Childminder in York

Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated. Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY349842 Inspection date 19/06/2009 Inspector Diane Lynn Turner

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Type of setting Childminder This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under Sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of the registered early years provision. ‘Early years provision’ refers to provision regulated by Ofsted for children from birth to 31 August following their fifth birthday (the early years age group). The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and welfare, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Introduction

The provider must provide a copy of this report to all parents with children at the setting where reasonably practicable. The provider must provide a copy of the report to any other person who asks for one, but may charge a fee for this service (The Childcare (Inspection) Regulations 2008 regulations 9 and 10).

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Introduction

The setting also makes provision for children older than the early years age group which is registered on the voluntary and/or compulsory part(s) of the Childcare Register. This report does not include an evaluation of that provision, but a comment about compliance with the requirements of the Childcare Register is included in Annex B. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Description of the childminding

The childminder was registered in 2007. She lives with her husband and two children aged 11 and six years in a semi-detached house close to York city centre. All of the ground floor of the childminder's home and a bedroom on the first floor are used for childminding purposes. Toilet facilities are situated on the ground floor and there is an enclosed garden to the rear of the premises for outdoor play. The family has a cat and two pet rats.

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Description of the childminding

The childminder is a qualified primary teacher and is a member of the National Childminding Association. She is registered by Ofsted on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register to care for a maximum of five children at any one time. There are currently six children on roll, five of whom are within the early years age group. They all attend on a part-time basis.

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Overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall, the quality of the provision is good. All children are welcome to attend; they settle well in the child-orientated environment and clearly feel part of the family. They are offered a very good range of activities across the six areas of learning and the childminder uses her teaching experience very effectively to support their individual learning styles and to help them make very good progress towards the early learning goals. She gives high priority to maintaining close relationships with the parents and carers and works effectively with them, to find out about children's individual needs and how these can be met in order to promote inclusion. She has clearly identified areas of her service that she wants to improve, to further enhance the outcomes for children.

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further?

To further improve the early years provision the registered person should:

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further?

 develop the system for recording the risk assessment to ensure all necessary detail is included.

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provision

The childminder is well organised in all aspects of her service and has a range of well written policies and procedures. These support the efficient day-to-day management and are shared effectively with the parents. The childminder manages her time well, taking into account children’s individual care needs and enabling them to take part in a wide range of interesting learning experiences, both in the home and the local environment. She fully understands her responsibilities in safeguarding children and protecting them from possible abuse, ensuring, for example, that a record is kept of any visitors to the home. Risk This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 assessments are undertaken to identify and minimise any potential risks to the children’s safety and a record is kept. However, this is not signed.

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provision

The childminder ensures she establishes and maintains very good relationships with the parents and carers. Useful information is displayed in the entrance, alongside photographs of previous activities the children have been involved in. Parents are asked to complete a detailed record sheet about their child before the placement begins, which means information about their care routines and their learning is shared very effectively. A detailed daily diary is kept for each child, alongside a well presented individual learning journal. These provide both parents and children with a record of the children's time with the childminder, to look back on in the future.

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provision

The childminder has good relationships with other childminders in the area and regularly attends group meetings, which enables her to discuss elements of good practice. She has good relationships with the staff at the local school nursery which some of the children also attend and is able to discuss aspects of the children’s learning and development with them. Effective systems are in place to monitor and evaluate the service, to ensure continuous improvement. For example, the childminder has recently moved house and plans to make one of the rooms into a designated playroom. She has identified that this will improve the children’s access to the toys and resources, promoting choice and self-selection.

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

The childminder has a very good understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage and how to support children's learning and development. For example, she enables the children to make choices in their play and also provides activities led by herself, such as baking and visits to museums and ‘big play’, where children are able to build with recyclable materials, such as large cardboard boxes. The childminder has a very calm and caring manner and the children relate very well to her. She skilfully uses questioning to extend children's thinking and she gives them time to formulate their ideas and answers. She acknowledges their achievement with lots of praise and keeps detailed written records of the very good progress they are making towards the early learning goals. These clearly identify how she will support the next steps in their learning.

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

All children are keen to take part in the activities. They thoroughly enjoy being outside in the garden where the youngest ones delight in exploring sand and water. The older ones are very proud of their vegetable garden where they have grown and care for plants, such as strawberries, tomatoes and beans. The children show an interest in the birds that visit the garden and become fully immersed as they explore open-ended resources, such as very long cardboard tubes. They delight in having a race to see whose toy car will appear from the tube first and learn that raising the tube will increase the speed at which the car travels. They enjoy sharing books with the childminder, who uses these well to support their language development. They show an interest in letter sounds and rhyming words and demonstrate a very good range of vocabulary as they talk about the activities and their interests. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

The childminder supports the children very well in learning about keeping themselves safe. They talk about the role of people who help them, such as firefighters, and practise the emergency evacuation procedures for the home regularly. The children learn about keeping healthy as they take part in physical activities, such as visiting the local park to use the large play equipment. They understand about the importance of washing their hands. This is very evident as they explain that this is to get rid of germs that may make them poorly, stating germs are so small that they cannot be seen. They show very good independence at mealtimes, peeling their own orange and choosing the filling they want to put in their pitta bread. The children have their own named peg for their coat and hand towel, which gives them a sense of belonging. They show they are very willing to help the childminder with tasks, such as bringing in the toys from outside.

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The quality and standards of the early years provision

This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Annex A: record of inspection judgements

The key inspection judgements and what they mean

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Annex A: record of inspection judgements

Grade 1 is Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Grade 2 is Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Grade 3 is Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Grade 4 is Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough

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of children in the Early Years Foundation Stage?

How well does the provision promote inclusive practice? 2 The capacity of the provision to maintain continuous improvement.

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Foundation Stage led and managed?

How effective is the setting’s self-evaluation, including the steps taken to promote improvement? How well does the setting work in partnership with parents and others? How well are children safeguarded? 2

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Years Foundation Stage promoted?

How well are children helped to stay safe? 2 How well are children helped to be healthy? 2 How well are children helped to enjoy and achieve? 2 How well are children helped to make a positive contribution? How well are children helped develop skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being?

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Years Foundation Stage promoted?

procedures set out in the guidance available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

The provider confirms that the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are: Met

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

The provider confirms that the requirements of the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are: Met

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