An afterschool club was told that children’s safety was “compromised” after a recent Ofsted inspection.

Little Hands Adventure Club, based in Sun Postal Sports & Social Club in Bellmount Wood Avenue, has not met the quality and standards of early years provision after the visit on May 18.

According to the report published on June 30, there was a “weakness in the monitoring of staff deployment” and the manager failed to ensure children are always supervised by first-aid qualified staff.

The report stated: “On occasion, children are collected by staff who do not hold an appropriate first-aid qualification.”

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As a result, safeguarding arrangements were “not effective” despite staff having a good understanding of signs that could indicate a child is at risk of harm.

The club says this had to do with the setting being closed for the majority of the pandemic until September 2021, as some staff had their first-aid certificates expire.

Watford Observer: The club says that the requirements have now been met. Credit: PAThe club says that the requirements have now been met. Credit: PA

First-aid training sessions were rebooked after reopening, but two remaining members of staff were due to take their training on June 7.

The manager said: “Unfortunately Ofsted inspectors came before that, so when Ofsted came the training had actually been booked.”

“The training was booked not because Ofsted requested it, it was before they came.”

Little Hands Adventure Club is adamant that with the first-aid training requirements now complete, the school watchdog will find no issue in the next visit.

Despite the safeguarding concerns highlighted, the report acknowledges many positive aspects of the club.

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The report says: “Children enjoy a wide range of engaging activities. Staff skilfully construct an environment that meets the needs and interests of all children who attend.”

Children were also said to form close bonds with others from different schools and are generally considerate.

Ofsted says that staff have effective procedures in place to support children settle swiftly at the club and they communicate well with families to establish children’s interests.

Children also demonstrate good manners in the club and demonstrate high levels of confidence – while parents speak highly of staff at the club.