Childminder in Portsmouth

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 09/11/2012 27/05/2010

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: 1 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 The childminder has an expert knowledge of the areas of learning and a clear understanding of how children learn. She plans activities and experiences that are exciting, challenging and tailored to individual children's capabilities.  The childminder is very nurturing towards all children and extends this to their families. This supports children in developing very positive relationships with other children using the setting.  Children's communication skills are fostered exceptionally well. Children also demonstrate excellent knowledge and awareness of mathematical concepts, which are extremely well promoted through planned and spontaneous play and routines.  The childminder is totally committed to the ongoing development of her service and her own professional development. She makes excellent use of training opportunities and values feedback from children, parents and outside agencies highly to develop areas of

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This provision is outstanding

her practice.  The childminder has excellent relationships with parents and others involved in children's care. The successful partnerships established help to ensure consistency of children's care and learning and also ensure that parents are fully encouraged to be actively involved in their child's learning.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections of registered early years provision are scheduled:  at least once in every inspection cycle. The current cycle ends on 31 July 2016  more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example where provision was previously judged as inadequate  brought forward in the inspection cycle where Ofsted has received information that suggests the provision may not be meeting the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage; or where assessment of the provision identifies a need for early inspection  prioritised for inspection where we have received information that the provision is not meeting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and which suggests children may not be safe  at the completion of an investigation into failure to comply with the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Information about this inspection

The provision is also registered on the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. This report includes a judgment about compliance with the requirements of that register.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed children during activities and care routines.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector had discussions with the childminder at appropriate times throughout the inspection  The inspector looked at children's records and other relevant paperwork

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with parents and carers available on the day of the inspection and took account of their views  The inspector looked around the premises.

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Information about the setting

The childminder registered in 2007. She lives with her husband and two adult children in the Fratton area of Portsmouth, Hampshire. The whole of the premises is suitable for childminding; however, the childminder chooses to only use the ground floor rooms for play, a first floor bedroom for day time naps and the upstairs bathroom. There is a fully enclosed secure garden for outdoor play. The childminder offers overnight care. The premises are within close proximity of schools, parks and shops. The childminder is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The childminder currently has nine children on roll in total and five of these are in the Early Years age group. The childminder is an accredited childminder and is a support childminder to a number of other childminders in the area.

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To further improve the quality of the early years provision the provider should:

 develop further opportunities for children's self choice and growing independence at snack time

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who attend

The childminder has an excellent understanding of the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and how children learn. She uses this knowledge to ensure that children are extremely well supported on an individual basis so they all thrive and make consistently strong gains in all areas of their development. Children are highly motivated and excited to learn. They relish the adult led activities and the childminder maximises on every opportunity to extend children's learning through child initiated play. The childminder knows the children extremely well, their preferred activities and learning styles. She understands the progress each of them is making in their development and areas where she is supporting their learning. In the highly stimulating and welcoming environment children demonstrate high levels of confidence and are able to concentrate for extended periods. They absorb themselves in activities and sing along

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who attend

to the background nursery rhymes through play. Children's communication skills are highly supported, most are incredibly articulate and use a varied vocabulary. Children use complete sentences, are confident to ask questions and extend on their vocabulary through the ongoing conversations with the childminder. The childminder builds highly successfully on children's interests; for example, they are fascinated with letter sounds and the childminder uses singing the alphabet song to sound out the different letters. The childminder also effectively supports those who are developing in their communication. She attends additional training and works collaboratively with parents and outside agencies to support their ongoing language development.

