Childminder in Hertfordshire

Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 149234 Inspection date 01/12/2009 Inspector Susan Ennis

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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 registered in 2000. She lives with her husband and two children aged 13 and 15 years in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. The whole of the ground floor of the childminder's house is used for childminding and there is a fully enclosed garden for outside play. There is level access to the premises. The family has one dog, four cats, six rabbits, one guinea pig and some fish.

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Description of the childminding

The childminder provides care on each weekday term time and during school holidays. She is registered on the Early Years Register to care for a maximum of three children in the early years age group and is currently minding two children in this age range. She also offers care to children aged over five years and this provision is registered on the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently three children on roll in this age group. Children on the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register share the same facilities as those on the Early Years Register.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is good.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

The childminder offers a safe, secure and welcoming environment in which all children thrive. Her effective planning ensures that the children's interests and development are consistently promoted and that they enjoy their time with her. She builds trusting relationships with parents to ensure that each child's individual needs are met. She also offers continuity of care often caring for the same children from when they were very young babies. Through evaluating her practice, the childminder has a clear picture of her strengths and areas for improvement and is therefore able to make effective changes to improve the daily care and experiences for the children in her care. She demonstrates a high commitment to her childminding and is enthusiastic about making and sustaining improvement.

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further?

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

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further?

 develop further the use of observation, assessment and planning to demonstrate the areas of learning covered, children's progress towards the early learning goals and any areas of concern or further challenge  develop further the partnerships with others involved in the children's lives to promote continuity of care and learning.

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the early years provision

Effective safeguarding policies and procedures ensure that children are well protected at all times. For example, the childminder has a good knowledge of child This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 protection and has the required contact numbers in place for dealing with concerns. She ensures that all those coming into contact with the children are suitable to do so and if visitors, such as workmen, need to come to the house she tries to arrange the appointment for when the children are not present. She uses clear and practical procedures, such as daily safety checks and comprehensive risk assessments for monitoring the environment, enabling the children to move around the setting freely and with confidence. The childminder also has effective and well thought out procedures for taking children on outings. She fully risk assesses the environment and carries a first aid kit containing the children's details

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the early years provision

and consent for medical treatment with her in case of an emergency. Children are made aware of their own safety as they wear a badge containing the childminder's contact number in case they become separated from her and are given boundaries of how far they can go from her.

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the early years provision

The childminder has a good understanding of anti-discriminatory practice, enabling her to provide a service which is inclusive for all children and their families. She works with the parents to ensure that she understands each child's background, needs and beliefs. Children are gently encouraged to recognise differences and respect diversity. They celebrate festivals, such as Ramadan when they try different types of food and learn about the Festival of Remembrance by drawing and making their own poppies. They also read books and play with resources including dolls and play figures that reflect the diverse society in which we live.

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the early years provision

Children's individual development is well promoted because the childminder has effective procedures and resources in place to support, monitor and evaluate their progress. The available resources are used well and the all-inclusive child- orientated environment is conducive to children's learning. For example, the low- level labelled storage enables the children to self-select what they want to play with and if special requests are made the childminder tries to provide them. When older children ask for some more grown-up toys such as Lego the childminder borrows some from another childminder to ensure it is what they want before purchasing some herself. She also makes good use of the local facilities, attending a range of toddler and childminding groups with the children.

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the early years provision

The childminder continuously evaluates her daily practice and has high expectations of herself. She demonstrates a genuine enjoyment for her work and regularly attends further training to update and increase her knowledge. She uses peer observations, discussions with parents and the self-evaluation form to identify her strengths and areas for improvement and reacts positively to feedback during the inspection. She shows a commitment to sustainability by, for example, wanting to renew her Hertfordshire Quality Standards Assurance Scheme to further improve the outcomes for the children in her care.

