Highfield Middle School

Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 122340 Inspection date 08/09/2010 Inspector Amanda Tyson

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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 assesses 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 1990. She lives with husband, three adult-aged children and two dogs in a residential area of Banstead, Surrey. The home is situated within close proximity to local shops, parks and schools. All areas of the home are registered for childminding. The main play area is integral to the kitchen-diner which leads into a secure garden for outdoor play. There is a lounge and ground floor toilet facilities. The first floor bedrooms are used for children who sleep in a travel cot.

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Description of the childminding

The childminder is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register for a maximum of six children aged under eight years; of these three may be within the early years age range, of whom two may be aged under one year. A time limited exception, allowing the childminder to care for four children within the early years age range, applies to this condition which relates to named children. The registration does not include overnight care. There are currently nine children on roll, of whom five are within the early years age range. Three are aged under eight and one is aged over eight.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is outstanding.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

The quality of the provision is outstanding. Children are cared for in an exceptionally safe, emotionally secure and very well resourced environment. Activity planning is highly responsive to children's individual and developing interests and needs. Equality and diversity is successfully embedded and promoted in all aspects of the provision and partnerships with both parents and external agencies are excellent. Self-evaluation is astute, constant and highly effective. As a result, children are making rapid progress in their learning and development. The childminder's capacity for maintaining continuous improvement is very strong.

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further?

To further improve the high quality early years provision the registered person should consider:

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further?

 continue to develop the use of observational assessments. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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the early years provision

Children's welfare is rigorously monitored and safeguarded by well thought through, comprehensive operational procedures and risk assessments. The childminder's knowledge and understanding of her regulatory responsibilities is highly secure and she carries these out with professional confidence. The risk of a lost child situation occurring is hugely minimised by meticulous strategies, for instance children are fitted with an electronic tag which immediately alerts the childminder if they wander out of her radar.

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the early years provision

The childminder makes excellent use of community resources, such as 'stay and play' groups, the heritage and ecology centre, farms and parks. She accesses a wide range of training opportunities and self-evaluates continuously, which leads to sustained improvements in the outcomes for children. For example, babies have been introduced to 'treasure basket 'play, persona dolls are being used to encourage speech and language development and her systems for completing observational assessments are continuously developing. Since the last inspection the childminder has conducted a full review of her administrative systems and made vast improvements. All records required for the safe and efficient management of the setting are in place and comprehensively maintained. In addition, the childminder has compiled policies and procedures which clearly explain her operational practice and regulatory responsibilities to parents.

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the early years provision

Partnerships with parents and other professionals involved with children, such as preschool staff and reception class teachers, are exemplary. Parents hold the childminder in very high regard, highlighting the wide range of activities, how children are thriving both cognitively and emotionally in her care, along with the support that she gives them during challenging times, as key strengths. Parents are fully involved in planning and supporting children's learning and development, for instance they contribute towards the observational assessment process and in identifying next steps for children's individual learning. Concerns are promptly shared, which minimises any delay in ensuring that children receive all the necessary support. The childminder is ambitious and motivated to continue developing her own knowledge and skills, which is highlighted by her interest in researching the theory of children's schematic play.

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and outcomes for children

High priority is given to ensuring a gradual settling in period for new children to minimise the impact of parent-child separation anxiety. Thoughtful strategies, such as asking parents to provide family photos and an item of clothing which has their smell helps to reassure children if they become anxious or when they go to sleep. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 Relationships between the childminder and children are strong, affectionate and extremely trusting. She gathers detailed information from parents and her own observational assessments to ensure that her provision is responsive to their unique needs and interests. Children's strong sense of belonging and emotional security is clearly demonstrated by the way in which babies and toddlers move confidently around the playroom helping themselves to toys and engaging in undisturbed self-initiated play. For example, feeding dolls with pretend bottles of

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and outcomes for children

milk and discovering how to make the metal detector sound by veering near to the radiator. Preschool and school-aged children, who have all been cared for by the childminder since they were a baby, have developed into confident and articulate communicators. They are naturally inclusive and kind towards younger children and help considerably to promote positive behaviour. Squabbles are few, but when toddlers show signs of emerging frustration the childminder quickly steps in with gentle explanations and effective distractions. Children's awareness of diversity is consistently raised through the accessible positive and multi-cultural imagery, for instance children adore the giant Sikh and Canadian dolls. The childminder introduces children to the cultural and religious beliefs of others through practical, hands-on experiences and outings. Boys are keen to use pencils and girls enjoy construction play because the childminder skilfully links these activities to children's

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and outcomes for children

The foundations for children to adopt healthy and active lifestyle habits are being firmly laid. Children enjoy a superb variety of fruit snacks and nutritionally well- balanced meals. Special dietary needs are well understood and catered for. Preschool-aged children help to peel and cut the fruit at snack time and they learn about more exotic fruits and vegetables when they visit specialist supermarkets, for instance during the Chinese New Year festival period.

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and outcomes for children

Children spend much of their time in the outdoors and are encouraged to engage in an acceptable level of risk, for instance tree climbing which builds their confidence and helps them to understand their own capabilities. They have their own digging area where they grow flowers from seeds and enjoy searching for small creatures. Plans are now in place to grow fruit and vegetables. Pre-school aged children need no reminders for hand washing and even remind the childminder. They are so used to her clearing up dog mess, that when they are out without the childminder's dogs they request that she picks up the mess of other dogs too. Regular fire evacuation practice ensures that children know what to do when a smoke alarm goes off and the extensive procedures for outings makes them feel safe, for instance preschoolers know that her mobile telephone number is on their wrist.

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and outcomes for children

Children's learning is brought to life by a fabulous variety of trips and opportunities to engage in practical, hands-on experiences and exciting play which stem from emerging interests noticed by the childminder or follow on from an experience they have had with their own families or other setting. For example, when the childminder notices toddlers' interest in the aeroplanes flying over the garden she builds on this by taking them to watch the light aircrafts taking off and landing at the aerodrome. They then proceed to act out their real experiences with small world play, action games and have great fun learning to fly paper planes made for them by older children after school. When a white plant. is spontaneously This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 described by a child as 'frozen' a theme develops which introduces children to cold climates and what type of people and animals live in such places. Dinosaur related

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and outcomes for children

play evolves from a child's weekend visit to the Natural History Museum. Children are enthralled by the giant tortoises at the tropical zoo and colourful varieties of fish and sea creatures at the aquatic centre and aquariums. All children enjoy a wide range of sensorial activities; babies explore treasure baskets of every day items, and malleables, such as shaving foam, playdough and cold spaghetti are experimented with in the most imaginative of ways. Children mark out the letters of their name in the sand or shaving foam. They use pencils, chalks and paint to create their own pictorial interpretations and meaningful marks. Young children are learning to differentiate between different sounds and preschool children have progressed to recognising phonic sound differences. Children love to count the coins as they load the parking ticket machine, are keen to weigh the fruit and vegetables in the supermarket or sort and count the clothes pegs in the garden.

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and outcomes for children

Children enjoy listening to stories and help themselves to the childminder's wide range of books. Children are making superb progress towards the early learning goals in this delightful setting. 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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Early Years Foundation Stage

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 1 The effectiveness of the setting’s self-evaluation, including the steps taken to promote improvement The effectiveness of partnerships 1 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 1

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 1 The extent to which children feel safe 1 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 1

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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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