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who attend

Children are developing excellent skills for the future which will help them as they make transitions to pre-school and then later on to school. Their understanding of mathematical concepts is exceptional. They match and name many shapes through activities and make comparisons between the two- and three-dimensional versions of the shapes. They consider time and the childminder supports their understanding as they look at the numerals the hands on the clock are pointing to or complete a countdown for tidying up. Throughout the day, the childminder maximises on opportunities to discuss the differences in size, colours and numbers. Therefore, children are extremely confident to count to ten and beyond, recognise many shapes including some complex ones and make comparisons in size. They learn about themselves and others through play and activities, learning to value and respect others. For example, through a sticker activity, children compare facial

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who attend

features and talk about differences in people and why some need to wear spectacles. Alongside the older children, they become actively involved in learning about their natural environment and how to care for it. They use 'Sally the centimetre' to measure the growth of plants while older children record their findings. Parents also become involved in mini projects, such as, recycling.

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who attend

Children are highly independent throughout most parts of the day. They access their low- level pegs and their space within open shelving for their belongings; for example, they can change their shoes for slippers when they are ready. The childminder supports independence through activities and introduces children to different tools for different tasks, although at snack time children are less involved in making choices and preparing their snack. However, throughout their play, they are motivated to make choices; they select the utensils they want for mark making activities and are physically capable at using different tools such as scissors and hole punches during activities. Some children are able to recognise the letters of their names as the childminder labels their work. Displays of children's work adorn the walls of the playroom, which enables children to feel valued for their efforts. Books offer a wide variety of different subjects to be used independently or

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who attend

through the shared story time as part of the daily routine. Children also have many opportunities to develop their physical skills. Time in the garden, on walks or at local parks develops children's physical skills outside. Many dancing and movement to music activities enable them to continue to be physical inside. Children really love to listen to, and sing along to music during play and routines and are quick to inform the childminder when the music has finished or ask for their favourite song to be played.

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who attend

The childminder's quality of teaching is exceptional. Children are so keen to complete different activities because they are fun, yet offer appropriate challenge as she tailors them to the individual capabilities of each child. The childminder uses her observations and her expert knowledge of each child to identify next steps in their development. Effective, individual assessments are made of every child. The childminder has effective systems to share all information with parents and has implemented new systems to record details for the two-year progress check. Ongoing communication about what they are looking at, the development of new words and achievements and the regularly meetings where the observations are shared, all enable the parents to be an active part of their child's learning.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Children have developed excellent friendships with each other and are excited to greet each child upon their arrival. They know others well and make comments about those not in today and how different resources are for different children. The relationship between the children and the childminder is extremely good. They all adore her and are keen to wave their parents goodbye. The childminder has a very nurturing nature and a respect for parents. She works with parents when children first start to understand routines and settle children within her setting at a rate that suits the needs of the family. Therefore, children's emotional well-being is fully fostered.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Children are fully supported to develop the skills they need to use self-control and manage their own behaviour. Younger children are learning how to share resources and take turns with favourite items of equipment. All children are enthusiastically praised for remembering good manners and showing kindness to others, for example, when they collect drinks for each other unprompted. The environment is highly stimulating and interesting to children so they are motivated to learn through play and therefore behaviour remains positive most of the time. The playroom is rich in print to stimulate children's interest in print having meaning and an abundance of children's creative examples are evident around the setting. The seasons display, which also incorporates topical activities, enables children to contribute their work and be valued for their efforts all year round. Resources are easily reached so that children can make independent choices. The

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

childminder is also highly skilled in using resources to support and extend children's learning.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Through play, routines and special events children are actively involved in learning how to care for themselves and keep themselves safe. They are fully aware of the routines of hand washing, why they must wash their hands before meal times and why they need to clean their teeth after lunch. They talk about healthy foods as the children compare items they have from their lunchboxes. They are all physically active and learn to adopt healthy lifestyles. Inside children understand the need to use resources such as scissors with care and to tidy up to reduce tripping hazards. Through planned activities with visitors such as the 'lollipop lady' children learn about safety away from the setting and role-play the part of the 'lollipop lady'. The childminder encourages independence and values children's choices in play and activities. She enables them to solve problems through play, make decisions and try new experiences. The activities and experiences are varied, and support

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

all areas of learning building children's confidence and knowledge. Routines of the day enable children to know what happens next. Therefore, the children are developing the skills they will need for future learning and the next stages in their development.

