Childminder in Cheshire West and Chester

Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY345703 Inspection date 26/01/2011 Inspector Carys Millican

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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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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 2006. She lives with her husband and two adult children aged 15 and 14 years, in Little Neston, Cheshire. The whole of the ground floor of the childminder's home, apart from the conservatory, are registered for childminding use. There is a fully enclosed rear garden available for outdoor play.

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Description of the childminding

The childminder is registered to care for a maximum six children aged under eight years at any one time, no more than three of whom may be in the early years age range. There are currently six children on roll, of whom five are in the early years age group. The childminder has use of a car to transport children on outings. She takes children to a number of community facilities, including local toddler groups and she often walks to school with the children.

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Description of the childminding

The childminder holds a Cache Level 3 Diploma in Child Care and Education. She is a member of the National Childminding Association and Ellesmere Port and Neston Childminding Network. She is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register.

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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 childminder promotes inclusive practice extremely well to ensure that parents and children feel valued, welcomed, and truly respected. She is an extremely well qualified practitioner who demonstrates a comprehensive knowledge of child development to effectively support children's learning and play, consequently, children make exceptional progress in the development. Her knowledge of the individual children in her care means that each child enjoys a wonderful range of valuable experiences and activities, in this extremely well resourced, safe and secure environment. The highly effective partnerships between parents and other early years settings children attend, benefits and enhances children's care and learning. The self-evaluation process provides a true reflection of the outstanding quality of the provision where the childminder continually identifies areas for development and improvements as part of an ongoing cycle.

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further?

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

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further?

 involving parents in the monitoring and reviewing process of the provision to help aid continuous improvement in the outcomes for children. 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 effectively safeguarded and protected through the high standard of the safety procedures maintained. The childminder regularly attends safeguarding training. She has an excellent understanding of her role and responsibility should she have any concerns about the welfare of the children in her care. A clear, well written and detailed policy regarding safeguarding children is available to parents. Children are kept safe and secure. Health and safety procedures are incredibly robust so that children's health is well protected. The childminder holds a current first aid certificate and ensures her first aid box is well equipped and accessible in an emergency. The childminder ensures children's health is promoted through her excellent knowledge of food hygiene and cleanliness. A wealth of very thorough, regularly reviewed policies and detailed children's records are in place to uphold children's safety and well being. The childminder is incredibly conscientious about

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the early years provision

applying infection control and displays posters of the latest government guidance on colds and flu. Detailed risk assessments for the premises and outdoor visits are in meticulously maintained and regularly reviewed to keep children safe. Children's toys and play equipment are regularly monitored to ensure they continue to be free from damage and safe for children's use. The children learn to respect and value their environment. They help with recycling waste products and grow vegetable in the garden. Children's safety is paramount. All household members complete suitability checks and visitors identities are checked with a detailed record of their visit.

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the early years provision

This childminder is a well qualified practitioner with a number of years experience working with children. She holds a Cache Level 3 Diploma in Child Care and Education and she is dedicated to further developing her childminding service and is committed to driving improvement. The childminder is a member of the National Childminding Association and a local childminding network. She takes full advantage of further training opportunities as well as making changes to her practice through doing her own research and reading. This keeps her aware of development in the child care profession. Reflective self-evaluation is exceptional and shows a true reflection of her outstanding practice. Although parents provide detailed statement letters about the childminder and the service she provides, they are not involved in the monitoring or review process to inform future action plans to improve the provision.

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the early years provision

Equality of opportunity and inclusion are intrinsic values of the setting. The childminder's home is considerately organised so that children experience freedom of movement between the playroom and living room in complete safety. Children enjoy an extensive range of invaluable play activities both inside and outside the home. She has made the areas inviting and conducive to children's play so they are able to make independent choices about what they do and learning is fun, stimulating and extremely interesting. For example, a home-made play house is strategically positioned in the playroom to enable children to re-enact real life experiences and contributes to their wonderful imagination.

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the early years provision

The childminder engages exceptionally well with parents who state that they are This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 extremely happy with the service offered and the care and attention that their children receive at this setting. Children experiencing life changes are given very attentive and professional support from the provider who is eager to ensure their wellbeing and ongoing stability. Information exchange with parents, carers and other providers of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is regularly shared. This ensures that all parties are well informed of the children's unique attributes and enables the complementing of learning. Parents feel included in the learning and development of their child as the childminder gives detailed, daily feedback to keep them updated about the child's day and progress. She encourages them to share information in daily diaries and provides parents with copies of photographs

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and outcomes for children

Children make exceptional progress as they are warmly welcomed and feel part of the family. They have developed close, trusting relationships with the childminder that gives them the confidence to participate in a wonderful array of learning experiences. They thoroughly enjoy themselves and have lots of fun. The childminder has robust systems for gathering information about children's development and interests for parents. She completes daily diary entries for parents and beautiful well presented progress folders and scrapbooks containing photographs and children's art and craft work. Children's development is clearly linked the six areas of learning and evaluations identify progress as well as the next steps in their learning. Planning allows for flexibility to follow children's interests whilst ensuring that children have a broad range of activities and learning opportunities throughout the day. The childminder encourages children to value

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and outcomes for children

diversity and learn to respect other people. She has a range of toys and activities that help children to learn about differences in society. They learn about the local community as they regularly visit children's groups and participate in social events held in local schools. Children are developing skills that will contribute to their future economic well being. They are extremely well behaved and are encouraged to be kind to one another. The childminder is clear with children in a gentle way about her expectations for good behaviour and this is consistently reinforced.

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and outcomes for children

Children thoroughly enjoy themselves and have plenty of fun in this stimulating and interesting learning environment. They enjoy re-enacting real life experiences in role play situations with the childminder skilfully supporting and extending their play. Children dress up as fire-fighters to put out a pretend fire and rescue a cat. They pretend they have burnt sausages when cooking their dinner in the play kitchen. The childminder discusses safety and how to keep safe as they re-enact this situation. Children enjoy threading activities developing hand eye-coordination and physical skills. They construct their own supermarket using wooden bricks and discuss the size of the parking spaces for the cars. The childminder and children talk about special days like Christmas and birthdays and they have lovely discussions between themselves. She encourages good manners and other social skills like sharing and taking turns. Everything is done in a truly positive way where

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and outcomes for children

children are constantly praised. Children are excellent communicators and interact This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 well with the childminder and each other. They enjoy numerous outdoor activities, for example, they visit country parks and playgrounds, animal parks and local community facilities.

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and outcomes for children

Children's individual health and hygiene practices are well promoted. They learn about healthy eating, as the childminder provides nutritious home-made meals and a number of fresh fruit snacks. Children often visit the supermarket to choose their food and try foods from around the world. Water is readily available to ensure hydration throughout the day. During the Spring/ Summer and Autumn children have a growing area where they learn about the food chain and grow their own vegetables. The childminder supports children in adopting good hygiene practices to minimise the risk of cross infection. They eagerly wash their hands as required and find their own towel to dry their hands. Children learn about keeping themselves safe, for example, when crossing roads on outings and everyday walks. They understand about fire evacuation procedures as they take part in regularly fire drills and the childminder introduces such topics into their everyday play.

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and outcomes for children

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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