate safety systems are in place to support activities such as swimming." "The programme of activities is strongly linked to sports and fitness but it does not give sufficient attention to helping children make progress within the EYFS. The learning environment does not ensure all children are engaged and included in purposeful play. The setting’s work with parents is generally sound and, as a result, they are pleased with the setting. However, there are no systems for working in partnership with other carers and professionals." "Children have little opportunity for meaningful activity in the period before the programme of planned activities commences. Planning for children within the early years age group does not give sufficient attention to helping them make progress within the EYFS, as it primarily focuses on their physical development. Overall, staff do not know children’s starting points and there are no evaluation and assessment systems. Consequently, there is no method of ascertaining children’s overall progress." "At times poor organisation results in the cancellation of activities such as swimming at short notice, which causes disappointment to children. Plans do not address the differing needs of younger children or those who do not wish to participate in planned games, for example, children who do not wish to take part in badminton or aerobic exercise. Overall, the lack of planning results in periods of boredom and disengagement for younger children, who find the activities are often not appropriately differentiated." "Staff plan for and teach children to be safe when moving around the sports centre and crossing the car park but are not vigilant in checking for hazards and consequently miss some potential risks to children’s safety. Children take part in practising emergency drills but not all staff are familiar with these procedures, which put children’s welfare at risk. Parents spoken with say their children enjoy coming to the setting. They have access to the setting’s policies and procedures, and notices that provide general day-to-day information, such as the children’s activities, the names of the staff on site and nominated first aiders, but these are not always up-to-date." |
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