Childminder in Greenwich

Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY344844 Inspection date 22/03/2011 Inspector Marcia Robinson

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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 partner and four children, a baby, toddler and two teenagers in a four bedroom home in Eltham in the London borough of Greenwich. The home setting is within walking distance of many local amenities including parks, a library, nurseries, and local shops. The area is served by good transport links. Opportunities for physical play take place at local parks and other local outdoor facilities. The family have one cat. The whole of the ground floor of the premises and first floor bathroom are used for childminding.

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Description of the childminding

The childminder is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. When working alone, the childminder is registered to care for a maximum of four children under eight years at any one time, of whom no more than one may be in the early years age range. When working with an assistant she may care for a maximum of seven children under eight years at any one time, of whom no more than four may be in the early years age range. She also offers care to children aged over five to 11 years. The childminder currently has six children in the early years age range on roll who attend on a part time basis. The childminder is a member of the National Childminding Association (NCMA).

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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

The childminder shows a strong capacity to maintain continuous improvement as she keeps up to date with current practice. She shows a clear awareness of developing her service and is currently establishing methods of self-evaluation. A good range of policies and procedures is successfully implemented by the childminder and on the whole, most of the legal required documentation is being maintained to a high standard. This helps safeguard children and promote their welfare. Overall, there are good systems in place to promote children's safety and their understanding of inclusion and diversity. The childminder's capacity to improve is good. She has attended various training courses and met the recommendation raised at the last inspection.

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further?

To meet the specific requirements of the EYFS, the registered person must:

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further?

 request written permission from all parents for seeking emergency medical advice or treatment (Safeguarding and promoting children's welfare) 29/04/2011 This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 To further improve the early years provision the registered person should:

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further?

 update the record of risk assessment to constantly review all safety aspects on the premises and include any assessments of risks for all outings and trips further develop the methods of self-evaluation relating to all aspects of the childminding service  strengthen systems for observation and assessment by involving parents and carers in the ongoing process and; making sure next steps identified for children are clearly followed up and reviewed, in order to monitor progress.

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the early years provision

Children's welfare is effectively safeguarded overall. Good systems are in place to help safeguard children and protect them from harm. Both the childminder and her assistant have attended safeguarding training and have detailed policies and procedures, as well as accessible contact details in place, enabling them to take prompt action if they have any concerns regarding children's welfare. In addition, all adults living in the household including the assistant, have completed appropriate vetting checks regarding their suitability to be with children. The childminder shows she has high regard to promoting children's safety to reduce any potential hazards to children. For example, plug socket covers are fitted, a safety gate is positioned across the bottom of the stairs to prevent young children from gaining unsupervised access. However, the childminder has overlooked one aspect of safety, namely toiletries that are accessible to children in the bathroom.

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the early years provision

Nonetheless, she supervises young children to and from the bathroom and so it is only the older children who have unsupervised access to this area. This means that the impact and risk to children in the early years age group is minimal. The childminder describes effective safety measures for ensuring children's safety when off-site and conducts otherwise, thorough risk assessments to reduce hazards inside and when taking children on outings and trips, although she has not updated these procedures to include journeys to and from local schools. Most of the documentation that promotes children's health, safety and well-being is in place, with the exception of parental consent to seek medical advice or treatment from a third party in an emergency. Although the childminder has fully discussed this issue with parents, not all their wishes have yet been confirmed in writing as required. Nonetheless, the childminder demonstrates a clear understanding of her

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the early years provision

duty to report significant matters to Ofsted, including reporting the outbreak of any notifiable diseases.

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the early years provision

Deployment of resources is effective as the childminder ensures that the time children attend, is used purposefully and that the home is generally well organised to meet their individual needs. For instance, the majority of toys and books are easily accessible and children move freely between two main areas for play. The childminder works closely with parents to make sure she is well informed about children's individual backgrounds and needs, so that equality and diversity is effectively promoted. She is clearly aware of the need to work in partnership with other providers where children may have additional needs/disabilities or attend This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 more than one setting. With this in mind, she is currently working in close consultation with the local schools of the children attending and demonstrates through experience of caring for children with additional needs, that she is

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the early years provision

committed to providing an inclusive environment.

