Wharfe, Yvonne

Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 304075 Inspection date 21/04/2011 Inspector Debra Dahlstrom

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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 1990. She lives with her husband and two children in Congleton. The whole house, with the exception of one bedroom, is used for childminding and there is a safely 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 at any one time and occasionally works with an assistant. There are 13 children currently on roll, of whom three are in the early years age range. The childminder is registered on the Early Years Register and on both the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. She is able to take and collect children from local schools. The childminder attends local toddler groups and other play facilities during the week.The childminder is a member of the National Childminding Association and the local childminding group in Congleton.

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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 values the unique needs of every child as she is highly effective in promoting their welfare. She is enthusiastic and well organised to enable each child make good progress in their learning and development. Consistently strong practice with a number of exemplary aspects in deploying resources, partnerships with parents and supporting the health and safety of children ensure good outcomes for children. Partnerships with other settings are effective and the childminder is committed to developing on ongoing systems to assess children's progress.

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further?

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

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further?

 build upon exisitng good practice in order to develop further periodical summaries to monitor children's progress and plan for their next steps in their learning.

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the early years provision

Children are safeguarded well, with robust arrangements in place to protect them. The childminder and her team are clear as to procedures to follow in the event of any concerns about children's safety and welfare. Risk assessments are detailed as adults ensure the environment is safe and supportive for children. Fire evacuation drills are carried out monthly on differing days so all children are helped to learn be safety conscious without being fearful. Therefore they show a very strong understanding of how to keep themselves safe and move confidently around the setting. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 The leadership and management of the setting is highly effective overall with a number of exemplary aspects. The childminder has a clear vision as to how to develop her service and has high aspirations for herself, her small team and the children. She has made significant improvements to her practice since her last

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the early years provision

inspection. Her commitment to both ongoing training and implementing what she has learnt means children receive a top quality service in all aspects of their welfare and learning. Creating enabling environments for both babies and older children in the early years, for example, has been practically successful in producing an outstanding outcome when deploying resources. The creative use of high quality equipment, resources and play materials as well the highly effective deployment of adults is to be commended. Good outcomes for children's learning are clearly attributed to the flexible use of resources in order to maximise learning for both indoors and outdoors. The garden now becomes an exciting area where all aspects of the curriculum can be provided for. Recycled materials are used as part of the children's play and learning; a fabric, shaped cube is covered in numbers and becomes a dice for children to throw safely in their games. A water

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the early years provision

hose becomes a fuel pump as children queue up to fill their toy cars with petrol.

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the early years provision

A strong emphasis is placed upon ensuring all children are included and so linguistic diversity is valued. Families who speak English as an additional language are positively encouraged to share basic words of the child's home language. Partnerships with other settings are good whilst partnerships with parents are extremely strong and highly effective as they are extremely well informed about the service and their children's progress. Regular newsletters and questionnaires provide information and seek feedback about how the service can be improved. Individual parents' evenings are mutually agreed and planned to ensure sufficient time to be given to enable all parents or carers to contribute to children's learning and development.

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and outcomes for children

Children are happy and very secure in the childminder's care, as they quickly develop a strong sense of belonging in this well-maintained home. For example they have their own pegs for bags and coats. Annually they receive a special mug with a group photograph embossed of all the children in the childminder's care to take home. Thus promoting strong links. Children feel very safe in childminder's care and show an excellent understanding of how to behave to stay safe and consider the safety of others. To facilitate this the childminder often finds creative ways to encourage younger children to become more confident and communicate responsibly. For example, helping children to design their own evacuation procedures using pictures of their favourite animated television characters. This resulted in an evacuation drill with pictures carefully positioned by the children and then laminated by the childminder.

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and outcomes for children

A strong emphasis is placed upon supporting children's language and early communication skills as the childminder supports them well. She spends This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 considerable time talking and listening to what they say. Toddlers are eager to look at their special books which document well, through a range of observations and photographs, children's progress. They sit and with sustained concentration, turn the large pages competently, smile and point to pictures of themselves and their friends. They make links as they recognise their drinking cup in the picture and then proceed to go and search for their own as they readily make links in their learning.

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and outcomes for children

The childminder is skilled in her practice and secure in her understanding of early years framework. She undertakes regular observations of children's learning and uses these records to plan for each child's next steps. Whilst there are systems in place to assess their progress this is not always consistently applied to fully monitor progress towards the early learning goals. However, the childminder takes into account their different styles of learning and areas of interest as well as their patterns of attendance, to ensure children all make good progress.

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and outcomes for children

Children are cared for in a clean and inspiring environment, highly condusive to promoting an exceptional understanding of their own health and well-being. Fascinated as to how the body works they explain how food is processed, and are able to construct, from a model of human body and place all the important organs correctly, knowing how they work. They are well informed about healthy living as they describe how certain foods provide them with energy and how germs can make you ill. Outdoors children have innovative ways to stay fit as they enjoy mini sports days with egg and spoon races and help construct obstacle courses for them to climb, balance and jump. 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 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 1 The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles 1 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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