Childminder in Lancashire

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 22/01/2013 31/10/2011

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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 home is delightfully presented, so that the areas used by the children promote and stimulate their interest and learning. It is visually rich in numerals and printed labels and there is a very good range of interesting toys and resources available to the children. This effective organisation significantly enhances children's all-round development.  First-class adult interactions promote children's eagerness to explore their early literacy, mathematical understanding and critical thinking through fun and exciting ways. This, along with the consistently high support to develop the children's confidence in social situations and physical self-help skills, actively contributes to their school readiness.  Planning is simple but very effective. The childminder is very well versed with the Early Years Foundation Stage and how children's play links to the areas of learning. She uses her observations of children to formally plan for next steps and is adept at recognising

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This provision is outstanding

when it is appropriate to add support to the children's play and when to let them follow their own lines of enquiry.  The childminder has an exceptionally good understanding of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. She has thought carefully about how she can extend and improve the ways that she protects and keeps children safe in and outside of her home.  Careful planning, and a caring and attentive manner, means that the childminder is very skilled at helping children form secure emotional attachments, which provides them with a strong base for their developing independence and exploratory natures.

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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

 Before the inspection, the inspector read the childminder's self-evaluation document and took account of any information received from Ofsted.

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Inspection activities

 During the inspection, the inspector looked at children's planning records, regulatory documentation regarding the childminder's training and qualifications, and children's details. He also looked at risk assessments and other pertinent safety documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities in the main room where the children are cared for. He observed other rooms in the home, which are used occasionally with the children, the toilet and the garden.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held discussions with the childminder, observed the children present and talked to them during snack times and their free play.

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Information about the setting

The childminder was registered in 2002 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She lives with her husband and three children aged 15, 13 and seven years in a house in Cottom in Preston, Lancashire. The whole of the ground floor is used for childminding. There is an enclosed rear garden for outdoor play. The childminder collects children from the local schools and pre-schools. The family has one dog, three cats, two guinea pigs and fish as pets.

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Information about the setting

There are currently three children on roll, one is in the early years age group and attends for a variety of sessions and two are school-aged children, who attend before and after school. The childminder provides care all year round from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, except for family holidays. She holds a recognised childcare qualification at level 3 and is a member of the National Childminding Association.

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

 explore additional ways to use the good range of information and communication technology equipment available, by considering how children can explore the ways that the equipment works and how to use it safely. Use such activities to further enhance the children's problem solving and critical thinking, for example, by using the metal detector as part of a treasure hunt.

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who attend

Children's learning and development are extremely well supported by an adult, who has an excellent understanding about how children learn. She is responsive to the children's actions and moods. She is expertly able to instantly redirect or extend their learning in lots of aspects; in a way that is subtle and leaves the children thinking it was their idea. This means that children are self-motivated and driven to explore new and practise familiar experiences. For example, they appear with a large foam letter, announcing with brimming confidence, that 'this is my name'. The childminder responds with enthusiasm and confirms to the children that the letter they are holding is the first letter in their name. She enquires if the children would like to write their name, providing an easy clean board and a selection of marker pens. She sits with the children as they firstly draw around the template, they talk about the direction the pen needs to take to form the letter and they

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who attend

talk about how it looks like another letter when it is turned upside down. She extends the learning by taking turns with them to write their name. For example, she writes her own and the children take great delight in counting the number of letters, before she encourages them to count and compare the number of letters in their own name. Children are at ease as they sit close by and discussions are animated.

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who attend

Children's language for thinking and talking is superbly fostered as they are encouraged to talk about the pictures that they draw and of those made by the childminder. They talk about the cat looking like a fox and the childminder encourages them to share why they think this is. Children are confident and assured to express their ideas and wishes. They announce that they want to draw a dinosaur and the childminder asks them to check if they think they have sufficient space on the board to do so. She provides a cloth that is dampened on one half, so that they gain an understanding about how things work. They learn that they need the damp side to clean the board and dry side to dry the board, so they can use the marker pens successfully again. As they draw, the children are encouraged to talk about their dinosaurs, where they think they live and where the children go to hunt for them when on outings. Children respond enthusiastically

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who attend

announcing with conviction that the dinosaurs 'live in the jungle' and they, the children, hunt for them in the woods nearby. These types of activity actively extend the children's language for thinking and the use of vocabulary and sentence structure. When children use incorrect words in their description, the childminder subtly recaps this in the correct form. For example, when children refer to the letters as 'names', she compliments them by replying 'Yes they are the letters in my name'. This helps children to be confident and to try without fear of getting things wrong. The restructure of the sentence helps them to understand the correct words to use in the future.

