Over Primary School

Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 110616 Inspection date 15/03/2011 Inspector Heidi Abernethy

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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 1991. She lives with her husband and adult child in a house in Leigh Park, near Portsmouth. The childminder is registered to use the ground floor of her home for childminding. There is an enclosed front and rear garden for outdoor play. The family have no pets.

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Description of the childminding

The childminder is registered to care for a maximum of six children under eight years old, of whom three may be in the early years age group. She is currently caring for five children in the early years age range. The childminder is able to walk and drive to local schools and pre-schools. The childminder 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 good.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Children are offered a range of activities and resources where most areas of the curriculum are included which ensures they make good progress in their learning. All children are treated equally and their needs are met by the childminder who knows the children well. Good systems are in place to ensure their safety and health is of high priority and all required documentation is in place. The childminder has formed strong relationships with parents which ensures they are kept well informed and involved with their children's progress. The childminder has a good understanding about the strengths of her provision and maintains continuous improvement successfully to improve the outcomes for the children in her care.

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further?

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

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further?

 extend resources and activities to further raise children's awareness in equality, diversity and the wider world  provide further resources to support children's growing independence skills.

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the early years provision

The childminder has a secure knowledge of child protection procedures and a clear list of contact numbers to ensure allegations of abuse or neglect are reported without delay. The childminder has effective strategies to promote children's safety. The home is secure and the childminder has ensured all areas of the home are safe, for instance stair gates are in place. Good risk assessments are This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 conducted annually for both the home and for outings and in addition a risk assessment chart is completed daily for the home environment. The childminder has appropriate first aid training and has the correct parental permissions in place. This ensures children are appropriately cared for should they have an accident while in the childminder's care. The childminder has a good range of policies and procedures which fully support her practice. She shares these with the parents to

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the early years provision

ensure they are fully aware of both parties' responsibilities.

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the early years provision

The childminder effectively organises the toys and resources and rotates these daily depending upon the ages of the children attending. Resources are stored in low level shelving units which enables children to independently access what they would like to play with. The childminder has a wide range of resources and sometimes borrows different toys from her fellow childminder's. She provides children with resources to support their individual needs such as walkers and shopping trolleys to assist with their developing walking skills. The good range of resources provided do not currently include many images of equality and diversity in society although children do have some access to books depicting different cultures.

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the early years provision

The childminder is dedicated in continually improving her practice and has put improvements in place such as attending up-to-date training to further enhance her expertise. All previous recommendations have been addressed and the childminder provides parents with questionnaires in order to obtain their feedback. The childminder has good communications with parents and speaks with them verbally each day about how their child has been and what they have been doing. The childminder regularly shares the children's learning journeys with the parents and gathers information from parents about what they feel are their children's next steps. She feeds these into the learning journeys and uses this information alongside her own observations of the children to plan accordingly for their next steps in learning. Parents are happy and state in questionnaires that the childminder 'gives us updates each day on toys and books our child has enjoyed

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the early years provision

which allows us to continue his development at home'. The childminder does not currently have any children attending other early years settings but does have systems in place to obtain a two way flow of information with other providers when the need arises.

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and outcomes for children

The childminder's good knowledge of the learning and development and welfare requirements and the Early Years Foundation Stage ensures children's overall well- being and learning is well promoted. Each child has a learning journey where good quality observations and planning for next steps in learning ensure that every child is suitably challenged by the learning experiences provided. The system the childminder has devised ensures she is able to track their progress and ensure there is a good balance across the six areas of learning.

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and outcomes for children

Children are secure and happy within the childminder's home. The childminder This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 displays a photograph at child height of each child attending her setting each day to show who is in the environment. This in turn gives children a firm sense of belonging. Children read stories about fire fighters and engines, and practise fire drills on a regular basis. This ensures they develop a good awareness of what to do in a fire in a safe and non-frightening way. Children develop a good understanding of keeping themselves safe within the community such as learning how to cross the road safely and why they need to be strapped in when travelling by car.

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and outcomes for children

The childminder sits with the children engaging in conversations and asking open ended questions to support their development. For example, she looks at an animal book with the younger children and encourages them to find a specific animal and asks them what noises these animals make. In addition, the story is brought to life for the children who thoroughly enjoy playing with the animal puppets related to the animals in the book. Children have fun engaging with arts and crafts as they squeeze and shape play dough and explore the dough with a variety of tools. Children develop a good understanding of quantity and measure as they are provided with a range of different sized and shaped containers to use within their water play. Children's learning of number and quantity is supported well as they participate in games created by the childminder. For example, children count the numbers of dots on a dice and select the correct numbered piece of

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and outcomes for children

Children's interests are followed well such as growing poppies which are patterned like ladybirds because the children show an interest in ladybirds. They learn how to plant and care for the seeds and the childminder talks to them about how the plants need water to grow. Children learn about the world around them as they go to local country parks and interact with their peers at local toddler groups. However, they do not have many opportunities to develop their knowledge of the wider world. They have fun in the garden as they move themselves around in toy cars and access resources from the play house. Children appear content and settled because their health, physical and dietary needs are well met.

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and outcomes for children

Children adopt good personal hygiene routines such as washing their hands before meals and wiping their noses with tissues. Young children are not able to access the bathroom facilities independently and are lifted up by the childminder in order to reach the sink. This limits the children's opportunity to develop their own self- care skills and their growing independence. Children's good behaviour is encouraged by the childminder who praises the children frequently. She has created a lovely sharing book which shows photographs of the children sharing toys and resources within the setting. When a dispute between children arises the childminder uses this book as a tool to help remind the children how nice it is when they share and play happily together. 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 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 2 The extent to which children make a positive contribution 2 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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