A BREAKFAST and after school club for children in Bournemouth has been threatened with enforcement action to address a series of safeguarding issues that were discovered by an inspector.

115 Club St Luke's, which is run at St Luke's C of Infant School by a company independent from the school, was slammed by Ofsted following a visit just before Christmas.

A report of the inspection by Samantha Powis said that a welfare requirements notice had been issued to 115 Childcare Services Ltd to rectify the problems, with a deadline set for Monday (January 13).

The notice says the provider must:

  • Ensure children are adequately supervised at all times
  • Maintain an accurate daily record of the names of children being cared for on the premises and their hours of attendance
  • Gain written permission from parents prior to administering medications and maintain a written record of each time a medicine is administered, and inform parents on the same day
  • Ensure all records, including those that detail children's individual information, are easily accessible and available, to help ensure the needs of all children are met

The day care operates from 7.30am to 9am and 2.50pm to 5.45pm during term time only, with space for 50 youngsters and 95 children currently on roll.

Ms Powis's report says: "Procedures to ensure children are safe and healthy at the club are not implemented well. Arrangements for supervision of children are not effective to ensure children are protected from harm.

"Some records, including those used to monitor children's attendance, and detail children's individual needs, are not completed effectively or easily accessible to staff, to ensure children's individual needs are consistently met. Staff are aware of when children require medication. However, they fail to follow their own procedures with regards to gaining permission and recording administered medications."

She acknowledged that children enjoy their time at the club, but arrangements for safeguarding are "not effective".

"Staff fail to safeguard children effectively. Policies and procedures are not followed consistently to ensure appropriate steps are taken to ensure children's safety and well-being is supported," Ms Powis adds.

"Children are not always supervised well by staff and some records that should be in place to help keep them safe are either not completed, not accessible or inaccurate."

Ofsted issue welfare requirements notices when they have significant concerns for the service provided to children.

After the notice is issued, the standards body will monitor compliance around the deadline set for improvements.

Failure to meet the requirements is an offence and in some some cases could lead to prosecution or removing the provider's registration.