AN AFTER-school club in Tadley has been told the children in its care are at risk of harm.

Bishopswood After School Club, in Barlows Road, was visited by inspectors from Ofsted on June 26.

In a report published on August 15, the watchdog said: “The provider has failed to urgently address a number of key issues requiring improvement.”

The report said the club, which has 38 children on roll, is in breach of a number of legal requirements, including following rigorous health and hygiene procedures and ensuring a suitable manager and deputy manager are in place.

The club, based at Bishopswood Infant School, was graded as “inadequate” overall.

Ofsted has now taken enforcement action and issued the club with welfare requirement notices to make various changes, including training all staff to understand the safeguarding policy and procedures.

The report said that staff, “fail to understand their duties in helping children’s learning development. Conse-quently, the staff have a poor understanding of the seven areas of learning and fail to motivate children, and provide them with worthwhile experiences and challenges.”

The report also said children are “un-stimulated” which has a negative impact on their self-esteem.

And the inspectors noted that not all of the committee members have been checked to ensure their suitability to have contact with children.

The report said: “This puts children’s wellbeing and safety at risk as committee members often work in the club while children are in attendance.

“Furthermore, Ofsted have not been notified of the changes to the committee members. This is a breach of the legal requirements.

“In addition, children’s safety is put further at risk as the staff have a very poor understanding for a child’s well-being.

“This is detrimental to the safety of the children and places children at risk of harm.”

Inspectors highlighted the lack of a suitably trained manager or named suitable deputy.

The report said one of the strengths of the club was that staff provide children with outdoor play, which supports their physical development.

The Gazette was not able to contact anyone involved with the club, which is currently closed due to the summer break.