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who attend

Children are very at ease in the home and clearly familiar with the location of their favourite toys and the bathroom. The easy access to the bathroom and good support from the childminder means that children are developing good self-help skills at an early age. A home-made registration board provides the children with visual images of who is in the home, including themselves and those in the childminder's family. This provides them with sense of community and belonging. Consequently, the children are happy, busy and very relaxed with their carer. They enjoy and participate in making choices about their day, for example, they are invited to choose where they wish to eat their snacks and lunch. Their independence is extended as they are encouraged to help and make personal choices, such as which fruits they would like. They select from the visual images displayed on the 'healthy lifestyles' wall. Choices, such as an easy peel Satsuma, allow them to extend their

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who attend

small muscle coordination, as they are encouraged to peel the fruit themselves.

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who attend

The childminder implements a well-planned range of activities and learning experiences for the children. Each month, she plans activities, which provide new experiences in each of the seven areas of learning linked to a theme, such as winter and frosty weather. These activities are a loose framework and they are used to provide rich and varied, fun things for children to learn about and experience. For example, they use unusual modelling materials to make snow figures. Highly comprehensive observations and assessments of the children's learning are undertaken, so that the childminder has a robust awareness of their current stages of learning and their emerging next steps and interests. She uses this to extremely good effect to promote the children's next steps for learning and their transitions to school. For example, children demonstrate an enthusiasm for counting, which the childminder supports superbly. Her home is rich in number labels and print,

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who attend

both on the walls and the floor. Children delight in hopping along a number line on the floor, counting correctly in a sequence one to 10. They count the buttons on the snow figures and then on a cardigan. Children's concepts of counting are given greater depth, as the childminder casually encourages them to match numbers and quantity correctly. For instance, she places four bricks on the number four, placing a brick to each of the images in the picture and pointing to the child about a brick for each image.

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who attend

Assessment and activity planning is rooted in the childminder's first class knowledge of how children learn and the frequent use of supporting documents, such as 'Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage'. Detailed information from parents about their child is sought before they start. The childminder uses an 'all about me' booklet that is relevant to the particular age and developmental stage of the children when they start. Once children have settled, the childminder undertakes initial observations to use as a base-line assessment. A system for regular summative assessment is underway and information, observations and other assessments are shared with parents to seek their views. Information about what the children are doing at home and how their learning can be supported at home is exchanged during regular discussions between parents and the childminder. She has suitable ways for undertaking and agreeing with parents should she

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who attend

need to complete a two year progress check on a child. She demonstrates a very good understanding about the importance of such a check and how it can ensure that children receive any additional support they need, should they be operating below or above the expected stages of development.

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who attend

A weekly plan of possible activities covering each of the seven areas of learning is identified and resourced. Separate plans for extending each child's learning are noted within these plans. However, these plans are very flexible and led by the children's interests. Children are actively engaged and make their own choices. The childminder expertly identifies ways to enhance learning in unplanned ways and the children are encouraged to contribute to their own learning records in simple, but very effective ways. For example, they are invited to use the childminder's mobile telephone to take a picture of their models; after which they then operate the touch screen to activate the printer. Toys that represent technology are freely accessible within children's role play and the childminder has a greater variety, such as music players, early programmable toys and a metal detector for the children to use. However, she has not fully explored how she could

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who attend

further enhance the children's learning through the use of such equipment to support their critical thinking. For example, using photographs taken on a familiar trip to develop the children's memory and sequencing skills or the metal detector on a treasure hunt. There is a good range of equipment that allows children to tackle problem solving in lots of other ways, such as using tools and materials to stick things together during creative activities or puzzles and construction materials to build with.

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

The childminder is caring and attentive in her approach. She has formed superb bonds with the children she cares for as she is enthusiastic, gentle and caring in her interactions with them. Her excellent knowledge of the individual children means that they feel special and important. It also acts as a great way to enhance their developing understanding of good hygiene and nutrition. For instance, children are pleased that she remembers they like bananas and enjoy talking about why they do not like cherries. They visit the bathroom independently but a strategically placed door stopper prevents them from closing the door fully, so while they have privacy, the childminder can supervise them without intrusion. As she begins to ask what they need to do the children reply with gusto, 'wash my hands!'

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

The childminder understands the importance of children's self-help skills and their confidence is essential to support them for their next steps in life, for example, as they prepare to go to school. Practically the children have lots of opportunities to practise and develop their dressing skills, such as putting on their coats and Wellington boots. For those children, who are less confident with unfamiliar adults and children, the childminder ensures that there are regular opportunities to meet people through trips to groups, meetings with other childminders and children for outings and visits to places, such as the shops.

