Childminder in Worcestershire

Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 204737 Inspection date 09/09/2009 Inspector Donna Stevens

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Type of setting Childminder to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It rates council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way.

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Royal Exchange Buildings St Ann's Square Manchester M2 7LA

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T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk 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.

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Introduction

Please see our website for more information about each childcare provider. We publish inspection reports, conditions of registration and details of complaints we receive where we or the provider take action to meet the requirements of registration. 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 1998. She lives with her husband and four adult children in Kidderminster. Several family members are registered as assistants to provide extra support when required. The whole of the ground floor is used for childminding, as well as an upstairs bedroom which is used for sleeping. There is a fully enclosed garden available for outside play. The childminder is able to take and collect children from local schools and pre-schools. The family have a dog, cat and goldfish.

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Description of the childminding

The childminder is registered to care for a maximum of six children under eight years at any one time, of whom no more than three may be in the early years age range. There are currently four children attending who are within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), some of whom attend on a part-time basis. The childminder also offers care to children aged over five years to nine years. This provision is registered on the Early Years Register and on both the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. The childminder supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. She is an active member of the National Childminding Association and the local childminding group. The childminder is accredited to receive government funding for three and four year olds and is part of the Worcestershire Childminding network.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is outstanding.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Children benefit from the childminder's ambition, motivation and commitment to providing high quality care. Systems to evaluate her practice are extremely effective and take into consideration the opinions of children, parents and carers when identifying areas for improvement. Positive action is taken to ensure that the provision is fully inclusive and children's individual needs are extremely well met. The childminder is proactive in developing good partnerships with parents, other settings and professionals involved in children's care ensuring effective continuity of care and learning, which enables children to make excellent progress.

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further?

To further improve the high quality early years provision the registered person should consider:

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further?

 develop further the opportunities for children to find out about and identify the uses for everyday technology and use information and communication technology to support their learning. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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the early years provision

Children are extremely well safeguarded, with high quality, robust policies and procedures that are shared with parents. The childminder has an excellent understanding of her role and responsibilities with regards to safeguarding children's welfare and attends training on a regular basis to ensure that her knowledge and understanding remains up-to-date and in line with local guidance. High-quality risk assessments and daily safety checks ensure that both the indoor and outdoor play areas are safe and risks to children are minimised.

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the early years provision

The childminder is highly committed to her own self-development. She has recently completed an Early Years Foundation degree and now plans to obtain her Early Years Professional Status. She regularly attends local training events and meetings with other providers where good practice is shared. The childminder is accredited to receive early years funding and is part of a local network of providers. This has allowed her to build close working relationships with other settings that children in her care may attend. She is an active member of the National Childminding Association and local childminding group, striving to improve the standards of childminding both locally and Nationally. She has completed the National Childminding Association Quality Assurance scheme to level three and has used the Ofsted self evaluation system to help her identify areas for improvement. She has actively sought funding to enable her to address these areas and to

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the early years provision

continue to provide high quality care and learning opportunities for the children.

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the early years provision

The childminder places a strong emphasis on developing close working relationships with parents and carers. Parents are able to keep updated about events in the setting and their child's progress through an excellent range of medium. Daily verbal discussions are supported with regular newsletters, a parents information board, opportunities to share and contribute to children's learning and development records and an informative and regularly updated website. She regularly seeks their opinions and feedback and reflects on this information to include it in her self-evaluation. For example, following the implementation of the Early Years Foundation Stage the childminder trialled a variety of learning records for the children and sought parents opinions before selecting a system to use on a permanent basis. This ensures that the childminder is using systems that are parent friendly. She also works well in partnership with other settings the children

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the early years provision

attend and is proactive in ensuring that she receives information from other professionals involved in children's care, such as speech therapists.

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the early years provision

The childminder actively promotes equality of opportunity and works closely with parents, carers and other agencies to support and meet children's individual needs to a high standard. All children and families are valued and the childminder is confident to tackle and challenge any prejudice and discrimination from both adults and children. Families are welcomed into the childminder's home and she takes a great interest in their lives giving children a sense of belonging and feeling valued. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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and outcomes for children

Children make outstanding progress towards the early learning goals and in all areas of their development because the childminder has an excellent understanding of both the Early Years Foundation Stage and outcomes for children. She is skilled at using the children's individual interests and ideas to plan interesting and enjoyable activities that provide opportunities for children to learn a range of skills, develop their creativity and explore their environment. For example, children showed an interest in plants growing in the garden. This prompted a visit to a local garden centre to buy plants and seeds. Children develop their knowledge and understanding of living things as they help plant and take care of the seeds. Their creativity is nurtured as they chose plants to make colourful hanging baskets and their understanding of healthy lifestyles is extended as the activity moved on to include planting fruit and vegetables. Other skills are

