Childminder in Merton

Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY421692 Inspection date 17/08/2011 Inspector Christine Stimson

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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 February 2011. She lives with her partner and two school aged children in a first floor maisonette located in a residential road in West Wimbledon, London. Access to the maisonette is via an indoor staircase. There is another child in the family, who is 15 years old and visits regularly, but lives elsewhere. The family has a pet cat. All indoor areas of the home are used for childminding. There is an enclosed outdoor area for play.

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Description of the childminding

The provision is registered by Ofsted on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register to care for a maximum of three children under eight years at any one time, all of whom may be in the early years age range. She is currently caring for two children in this age group. She also offers care to children aged over five years to 11 years.

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Description of the childminding

The childminder is able to take and collect children from the local school and attends toddler venues on a regular basis.

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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 making good progress towards the early learning goals as the childminder encourages child initiated play and also plans stimulating and challenging activities for children. Details relating to children's next steps are not always followed through and children's starting points do not include their interests and abilities. Children are happy and very confident within a secure setting, having established trusting relationships with the childminder. The childminder is committed to continuous improvement and attends training courses to help improve practice and outcomes for children.

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further?

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

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further?

 improve the two-way flow of information relating to each child's experience at home to support the starting points for learning  develop observations and assessments to identify learning priorities and plan relevant, motivating learning experiences for each child based on their next step notes This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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the early years provision

Children are safeguarded by the childminder, who has a clear understanding of child protection issues and has devised a safeguarding policy and procedure to share with parents. She has recently attended training for safeguarding and knows how to proceed if she has a concern about a child in her care. Adults in the home have been vetted for suitability and the childminder conducts thorough risk assessments on her home and for all outings with children. Children regularly practice the evacuation procedure and are learning how to leave the premises quickly and safely. All records and documentation are maintained to further safeguard children's welfare.

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the early years provision

The childminder embraces training opportunities to help improve her practice and intends to continue to drive improvement by undertaking a level three qualification in childcare. Wide ranging, colourful resources are available to children in a walk-in toy cupboard where see through boxes are on shelves, labelled and pictured to make self-selection easy for children. Toys for younger children are kept on the lower shelves and children are happy to make a choice in their play. The childminder interacts well with children, offering them suggestions whilst they play to help extend children's enjoyment and learning.

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the early years provision

The childminder provides an inclusive service to all the families she works for, maintaining professional and positive relationships with parents. She has not yet involved parents in her self-evaluation of practice, but intends to do this in the future as part of her continuous improvement. Parents receive a regular newsletter from the childminder informing them of forthcoming activities and dates for their diaries. Daily diaries exchanged with parents keep them informed of how their child's day has been and includes details of what children ate and when they slept. Time is spent by the childminder verbally informing parents about children's individual achievements. The childminder is planning to share children's development records with parents in the near future, when children have been attending for longer. None of the early years children in the childminder's care currently attend other settings, but the childminder is aware she must establish a

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the early years provision

rapport with other childcare provides should the need arise.

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and outcomes for children

Children are involved in lots of activities when they are in the childminder's care. She dedicates her day to the children and supports them in their play and learning. The childminder undertakes written observations of children as they achieve and keeps a learning journey folder for each of the children to monitor their progress and development. She notes children's next step of development, but does not always use this information to plan future activities for children. The childminder notes children's starting points relating to their care needs, but she does not ask for details of children's abilities and interests when they first come into her care. As This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 a result the childminder is unable to straight away build on what children know and can do. The childminder has a wide range of colourful resources suitable for children's age and stage of development. Amongst these are a range of items that

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and outcomes for children

reflect diversity; these are used as part of children's integral play. The quality of the environment provides children with a room for general play activities and a walk-in toy cupboard that is well resourced.

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and outcomes for children

Children are taken to a variety of venues whilst they are in the care of the childminder. For example, children attend the library, a music and movement toddler group and are regular visitors to playgrounds. Here they interact with other children and this helps improve their social skills and their ability to share and take turns. The childminder has words illustrated by pictures on the doors of her cupboards in the hallway and these show objects like trains, aeroplanes, cars and playground equipment. These help younger children with their words as they point to the cards and say what they see, praised by the childminder for their efforts. Children are learning about simple technology as they play with toys that encourage them to push buttons and respond to commands from the toy. For example, they dance, wiggle and push further buttons. Children have an explorer's bag for going out to the park or to the fields. It contains binoculars, a compass, a

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and outcomes for children

magnet, a large dice, a ruler, a plastic carrier bag for collecting leaves, a skipping rope, a magnifying glass and a small ball. The childminder said children enjoy choosing things from this bag and observation notes show the early years children have bounced beams of light off of trees using the torches. Children enjoy playing with the childminder's bear called Billy. He is taken on adventures with the her and the children and is also used as a comforter for children. He has his own book called 'The adventures of Billy the childminding bear' and this shows Billy at a number of places. For example, eating ice cream at the seaside during their trip to Littlehampton, looking at books in the library and in the jaws of a dinosaur at a local golf venue. Children love to look and talk about these pictures and this encourages them to use their words to describe their experiences. The childminder makes sure children play on large playground equipment when they are in the

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and outcomes for children

parks to help develop their physical skills of balancing and climbing. She has recently renovated her garden and will soon be able to take children there as an alternative to their park and field trips. Children are learning about sizing. For example, a young child uses different sized balls to put down a section of drain pipe. Words like too big or that is a small ball are used by the childminder during this activity. The child then decides to drops cars down the pipe and as he selects cars of various sizes he starts to say 'too big' when they don't go down easily.

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and outcomes for children

Children are kept safe as the childminder encourages children to hold her hand or the buggy when out on walks and puts back packs on them that have straps/reins to keep them safe in crowded areas. Children wear bright yellow jackets when playing in larger parks so they can be easily spotted. The childminder makes sure children walk on the inside of her whilst using pavements and talks to children about how to cross roads safely. This helps children begin to understand issues relating to safety. Children keep themselves healthy as they have regular opportunities to exercise and are given healthy nutritious meals and snacks with plenty of water as an accompaniment. Good hygiene practice is part of children's daily routine and they know to wash their hands before eating, after coming in from the outside area and after using the potty or the toilet. Individual towels are This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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and outcomes for children

provided for children to help prevent the risk of cross infection. Children make a positive contribution to the childminder's setting as they help tidy away toys, are cooperative when playing together and are well behaved and polite. 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 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 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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