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the early years provision

The childminder ensures that engagement with parents is mostly effective, for example, she makes time to talk to parents when they collect their children and keeps a daily diary for younger children where she records all events of the day, including their care routines, activities and progress, helping to keep parents well informed. In addition, parents have opportunities to view their children's progress files on a regular basis, although they have not been encouraged to contribute their own observations so that children's care and learning is a more shared process. The childminder takes positive steps to drive improvement as she has met the recommendation raised at the last inspection and has also attended a variety of relevant training courses, thus further developing her knowledge and understanding of childcare and education. She generally reviews her provision and keeps up to date by sharing ideas with other childminders as well as listening to

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the early years provision

and acting upon constructive feedback from parents. However, systems for monitoring and evaluation on a regular basis, in order to ensure all areas for improvement are quickly identified and addressed, are not yet fully in place.

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and outcomes for children

The childminder demonstrates a good knowledge of the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage framework. She provides a wide range of activities and resources which cover all areas of learning well. As a result, children remain actively engaged in a broad range of stimulating activities throughout the day and are making good progress in their learning and development. Children are happy, secure and settled; they respond well to the childminder and her assistant and they enjoy good levels of interaction and engagement with each other and their carers. The learning environment is interesting and stimulating, motivating children to play, and practise and develop skills across the six areas of learning. Planned activities are used well, fully involving both the younger and older children and extending their learning. For example, the recent topic on transport extended children's interest and learning

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and outcomes for children

about different modes of transport. The older children are seen to clearly enjoy dressing their dolls and pretending to take them on a journey, talking about how they will need to take their passports and younger children sitting together on the sofa, driving their hand held cars, exclaiming 'I can't stop the car'. The childminder supported the children's learning well by giving the children paper vouchers to use as their ticket for their travel and engaging them in conversation about what they would need to pack in their suitcase. Here, older children support younger children in their learning and they play together very well. This helps children to develop skills to work as a team, negotiate, problem solve, share and to take turns, all skills that will be useful in the future. In addition, children have access to a good range of books and enjoy listening to stories read by the childminder, helping to develop

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and outcomes for children

their language skills. This is further supported by regular trips to the local library This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 where children are able to look at and choose from a range of books available, further developing their interest and love of books and the written word. The childminder works well to promote inclusion overall.

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and outcomes for children

Children are able to access play equipment with positive images of diversity through the availability of a wide range of resources that reflect positive images of the wider world. She also collects information about children's individual backgrounds and promotes this reasonably well within the setting. For example she obtains core vocabulary to support children's home language but less resources reflecting the individual backgrounds of the children attending is available, although the childminder is gradually developing this. The childminder knows children well and makes regular observations of their achievements which are then matched to the expectations of the early learning goals. She identifies next steps for their development but these, are not always clearly followed up and reviewed in order to track progress towards the early learning goals.

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and outcomes for children

Overall, children's health and safety is well promoted. They are kept safe as the childminder's home is secure at all times. This is supplemented with effective procedures for adults collecting children. All safety equipment is in place. Consequently, the risk of accidental injury is reduced. This is complemented by fire evacuation and road safety procedures being practised and discussed with children, helping them to take responsibility for their own safety. Older children are familiar with the house rules and display responsible behaviour. Younger children can recall important safety measures, when role playing with hand held tools. Their comments include 'we don't use tools to fix people, we use them to fix buildings'. Children are cared for in a suitably well-maintained environment, where they can freely explore regularly cleaned toys and equipment.

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and outcomes for children

Ample opportunities are provided for children to enjoy physical activity. These include using large climbing equipment in the park, using outdoor facilities at local community groups and visits to places of interest such as Shorne Country Park where there is woodland for children to investigate and explore. The childminder fosters good personal hygiene practices, for instance, by encouraging hand washing before eating or preparing food. Parents can choose if they wish to provide the food for their children, alternatively the childminder prepares nutritious light meals and snacks. Consequently, any specific requirements are effectively met. Children do not attend if they are sick, which effectively reduces the risk of cross infection. Most relevant documentation with regard to health, including specific dietary needs, accident and medication records are in place and updated appropriately. For instance, when children bump their head leaving no visible

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and outcomes for children

mark, the childminder ensures accident records are updated. These positively safeguard children's well-being. 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 3 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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