Childminder in Greenwich

Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique Reference Number EY282809 Inspection date 22 November 2005 Inspector Judith Harris

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Type of inspection Childcare Type of care Childminding

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This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000

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ABOUT THIS INSPECTION

The purpose of this inspection is to assure government, parents and the public of the quality of childcare and, if applicable, of nursery education. The inspection was carried out under Part XA Children Act 1989 as introduced by the Care Standards Act 2000 and, where nursery education is provided, under Schedule 26 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. This report details the main strengths and any areas for improvement identified during the inspection. The judgements included in the report are made in relation to the outcomes for children set out in the Children Act 2004; the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding; and, where nursery education is provided, the Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage. The report includes information on any complaints about the childcare provision which Ofsted has received since the last inspection or registration or 1 April 2004 whichever is the later.

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough For more information about early years inspections, please see the booklet Are you ready for your inspection? which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE

The quality and standards of the care are outstanding. The registered person meets the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The childminder was registered in 2004. She lives with in Plumstead, South East London with her husband and 3 children aged 6 years, 7 years and 7 months. The whole ground floor of the childminder’s house is used for childminding and the toilet is on the lower ground floor. The children go to local parks for outdoor play. The childminder is registered to care for a maximum of 3 children at any one time and is currently minding 2 children under 5 all day and 1 child over 5 before and after school. The childminder walks to local schools to take and collect children and attends the local groups and toy library.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 The childminder is a member of an approved childminding network.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is outstanding. Through the highly effective partnership the childminder has with parents the children are provided with a varied range of healthy, balanced meals and snacks. The childminder makes very positive use of snack and meal times to talk to the children about what they have to eat. She is committed to ensuring that they begin to understand how a balanced diet helps them grow strong and stay healthy. The childminder takes precise information about any dietary restrictions the children may have and works closely with parents to ensure she is meeting the children’s individual needs. The childminder gives the parents daily information about what the children have eaten. She supplies menus for parents and talks to them about how she can vary the menus to best meet each child’s needs. There are highly effective daily routines and the childminder talks to the children about the hygiene practices and why she uses them, to ensure that from an early age

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Helping children to be healthy

children are clearly gaining a significant understanding of the importance of personal hygiene. The children wash their hands after using the toilet, before eating and when they come in from outside; they sing a hand-washing song to encourage everyone to wash thoroughly. To ensure the children maintain the effective hygiene routines at all times they have wipes to clean hands when they are on outings with the childminder. The childminder uses thorough nappy changing routines and appropriate health and hygiene guidelines are carefully followed. Children play in a clean environment; the childminder maintains highly effective levels of cleanliness throughout the day in all areas of her home. The childminder uses the Birth to three matters framework to effectively plan an imaginative range of physical play activities that meet the needs of all the children. Children take part in a versatile range of outdoor activities; they play at local groups

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Helping children to be healthy

where they can use larger play equipment and at parks where they have nature walks and play balls games or have picnics. Younger children relish practising and developing their physical skills in the childminder’s home; they move around the room with confidence and enjoy playing with the push-a-long toys. On outings with the childminder to local parks and groups the children are able to practise large physical skills with support from the childminder. The range of activities is successfully supporting the children to gain good control of their bodies and ensures that both younger and older children are fully included. Children’s emotional well being is consistently and earnestly nurtured through the flexible, warm and trusting relationships they have with the childminder. Children’s individual rest and sleep needs are effectively met through the excellent partnership with parents and within the carefully organised daily routine. The children sleep or

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Helping children to be healthy

rest in the play room where they can be continually monitored by the childminder. There is an exclusion policy for children who are infectious and the childminder keeps

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Helping children to be healthy

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 records of any medication given to children and any accidents that occur; these records are shared with parents.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is outstanding. The play space is imaginatively organised to effectively provide children with versatile and adaptable areas for different types of play. The children play in the clear floor space with construction toys, small world toys and role play toys. They have child sized furniture for play with table toys and creative activities and a quiet area for rest and sleep. The space is organised to ensure the childminder can give excellent levels of supervision to the children at all times. The childminder is resourceful in providing a range of toys and equipment for the children. She makes very effective use of the play space to ensure the children are able to freely and safely access the resources that are appropriate for their ages. There are efficient systems for checking that toys are safe and clean and the childminder closely monitors the children's choice of toys and the way in which they

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

use them. A comprehensive system of risk assessments are in place to keep children safe in the home and on outings. Children are collected from school and as the school playground is very busy the childminder has developed a system with the children to ensure their safety. Effective steps are taken in the home to minimise any risks; there are safety gates on the stairs and at the kitchen door and locks on kitchen cupboards. The play space is organised to allow the childminder to give excellent levels of supervision to the children and all areas outside the play space are made inaccessible to the children. Children are kept safe on outings; the youngest children travel in buggies and older children hold hands when walking and they are learning the use of safe road crossing practise. The systems used with the children are clearly very effective to support them to learn about keeping themselves safe on outings and

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

in the home. The childminder talks to the children encouraging them to think about how they move, climbing on and off of furniture and using equipment with care. The children are protected because the childminder is familiar with the paperwork and procedures for recording and reporting child protection issues. The childminder has completed a first aid course, which ensures she is able to give appropriate care if there is an accident.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is outstanding. Children are confident and enthusiastic when they arrive at the childminder’s home; they are happy to separate from parents and eager to become involved in the activities provided. The stimulating range and balance of activities are planned using the Birth to three matters framework and the childminder makes very effective use of the framework to plan activities and assess the children’s progress. All play is child

