Childminder in Harrow

Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY349145 Inspection date 17/02/2011 Inspector Maria Conroy

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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 2007. She lives with her husband and two school age children. The family lives in Harrow in the London borough of Harrow. The ground floor, bathroom and the children's bedrooms on the first floor are used for childminding and there is a fully enclosed garden for outside play. The family have a pet rabbit. The childminder walks to local schools to take and collect children.

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Description of the childminding

The childminder is registered to care for a maximum of four children under eight years, of which three may be in the early years age group. The childminder is currently caring for five children on a part time basis, of whom three are in the early year's age range. The childminder is registered on the Early Years Register and both 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

Overall, the setting is highly effective. Exceptional partnerships between providers, parents and other professionals ensure individual children's needs are met and their protection assured. The capacity for sustained improvement is outstanding as the childminder continually assesses her practices in all areas and strives for further improvement by attending ongoing training and being part of quality assurance groups.

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further?

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

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further?

 provide flexible resources that can be used in many different ways to facilitate children play and exploration; these might include lengths of plastic guttering, lengths of fabric and clothes pegs in a box, old blankets and tablecloths to make dens

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the early years provision

The childminder has a comprehensive awareness of safeguarding issues and continually updates her skills and knowledge in this area by attending regular training. Comprehensive policies and procedures are implemented consistently and robustly to ensure that children are protected and safeguarded at all times. Robust risk assessments are in place covering everything a child may come into contact with. In addition, monthly checks are undertaken to ensure that there are no This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 changes and that fire detection equipment, such as smoke alarms, are in good working order.

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the early years provision

The childminder has high expectations and sets high standards, which are embedded across all areas of her practice. She has undertaken the process of self- evaluation, which enables her to consistently question how she implements the Early Year's Foundation Stage and welfare requirements. Parent's and children's views are sought and these are acted upon to make further improvements; for example, children are asked for their top five favourite meals, and menus are revised to include their choices.

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the early years provision

Effective monitoring systems include being part of the Children Come First Quality Assurance Network, which involves regular checks by the network co-ordinator. Children's well-being is significantly enhanced by exceptional organisation and planning for continuous improvement. The childminder consistently updates her professionalism by attending training courses and being part of national strategies such as the 'every child a talker' programme.

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the early years provision

The childminder is successful in providing an environment conducive to learning, which is safe and carefully planned to ensure that the best use is made of the resources and the space available. Every opportunity throughout the daily routine consistently provides learning opportunities; for example children count the steps as they come down the stairs. They are asked open ended questions such as 'what shape is this?', and the childminder builds on previous learning experiences and asks the children 'do you remember we talked about this shape last week, it's the same shape as the front door step?', immediately the children respond 'a semi- circle'. There are a wide range of good quality resources used to support children's learning within the home and through local outings. However, there are fewer flexible resources that can be used in different ways to facilitate children play and exploration.

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the early years provision

The childminder is proactive in offering an inclusive environment where all children and their families are made feel welcome. For example, when a new child starts their photo is place in the hallway with pictures of the other children who attend, enabling them to feel part of the setting. The childminder discusses children's individual needs with the parents and includes the festivals they celebrate throughout the year. The childminder has a picture board, which displays photos of the toys available, enabling all children, even very young children and those who need support with their language, to make independent choices about what they want to play with. The childminder is committed to supporting children who have specific needs and has attended a course for implementing systems and practices for children with special educational needs.

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the early years provision

The setting has a highly positive relationship with parents. Excellent systems are in place for communicating with parents, enabling them to be effectively informed of their child's wellbeing and developmental progress. Activity plans are emailed to parents in advance, enabling them to support their children's learning and to know how to dress children suitably for the specific activity, where necessary. In addition, menu plans are sent to parents so they can plan their own menus at home. Parents are involved in a extremely detailed induction, where the This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 childminder explains the curriculum she follows, her policies and procedures and the role of the regulator, Ofsted. They regularly have access to their children's profiles enabling them to see the progress their child is making, which is fully supported by photographic evidence and samples of the children's work.

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the early years provision

The setting is highly committed to working in partnership with other professionals involved with the children, which successfully promotes their learning, development and welfare. For example, planning visits to the setting where the child attends, to enable them to feel comfortable with the childminder and for her to get to know the children in their familiar setting. The childminder obtains information about the activities the children are involved in and provides continuity of the curriculum in the planning for individual children.

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and outcomes for children

The childminder is skilled and experienced and has an excellent understanding of how young children learn and progress. She has a through knowledge and understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum and as a result it is embedded in everything she does. High quality observations are rigorous and the information gained, is used very effectively to identify the next steps for learning and to support the planning for individual children. The childminder is led by the children and their interests and asks them what they would like to do, in addition to the activities she has planned for them.

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and outcomes for children

Children take part in an exciting range of well planned activities; they make cakes, explore cornflour, sand and water. Their communication skills are enhanced and promoted as they have fun joining in with action rhymes such as 'sleeping bunnies', and snuggle up to the childminder enjoying stories such as 'the zupermarket'. Children create and design using bricks; using mathematical language such as 'taller' and 'smaller' than. Older children have fun putting together a mini green house and all the children enjoy planting sunflower seeds. In addition children take part in a variety of outings to enable them to socialise with other children and explore their local surroundings.

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and outcomes for children

All children show a strong sense of security and feel safe within the setting. The high quality adult interaction helps very young children to gain an exceptionally strong sense of security, which enables them to explore their surroundings with confidence. Children are learning to keep themselves safe, they discuss safety issues for example, when they cross the road, which is reinforced through the fun activities supported by resources from the 'children's traffic club'. Children safely use a range of tools and equipment within the setting and know how to handle these in order to keep safe. For example, young children use a suitable knife to cut their fruit during snack time. Children are very well behaved and they have good manners, the childminder encourages children to take care of the toys and treat them with respect, she successfully negotiates with young children, to enable them to take part in tidying up.

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and outcomes for children

This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 Children's understanding of a healthy lifestyle is successfully promoted; they understand the importance of following good personal hygiene routines and take pride in showing off their individual towels, which they have chosen from the shop. They show an excellent understanding of healthy eating and make healthy choices at snack time. For example children enjoy a wide range of fresh fruit, including blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and bananas. They chat with the childminder and enjoy a sociable time, recalling when they grew their own juicy strawberries. Children have innovative opportunities to engage in a wide range of physical activities, for example they have great fun when they take part in an egg and spoon race, sack race and enjoy parachute games.

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and outcomes for children

All children show an extremely strong sense of security and belonging within the setting. They are made feel valued and part of the setting through the range of photos displayed at low level, which they can easily see. Children display extremely high levels of confidence and self-esteem and take pride in telling the childminder about their family and what they have been doing at home. Children have many opportunities to take part in group activities both in the home and during local outings, such as when they go to toddler groups; this enables them to develop negotiation and co-operation skills. Children are learning about their own cultures and that of others through the wide range of activities provided. For example, children bring in sweets for their friends to taste for Diwaili and they sample noodles and eat with chopsticks, for Chinese New Year.

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and outcomes for children

The childminder is a superb role model for the children with her positive approach to learning new skills and her continued interest in gaining further knowledge to improve the service she offers to children and their parents. The childminder effectively promotes the skills children require to be successful, because of her transparent understanding of how children's positive learning experiences impacts on their future development and their long term attitude to 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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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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