Childminder in North Northamptonshire

Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 220828 Inspection date 18/01/2010 Inspector Patricia King

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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 1990. She lives with a child aged 15 years and three adult children in Corby which is situated in Northamptonshire. All of the ground floor of the childminder's home and the bathroom and main bedroom on the first floor is used for childminding. There is a fully enclosed rear garden available for outside play.

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Description of the childminding

The childminder is registered to care for maximum of six children under eight at any one time, of whom no more than three may be in the early years age group. She is currently minding six children in this age group. She also offers to care for children aged over five to 11 years. The provision is registered by Ofsted on the Early Years register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register.

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Description of the childminding

The childminder is a member of the National Childminding Association and the Northamptonshire Childminding Network. The family pets are two cats,

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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

This childminder takes care to establish clear understanding of children’s individual care needs which enables them to be happy and settled in her care. Children have access to a suitable and varied range of activities which promote play and learning indoors and outside the home. The childminder works closely with parents and has systems in place to form partnerships with any other providers or agencies working with children to promote continuity of care and development. She has not fully established an effective system to assess her strengths and weaknesses which means she has not developed effective use of the information gathered from observations to inform the planning of activities.

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further?

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

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further?

 ensure that parents have the opportunity to be a part of their child's learning by contributing to an assessment of their learning and abilities to establish what children can already do and inform planning for what they need to do next  ensure that observations of what children can do are used effectively to check that learning is secure in all areas and planning is consistently informed to promote children’s next steps in their learning and development  develop systems in place to ensure self-evaluation is used effectively to identify strengths and weaknesses in performance and plan ongoing improvement. 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 safeguarded effectively because the childminder has a good understanding of child protection procedures and knows what to do to report any concerns. The childminder has organised her home well to provide a safe, secure, welcoming environment to children and their families. She promotes children's safety by undertaking robust risk assessments of the premises and any outings and by maintaining close supervision at all times. A comprehensive range of written policies and procedures are in place to promote children's health, safety and welfare and copies of these documents are available to parents.

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the early years provision

The childminder is fully prepared to establish positive partnerships with others involved in the children's lives, for example, the parents and pre-school which supports children’s overall development and progress. She takes care to establish all necessary details and information to meet the individual care needs of minded children. However, parents are not asked to contribute to an initial assessment of their child’s learning which means this important information is not available to inform planning for children’s progress. She gives careful consideration to the inclusion of all children and effectively organises activities and learning opportunities so that they are fully enabled to participate safely and confidently. She is committed to personal development and attends regular relevant training to support her services. The childminder has implemented the improvements recommended at the previous inspection but she has not established an efficient

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the early years provision

system to assess her strengths and weaknesses in order to plan ongoing improvement.

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and outcomes for children

The childminder knows the children well which means their individual needs and abilities are recognised and regarded to ensure all children are fully included and enabled to participate in the daily routines. She is developing systems to observe and record what children can do, however, this information is not yet used efficiently to ensure that learning is secure and plan for the next steps. The childminder has organised her home and routines to provide a safe, secure environment for children where toys, activities and resources are stored within easy reach to promote independence and choice. Consequently, children move freely around the areas of the home used confidently to select a toy, activity or game to play with. This means that children develop a sense of belonging and build positive relationships with this childminder and her family.

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and outcomes for children

The childminder provides a broad range of interesting activities and demonstrates that she understands the needs of children of differing ages and stages of development and that they learn as they play. She spends time talking to them asking appropriate questions to stimulate their interest and involvement. Children’s imagination and creativity are fostered well as they are involved in role play and have suitable resources and opportunities to create pictures, models and collages. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 Children proudly display work they have done such as drawing, painting and collages which promotes their self-esteem. Discussion and photos evidence they enjoy finding out about their local community and are learning about the wider world and their place in it. Children have confidence to express themselves, for example, asking for a favourite story, a drink or a comforting cuddle when tired.

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and outcomes for children

Children behave well are developing an understanding of what is right and wrong. They are learning to share, take turns and show care and concern for each other because the childminder introduces games and activities to practice these skills. They follow the sensible house rules to promote safe behaviour and respond happily to gentle reminders when these are needed. They are learning to be safe outside the home as they practice road safety on outings and talk about stranger awareness.

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and outcomes for children

Children’s health and well-being are well promoted because the childminder is a positive role model and ensures children learn to protect themselves from illness and cross infection. For example, children understand why careful hand washing after using the toilet and before handling or eating food is important to their good health and practise effective personal care routines such as disposing used tissues carefully. 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 3 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 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 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 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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