Setting

Inspection report for early years provision

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EY342792 Unique Reference Number 13 April 2007 Inspection date Jennifer Read Inspector

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Childcare 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

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 good. 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 has been registered since 2006 and may provide care for five children under eight years at any one time. She currently cares for one child under five years on an occasional basis. She provides additional care for one child over eight years after school during school terms. The childminder supports children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The childminder lives with her husband and two children aged one and 12 years in the Churchdown area of Gloucester. The whole of the house is used for childminding. The main areas used are the living room, kitchen with dining area, study and upstairs bathroom. Upstairs bedrooms are used for sleeping. There is an enclosed rear garden with grass and patio areas for outdoor play. The family have six guinea pigs.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The childminder is working towards the Diploma in Childcare and Education qualification and has completed the Birth to three matters framework workshop.

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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 satisfactory. Children understand simple good health and hygiene practices through well implemented routines and practices. For example, hand washing charts are displayed on the wall. This helps guide children in their personal care. Using a separate bowl for hand washing, individual flannels, paper towels for drying and talking about germs on their hands after feeding the guinea pigs and before meal times minimises the spread of germs and infections and enhances children's understanding.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children benefit from the childminder's suitable cleaning routines and good example. The clear, accessible, health and safety policy, guidelines on infection control, together with the childminder's clear knowledge, ensures children are sufficiently protected from infection. The childminder maintains children's health because detailed information about a range of communicable diseases and the administration of first aid and medication are in place and recorded. Although, the carer was informally told about their child's accident the entry is not signed to confirm they have been sufficiently informed. The contents of the first aid box is mostly complete, checked regularly and a log maintained to ensure the items remain in date and children receive appropriate treatment for minor injuries when necessary.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children stay healthy and enjoy daily fresh air and exercise. Younger children practise their balancing and walking skills by pulling themselves up against the furniture or using push along toys for support. They enjoy acceptable opportunities to develop large muscle skills and co-ordination through music and movement, daily play in the garden, trips to the local play park and walks to and from school. However, children quickly loose interest when painting, attempting to use a bat and ball, or pushing their feet while riding on the bike because the childminder is overly protective and restricts their independent use of equipment. This inhibits children from building confidence in their physical abilities.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children are developing a practical knowledge of healthy eating habits through eating a balanced diet and drinking water regularly. Children make healthy choices and select snacks from a suitable range of fresh fruit and bread sticks. The children are tentative when trying new fruits and a healthy alternative is at hand to ensure they have sufficient to eat. Posters of healthy fruit and vegetables, alongside colourful five-a-day charts for each child and discussion about why the apple and orange are healthy and good for your tummy, helps develop children's awareness of the importance of healthy foods.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children's safety and security is given utmost priority by daily rigorous safety checks, detailed risk assessments and implementation of comprehensive safety policies and procedures. For example, the informative escape plan, fire precautions checklist, fire escape practise form and a plan of all exits is clearly displayed on the parents' notice board in the entrance and provided in the parents' handbook. These ensure hazards to children are effectively minimised and parents are well-informed. Well-thought through plans are in place for the safe arrival and collection of children and installation of appropriate safety equipment ensures they are secure and well protected. Children are developing a good awareness of how to keep themselves safe

