Childminder in West Sussex

Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 155435 Inspection date 08/09/2011 Inspector Christopher MacKinnon

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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 2001. She lives with her husband and one adult child in the West Durrington area of Worthing, West Sussex. The ground floor is used for childminding and an enclosed back garden is available for outdoor activities.

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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. A maximum of five children under eight years may attend, with no more than three in the early years age group. The childminder currently has six children on roll, with two in the early years age group.

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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 is an experienced home based child carer, and successfully supports individual children's progress and development. A highly organised and stimulating play environment is provided and children make consistent progress with their learning. The childminder maintains close relationships with parents and other carers, and self-evaluation is positively applied to promote improvement. The childminder is currently revising her planning of activities for individual children.

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further?

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

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further?

 develop the planning of activities to more fully support individual children's achievement and their next steps in learning .

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the early years provision

The childminder has been registered for over 10 years and is currently completing level three childcare training. She demonstrates a consistent approach to the organisation of her childminding practice, particularly making effective use of resources, and being able to working with children over a range of ages. The childminder's approach to safeguarding is excellent, with a detailed and thorough range of risk assessments in place. She has also recently completed child protection training, which has resulted in the production of highly organised policies and procedures. The overall high quality of her support for children's welfare and individual care needs, also helps safeguarding within her provision to be judged as outstanding. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 As part of continually improving her practice, the childminder has recently attended supplementary health and safety training and has also attend training courses

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the early years provision

specifically designed to enhance her promotion of children's learning. For example a 'talking and listening' workshop to widen the scope of language promotion within her play programme. The childminder has also successfully produced her own self- evaluation document, which she uses effectively to identify areas for further development.

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the early years provision

The childminder provides children with an excellent play and learning environment, and her deployment of resources to help achievement is outstanding. She makes excellent use of a dedicated children's play area that also provides easy access to the back garden, offering many opportunities for free-flow play. This has a highly significant impact on children's ability to combine indoor play with the wide range of outdoor learning elements. The childminder's presentation of resources to enable children's choosing, is excellent. Well stocked shelves and boxes are provided, with easy access to books, and a wide range of assembly sets and role play materials. The childminder also has a wide range of visual displays for learning letters and numbers; and photographs and children's own artworks also feature significantly.

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the early years provision

To effectively support inclusion and diversity, the childminder takes care to be fully aware of individual children's learning and development needs. For example, she takes note of the older children's use of speech, and helps them by encouraging their talking and story telling. Younger children, who have just started toddling, are also ably supported as they develop physical confidence and manipulative skills. The provision also has a range of diversity based resources for children to use, and cultural festivals are regularly celebrated; often in conjunction with other local carers.

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the early years provision

The childminder enjoys good partnerships and links with other settings. She has established close links with the older children's school, and also has experience of working with the staff at a nearby day care provision. The childminder enjoys long established relationships with the parents of several families, whose children she has cared for consistently over the last 10 years and she has helped many of these children grow from babyhood to school age. The childminder's engagement with parents, therefore, is consistently well managed, and through regular daily contact, she is able to share and help resolve parents' concerns. She also makes good use of children's individual progress records, to successfully help parents maintain their children's achievement.

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and outcomes for children

The childminder successfully supports children's enjoying and achieving. This is done mostly through the promotion of child led activities and developing play ideas from children's own interests and experiences. The childminder also successfully plans her play environment to support children's learning, through the well considered presentation of resources. Within the overall play programme, the This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 childminder successfully identifies children's next steps in learning, but relies a lot on the general run of activities to ensure they are followed up. This means her current use of planning to support individual children's learning is somewhat limited, and the development of more individual planning is an area for improvement.

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and outcomes for children

The childminder demonstrates considerable skills with teaching. She uses her experience effectively to successfully extend children's learning, with good questioning techniques; and is confident in her ability to include all the six areas of learning. For example, she particularly enjoys helping children to learning together during activities where they can develop their awareness of shapes, colours and counting, as part of one large activity and this is her preferred method of teaching. To support observation and assessment the childminder provides clearly organised learning journals for each child, and makes frequent observation notes. She also carries out periodic assessments of children's achievement, and provides a full review of children's progress every term, which is also accessed by parents.

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and outcomes for children

The childminder successfully ensures children are made welcome and feel safe. Her approach is to make sure all children feel valued and part of her family home. The childminder also has a well organised range of safety procedures in place, and has attended recent training in health and safety awareness. To effectively promote children's personal and social learning, the childminder operates with a consistent set of house rules, which she displays. She also takes care to ensure children are polite and have good manners. The childminder places an emphasis on children learning good communication and sharing their play.

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and outcomes for children

The childminder has a good awareness of the need to support children's health and welfare. Healthy eating is effectively promoted, and the childminder frequently provides snacks and meals where children can widen their range of tastes and food experience. Many opportunities are also provided to support children's physical development. Particularly good use is made of the outdoor play area, with frequent messy play, and the trampoline is a popular choice. Children are encouraged to invent their own games, which offer a range of physical challenges. The childminder also supports physical development through regular outings to local parks and play areas.

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and outcomes for children

Children's skills for future learning are well supported and encouraged. Communication and language play a large part in the childminder's play programme, with many opportunities provided for mark making and reading children's favourite stories. Children are encouraged to be confident in their speech. For example, being able to talk about bees and where honey comes from. Support for problem solving also takes place consistently during activities such as building train layouts, and learning how puzzles and play sets fit together. To promote creative development, children have imaginative role play using model animals and small world figures. Larger scale creative art projects are also provided for school age children; such as making a collage picture of a haunted castle over the summer break. The childminder provides activities that successfully support children's knowledge of the world. Children find out about the planets and

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and outcomes for children

have many well organised opportunities to learn about nature and the growing, This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 particularly in the childminder's outdoor area. 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 1 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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