Childminder in Doncaster

Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY263800 Inspection date 21/01/2010 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 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 has been registered since August 2003. She lives with her family in the Toll Bar area of Doncaster. The whole of the childminder's home is used for childminding, with toilet facilities situated on both floors. There is an enclosed garden to the front and rear of the home for outdoor play. The family keep three dogs, a cat and three guinea pigs as pets.

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Description of the childminding

The childminder is a member of the National Childminding Association and holds a recognised quality assurance award. She is registered by Ofsted on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare register to care for six children under eight years of age, three of whom may be in the early years age group. The childminder is also registered to work with an assistant and is registered on the compulsory and voluntary part of the Childcare Register. There are currently eight children on roll, five of whom are within the early years age group. They all attend on a part-time basis.

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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

Children are cared for in an extremely welcoming and child-orientated environment where their uniqueness is recognised and valued. Great care is taken to ensure their individual care and learning needs are met and they are offered a very good range of well-planned activities, both in the home and the local environment. This ensures they are well-occupied and supported very effectively in making very good progress towards the early learning goals. Excellent relationships are fostered with the parents and very good links are established with providers of other settings, such as the local school. Excellent attention is paid to ensuring the continuous improvement of the service and all of the required documentation is in place, however, this occasionally lacks the necessary detail.

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further?

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

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further?

 improve the record of the risk assessment so that it includes information on who conducted it (Documentation). 28/01/2010

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further?

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

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further?

 review the policy for working with an assistant in line with the welfare requirements. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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the early years provision

The childminder has a very good understanding of safeguarding children and her responsibilities in regards to child protection issues, including the procedures for reporting any concerns she may have. She ensures the premises remain secure at all times and that the children practise the emergency evacuation procedures each month, to ensure they know what to do in the event of a fire. The childminder’s home is well-organised and offers a wide range of learning opportunities, particularly the open-plan area under the stairs, which is used very skilfully to promote the children's imaginative play. For example, photographs show it decorated as a cave for Halloween, and on the inspection visit it was presented as a café. Detailed assessments are carried out on all areas of the home and for visits and outings, with effective action taken to minimise any identified risks. A record of the assessments is kept, however, this does not show who carried it out, which

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the early years provision

The childminder is thoroughly committed to providing high quality care. She works extremely well with her assistant and they have a very clear, shared vision of what it is they want to achieve in terms of outcomes for children. A written policy is in place to inform parents of the assistant’s role; however, this has not been reviewed to ensure it is line with the requirements of the Childcare Registers. Very good systems are in place for self-evaluation and the childminder talks passionately about her role and the pleasure she gains from helping the children to learn and develop. She shows an excellent commitment to continually improving her own service and to helping other childminders to do the same through her role as a mentor. Her commitment to training is excellent. For example, since the last inspection she has gained a level 3 childcare qualification and has attended a wealth of short courses alongside this. She talks animatedly about the knowledge

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the early years provision

she has gained and how she uses this to support the children's learning. In addition, she has also recently gained a recognised quality assurance award.

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the early years provision

The childminder is committed to promoting equality of opportunity and achieves this very successfully, resulting in a service that is open to all children and their families. She is meticulous in her approach to establishing and maintaining excellent relationships with the parents. They are asked to read, and sign to acknowledge they understand and agree to the policies and procedures, and are kept very well informed on an ongoing basis through the daily diaries, notice board in the home, and informal chats. The childminder fully understands the pressures of the parent's working lives and thoughtfully offers a pick up and drop off service from their home if they would like this.

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the early years provision

Questionnaires are used to gauge their continuing satisfaction of the service and these plus glowing written testimonies show how very much they appreciate the care and learning opportunities their children receive. Very good links are in place with the local school, which effectively helps children with the transition. For example, they are invited to join the nursery children on outings to venues, such as a Sikh temple and the childminder takes items of interest into school to share. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 The very good relationships are noted in the letter provided by the head teacher for the inspector.

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and outcomes for children

The childminder and her assistant have a very calm and patient manner and the children are very settled and confident in their care. They provide a very good balance of both child-led and adult initiated activities, which enables the children to learn in different ways. Very good systems are in place to identify the children's starting points and to record and monitor their progress. Particularly good attention is paid to promoting children's learning outdoors. For example, they regularly visit the nearby woods where they take part in activities led by the park ranger and they help to care for the swans on the nearby lake. They regularly visit the library and the children's centre for special events, such as observing more unusual animals, including a bearded dragon, giant rabbit, and snakes. Photographs also show them sailing the boats they made from recyclable materials on the nearby lake. They have excellent opportunities to develop their physical

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and outcomes for children

skills as they play in the garden, go swimming, visit the park and climb trees in the woods. All of which, helps them to develop very good control of their bodies, and to take measured risks, minimising the risk of any accidents.

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and outcomes for children

Very good attention is paid to promoting children's personal, social and emotional development. The childminder encourages them to become independent and uses praise very effectively to acknowledge their achievements. As a result, their behaviour is exemplary and they make a very positive contribution to the setting. For example, they confidently choose their own resources, readily help to get the plates out at lunch time and spontaneously use good manners. The childminder takes great delight in discussing how proud she is that members of the public compliment the children on their behaviour when out and about. Children have very good opportunities to develop their creativity. For example, they become fully immersed as they play in their café, putting on their aprons before pretending to prepare and serve food to their customers, and they thoroughly enjoy listening to music when they dance spontaneously to this. They enjoy building snowmen in the

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and outcomes for children

garden and are fascinated by the fact that they could not successfully add a scarf and hat to the ones they made from shaving foam. They discover that snow melts when a tray of snow is brought indoors. They thoroughly enjoy looking at books and listening to stories, particularly ones accompanied by puppets.

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and outcomes for children

Meticulous attention is paid to promoting children's health and safety. As a result, they understand fully why they need to wash their hands before eating and after toileting. They know to dispose of their paper towel in the bin after use, and books and reward charts are used very effectively to support those who are potty training. They know food, such as fruit is good for them and this is evident as they very confidently make up meals with the play food, which contain such items. They also have excellent opportunities to learn about sourcing food as they help to grow and harvest tomatoes, grapes and plums on the childminder's allotment. The childminder invites the fire officer and the school crossing patrol person to talk to the children about fire and road safety and this has a very positive impact on their This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 understanding of these areas. For example, parents comment how the children

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and outcomes for children

discuss what they have learnt about smoke alarms, and how in turn this has prompted other family members to purchase these. 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 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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