Larkin Rochelle

Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY291826 Inspection date 21/02/2011 Inspector Ann Cozzi

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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 2004. She lives with her parents and two adult siblings in a house in Brentwood, Essex. The whole of the property is used for childminding, except for the basement room. There is a fully enclosed garden for outside play.

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Description of the childminding

The childminder is registered to care for a maximum of six children under eight years at any one time, of whom no more than three may be in the early years age range. She is currently minding twelve children in the early years age group. three of these children are in receipt of funded nursery education. When working alongside one other childminder, they may care for no more that nine children under eight years at any one time, of whom six may be in the early years age range. When working alongside two other childminders, they may care for no more that nine children under eight years at any one time, of whom seven may be in the early years age range. This provision is registered by Ofsted on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register.

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Description of the childminding

The childminder is a member of the National Childminding Association. She is also a member of the childminding network and is accredited to receive funding for nursery education.

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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 has an exceptionally well-developed knowledge of each child's needs, enabling her to successfully promote their welfare and learning to a high level. Children are very safe and secure within this warm and caring environment and they have plenty of opportunities to learn about the local area and wider world around them. The childminder has good communication systems in place with other providers of care and education. Partnerships with parents are excellent and very important in making sure that the needs of all children are met, along with any additional support needs. This consideration to detail means that children make excellent progress, given their age, ability and starting points. The childminder undertakes ongoing assessment of the service she provides and clearly identifies priorities for development to ensure that she maintains continuous improvement and responds especially well to all user needs.

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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 well-established partnerships with other providers of care and education. 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 comprehensive awareness of safeguarding issues. This is because she regularly updates her training to ensure that she can identify concerns and make effective referrals where necessary. She understands the importance of Criminal Records Bureau checks and never leaves children unsupervised with adults who have not been checked. Clear systems are in place to record each child's hours of attendance, and this makes sure that the childminder is able to safely account for all children in her setting at any time. As a consequence, children in this setting are very well protected and safeguarded. Children's well- being is considerably enhanced by exceptional organisation, risk assessment and planning for continuous improvement. The childminder has a strong commitment to providing a high quality service. Self-evaluation takes account of parents', children's and the local authority development worker's views. The childminder is

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the early years provision

able to adapt her service when necessary to meet children's specific care requirements. She has clearly identified areas which she wishes to develop further. For example, she aims to take the lead role to even further improve what are already good partnerships with other providers of care and education. Comprehensive policies and procedures are implemented consistently and all records and permission required by legislation are in place and maintained robustly. This ensures that any concerns are prioritised and dealt with effectively.

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the early years provision

Equality of opportunity is given high priority by the childminder who makes sure that all children are well integrated in her home. She uses resources, such as, books and maps, in addition to her own knowledge and skills, to effectively help children to learn about and understand the society in which they live. There is no bias in her practice in relation to gender, race or disability. The childminder works hard to establish highly positive relationships with parents. She ensures that they are very well informed about all aspects of their own child's achievement, well being and development, for example, lots of daily discussions with parents and a designated time to discuss their child's progress at least once every six months or more often if required. This clearly impacts positively on all children attending. Partnerships with other providers of care and education are good as the childminder ensures that communication takes place and information is shared on

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the early years provision

a regular basis. Furniture, equipment and toys are of a high quality and appropriate to support children's learning and development. The premises is organised in a way which is safe and conducive to learning. As a result, children clearly thrive in this setting. The childminder strives to ensure that resources and the environment are fully sustainable.

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and outcomes for children

Children are enthusiastic and make significant gains in their learning. They demonstrate outstanding progress in developing skills for future learning. This is because they play a very active role in their own learning and freely contribute This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 their own important ideas. For example, they ask the childminder to place her hand in front of a toy car which is at the bottom of a ramp to stop it rolling away. They then fill the ramp to the top with vehicles and ask the childminder to remove her hand, watching with delight as the vehicles roll down. Children interact very well with others, negotiating plans and activities and taking turns in conversation as they play with vehicles and a track. They are supported extremely well by the childminder to develop their use of language linked to size, such as, small and big. The childminder makes excellent use of incidental learning opportunities in order to

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and outcomes for children

encourage children to begin to estimate which of the vehicles will fit through the different sized tunnels. Children show high levels of concentration and have lots of fun as their interest is sustained by the childminder, who encourages them to sort vehicles in to different sizes. Children demonstrate their increasing control of handling and manipulating small objects as they push small cars through tunnels. They observe and use positional language while talking about cars going under the tunnel. Children are confident communicators, and they remember and talk freely about significant events in their own experience. For example, they talk to the childminder about when they had to walk to her home because it was snowing and mummy could not drive her car. Children are extremely happy moving freely around the playroom, self-selecting from a wide range of high quality toys. This demonstrates that they are developing positive attitudes to learning. They persist

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and outcomes for children

for extended periods of time with an activity of their choosing. For example, they carefully work out how to fit pieces of a train track together, alongside the childminder. They carefully look at the shape of each piece of track and match it with the corresponding piece. Children's understanding of the wider world is demonstrated through their play as they use their imagination to create real or imagined experiences, such as, becoming a train driver as they push trains along a track. Children demonstrate a sense of pride in own their achievement as they show the childminder their completed track.

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and outcomes for children

The childminder provides an extremely stimulating and child-centred environment which fully reflects the backgrounds of children attending, as well as the wider community. The excellent organisation of the educational programmes reflects an extensive range of experiences that meet the needs of all children extremely well. Assessment is achieved through high quality observations and the information gained is used very effectively to guide flexible planning, which is extremely responsive to children's individual needs. The childminder's teaching approach is embedded in a very clear knowledge of the learning and development requirements and a clear understanding of how young children learn. As a result, children's progress in specific aspects of the curriculum, such as, communication, numeracy and development in information and communication skills, are exceptionally good. Children work extremely well independently, using their own

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and outcomes for children

initiative and developing excellent skills in working alongside their peers and the childminder. They are fully equipped with essential skills they can use to expand their learning. All children are valued and their behaviour is exemplary as they show an exceptional awareness of responsibility within the childminder's setting.

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and outcomes for children

Children demonstrate an excellent understanding of the importance of following good personal hygiene routines. They are fully involved in learning about healthy eating and are able to make healthy choices at snack and meal times. Children fully participate in a wide range of vigorous physical activities, both indoors and This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 out, and develop a secure understanding of the importance of exercise as part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. They have ample opportunity to learn about the local and wider world as they regularly go out with the childminder, for example, swimming to promote exercise and good health or toddler group to promote social skills. They demonstrate through the daily routine that they are well informed about healthy living. Children are very confident and extremely capable of expressing their thoughts. They show a mature attitude to taking responsibility for

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and outcomes for children

their own and others' safety. They competently use a range of tools and equipment within the setting. Children show a strong sense of security and feel safe in the childminder's home. Their standards of behaviour are impeccable and they clearly know how to behave and demonstrate a respect others. 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 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 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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