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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 through practical experiences. These include, discussion about and practise of the emergency escape plan and implementation of clear, safe boundaries.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The childminder supervises children very closely both indoors and out. Vigilant supervision ensures the childminder is able to respond swiftly to their aid, for example, when a child is trying to climb out of the inflatable car in the garden. However, this often restricts children from being able to take safe risks independently. Children develop their understanding of road safety well through regular walks and learn to keep themselves safe when on outings. They proudly wear their reflective bands and wristbands with the childminder's telephone number on the inside. The childminder constantly emphasises safety messages and talks to children about the importance of wearing their bands. Children are well protected from abuse or neglect as the childminder has experience and a professional understanding of child protection issues. She has completed appropriate training and is clear about her responsibility to report concerns.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children play in a bright, spacious setting where emphasis is given to making sure the play area is welcoming for children to aid their enjoyment and development. Posters, children's pictures and ground rules decorate the wall in the 'Kids corner' to ensure children play in an inviting environment. Children use the space purposefully as they access the broad range of toys and play materials freely for themselves. These are stored invitingly in cardboard boxes on the floor and are rotated regularly to extend their choice. Children are beginning to develop a good sense of responsibility from an early age as they help to wash and care for the toys, following guidelines displayed on the Kids corner wall.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children are happy, settled and gain confidence because the childminder is welcoming and gives lots of attention, praise and encouragement. Routines are good and include activities inside and outside the home, such as, structured creative activity, free play, garden play and story time. Visits to the local play park, playgroup, music and movement and walks in the community help broaden children's experiences.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The childminder has good awareness of children's individual needs and implements the Birth to three matters successfully to thoughtfully plan, prepare and assess children's learning. For example, the childminder prepares colour and number charts for children to paint, naming colours correctly and learning to count beyond six. As a result, children are progressing generally well and take part in a broad range of experiences and interesting activities. These support and encourage their interests and match their individual needs and next steps. Older children readily contribute to planning, discussing proposed activities and recording them on the wall chart. This enables the older children to engage in well-thought through activities that include vigorous activity and opportunities to relax and chill out after the rigours of the school day.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The childminder creates a friendly atmosphere contributing to the children's enjoyment and comfort. She shows interest in what the children do and say and readily engages in their play. The childminder is insightful towards children's needs and recognises their uniqueness. However, she occasionally does too much for the children, for example, holding the paint brush with the children and guiding their hand on the paper. This is limiting their independent learning and opportunity to explore and extend their ideas freely. Children are developing generally good relationships with their peers and childminder, which increases their well-being and sense of trust. As a result, children are beginning to play co-operatively with each other.

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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

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children's individual needs are well met because the childminder works very closely with parents, carers and other agencies. Consequently, she knows the children very well. They benefit from the childminder's sensitivity to their specific needs, for instance, researching the affect loosing a parent has on a child and promoting the use of a favourite toy or familiar object. This enables the childminder to provide appropriate emotional support to enhance their care, enabling them to feel a sense of belonging. The childminder has a proactive and professional approach to the care of children with a disability or learning difficulty and actively promotes inclusion. She makes home visits to gain an insight into the children's life at home and obtains additional valuable information about the house set up, resources and how the children are in their own home.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children gain practical awareness of the wider society, benefiting from a useful range of activities that help them value diversity and gain awareness of their own cultural backgrounds. For example, children cut out pictures and talk about people from Nigeria, refugees, different countries going through drought and various religions in general terms to enable children to understand.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children are beginning to understand responsible behaviour through involvement in setting acceptable boundaries and because the childminder uses effective, consistent strategies. House rules are specifically designed for individual children and displayed on the wall in the Kids corner for ease of reference. This helps children feel valued and promotes their sense of self-worth. Use of smiley faces and sad faces on the behaviour poster enables the younger children to understand the effect certain behaviour has on others. Subsequently, they are learning what is right and wrong and beginning to manage their own behaviour.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children benefit from the excellent partnership, very close working relationship and detailed, informative contact between their parents, carers and the childminder. Parents and carers receive comprehensive information about the day-to-day organisation of the setting, their child and their progress. For example, informal daily discussions, detailed policies, procedures, useful leaflets about safety and infections and daily diaries including observations of children's play and progress. This enables parents and carers to be involved in the setting and their child's learning both at the setting and at home.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. The childminder is professional, highly committed and enthusiastic in her care of the children. She has a strong focus on the enjoyment and development of children and a sound knowledge of their individual needs. She is highly motivated to attend additional training, such as, the Diploma in Childcare and Education, Birth to three matters and Keeping your home and minded children safe, to keep her knowledge of good quality care up-to-date. As a result, children are happy, safe and have fun. The childminder meets the needs of the range of children who attend.

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Organisation

The indoor and outdoor play space is well laid out and activities nicely presented to maximise play opportunities for children and provide different learning environments. The childminder works very hard to ensure the detailed and well-written policies and procedures cover most of the National Standards. She maintains additional and useful information and ensures the notice boards are up-to-date, contain appropriate information and are shared with parents.

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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 Documentation is well-organised and all records are clear and generally well maintained, although the attendance record is not accurate and the accident record is not complete. Each child has an individual record for attendance, accident and medication and named folder with child record forms, written agreements with parents and carers and written permissions. Each child has an additional folder for observational work and their individual daily diary. These are stored securely upstairs to maintain confidentiality.

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Improvements since the last inspection

This is the first inspection since registration.

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Complaints since the last inspection

Since registration, 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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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 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

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • provide opportunities for children to be independent in their learning through appropriate support and challenges. • ensure the attendance register is completed accurately and the accident record is shared and signed by parents.

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The quality and standards of the care

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 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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