Childminder, Out-of school day care in Leicestershire

Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY388465 Inspection date 11/02/2010 Inspector Alison Edwards

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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 registered in 2009. He lives with his wife, who is also a registered childminder, and two children aged 12 and 13 years in a village in Leicestershire. The ground floor and lower-ground floor of the childminder’s house are used for childminding. There is an enclosed garden for outside play. The family keeps chickens and a pet cat. The childminder is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register to care for a maximum of six children aged under eight years, including three in the early years age range when working alone, and for 10 children under the age of eight years, including six in the early years age range, when co-childminding. The childminder is also registered on the voluntary part of the Childcare Register to care for older children. There are currently 24 children across the age range on roll, nine of whom are aged under eight years, including seven in the early years age range. Children

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Description of the childminding

currently attend during term-times only, on a part-time basis before and after school.

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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 has a good overview of how to implement the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) in order to promote children's welfare and development effectively. He makes continued use of local sources of advice and support to explore current best practice and further ways of implementing this. There are extremely effective arrangements to work with parents, so helping to ensure a thorough understanding of children's individual needs, preferences and abilities. Consequently, children are extremely settled and confident, and are helped to feel that they are greatly valued as individuals. Children enjoy use of an extremely varied and interesting range of resources and activities helping them to develop positive attitudes to learning and make good progress in relation to their individual starting points.

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further?

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

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further?

 ensure there is constant reappraisal of how space and resources are used in order to take full account of children's stage of maturity and ensure the optimum levels of supervision and safety at all times.  establish more systematic ways to rigorously assess what the service offers against robust and challenging quality criteria in order to accurately pin point current strengths and set clear targets for continued development to enhance the quality of provision for all children. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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the early years provision

There are good arrangements to safeguard children from harm. Required records relating to individual children's contact, medical and dietary information are very methodically maintained, so underpinning the safe management of their care. Clear and detailed policies are in place, helping to ensure that the childminder has a good awareness of his responsibilities, for example, with regard to notifying the relevant agencies promptly in the event of any safeguarding concerns or allegation of abuse. Clear records are maintained showing that required vetting procedures have been completed for each adult living on the premises, and that relevant childminding training is undertaken. Children enjoy use of an extremely spacious and stimulating environment, for example as they investigate a changing selection of artefacts provided by the childminder in their 'museum', or as they experiment with different light sources in a small alcove forming a 'magic portal'. Detailed risk

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the early years provision

assessments are undertaken to minimise identified potential hazards to children within the premises and on outings. However, the constant reappraisal of how space and resources are used is not yet fully effective in taking full account of individual children's stage of maturity, and the changing range of resources and activities to ensure the optimum levels of supervision and safety at all times.

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the early years provision

The childminder and his wife have a good shared understanding of the aims of their childcare service and how to achieve these, and frequently discuss how well the provision is working in order to establish and implement ideas for future improvement. The childminder makes good use of local meetings with other early years settings, such as schools and pre-schools, to share and develop ideas for good practice. There are good practical arrangements in place to ensure children's smooth transition to and from school each day. The childminder has a thorough understanding of how to help all children recognise and respect individual and cultural diversity and the reasons for this. He values good liaison with other agencies, such as health professionals, to support the inclusion of children with identified special educational needs and/or disabilities. However, current evaluation processes do not yet systematically and rigorously assess the effectiveness of all

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the early years provision

aspects of the childcare service against robust and challenging quality criteria in order to accurately pin-point current strengths and set specific targets to enhance the quality of provision for all children.

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the early years provision

There are excellent arrangements to take account of parents' knowledge of each child's individual needs, interests and abilities, and to share on-going information with parents about children's experiences and changing abilities. For example, the childminder takes account of parental comments about children's current interest in two-dimensional design to encourage investigation of how to use pictures and diagrams to help construct three-dimensional models. Captioned photographs and diary entries are used to identify and record children's changing abilities and skills. Each child in the early years age range has their own large storage box where these logs, together with items such as their models and drawings, are freely available for parents to see and discuss. Parents' comments are consistently extremely positive about the quality of the provision. Children very confidently This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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the early years provision

express their own enjoyment of the provision through their drawings and written and verbal comments.

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and outcomes for children

There are excellent arrangements to promote children's healthy lifestyle. Children take pride in using their own personalised wash bags and towels, the latter changed daily, when thoroughly and independently washing their hands. They show excellent awareness of how to stay safe and comfortable in different weather conditions, for example as they wrap up warmly before going outside in the winter. Children are encouraged to take plenty of fluids because they have constant independent access to a water cooler and individual mugs. They enjoy making very healthy food choices from extremely appetising and nutritious meals, such as a wide selection of wraps and sandwiches filled with tuna, egg, cheese or different types of spiced chicken, with an excellent range of fresh salad vegetables and fruit. Throughout the year, children gain an on-going understanding of food growing, for example as they sow vegetable seeds and taste herbs from the windowsill in

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and outcomes for children

winter and spring, or as they grow and harvest vegetables in the garden during summer and autumn. The securely fenced sloping rear garden provides children with excellent opportunities to explore different paths and dens, as well as to use wheeled toys and ball games in purposeful play. Very effective design features help children learn how to use large play equipment safely. For example, very low hedging enables children to clearly see the 'no go' areas on either side of the swings.

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and outcomes for children

Children show good awareness of how to behave safely, for example when handling small tools such as scissors, or when carefully negotiating the stairs. There are very careful arrangements to help them establish and extend their understanding of road safety. The childminder and his wife implement many sensible safety precautions, for example ensuring that the premises are secure, and that household cleaning materials and medicines are safely stored. The childminder and his wife are conscientious in ensuring that they are aware of children's whereabouts at all times, and are careful to ensure that required adult:child ratios are consistently maintained. However, current arrangements to consistently monitor and reappraise children's free and independent access to both lower floors of the large house are not yet fully effective in ensuring that levels of supervision are always best matched to individual children's stage of maturity and

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and outcomes for children

the available range of activities and resources.

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and outcomes for children

Children are eager to attend the setting, and show consistently very high levels of enthusiasm, independence and purpose in their play. For example, they extend their own ideas as they create furniture for their 'castle' using large construction sets, and enjoy independently exploring the effects of dark and light in a hidey hole. Children across the age range develop very confident and supportive relationships with each other, negotiating and cooperating very well in their self- chosen play, for example as they develop imaginative role play using a varied range of dressing up clothes, or as they use games such as table football and hockey. Observations of children's changing abilities and interests are used well to This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 plan interesting opportunities to further extend these, for example by exploring using water in different ways to make marks. The childminder is effective in

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and outcomes for children

helping children to persevere with, and succeed in, their self-chosen activities, for example when suggesting effective ways to accurately cut round the outline of a butterfly. He helps them extend their use of language, and their understanding of simple concepts, for example when encouraging them to talk about and explore the idea of 'clockwise' and 'anti-clockwise'. Children gain a good practical awareness of the natural world as they sow and grow seeds, or as they view the changing sky and landscape at sunset. They have good opportunities to make use of everyday technology as they use computers for games and for carefully- monitored internet use. Consequently, children are establishing a good basis for their future skills and learning. 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 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 1 The extent to which children make a positive contribution 1 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: 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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