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 led and the range of activities allow the children to explore, experiment and discover. They play imaginatively and engage with others; the children are negotiating and making choices. The childminder is effectively supporting them to become competent learners. The children make Winter pictures, they clearly relish this creative activity making snowflake shapes and decorating them with collage materials. The children are thrilled as they make imaginative use of the materials and the childminder’s praise of their work give them a sense of accomplishment. The children’s development is consistently and enthusiastically nurtured by the childminder who is making optimum use of all planned and naturally occurring situations to extend the children’s learning and development. The childminder makes

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

very effective use of her interaction with the children to extend their language skills, supporting them to become skilful communicators. The childminder sits with the children at the creative activity and talks to them about what they are doing. She uses a substantial range of descriptive language and open questions to encourage the children to be confident language users. They talk together about the shapes and colours of the collage materials and about the shapes of the snowflakes. The childminder extends the interaction and talks to the children about snow and how the weather is today. The children are animated and they talk about the cold and wearing hats and gloves to keep warm when they go outside. The childminder continues to talk with the children while they play, to describe what they are doing and encourages them by praising their achievements. The children are confident and motivated, they make purposeful, independent choices about what they will play with

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

and how they will develop their play. The childminder effectively organises the day to ensure the children have time and space for different types of play and to take part in a comprehensive range of activities. The planning includes time for outdoor play and visits to a variety of groups. The children go to the toy library where they can choose toys to borrow and to local groups where they take part in different types of activities and large group play. At the groups the children can take part in an extensive range of physical play using a wider range of equipment. There are planned times for outdoor activities and for quiet play and rest or sleep. The childminder takes a comprehensive range of information from the parents to ensure she knows each child extremely well and is effective in meeting their individual needs. Throughout the child’s stay with the childminder she continues to share information about what the children are doing each day and their progress and

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is outstanding. The children come into the childminder’s home with confidence, they are secure and at home with a clear sense of belonging. The children have excellent relationships with the childminder which enable them to feel secure and valued as individuals. The childminder has a very professional approach to her partnership with parents. She is working very effectively with parents to ensure children have all their individual

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Helping children make a positive contribution

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 needs met. The childminder talks to parents daily to tell them about the day, she takes excellent amounts of information at admission and continues to take information to ensure that she is consistently aware of each child’s changing needs. All parents have photocopies of the records and contracts for each child. The children are interested and involved in the play and the childminder clearly has an excellent understanding of their individual needs and what is likely to affect their behaviour. To effectively support the children's positive behaviour the childminder sets realistic boundaries for the children; she talks to children about how they behave towards each other and about taking care of others' feelings. The childminder is a positive role model using effective behaviour management strategies that creatively

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Helping children make a positive contribution

support the children to develop skills for self control. With the older children the childminder talks to them and encourages them to think about their behaviour and to find ways of sorting out problems between themselves. The children have a very clear understanding of the routines and are beginning to learn the codes for behaviour. The childminder is extremely consistent about the way in which she manages the children's behaviour. She treats all the children with equal concern and is meticulous about ensuring that behaviour management strategies meet children’s individual needs. The children are taking part in a highly effective range of learning experiences that help them to gain an understanding of the wider and natural world. The childminder talks to children about different foods and where they come from, she is using the local library and the toy library to show the children how different festivals are

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Helping children make a positive contribution

celebrated and to look at different cultures. At school the children are learning about Nigeria and its culture, learning songs and stories and about how people dress. They have just celebrated Diwali by making Diwali lamps and the children made Rangoli cards with the childminder. The childminder talks to children about how people from different cultures may dress differently. The children play with a wide range of positive image toys. The childminder is confident about caring for a child with special needs. She demonstrates a good awareness of the need to take information from parents, and provide the correct equipment and resources, to ensure she is able to include all the children in all the activities. The childminder talks to the children to help them understand about individual needs.

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Organisation

The organisation is outstanding. The children’s care is effectively supported by the exceptionally well organised service provided by the childminder. The highly effective organisation of the play space and daily routines provide children with flexible access to all activities and time and space to organise and develop their play. The children have optimum levels of comfort and safety which allow them to move around independently. They know where the toys and resources are and are able to independently access them. Parents are supplied with copies of comprehensive policies and procedures, which have been written by the childminder and are individual to her provision. The

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Organisation

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 excellent levels of organisation ensure that all relevant information is shared with parents and that all records are in place. The childminder has daily informal discussions with parents to ensure she continues to meet individual needs. The childminder is committed to improving her ability to offer an excellent provision. She is a member of the National Childminding Association's 'Children come First' network and is studying for an National Vocational Qualification level 3 to support her professional development. There have been no changes to the childminder’s household since registration. The childminder meets the needs of the range of children for whom she provides care.

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Complaints since the last inspection

There have been no complaints made to Ofsted since registration. The provider is required to keep a record of complaints made by parents, which they can see on request. The complaints records may contain complaints other than those made to Ofsted.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE

The quality and standards of the care are outstanding. The registered person meets the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding.

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The quality and standards of the care

No recommendations for improvement are made because the quality and standards of care are outstanding.

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The quality and standards of the care

procedures set out in the leaflet Building better childcare: Compliments and concerns about inspectors' judgements which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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The quality and standards of the care

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000

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