AN AFTER-school club continues to make steady progress 21 months on from a critical inspection.

The Bubbles club in Wesley Methodist Primary School, in Forth Road, Radcliffe, gives youngsters a place to play and learn before and after school and there are 66 children on the roll.

Staff and children celebrated the club’s 10th anniversary in September.

Monitors from education watchdog Ofsted visited in February 2015 and gave it an ‘inadequate’ rating — the worst of four possible ratings.

This was because there was no first-aid worker and no safeguarding policy related to the use of mobile phones.

Things improved at the next inspection in July 2015 when Ofsted gave the nursery the third-best rating — ‘requires improvement’.

After the most recent inspection on October 12, Ofsted this week awarded the nursery the second-best rating — ‘good’.

Lead inspector Lindsey Wallwork-Jones said: “Significant improvements have been made since the last inspection.

“Staff demonstrate real warmth towards the children in their care.

“Children known the rules of the club and staff are strong role models. This supports children’s good behaviour effectively.

“Children have strong emotional attachments to the staff and to other children around them.”

Resources are well maintained and plentiful, added Ms Wallwork-Jones, and children display high levels of confidence, she said.

She added: “The manager’s arrangements for monitoring staff practice are effective. Self-evaluation is effective in driving improvement and includes the view of all staff, parents and children.”

In order for the club to achieve the top rating of ‘outstanding’, it must ensure staff plan daily routines better so children are kept engaged at all times and encourage children to become more independent, said Ms Wallwork-Jones.

The club’s manager and owner Kate Redshaw said: “We are all really pleased with the report. It means we have now had a double celebration in the space of a couple of months after our 10th anniversary. I have put a lot of hard work in, as has my team, to ensure that standards are high and I am pleased that Ofsted recognised that.

“The comments in the report were very positive, especially the words about our children. People always comment on how polite they are, for example, during the feedback we get on school trips.”