Childminder in Surrey

Inspection report for early years provision

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507363 Unique Reference Number 18 May 2007 Inspection date Ann Moss Inspector

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Integrated Type of inspection Childminding Type of care

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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

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

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 AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the care are good. 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 AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are outstanding.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The childminder was registered 1999. She lives with her husband and two teenage children in Leatherhead, Surrey. The whole of the childminder's house is used for childminding and there is a fully enclosed garden for outside play.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The childminder is registered to care for a maximum of six children at any one time and is currently minding five under five and three after school all of whom attend on a part-time basis. The childminder walks to local schools to take and collect children. She attends the parent and toddler group and takes children to the local library and to the park. The family have two cats

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The childminder is an accredited member of the Surrey Childminding Network and provides funded early education.

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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

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children thrive because the childminder is sensitive and responds to their individual needs appropriately. This means children feel safe, secure and confident within their environment to play and learn.

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Helping children to be healthy

The childminder maintains effective procedures, which help to keep children healthy. For example, the home is clean and well maintained. She wears gloves when changing nappies, and promptly implements sickness procedures to minimise cross infection. The childminder has procedures in place and records all accidents and medicines administered. Children learn about the importance of being healthy through the childminder's daily routines. For example, children are encouraged to be independent in self-care skills and they know they need to wash their hands before snack-time and after playing in the garden.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children benefit from the childminder's understanding of healthy eating. They enjoy a varied range of fresh fruit and vegetables as part their daily diet. Children are encouraged to try new food such as pumpkin and red cabbage, these are introduced sensitively. Children remain well hydrated because the childminder monitors their fluid intakes throughout the day and ensures they take regular drinks to maintain a healthily lifestyle.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children enjoy a good range of physical activities, indoors and outdoors, which promotes their all round development. They visit the toddler group on a regular basis; enjoy playing in the park, woodland walks and garden activities. This means children have excellent opportunities to participate in stimulating and challenging activities such as building, digging, riding, climbing and running. The childminder manages this time well to ensure children have sufficient time to practise their skills and develop new ones. This helps children to develop a positive attitude to fresh air and exercise, build muscles and improve co-ordination. Children are able to rest and play according to their own needs.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children play in a safe and secure child-centred environment where risks are identified and minimised, due to the childminder's good awareness of safety and recognising potential hazards. This enables children to move indoors and outdoors freely and safely. Children learn about staying safe through the childminder's gentle reminders and regular routines; for instance holding on when using the stairs and the wearing of wrist bands on outings. The childminder considers fire safety and evacuation and has written procedures in place. Children regularly take part in evacuation ensuring that they know the procedures to be followed in the event of an emergency.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children have access to a good range of toys and resources, which are suitable for their age and stage of development. Resources have been chosen to support children's play and learning.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 They are regularly checked for safety and hygiene and stored and displayed within children's easy reach.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children's welfare is safeguarded because the childminder has attended training in child protection and has a very good awareness of signs of abuse and neglect. She is secure in her knowledge and confident in the procedures to be followed if she has a concern about a child in her care. She has clearly written policies and procedures in place, which are shared with parents prior to admission. This helps to prompt children's safety and well-being.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Babies and children thoroughly enjoy their time with the childminder and have established very close and trusting relationships with her due to the care given. The childminder knows the children well and is extremely sensitive to their individual needs and feelings. This promotes children's emotional development.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The childminder has a good understanding of child development and how children learn. She uses the 'Birth to Three Matters' framework to plan and provide a stimulating and challenging range of activities to enhance children's learning and development. Children display good levels of independence. They confidently initiate their daily activities. For example, as they build and construct using manufactured materials. They develop their senses as they explore and experiment with different media such as corn flour and shaving foam. Children work along side each other and share well. Babies are encouraged to use their sense as they touch and look at objects and put them to their mouth to suck and taste. Children's early communication skills are very well supported through the childminder's high quality interaction with the children as she discusses the activities and talks about what they are doing. Children's understanding of

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

colour, number and shape are naturally encouraged by the childminder's activities and daily routines. Children benefit from regular outings. They enjoy exploring their local environment; they visit the local parks, library and farms where they collect items of interest such as leaves, which they use to create a collage. Children regularly socialise with others at the local toddler group. This helps them to build relationships and recognise the rules for being together with others such as waiting for a turn.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning for children receiving nursery education funding is outstanding. The childminder has an excellent understanding of the curriculum guidance for the Foundation Stage, stepping stones and is dedicated to delivering a very high standard of education through a stimulating and challenging range of activities and opportunities for all children. Comprehensive planning identifies clear learning objectives that are related to a topic. Written observations are very good and she uses these records to identify where children are making progress in relation to the stepping stones within the Foundation Stage. This helps the childminder to clearly identify the next steps for learning and link this into the planning so that children are always provided with sufficient challenge.

