Childminder in Derbyshire

Inspection report for early years provision

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Unique reference number EY276154 Inspection date 14/11/2011 Inspector Sarah Rhodes

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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 2003. She lives with her husband and two children aged 13 and 16 years old in New Mills, Derbyshire. The whole of the childminder's house is used for childminding and there is a fully enclosed garden available for outside play. The family has two cats as pets.

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Description of the childminding

The childminder is registered to care for a maximum of six children under eight years at any one time, no more than three of which may be in the early years age range. When working with her assistant, she may care for a maximum of eight children under eight years at any one time, no more than four of which may be in the early years age range. However, she is allowed to care for four specific children in the Early Years age range on her own as detailed in her conditions of registration. She is currently minding six children in the Early Years age range. She also offers care to children aged over five. The childminder supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The childminder is registered by Ofsted on the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register.

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Description of the childminding

The childminder collects children from the local school and goes to several toddler groups regularly. She is a member of a childminding network and chairperson of the local childminding support 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 children benefit from a childminder who is highly organised and very committed to providing an excellent service for all children. The comfortable indoor play space is complemented by an exciting outdoor playroom, which contains a wide range of high quality resources. Comprehensive written documentation has been thoughtfully produced to help the smooth running of the setting and communication with parents is very important and their input is highly valued. Children's development is recorded in a careful way which paints a picture of children's activities and a record of children's development, this helps to monitor children's general progress toward the early learning goals. Self-evaluation of her service is being developed as a tool to plan for improvement and she is committed to attending training to develop her service. Children's hygiene is generally well promoted.

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further?

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

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further?

 consolidate the latest changes to the learning journeys to measure children's progress towards all the aspects of the early learning goals  consider the promotion of children health by taking the necessary steps to This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 prevent the spread of infection; this relates to the way food is cooled at mealtimes  develop the use of self-evaluation to drive and monitor continuous improvement.

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the early years provision

Children are safeguarded as the childminder has an excellent working knowledge of child protection procedures, appropriate record keeping and her ultimate role, in line with the latest government guidelines. She strives to keep up to date and extends her child protection knowledge through training. She is professional in her handling of any concerns and is confident in her ability to work with other agencies to ensure the best interests of the children are provided for. This helps to ensure children are protected from harm or neglect. She undertakes risk assessments and maintains a safe building. She is aware of the need to be vigilant when on trips out. Children wear tabards and identity wrist straps that will help to quickly identify them as being in her care in the event of an emergency. Emergency evacuations have been practised with the children to enhance their ability to cope in an emergency. All adult household members have been notified to Ofsted and visitors

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the early years provision

are supervised and their presence is recorded.

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the early years provision

The childminder has undertaken a full self-evaluation of her service as part of a grant application and has updated it prior to the inspection. She has incorporated input from parents which she gathers through regular questionnaires and has also asked the opinions of the older children she cares for. It provides a good starting point for assessment of her service but has not been incorporated into a system to monitor and drive improvement between inspections. However, the childminder has a good capacity to improve because she is committed to developing her knowledge through training. She has been on a number of courses and completed her National Vocational Training to Level 3. She continues to identify areas where her knowledge could be improved through training or just refreshed, such as updating her safeguarding and equal opportunities knowledge. She has ensured all requirements are met and that she is developing a deeper understanding of the

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the early years provision

The childminder reflects on how she organises her provision and concentrates on how to make each child's time with her the best learning experience it can be. She is aware of parent's feelings and their need for good quality information about their child's care. Communication with parents is a particular strength of the provision. She has a comprehensive range of policies which parents sign to acknowledge they have read. This ensures that parents are clear about how the childminder operates right from the beginning of the placement and they can refer back to these policies whenever they need clarification. Daily diaries and verbal exchanges on collection are used to keep a two way flow of information between the parents and the childminder. Newsletters have been introduced to give parents information about activities taking place at the setting. Parents also see and discuss their child's learning journey file, which helps their awareness of their

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the early years provision

child's progress and the activities they are undertaking. Parent's ideas and This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 information are gathered in a number of ways to inform the learning journeys and provide a rounded picture of children's development. The childminder understands the needs of the individual children she cares for and has organised her play space to allow children easy access to a range of appropriate high quality equipment both inside and outside. She is confident about working in partnership with other providers and professionals where this becomes necessary and is aware of the need to adapt her practice and the environment to accommodate children's individual needs. This ensures that no child is disadvantaged and all children have their needs met effectively.

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and outcomes for children

The provision for children's learning, development and welfare is good. Each child has a delightful file which chronicles children's individual development through photographs and observations that are related to the areas of learning. Periodically she draws these observations together to summarise their achievement in the six areas of learning. These ideas feed into planning of subsequent activities. This provides a good picture of the activities children are involved in and the developments in their abilities, along with the next steps in their learning. Information from parents about the child is used to help the childminder draw up a starting point in the learning journey. However, this assessment system does not currently provide a way to easily monitor children's progress towards all aspects of the different early learning goals.

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and outcomes for children

Children enjoy the bright and welcoming environment. The main play areas promote their independence as they can select toys for themselves from the low level unit. In summer they have free flow access into the garden where a summer house provides an inviting and imaginative play space. A constant stream of conversation and singing means that the children have a rich verbal environment to support the acquisition of speech. Even young children enjoy sharing stories with the childminder as she makes the sessions interactive and they understand how to use books with care. Children are able to start to mark make with a range of sometimes innovative mediums, for example, jelly and gloop as well as the more well known crayons and paints. Routine activities are used to extend children's learning, for example, looking at number and volume during cooking activities. They are able to develop their information technology skills from a very young age

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and outcomes for children

with push button and programmable toys. Older children have access to a computer. Children develop links with the local community visiting toddler groups and the library. They develop their knowledge of cultures and beliefs through activities that have influences from around the world. Children have access to larger equipment in the garden and local parks giving them ample opportunity to develop their balancing and climbing skills.

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and outcomes for children

Children's welfare is also promoted through the provision of healthy and varied meals. Clear procedures about hygiene both personal hygiene and hygiene of the home allow children to develop a clear understanding of hygiene practices. However, the cooling of meals by blowing does expose children to a risk of This inspection was carried out under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 infection. Children are encouraged to keep themselves safe as the childminder reminds them of simple precautions such as tiding toys away and safely walking near roads. The childminder manages the children's behaviour in a very positive way, praising the children, using distraction and keeping them well occupied. She is confident in her ability to work with parents and professionals where a child has additional needs. All children are well supported and making good progress in developing skills for the future and the move to nursery or school when the time

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and outcomes for children

comes. 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 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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