Colneis Junior School

Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number 124624 Inspection date 09/09/2011 Inspector Sandra Jeffrey

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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 1999. She lives with her two children, aged 15 and 12 years old, in a house in a residential area in the London borough of Croydon. The whole of the home is available for use for childminding and children mainly use the downstairs of the home, which includes a dedicated playroom. Sleeping and bathroom facilities are situated on the first floor. There is a fully enclosed garden for outside play.

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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. She is registered to care for a maximum of six children under eight years, three of whom may be in the early years age group. There are currently three children in the early years age range on roll. The childminder also cares for older children. The childminder has over 20 years of experience caring for children in a variety of settings. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Early Years Studies and is in the process of completing the Early Years Professional Status.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is outstanding.

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The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

The childminder provides a highly effective learning environment for children. She has an excellent understanding of the children's individual needs and ensures her planning is tailored to their individual interests. Consequently, children make excellent progress in all areas of their development. Partnerships with parents, carers and others are excellent and make a significant contribution towards meeting children's individual needs. The childminder is a highly reflective practitioner, and develops her knowledge through attending ongoing training and development opportunities. She demonstrates an outstanding capacity to maintain continuous improvement

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further?

To further improve the high quality early years provision the registered person should consider:

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further?

 improve fire safety precautions in relation to emergency evacuation of the premises, especially with regard to window locks.

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the early years provision

The childminder has an excellent understanding of her role in relation to safeguarding children and ensures parents are made aware of her responsibilities This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 in relation to reporting any concerns. She has the required guidance and contact details and a comprehensive written policy in place. She also attends safeguarding training on a regular basis, to ensure her knowledge of protecting children is in depth and up to date.

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the early years provision

The childminder demonstrates her ambition and drive for improvement in the service she provides with passion. She sets herself extremely high standards and has a clear vision for the future. To this end she continually attends training, with the clear knowledge that this promotes and enhances the welfare, learning and development opportunities for the children in her care.

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the early years provision

The childminder also recognises that self-evaluation is key to continuous improvement, and implements highly effective systems to monitor her provision. This includes obtaining the views of the children and parents on a regular basis and actively involving them in planning and decision making, for future learning experiences.

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the early years provision

The childminder is fully committed to maintaining strong partnerships with parents, and views effective engagement with parents as essential to children's learning. Parents receive regular updates about their child's progress and development through highly effective verbal communication, regular opportunities to view their children's development folders; in which they are actively encouraged to add their own comments, as well as emails and text messages. The childminder takes photographs of the children partaking in various activities and adds these to the children's observation records, which helps document their success and acts as a lovely record of their early years.

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the early years provision

Close partnerships with other professionals, involved in the care of the children, have also been established. These afford the children with excellent opportunities for continuity of care and learning, as planning and assessment systems are effectively shared between them.

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the early years provision

Children's learning is significantly enhanced by the child-centred learning environment and excellent use of resources in the dedicated playroom. Children readily access an abundance of resources and enjoy exciting and stimulating trips and outings. They receive exceptional support from the childminder, who is enthusiastic and wholly dedicated to the children in her care. She is passionate about empowering the children and respects their unique personalities.

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the early years provision

The childminder provides a fully inclusive setting, where children are valued and truly welcome. This helps children feel safe and secure and helps them build optimum levels of self esteem and confidence. The childminder has high aspirations for the children and provides them with a meaningful range of activities and resources, which increases their understanding of diversity and consideration of others. The childminder works hard to ensure she meets the holistic needs of all the children, including learning key words and phrases for a child whose first language is Spanish and working with speech therapists in support of a child with hearing loss.

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the early years provision

The childminder is a highly reflective practitioner and is aware of her strengths and This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 weaknesses and implements effective systems to monitor her setting. She has made excellent improvement since her last inspection, which has resulted in improvements in relation to her record keeping.

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and outcomes for children

The children's interests and needs are at the heart of the childminder's planning, which ensures their developmental needs, are met to a high standard. A highly effective observation and assessment system is in operation and identifies children's different learning styles and individual stages of development. This informs the daily planning system favoured by the childminder and effectively identifies the next steps in children's learning, which are displayed on the daily planning board for parents to view. The childminder has also devised individual tracking sheets for each child, as a quick visual aid for herself and the parents to ensure that the children are progressing and achieving in all areas of their learning.

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and outcomes for children

Parents are also encouraged to add comments and observations of their own children's accomplishments by filling in and adding a leaf to the children's individual development tree, displayed in the hallway. Parents also have a copy of the yearly planning, including topics and festivals that will be observed. This gives them optimum opportunities to become fully involved in their children's learning and development, in partnership with the childminder. Children also benefit from regular visits to local children's groups and the library where they access additional resources and experiences, supported by the childminder.

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and outcomes for children

Young children and babies flourish and grow in confidence within the childminder's excellent care and attention. Their sense of belonging is evident, as they interact positively with the childminder and respond to her affection and attention. Children receive excellent support and encouragement from the childminder and are absorbed in their activities. Older children are encouraged to actively help with the planning and are offered excellent opportunities to express their wishes and feelings, during the afterschool circle time activity, for example.

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and outcomes for children

Children are encouraged to develop effective communication skills as a result of the childminder's skilful interactions. She uses excellent methods, including repetition for younger children and frequent use of open ended questions for the older children. This effectively challenges them to think for themselves and to problem solve and voice their ideas. The childminder has a particular interest in children's mathematical development and how the presentation of mathematical experiences and activities can influence a child's understanding and future success in this area. As a result, numeracy and problem solving skills are supported extremely well, as children are encouraged to count, complete puzzles and recognise shapes, with unlimited support from the childminder.

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and outcomes for children

Children have access to a good selection of resources that enhance their skills for the future; including 'all age' interactive toys and a laptop for older children. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 Children also enjoy numerous opportunities to develop creative skills with an excellent array of art and craft materials, that they can easily access in the kitchen.

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and outcomes for children

Children also enjoy an excellent variety of outings which further promotes their leaning and gives them an excellent insight into the world around them. For example, they visit a selection of different parks, enjoy trips to the local shops and take rides on the bus. They also enjoy visits further afield, including the swimming baths and museums. Children are offered excellent support and guidance in learning how to resolve any problems or disagreements, they may have. They are encouraged to be kind and respectful to each other and to be aware of each others' feelings. Resources such as puppets with different facial expressions and mirrors are used to help them to express their feelings and to talk about ways to resolve issues, which in turn builds their self esteem and self worth.

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and outcomes for children

Children enjoy healthy, nutritious meals and snacks in close partnership with parents and learn about where their food comes from, when they grow seasonal fruit and vegetables in the garden, for example. Generally effective risk assessments both in and out of the home help to maximise the safety of the children. The childminder conducts monthly fire drills to ensure that children are aware of what to do in an emergency. All fire equipment is in good order and the required written records in place. Fire safety arrangements would, however, benefit from additional precautions, such as the availability of a key to unlock windows on the first floor in the event of an emergency. Children show a strong sense of security and of feeling safe in the care of the childminder and have evidently formed close bonds with her. 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 1 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 1

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Stage

The extent to which children achieve and enjoy their learning 1 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 1 The extent to which children develop skills for the future 1

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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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