Behind the Inspection Rating: Club connects children to nature

With room for up to 112 children, Treehouse might be one of the largest after-school clubs in the London Borough of Redbridge, but size has not hindered its success. The Wanstead club recently scooped an "outstanding" rating from Ofsted, with it particularly praised for the attention it shows to meeting the needs of individual children.

And when it comes to banishing boredom and maintaining the fun, the club often turns to its mind maps of each child's interests. "We do mind mapping with the children to learn what is going on in their heads and what they like to do," says manager Julia Saul-Watts.

A typical example of how these maps help is when one 10-year-old started getting bored with staple activities like cooking and painting. "We looked at his mind map and found he liked golf - he wants to be a professional golfer when he gets older. So I ordered mini-golf for the garden for him," says Saul-Watts.

Listening to the children is core to Treehouse's approach and is most obvious in its children's committee meetings. "We meet once a month and they tell us what we are doing wrong and what they think we can do about it or make suggestions of what they would like in the club," says Saul-Watts. "For example, they suggested they would like to have music to help with tidy-up time. Children hate tidying up, but they told us how to make it fun, which really helps with the tidy up."

While there are plenty of things to do within the premises, the club also makes the most of its location, which puts both central London and the greenery of Lee Valley Park within easy reach. In the summer, when it becomes a holiday play scheme, the club often takes the children to the park for pond fishing, orienteering and other outdoors activities.

"We go to the forest and lift up tree trunks and see what spiders and things are under there," says Saul-Watts. "I call it nature detective and it goes down a treat, even when it's raining. In fact, they love that more - jumping in puddles and things.

"We encourage a lot of nature. I read an article in The Times not so long ago by Julia Donaldson, who wrote The Gruffalo. She said children these days are not aware of nature as much as they used to be - they might not know where the broccoli on their plate came from.

"That encouraged me to do more, so we're taking them to Lee Valley Park Authority's Seed to Supper project where they encourage the children to learn about vegetables and how they grow and end up on their plates."

Lee Valley isn't the only place Treehouse partners with and Saul-Watts credits Redbridge Council's early years team as playing a vital role in its successful Ofsted report.

"The early years team provides us with advice, offers training and updates us on new procedures and policies and anything that is happening in the world of safeguarding," she says.

"They advised on what we needed to do to get all the documentation right and how to achieve an outstanding rating. They also encourage everybody in the area to work with each other and that has really helped.

"I highly recommend getting the early years team in because it is like having internal auditing every couple of months to make sure you are hitting the mark all the time."

FACT FILE

• Name: Treehouse Afterschool Club
• Location: Wanstead, London Borough of Redbridge
• Description: Treehouse opened in 2010. During term time, it runs a breakfast club and an after-school club for children aged four- to 11-years-old. Outside term time, it turns into a holiday play scheme that opens from 7.30am to 6.30pm on weekdays and is packed with activities. The club employs 15 people. It caters for children in the Wanstead area of the London Borough of Redbridge.
• Number of children: Up to 112 children
• Ofsted reference number: 832185
  
  

HELPFUL HINTS

• Video enlivens profiles. Treehouse Afterschool Club enhances its profile books for children with special educational needs by adding DVDs that contain one-minute film clips of the child. "With a video, parents can see their child smiling and laughing," says manager Julia Saul-Watts. "It's more evidence of how they are developing and progressing over time. It's more personal for the mums and dads, and provides them with peace of mind that their children are settling in and enjoying themselves."
• Remember your youth. "Remember what made you happy when you were younger and encourage that in the setting," says Saul-Watts. "You need to make sure you don't forget what makes children happy."
• Recruits need to fit. When hiring, it is crucial to think about how new employees will plug into the team. "When you do employ play workers, you have to make sure that they will fit in with the team so that everyone as a team will work together," says Saul-Watts. "If the team is good and the team is happy, they will encourage the children to be happy too."