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the early years provision

A close and trusting partnership with parents and carers ensures that all relevant information is shared and a consistent approach given to the children. Organised documentation ensures that parents are fully informed about the childminder's policies and procedures detailing her working ethos and good practice. Daily interaction, a parents' notice board and use of daily diaries ensures that they are fully informed about their child's day. Photographs are also shared when special moments occur, such as children dressing themselves independently or enjoying a This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 ballet lesson, further involving the parents in their child's day. When the childminder provided holiday cover for a child she gave the parents a photo album of the child's two weeks with her showing all the activities that the child participated in. This was very much appreciated by the parents as the very positive

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the early years provision

reference demonstrates. The childminder works in partnership with the other settings attended by the children, for example, attending the first session at nursery with the child and parent and passing messages on from the teachers. However this is an area for further development.

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and outcomes for children

Children are consistently offered a wide range of opportunities that support them in making good progress across the areas of learning and development. Her flexible approach to planning ensures that the children can choose what to play with and that their likes and dislikes are followed. For example, when children choose to do a craft activity they freely choose snowman templates to decorate. They carefully decide where to put the eyes and nose and discuss with the childminder what shape they would like the snowman's buttons to be, developing their mathematical language as they do so. They are gently reminded not to use too much glue as on a previous occasion they had used a whole pot of glue on one picture which took three days to dry. However, they thoroughly enjoyed the experience at the same time developing their creative skills. The childminder has a secure understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage and has developed

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and outcomes for children

procedures for observing and assessing the children as they play. She uses this information to record their progress. However, this is not fully promoted because the current systems do not show how children's next steps are consistently fed into the planning and the areas of learning covered by the activities.

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and outcomes for children

The childminder ensures that she offers the children a balanced and broad range of activities, both inside and outside the home, that are fun and encourage them to learn through play. During the school holidays children develop their physical and social skills as they go to the local water park and enjoy group games, such as rounders encouraging them to take turns and work together. They are learning to care about the environment as they discuss and practise recycling. For example, they tell the childminder that their raisin box can be recycled and participate in taking all the collected items to the local recycling points. Children develop their language skills as they join in doing an alphabet puzzle making up the words with the pieces provided. The childminder supports their play by giving clues to the words such as 'what might a person be called who cares for farm animals?' when the word is 'farmer'.

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and outcomes for children

Children are clearly settled with the childminder and demonstrate their trust in the situation when they come to her for a hug. They are encouraged to use appropriate behaviour and are fully supported in finding strategies that encourage them to make the right choices. They are learning respect of others as they tell the inspector 'I don’t get a sticker if I'm unkind to people. I only get them if I'm kind'. They have good manners and use 'please' and 'thank you' in the appropriate places. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 Children's health and welfare is well prompted as the childminder takes effective steps to minimise the spread of infection and develop their understanding of a healthy lifestyle. They use antibacterial spray to clean their hands and talk about how drinking water and milk makes them have strong muscles. They then demonstrate this by doing press-ups to show their growing strength. Everyday

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and outcomes for children

experiences help the children to learn about their own safety and that of others. They practise road safety when out and about as the childminder asks them to say when it is safe to cross, increasing their awareness and concentration. They also take part in Road Safety Week and make pictures of traffic lights to reinforce their knowledge. 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 2 The effectiveness of the setting’s self-evaluation, including the steps taken to promote improvement The effectiveness of partnerships 2 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 2

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 2 The extent to which children feel safe 2 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 2

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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: Not Met (with actions)

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

The provider confirms that the requirements of the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are: Not Met (with actions)

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

The registered provider does not meet the requirements of the compulsory and or voluntary part/s of the Childcare Register.

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

To comply with the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register, the registered person must take the following action/s by the specified date:

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

 ensure that the safeguarding policy includes the procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation being made against yourself or a member of the family (Arrangements for Safeguarding Children) (also applies to the voluntary part of the Childcare Register). 15/12/2009

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

To comply with the requirements of the voluntary part of the Childcare Register, the registered person must take the following action/s by the specified date:

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Annex B: the Childcare Register

 take action as specified in the compulsory part of the Childcare Register section of the report (Arrangements for Safeguarding Children). 15/12/2009

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