Childminder in Staffordshire

Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY417195 Inspection date 01/07/2011 Inspector Angela Dyer

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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 2010. She lives with her husband and two children aged 13 and 14 years in West Bromwich, West Midlands. The family have two budgerigars and two pet rabbits. The whole of the property is registered for childminding purposes and there is a fully enclosed garden available for outside 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 at any one time. There are currently two children on roll, both of whom are in the early years age range.

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Description of the childminding

The childminder is a member of the National Childminding Association. She is able to take children to local toddler and pre-school groups and also take and collect children to and from local nurseries and schools.

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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

The childminder has a suitable knowledge and understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage and provides a welcoming and safe environment for children. The childminder is new to minding and is therefore still getting to know the children that she is caring for in order to fully meet their individual needs. Children are provided with a satisfactory range of activities, which are led by their interests and requests, however, plans for moving them forward in their learning are in their infancy. Friendly and open relationships have been developed with parents to ensure that information about children is shared. Systems for monitoring and evaluating the provision are in the early stages of development; however, the childminder demonstrates a positive attitude towards continuous improvement.

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further?

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

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further?

 extend on the resources available and activities offered to ensure that they are sufficiently challenging and interesting, whilst also duplicating materials and resources to reduce conflict  meet the needs of each child and respond sensitively to their feelings, ideas and behaviour, whilst ensuring that the routines are flexible enough to flow with the child's needs  involve children in agreeing codes of behaviour and taking responsibility for implementing them  develop further observations to consistently make links to the 'Development matters' prompts to plan the next steps in a child's developmental progress This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006  use self-evaluation and quality improvement processes as the basis of ongoing internal review.

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the early years provision

The childminder is aware of her responsibilities to protect the children in her care and demonstrates a sound knowledge of the safeguarding procedures. Children are cared for within a safe and secure home environment and effective risk assessments are carried out to ensure that any hazards are promptly identified and minimised. Effective steps are taken to promote children's health and to care for them appropriately if they become ill or have an accident.The childminder has completed all of the required training, including first aid and all adults within the home have undergone appropriate suitability checks.

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the early years provision

The childminder's home provides children with sufficient space to play in and the garden is used daily as an extension of the indoor learning environment. Resources are stored where they are accessible for children to make choices about what they would like to play with, however, the resources available are fairly basic and provide limited stimulation for older and more able children. Whilst new to childminding she is enthusiastic about her role and demonstrates a commitment to providing children with a good quality of care. The childminder has given some thought to the strengths of her practice and areas requiring improvement. However, the self-evaluation process is in its infancy and is not yet effective in helping the childminder to consider how best to improve her service in order to have a positive impact for children.

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the early years provision

The childminder understands the value of working alongside other professionals and whilst this is in its early stages, she has arrangements in place for sharing information between herself and other providers of the Early Years Foundation Stage. She recognises the importance of working in partnership with parents and obtains information from them in terms of children's general care routines, likes, dislikes and preferences. She uses this information to assist her in meeting children's individual needs, however, routines are quite structured and therefore not sufficiently flexible to recognise and meet children's changing needs, for example a child being more tired or hungry than normal. She keeps parents informed about their children's progress through informal daily discussions and sharing children's diaries. Written policies and procedures are also shared with parents so that they are aware of how she organises her practice.

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and outcomes for children

Whist children have only been attending for a short time they are already settled in the childminders care and benefit from her caring and friendly nature. Children are beginning to learn about the childminders routines, boundaries and expectations in relation to behaviour. Children generally know how to behave and how to use and care for their environment and resources but sometimes need reminders. However, This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 children's behaviour is not helped by the fact that resources are limited as this causes unnecessary conflict as children argue over toys. The childminder has a suitable knowledge of appropriate behaviour management strategies and has started to reward children for sharing and good behaviour with stickers, which is having some success.

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and outcomes for children

The childminder has started to use the information gained through informal observations to plan activities in line with children's interests. Observations have also started to highlight children's achievements; however, the childminder has not yet considered how she can use these observations to assess children's development and plan for their next steps in learning. Children enjoy sitting with the childminder to look at books together and the childminder incorporates counting, numbers and shape recognition into routine activities, for example when walking down stairs the children count the number of steps and when travelling to and from nursery they look at the different shapes within the environment. Children participate in creative activities including collage and painting and their paintings are displayed on the walls of the childminder's home, therefore promoting their feeling of belonging and self-esteem. Children enjoy water play in

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and outcomes for children

the garden, using spray guns to make patterns on the fences and talked about how the sun dries up the water. However, the childminder has not yet considered how activities can be adapted for children's different ages and abilities to provide children with sufficient challenges and stimulation. As a result older children sometimes become disinterested after a period of time which leads to unwanted behaviour.

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and outcomes for children

Children are encouraged to learn about safety as they have opportunities to talk about road safety awareness whilst going to and from nursery. They are also reminded about the importance of picking up the toys off the floor to prevent anyone from tripping over and hurting themselves. Children are protected from infection through the implementation of effective hygiene procedures. The childminder has been on food safety training and whilst the current families provide their children's meals, the childminder is fully aware of food handling arrangements in order to reduce the risk of spoilage and subsequent illness. During lunch time the childminder talks to children about making healthy food choices and encourages them to eat the fruit that is provided in their lunch box. Drinks are also accessible throughout the day to ensure that children remain hydrated. 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 3 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 3 The extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles 3 The extent to which children make a positive contribution 3 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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