Childminder in DoncasterOfsted inspection, 23 Nov 2009

Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY296265 Inspection date 23/11/2009 Inspector Diane Lynn Turner

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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 08456 404040, 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: 08456 404040 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 December 2004. She lives with her partner and two children aged nine and seven-years-old in a semi-detached house in the Dunscroft area of Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The house is close to shops, schools, a park and public transport links. All of the ground floor of the childminder's home is used for childminding purposes, with toilet facilities available on this level and on the first floor. There is an enclosed garden to the rear of the premises for outdoor play. A dog and two rabbits are kept as pets.

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Description of the childminding

The childminder is a member of the National Childminding Association and is registered by Ofsted on the Early Years Register and on the compulsory part of the Childcare Register to care for a maximum of five children under eight years of age at any one time, three of whom may be in the early years age group. She is also registered on the voluntary part of the Childcare Register. There are currently five children on roll, three of whom are within the early years age group. Their attendance is a mix of full and part-time places.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is satisfactory.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Children are cared for in a friendly and well-organised environment. They are valued as individuals and offered a range of activities which support their learning and development successfully. Good relationships are developed and maintained with the parents, and the childminder is aware of the importance of working with providers of other settings the children may also attend, to provide a joint approach to their care and learning. The childminder has begun to evaluate her service, to help identify areas for future development and promote continuous improvement, and she has some systems in place to monitor children's progress. However, these are not yet fully developed and some of the documentation required to meet the welfare requirements is not in place.

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further?

To fully meet the specific requirements of the EYFS, the registered person must:

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further?

 ensure a record is kept of the risk assessment, clearly stating when this was carried out, by whom, the date of review and any action taken following a review or incident (Documentation) 04/12/2009

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further?

 request written permission from all parents for seeking emergency medical advice or treatment (Promoting good health). 27/11/2009

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further?

To further improve the early years provision the registered person should: This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006  review the policies and procedures to ensure these are in line with the welfare requirements, and ensure the records of any medication administered to children are clearly dated  develop the assessment arrangements to ensure informed decisions are consistently made about each child's progress and are used to plan next steps to meet their developmental and learning needs.

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the early years provision

The childminder has a sound understanding of safeguarding children and her responsibilities in regard to child protection issues. She has attended training in this area and is able to recognise the possible indicators of abuse and knows who to refer her concerns to. Her home has very good areas of space and includes a designated play room, which has a good range of well-presented toys and resources and child-height furniture. As a result, the children are able to move about freely and independently access activities of their choice. Examples of their work are also displayed, which shows their efforts are valued and appreciated, and contribute to making the learning environment welcoming. The childminder checks the smoke alarms each month to ensure they remain in working order and assesses the premises to identify possible risks to the children's safety, taking appropriate action to minimise these. She does not, however, keep a record of her

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the early years provision

assessment which is a breach of the welfare requirements.

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the early years provision

The childminder has most of the necessary documentation to help her service operate safely and efficiently. For example, she keeps detailed records of any accidents and up-to-date attendance records. However, some medication records are not dated, and she has not obtained written parental permission for the seeking of medical advice or treatment in an emergency for all children, which is a breach of the welfare requirements. She is aware of the importance of self- evaluation and has identified some areas for development, such as updating her knowledge of food hygiene matters and developing her system for recording children's progress. She shows a good commitment to her own personal development and has recently completed a level 4 qualification in childcare, learning and development. She has addressed most of the recommendations from the previous inspection, making improvements to the hand washing facilities in

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the early years provision

particular, by providing individual hand towels for the children to prevent the risk of cross infection.

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the early years provision

The childminder has a positive approach to promoting equality and diversity. She ensures each child's individual needs are met and that they learn about the diverse world in which they live through celebrating festivals from other cultures and using resources, such as books entitled 'all kinds of people'. She maintains good relationships with the parents, providing good information about their child's care and activities through daily chats, newsletters and in electronic form. For example, sending copies of photographs via e-mail. She also provides them with copies of her policies and procedures, however, these have not been updated to ensure they are in line with the welfare requirements. She gauges their continuing satisfaction This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 of the service through questionnaires and these clearly show that parents value the service she offers.

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and outcomes for children

The childminder has a sound understanding of how children learn and develop and provides a range of activities that cover all six areas of learning. She develops close and trusting relationships with the children and makes learning fun. For example, lots of laughter is evident as they play chasing games together with the toy sharks. She promotes the children's communication, language and literacy through conversation and introduces new words as they play, to develop their vocabulary. As a result, the children confidently recall events they have been involved in at home and activities they have enjoyed with the childminder as they look at photographs. For example, they talk about how they observed giant land snails and stick insects at the library. They have opportunities to develop their creative and imaginative skills as they play with the pirate ship and train set and as they play shops. They ask the childminder what items she would like to buy,

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and outcomes for children

showing an understanding of the purpose of money as they ask her to pay for these. They enjoy making collage pictures with fallen leaves, describing the texture of dry ones as being 'crunchy', and as they find a sycamore 'key' the childminder shows them how to make it twirl down to the ground.

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and outcomes for children

The childminder observes children's interests and provides activities to support these, such as water play. For example, they learn about capacity as they fill different containers, describing how their bucket is half full and showing surprise when the small container overflows as they fill this from the larger bucket. The childminder is a good role model for the children to follow and they learn to behave well as a result. They play happily on their own as the childminder prepares their lunch and they know to put the toys away after use, doing so without prompting, and receiving lots of praise for their efforts. They are confident to discuss why they enjoy coming to the setting and that they particularly enjoy the thai green curry the childminder offers them for their lunch.

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and outcomes for children

The childminder successfully helps the children to learn about keeping themselves safe and well. She ensures they regularly take part in fire drills and that they learn to cross the road safely when out in the community. She explains why they should not approach strangers or dogs they do not know, and why any spills of water need to be cleaned up to prevent slips and falls. The children enjoy good opportunities to develop their physical skills as they play in the well-resourced garden and visit the local park. The childminder also takes them swimming when numbers allow. They know washing their hands after personal care and before meals is important in helping to prevent germs, and they discuss how milk is more beneficial than fizzy drinks as they play with the play food. The childminder keeps written observations of the children's progress and development. However, these are not consistently detailed or used effectively to show next steps, in order to

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and outcomes for children

meet the developmental and learning needs of all the children. 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 2 The effectiveness with which the setting promotes equality and diversity The effectiveness of safeguarding 3 The effectiveness of the setting’s self-evaluation, including the steps taken to promote improvement The effectiveness of partnerships 3 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 3

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 3 The extent to which children feel safe 3 The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which children make a positive contribution 2 The extent to which children develop skills for the future 3

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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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