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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 Children are motivated and have a positive attitude towards learning. They show enthusiasm as they eagerly participate in planned and self initiated activities. Communication with children is exceptionally good because the childminder is an active listener; she asks questions and takes interest in what they think. Children have a good vocabulary, which they use very well during their play to communicate with each other and adults. They show good concentration during story time. They are keen to ask questions and confidently predict the ending. Older children write their name independently with most letters correctly formed. Children write for different purposes, for example, during a football activity, they confidently write their name on the scoreboard.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The childminder is adept at identifying spontaneous opportunities to count and compare. She uses these skilfully to reinforce children's mathematical understanding during their play. Children demonstrate their understanding of size, shape and number as they discuss and compare tadpoles. Children learn from first hand experiences. For example, they learn about the features of living things as they take part in activities related to a topic about growing, where they explore the life cycles of butterflies and frogs. They handle caterpillars and use a magnifying glass to look at tadpoles. Children are encouraged to care for things, such as tadpoles and know that they need to survive. This includes returning them to their natural environment, for example, when the tadpoles turn into frogs. Their awareness of the local community is raised through activities where children create a map of their local area. They talk about where they live and

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

local features. Outings such as to the woodlands, church and museum further develops their knowledge of the wider world. Photographs show children exploring media and materials mixing different media such as paper, milk bottle tops and plastic bags to create a Chinese dragon's head. This helps them learn about texture such as hard, soft and shiny. This supports children's progress towards the early learning goals.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children's individual needs and characters are clearly understood and respected because the childminder gathers all relevant information from parents and completes regular child observations. Children gain a sense of belonging as they are warmly welcomed into the childminder's house and follow established daily routines. Children learn about society's diversity through a range of meaningful activities and resources to promote their awareness of the wider world and of others. The childminder is sensitive towards inclusion and has a good knowledge and experience of caring for children with learning difficulties and or disabilities. She keeps up to date with current thinking and procedures relating to identifying concerns and providing support. Children's spiritual, moral social and cultural development is fostered as they learn about the needs of others through, for example, discussion, stories and role play.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children behave very well. The childminder is a positive role model and has clear expectations and a consistent approach for behaviour management. For example, she gives a clear explanation so that children understand what is expected of them. This helps children to feel safe and secure. She uses her effective skills to support and encourage children to share, take turns and negotiate. The helps them to develop their relationships and promotes respect for others.

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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 Partnership with parents and carers of children who receive nursery education is outstanding and contributes significantly to children's care and learning. The childminder has comprehensive systems in place for sharing information with parents to meet children's individual needs. She gathers and shares extensive information, including daily written and verbal feedback on their care, routine and activities. The childminder has developed a detailed information pack with clearly written information about the Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage, stepping stones. Parents have regular opportunities to be involved in their child's learning through the setting of agreed targets. They are kept up-to-date with their child's achievements through a superb child development profile, which shows photographs of children's activities and examples

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Helping children make a positive contribution

of their work. Each term, parents receive a detailed progress report, which is also shared with children's nursery. This ensures children receive a consistent approach to their learning.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. Children's care is enriched by the childminder's highly efficient organisation of time, space and resources. Consistent routines and effective support ensure children feel a sense of belonging and part of the family. This means that children are confident to initiate and extend their own play and learning.

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Organisation

The childminder is a qualified and experienced practitioner. She works in partnership with a network co-ordinator to develop her practice for children in receipt of nursery education funding. She regularly attends local childminding network training and meetings, incorporating new ideas and procedures into her practice. She monitors and evaluates what children are doing to further enrich children's play and learning.

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Organisation

She has an excellent awareness of the required documentation. All documentation is in place, reviewed regularly and shared with parents. This means parents clearly know about the provision and the care and learning their children receive. The provider meets the needs of the range of children for whom she provides.

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Complaints since the last inspection

Since the last inspection there have been no complaints made to Ofsted that required the provider or Ofsted to take any action in order to meet the National Standards.

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Complaints since the last inspection

The provider is required to keep a record of complaints made by parents, which they can see on request. The complaints record may contain complaints other than those made to Ofsted.

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Complaints since the last inspection

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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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the care are good. 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 AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are outstanding.

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The quality and standards of the care

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

recommendations for improvement are made because the quality and standards of nursery education are outstanding.

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

set out in the leaflet Complaints about Ofsted Early Years: concerns or complaints about Ofsted's role in regulating and inspecting childcare and early education (HMI ref no 2599) which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

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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