Childminder in Lewisham

Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY349841 Inspection date 26/09/2011 Inspector Denys Rasmussen

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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 lives with her husband. They live in a house in a residential area of Catford in the London Borough of Lewisham. The whole of the downstairs and a bedroom and bathroom upstairs are used for childminding purposes. There is a fully enclosed garden for outdoor play. The childminder is registered to care for six children at any one time, of which three may be aged in the early years age range. There are currently six children on roll, of which one is within the early years age range. The childminder currently provides care for children before and after school, term time only. The childminder is registered on the Early Years Register and both the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register.

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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

Children's health, safety and well-being are significantly enhanced by the childminder's robust and consistent implementation of policies and procedures which reflect her excellent practice. Highly effective partnerships between the childminder and parents ensure children's individual learning and welfare needs are well met. The partnerships with other professionals involved in the care and education of the children are successful, promoting consistency of care and learning very effectively. The childminder has made significant improvements since her last inspection with the support of a quality network coordinator. Her effective self evaluation systems will help her to maintain the high standards she has reached.

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further?

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

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further?

 developing children's awareness of communication systems such as signing and Braille

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the early years provision

The childminder gives high priority to safeguarding children. Her excellent risk assessment process and well written policies and procedures reflect her exemplary practice, which enables children to play safely both indoors and outside. The childminder has attended training in safeguarding to update her knowledge base This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 and is very secure in her knowledge of procedures to follow, should she have any concerns. All requirements are very well met and the childminder makes extremely good use of her home and resources to provide a stimulating, welcoming, inclusive and safe environment where children have autonomy. The childminder involves parents, children and the local authority as part of her self-evaluation system. This has enabled her to identify priorities for improvement, which has resulted in a high quality service. The childminder has high aspirations and is always striving to

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the early years provision

improve on her excellent service. She has attended a great deal of training such as storytelling and developing language, creativity workshop, food hygiene and principles of risk assessment to further improve her knowledge base and procedures. She has also completed a National Vocational Qualification at level 3 in Children's Care and Learning which shows her commitment to continual development.

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the early years provision

The childminder is fully committed to meeting all children's needs, resulting in children feeling valued and developing high levels of self-esteem. She ensures there is an abundance of positive imagery within her resources and displayed around the home and has further developed children's awareness of diversity through daily group discussion, celebrating a huge variety of cultural festivals and traditions and by engaging children in activities to make them think about and understand the wider world. For example, the children made a display about what families around the world eat and how much a week's groceries in their country costs. The childminder is planning to further develop children's knowledge of communication systems, by introducing signing and Braille. While the childminder is not currently caring for any children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, she understands the importance of working closely with outside

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the early years provision

professionals to support children's welfare and development and has attended training such as autism awareness to update her knowledge. The childminder liaises effectively with other settings the children attend to enable her to complement the learning experiences offered and to share important information relating to their development.

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the early years provision

The childminder knows and understands each child exceptionally well and has good knowledge of their background and their needs because of her effective relationship with their parents. Parents comment that the childminder has a 'calm and caring approach' and 'takes a real interest' in their children helping them to develop both 'emotionally and intellectually'. Parents are given daily feedback about their child and receive a written review of their child's achievements linked to all areas of learning. Parents give feedback on this review and commented that their child's learning has 'excelled especially in sentence formation, awareness of animals, plants and people'. A parent particularly appreciated that their child was now 'more able to express her opinions and feelings about people and situations'. Parents also reported that the childminder is 'sensitive to children's individual needs' and 'takes time' to really get to know their children 'making sure they feel

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the early years provision

valued and their health needs are well met'. This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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and outcomes for children

The exceptional organisation ensures the childminder provides a highly stimulating and welcoming environment which reflects the children's backgrounds and the wider community. She knows the children very well and meets their individual needs through rich, varied and imaginative experiences. The childminder plans themed activities under each area of learning. She uses her observations of the children to plan their future learning, taking into account their current interests and ideas. She also liaises with the children's school to gain information about current topics which she extends, enabling the children to make significant gains in their learning as they develop a deeper understanding of the subject.

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and outcomes for children

Children play a dynamic role in their learning, coming up with ideas, which the childminder facilitates. The children have high levels of independence and organise themselves, playing games, accessing the resources and engaging in role play. The children get on really well and enjoy their discussion around the meal table about differences in diet. The childminder contributes to the discussion, extending the children's knowledge by reinforcing that people have different needs, views, cultures and beliefs. Children are very well behaved and understand the rules which they helped to devise. They are happy to share their concerns, which they do freely. The childminder is sensitive to their concerns, and supports them to find solutions. The children are very confident and comment that the childminder 'is very kind' and 'helps them' and they 'really enjoy being with her'. The children particularly enjoy the craft activities they participate in, such as using acrylic paint

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and outcomes for children

to paint bird tables to take home. They discuss birds and talk about the paints; they share the paint and discuss the best way to paint the bird box, interacting well together, negotiating and taking turns in conversation. They build and construct with a wide range of objects and materials. For example, they experiment with texture when making stuffed animals, they created out of recycled materials, build houses with construction bricks, put together the train track and make a pizza to take home and eat.

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and outcomes for children

The childminder provides fascinating activities to help the children understand the world around them. For example, they learn about how seeds germinate and grow and how a coconut can grow a shoot without giving it water; they grow herbs in pots in the garden to smell and taste and pick apples from the apple tree to make apple pie. The children have interesting opportunities to understand the importance of adopting healthy lifestyles. They prepare fruit salads and taste different fruits and learn how to make pasta. Children learn excellent hygiene habits through everyday routines. They take off outdoor shoes when indoors to prevent cross-contamination and wash their hands appropriately and independently, using liquid soap and paper towels. This, coupled with the childminder's effective sick child policy, prevents the spread of infection.

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and outcomes for children

Children show a strong sense of belonging and proudly show their work. They display extremely high levels of confidence and self esteem. They show excellent negotiation skills when sharing equipment, playing games and making up role play This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 scenarios. All children are valued and are 'at home' in the setting. High quality interaction and consistency of routines helps the children to feel safe and in control. They practise the fire evacuation regularly to help them leave the premises calmly and safely and the childminder continues the safety work children start at school such as road and fire safety. The children also engage in games that heighten their awareness of their own safety and handle tools with increasing skill, such as when using the pasta maker. Children are encouraged to make choices and use their own ideas so they are part of the decision making and are

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and outcomes for children

encouraged to express their feelings and emotions. For example, they are encouraged to have personal albums of their families to share with each other. This encourages them to talk about themselves and their families and about past and present events in their own lives and find out about their friends. The children are very confident and inquiring, equipped with fundamental skills which the childminder enhances with her sensitive and relevant curriculum. 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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