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provision

The childminder has an exceptional understanding of the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. She effectively monitors the activities and events she completes with the children through their assessments to make sure she offers a wide variety of experiences across all areas of their learning. She has embraced the revised requirements, such as, the new areas of learning and the progress check for two-year-olds and fully embedded them within her provision. Her knowledge is inspirational and her support work with other childminder's enables her to disseminate this knowledge to other practitioners.

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provision

The childminder also has an excellent understanding of the safeguarding and welfare requirements. She continues to deepen her knowledge through her attendance at training, particularly in safeguarding and implements effective procedures to help ensure children's safety. To support the childminder in safeguarding she completes risk assessments on all areas of her home and outings she takes the children on. Children and parents are included in evacuation drills from her property to develop their understanding of what to do in an emergency. The childminder and parents work in partnership to continue to monitor children's well being; they share relevant information and there are strict arrangements for collecting children from the setting. All written information and permissions from parents are in place including those for extra areas of care such as dental care, outings and taking of photographs. The childminder keeps her first aid

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provision

qualification up to date to enable her to ensure the children's well being in the event of an accident.

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provision

The childminder is highly reflective and dedicated to keeping her professional knowledge up to date. She has completed a level three qualification in childcare and regularly updates or attends relevant training to enhance her skills and knowledge. She prioritises her training to support the needs of the children and families in her care. Children's and parents' thoughts and feelings about the setting are regularly sought to allow them to contribute to the evaluation of the setting. The childminder is also very open-minded to receive feedback from other outside agencies and positively uses feedback to develop areas of practice.

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provision

The childminder has highly positive relationships with the parents and offers them tailored information. Parents report on how delighted they are with the service they receive; some commenting on how the service is above and beyond their expectations. Through the regular review of children's progress towards the early learning goals, parents are fully encouraged to contribute towards their child's learning. Through daily discussion, and formally through completed questionnaires the views of the parents and children are gathered, therefore relationships with all parents are extremely well established. The childminder shows total commitment to a partnership approach as she liaises regularly with key staff within pre-schools children attend and shares her experiences and knowledge with other childminders as part of her role as a support childminder. She is also effective in identifying any specific needs of individual children to make sure she gains the

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provision

knowledge or support from others to make sure children receive the support they need to continue to make strong gains in their development.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are Met The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are Met

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding Outstanding provision is highly effective in meeting the needs of all children exceptionally well. This ensures that children are very well prepared for the next stage of their learning. Grade 2 Good Good provision is effective in delivering provision that meets the needs of all children well. This ensures children are ready for the next stage of their learning. Grade 3 Satisfactory Satisfactory provision is performing less well than expectations in one or more of the key areas. It requires improvement in order to be good. Grade 4 Inadequate Provision that is inadequate requires significant improvement and/or enforcement. The provision is failing to give children an acceptable standard of early years education and/or is not meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be inspected again within 12 months of the date of this inspection.

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Grade Judgement Description

Met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider continues to meet the requirements for registration. Not Met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider does not meet the requirements for registration.

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Inspection

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under Sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and care, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY345452 Local authority Portsmouth Inspection number 888009 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 6 Number of children on roll 9

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Telephone number

set out in the guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

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Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

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Type of provision

Full-time provision is that which operates for more than three hours. These are usually known as nurseries, nursery schools and pre-schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the higher fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Sessional provision operates for more than two hours but does not exceed three hours in any one day. These are usually known as pre-schools, kindergartens or nursery schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the lower fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Childminders care for one or more children where individual children attend for a period of more than two hours in any one day. They operate from domestic premises that are usually their own home. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Type of provision

Out of school provision may be sessional or full-time provision and is delivered before or after school and/or in the summer holidays. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. Where children receive their Early Years Foundation Stage in school these providers do not have to deliver the learning and development requirements in full but should complement the experiences children receive in school. 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,

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Type of provision

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, 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. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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