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and outcomes for children

developed as the children use a variety of tools to plant and sow seeds, and fill up watering cans to keep the plants healthy. Their vocabulary is increased as they are introduced to words relating to growing and share books and stories related to the living world. They practise mark making skills and letter recognition as they write their own name labels for beans they had planted in jars. Activities and play are sensitively observed by the childminder allowing her to identify the next steps in their learning. She is able to skilfully include these in future activities and play to support children in achieving their full potential. She knows each child's individual characteristics extremely well and is able to identify the best way for each child to master a new skill.

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and outcomes for children

Children demonstrate loving and caring relationships with both the childminder and their peers. The childminder provides clear and consistent boundaries, so that children develop knowledge of acceptable behaviour and begin to learn to share, take turns and engage in positive behaviour. The childminder has highly effective systems to support behaviour management helping children to understand right from wrong and the consequences of their actions on others. As a result, children demonstrate an understanding of others and display a very good sense of responsibility for their actions. They are very well behaved and extremely polite.

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and outcomes for children

Children thoroughly enjoy their time with the childminder. They take part enthusiastically in activities and are confident to ask for resources and equipment. They are helped to instigate their own learning and develop skills at their own pace with praise and encouragement. The children enjoy mark making and use a range of pens and pencils skilfully. Children develop excellent pencil control from a young age and are provided with large sheets of paper allowing them to explore and experiment with movement. As children get older they refine these skills as they draw round shapes, naming them and recognizing colours. The activity is further extended through the introduction of scissors which children use safely stating that they need to 'mind your fingers' when cutting pieces of string that they hold out for each other. Books and storytelling are a real favourite and children understand from a young age that print carries meaning and are able to retell, comment on

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and outcomes for children

and join in with familiar stories, rhymes and action songs. The childminder is skilled at extending her questioning and introducing more complex vocabulary to This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 older and more able children. This ensures that all children achieve and reach their maximum potential. Effective self evaluation has led to the childminder identifying the use of information technology as an area for future improvement to enhance the children's learning. Securing a capital funding grant has enabled her to purchase new equipment which will allow her to further support this.

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and outcomes for children

Children are extremely secure, self assured and confident. They are encouraged to share their ideas and opinions and the childminder will listen and act upon their requests encouraging them to realise that their thoughts and feelings are important and valued. Children understand that basic rules are in place to ensure their own safety, for example sitting at the table when using scissors. They also demonstrate a very good understanding of the importance of good personal hygiene removing outdoor shoes when they come in from the garden and going to wash their hands without being prompted. They understood that they each had their own coloured towels and that they needed to have 'nice clean hands' before eating so that 'our dinner is nice and good'.

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and outcomes for children

Healthy eating is actively encouraged and parents provide children with healthy lunch boxes which are complemented with nutritious snacks provided by the childminder. Mealtimes are sociable occasions when children sit together and develop social skills and table manners. Children enjoy drinking fresh water which is available to them at all times. They develop an excellent understanding of healthy eating through activities such as cooking, growing and harvesting their own fruit and vegetables and food tasting sessions. They have opportunities to enjoy outdoor play on a daily basis and a good range of garden equipment as well as visits to local parks provides them with varied opportunities to develop their physical skills.

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and outcomes for children

Children's understanding of diversity and difference is enhanced as they celebrate festivals and special events at the childminding groups that they visit regularly. They learn about other ways of life and different societies through extensions to familiar activities allowing them to respect and understand difference and similarities. As part of the growing activities that children enjoyed they shared a popular children's book about crops growing in other countries. This natural integration into everyday activities encourages them from a young age to value and respect other ways of life. 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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children in the Early Years Foundation Stage?

The capacity of the provision to maintain continuous improvement

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and managed?

The effectiveness of leadership and management in embedding ambition and driving improvement The effectiveness with which the setting deploys resources 1 The effectiveness with which the setting promotes equality and diversity The effectiveness of safeguarding 1 The effectiveness of the setting’s self-evaluation, including the steps taken to promote improvement The effectiveness of partnerships 1 The effectiveness of the setting’s engagement with parents and carers

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Stage

The quality of the provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage 1

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 1 The extent to which children feel safe 1 The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles 1 The extent to which children make a positive contribution 1 The extent to which children develop skills for the future 1

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Stage

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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