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

Children's health and well-being is promoted very well as the childminder has prepared detailed policies, which are shared with parents. She follows good hygiene procedures and ensures that the children enjoy lots of physical exercise, indoors and outside. When the weather is poor, she brings things, such as the mini-slide, sand and water trays into her home, so children can continue to be active. Her home is extremely well organised and the learning is extended superbly outside, so that children can try new and familiar things in different ways. For example, they paint on a large panel of safety glass or use a string of threaded balls to count and sort into groups and colours. Water is freely available and the childminder encourages children to take regular drinks to keep them refreshed. Growing activities, recorded in a home-made pictorial book, help children learn about healthy food and sustainability. They grow tomatoes to make pizza. Activities, such as

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

making fruit salad, help children to learn about keeping themselves safe and use a wider range of tools.

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

Children demonstrate secure emotional attachments with the childminder and she ensures that she works closely with parents and other relevant agencies to support them as they settle into her care. Where possible, she meets the children and their parents before children visit her home, using the time to build relationships and establish any specific care needs that may be required. She shares information about the children's needs and current learning with other settings where children also attend, and she plans activities that complement and enhance learning taking place elsewhere. As part of the local authority childminder network, she has robust links with other professionals should she identify or care for a child with special needs and/or disabilities. Routines allow for children to rest according to their needs and the childminder encourages them to contribute to their own safety. They help to tidy up as they prepare for lunch.

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

Children are very well behaved and respectful as they follow the childminder's polite example. They respond to the childminder as she supports them exceptionally well to understand about the feelings of others. For example, when the children announce that they do not like babies, the childminder reminds them that they like a younger child who is not present. She draws a sad face and suggests that it is the younger child and the child might be sad because of what they have said. Children respond that they did not mean to make the baby sad. The childminder has a wide range of resources that represent the cultural diversity of the children cared for and that of today's society. She has ensured that the displays include the languages and scripts of all the children present and others from around the world. Books with stories from other lands, such as Australia, introduce the children to the lives and cultures of other people.

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

The children take part in special celebrations and the childminder engages parents to provide further information, so that the children can explore the similarities and differences of their cultures. This is extended further, as part of the activity planning for festivals and celebrations, such as Chinese New Year. Welcome messages and displays, dolls, puzzles and other printed images of families and children within today's society further promote an inclusive and welcoming place for the children and their families to enter. The childminder works closely with parents to fully support the children's transitions into her home and when moving on to school.

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provision

The childminder demonstrates a very good understanding of the requirements of the revised Early Years Foundation Stage. She ensures that she keeps up to date with the changes by undertaking relevant training and amending or adding written policies, which are then shared with parents. Consequently, she is extremely well organised and efficient in the management of her home and the way she cares for the children. All of the required information, such as children's information and accident records are organised, easy to follow and very well maintained.

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provision

The childminder supports children's safety through formal risk assessments and regular checks on her home and equipment. She is imaginative and thoughtful about the ways, which she can protect children further. For example, when on outings, she carries a simple reference card for each child she has with her, so that the emergency services have access to important information should she have an accident. When in open spaces, such as the park, the children are provided with a sense of freedom as they can run ahead because they are wearing an electronic monitor that alerts the childminder if they go too far.

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provision

Children are safeguarded very well as the childminder has an excellent understanding of the potential signs and indicators of possible abuse or neglect. She is extremely familiar with the steps she should take, should she need to report the abuse of a child. Self- evaluation is in place and the childminder uses it effectively to review and update her service. The childminder is interested in ways of further enhancing her service. She is imaginative in adapting what she already has to provide children with activities they enjoy, while attending other settings. For example, when she knows children enjoy using a 'dark den' at a local group, she recreates a similar experience within her home using blankets, furniture and torches. The views of parents are sought and regular visits from the childminder network coordinator help her review and identify areas for improvement. For example, the childminder has recently attended training on specifically supporting and

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provision

Information for parents is very good; with a wealth of information displayed throughout the home, from the notice board about safety and registration information in the porch, to the monthly activity plans and other displays in the main play area. Daily discussions and newsletters are all used to share information and keep parents fully informed. Parents have regular access to their children's records and the written comments made by the childminder on the observations provide further detail about the connections between the activity and what the children are learning. This tracking of children's progress ensures that children's needs are quickly identified and parents are engaged to seek support from the relevant external agencies, if required. As a result, children are well supported, so that they are not disadvantaged or left behind given their individual needs and starting points.

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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 EY235036 Local authority Lancashire Inspection number 901268 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 5 Number of children on roll 3

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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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