Childminder in Hampshire

Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY397408 Inspection date 11/01/2010 Inspector Loraine Wardlaw

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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 2009 on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She lives in Eastleigh, Hampshire with her husband and their four children, two of whom are pre- schoolers. The childminder uses the downstairs area of the house for childminding, which includes a bedroom for sleeping purposes. There is a secure garden for outdoor play.

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Description of the childminding

The childminder is registered to provide care for one child within the early years age range, and up to three older children under the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. A maximum of three children may attend at any one time. There are currently two early years children on roll who attend part-time. The childminder is able to provide care from Monday to Friday all year round. She is able to take and collect children from Fair Oak infant and junior schools and local pre-schools. The childminder visits the local children's centre, toddler groups, library and parks. She is a member of the National Childminding Association.

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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

The newly registered childminder's genuine love of working with children shines through; she has a very positive approach when interacting with them and provides stimulating play activities to ensure their progress towards the early learning goals. She places a high emphasis on safeguarding children which is a key strength of the setting. Although the childminder is knowledgeable about the six areas of learning she does not yet have a well developed knowledge of each child's capabilities in all the learning areas; this impacts on the quality of the activities being offered and children's overall developmental progress. The childminder has started to evaluate her practice informally, by some self-reflection, but the system is not yet rigorous enough to accurately identify all areas for development, to secure good continuous improvement.

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further?

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

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further?

 adjust the educational programme offered to ensure that the indoor environment contains learning and toy resources which are appropriate, well maintained and accessible for all children  develop confidence in observing and assessing children's problem solving reasoning and numeracy skills, and provide more opportrunities for children to develop these skills during planned adult-led activities  introduce a system to self-evaluate against the Early Years Foundation Stage, identifying and implementing areas for development. 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 well because the suitably vetted childminder is confident about her child protection procedure should she have concerns that a child is being abused. She shares her very good written procedure with parents. The childminder is vigilant with regards to safety matters and conducts good risk assessments to ensure hazards are minimised. Children benefit from the patient care and attention they receive from the sympathetic childminder. She organises her time and day to solely meet the needs of young children. Although children can select from a sufficient range of age appropriate toy resources, a few boxes are jumbled up with toys of limited play value which does not effectively facilitate child-initiated learning in all six areas of learning. Some resources are located upstairs which the childminder accesses for children, such as dressing up clothes. Documentation is up-to-date and organised appropriately. The childminder values and respects the

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the early years provision

different racial origins, religions, cultures and languages of our multi-ethnic society, and ensures each child is valued as a unique individual, without racial or gender stereotyping. She is experienced and knowledgeable about supporting children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities.

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the early years provision

The childminder builds up her knowledge of practice issues by networking with other childminder's and by attending further training. For example, she is currently completing units two and three of the Diploma in home based child-care. As a newly registered childminder she wishes to wait for a year of operation, before she fully evaluates her service. She has already identified some areas for future improvement, such as writing newsletters for parents and further developing the children's learning journeys, but the educational programme offered has not been highlighted as a development area. The childminder builds communicative, open relationships with parents who highly value the service she offers them. Parents write extremely positively and knowingly about the provision. They have daily chats about children's day-to-day care and can view their children's learning journey's which have photos and written evidence of their child's developmental

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the early years provision

achievements. Discussions about areas of development the childminder has not yet observed or assessed such as problem solving reasoning and numeracy have not yet taken place with parents.

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and outcomes for children

Two-year-olds build a strong bond with the kind childminder who is consistently on hand to meet their desires. She juggles the individual needs of the various age groups she cares for extremely well ensuring that they are all happy, having fun and are engaged in playing and learning. She interacts sympathetically and at times purposefully to encourage them to think and communicate to her. The childminder involves herself in their play getting down to their level and joining in. For example, she puts on a workman's hat and has a 'magic spanner' to help repair the oven during café role play with the cooker and play food/ plastic crockery. Children become excited as they sit at the table to make play dough. When the This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 play spontaneously takes a different turn, for example the banging of the basin with wooden spoons, the childminder enthusiastically picks up on this and

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and outcomes for children

introduces different items for the children to bang and hit, asking which sound they like best. They all laugh and have fun together whilst learning. Children take turns to pour in the ingredients and mix them together in the mixing bowl. Although the childminder has a recipe on the table she does not relate to it, or encourage the children to recognise the numerals on the recipe; there is less emphasis on developing children's problem solving, reasoning and numeracy skills during the adult-led activity, although there were opportunities to do so. Children use tools for a purpose during the play dough exploration and are encouraged to feel it's texture. They make marks on paper after requesting to the childminder that they want to 'do a drawing'; this initiates the childminder getting out pencils and paper from the computer cupboard for the children.

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and outcomes for children

Children thrive and behave well because of the very encouraging and positive praise given to them by the childminder throughout the day. They are involved in good personal hygiene routines; they wash their hands before snack time and dry them on their individual towels which is on a name labelled hook. They learn to keep safe by the good and consistent guidance offered to them by the childminder. This includes regularly practising the fire drill. The childminder has a sound system in place to observe and assess children's development which includes photographs and good written observations of children's achievements and next learning steps. Although five areas of learning have been observed and assessed by the childminder, she is unsure of some of the children's capabilities in problem solving reasoning and numeracy which has an impact on the overall quality of the 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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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 3 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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