Childminder in Bracknell Forest

Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY248827 Inspection date 18/05/2011 Inspector Loraine Wardlaw

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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

Children only attend this setting before and/or after the school day and/or during the school holidays. The judgements in this report reflect the quality of early years provision offered to children during those periods.

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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 registered in 2003. She lives with her husband and their three children, who are all aged over eight years in Bracknell, Berkshire. There are local shops, parks, schools and pre-schools within walking distance of the home. The whole of the house is used for childminding and there is an enclosed garden for outdoor play.

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Description of the childminding

The childminder is registered by Ofsted on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She is registered to care for a maximum of six children under eight and is currently caring for three early years children and one later years child. The childminder walks to local schools and nurseries to take and collect children. The childminder takes children to the library and attends a local toddler group. The family has cats. The childminder is a member of the National Childminding Association.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is satisfactory.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Children are happy and have a strong sense of security in an extremely caring, home from home environment. The positive and understanding childminder meets children's emotional and care needs extremely well but there is less emphasis on successfully meeting their learning needs. The childminder is not familiar with the good practice of the Early Years Foundation Stage to ensure children make gains in all areas of their development. The childminder has started to evaluate her practice but she does not benchmark it against the Early Years Foundation Stage framework to ensure outcomes are consistently good.

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further?

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

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further?

 extend the toys and resources available for the younger children and make the environment more rich and enabling to promote all areas of learning  develop the observational assessment system by analysing your observations and plan ''what next'' for individuals and group of children covering all areas of learning  evaluate against the Early Years Foundation Stage good practice guidance to identify the settings strengths and priorities for development that will improve the quality of provision for all children. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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the early years provision

The suitably vetted childminder safeguards children well. She is confident about carrying out the child protection procedure should she be concerned about a child and has policies in place to share with parents. The childminder has completed additional training in child protection and the Common Assessment Framework to ensure she is fully up to date in keeping children safe from harm. Risk assessments, which are documented, are conducted on all rooms used, the garden and for outings, with steps taken to minimise any identified hazards. The use of resources and space within the home is satisfactory. Although the childminder has play resources for all age groups, not all of it is freely available for children to enable the childminder to promote all areas of learning. The most valuable resource the childminder has is herself; she is very attentive towards children and relates to them extremely well building a very positive relationship with them. The

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the early years provision

childminder makes suitable use of her garden and the local parks to promote children's physical development.

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the early years provision

The childminder, who clearly loves her job, has spent time typing an Ofsted self- evaluation form and gained positive feedback from parents through a questionnaire. Unfortunately, however, because she is not familiar with the Early Years Foundation Stage, her improvement points are not very accurate. To date she has relied on benchmarking her childminding against her own knowledge of child development and child-rearing issues, which although good, it does not fully cover all aspects. Since her last inspection the childminder has updated her first aid qualification to ensure she can protect children well, in the event of an accident. The childminder promotes equality and diversity by treating all children fairly; she uses incidental opportunities to talk to children positively about differences. Children from mixed cultural and linguistic backgrounds are given verbal support in both languages to learn new routines such as potty training,

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the early years provision

which ensures they have a full understanding. Good day-to-day communication takes place between the childminder and their parents to ensure there is effective continuity of care. For example, chats take place at collection time and a daily diary records the children's day and care routines, with the occasional written observation of children's development. Parents write positively about the childminding service but there are not often opportunities to share two way observations of children's capabilities in all learning areas and to discuss children's next learning steps. This is because the childminders system for observational assessment is not successfully in place yet. The childminder understands her obligation to communicate regularly with other providers who also care for the children.

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and outcomes for children

Young children demonstrate a very clear bond with the childminder and are making gains in some areas of learning such as their personal, social and This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 emotional development and their communication skills. However, other areas of their development such as their problem solving, reasoning and numeracy are not planned for effectively as key resources such as shape sorters and simple inset puzzles have not been made available for them to use. Interaction between the childminder and young children is good; she relates to children beautifully but she is not successfully using her observations to effectively plan their next learning steps in all areas. For example, toddlers are very engaged in looking at the fish tank, vocalising enthusiastically about what they can see, pointing to the various fish. The childminder is on hand giving good support and guidance about staying

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and outcomes for children

safe and not touching, talking all the time about the fish and baby fish swimming; she promotes children's communication skills well, picking up on and extending their vocalisations and speech. However, books to re-enforce the learning and to promote pre-reading skills, although available for young babies and older pre- school children are not available for toddlers. The close contact and cuddles the toddlers receive from the childminder gives them a very clear sense of belonging. Socially they are becoming quite adept showing confidence with others, relating to visitors well, in the safe and homely surroundings. They have fun laughing with the childminder, who promotes turn taking and the use of technology, during small world's car and car park play. Toddlers demonstrate they are good listeners and are receptive learners; when the childminder sings a favourite song they gently rock backwards and forwards and join in singing some words 'row row'.

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and outcomes for children

Very young children benefit from sensitive and positive management of their behaviour. The childminder uses methods that are wholly appropriate to the children, including clear, simple explanations to keep safe and to learn the behavioural boundaries. For example, one-year-old children help to put the cars away in the toy box when prompted. Older children understand the rules of safety when out and about; they wear the reined back pack or hold on to the childminder's hand whilst walking. The childminder adopts good personal hygiene routines with young children. She regularly blows their noses and undertakes a hygienic nappy changing routine using gloves and anti-bacterial gel. Children's nutritional health is supported through regular drinks offered by the childminder. Parents provide the meals; the childminder promotes a healthy diet by encouraging parents to include plenty of fruit and vegetables, chocolate is

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and outcomes for children

discouraged. Opportunities to engage in physical activities, mostly outdoors take place throughout the week. Children enjoy visits to the park and occasional garden play. The childminder encourages children to foster an open attitude to all through her positive example. A 'hello' poster displayed in the hall on the parents notice board is in different languages, but other play resources reflecting diversity in society are in the loft. 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 3 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 3 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 3

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 3 The extent to which children feel safe 2 The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles 3 The extent to which children make a positive contribution 2 The extent to which children develop skills for the future 3

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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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