Childminder in Bath and North East Somerset

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 01/03/2013 14/05/2009

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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 monitors children's learning and development extremely well and the quality of her teaching is inspiring. As a result, children make excellent progress from their starting points in all areas of learning.  The childminder supports children's emotional security exceptionally well, and they thrive in the affectionate and nurturing environment. As a result, children of all ages show high levels of confidence and self esteem.  The childminder has established very good partnerships working with parents and other professionals involved with children. This results in excellent processes of sharing information and joint planning to support individual progress.  The childminder's excellent understanding and implementation of the safeguarding and welfare requirements promotes children's health, safety and wellbeing very well.

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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

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Information about this inspection

 scheduled more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example where provision was previously judged 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 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  scheduled 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 the childminder's interactions with children.  The inspector observed the effectiveness of the co-childminding arrangements.  The inspector held discussions with the childminder and with children.  The inspector held discussions with parents.  The inspector sampled documents relating to safeguarding, and children's learning.

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Information about the setting

The childminder was registered in 1990. She lives in Midsomer Norton with her husband and adult children. All areas of her home are used for childminding, and there is a fully enclosed garden for outside play. The family has a pet dog.

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Information about the setting

The childminder is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 11 children on roll in the early years age range. She works with another registered childminder.

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

 further develop opportunities for children to explore ideas of size, capacity and measuring, using rulers, scales and different size containers.

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who attend

Children of all ages and abilities make excellent progress from their starting points in all areas of learning. This is because the consistency of the quality of teaching is exceptional and learning experiences provided by the childminder are extremely good. The childminder has a very good understanding of how children learn, and in-depth knowledge of each of the areas of learning. She is able to provide varied and stimulating activities that promote individual progress extremely well. She and her co-childminder plan together to make sure activities consistently reflect children's interests and support their preferred methods of learning. As a result, children are eager to explore and they quickly engage in chosen activities. The excellent quality of the childminder's ongoing interactions with children challenges and stimulates them, encouraging them to think and to use their imaginations. For example, having enjoyed a story about a monkey, the childminder asks

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who attend

children to think up new adventures for him. They eagerly make suggestions such as being a super-hero and a pirate. They confidently contribute ideas for how the story might develop and create exciting plots together. The childminder's excellent prompts encourage children to explore their ideas further. For example, when talking about pirate-monkey's clothes, she reflects on who it was that had dressed up as a pirate recently. The child in question quickly responds and children get the photograph album out to remind themselves of the costume worn. This leads to a wonderful discussion about the occasion when children dressed up, the party food they had enjoyed, and who will have the next birthday. The childminder's interactions with babies are as excellent as those with older children and so their progress is promoted equally well. For example, babies immensely enjoy exploring pop-up toys and big cars with the childminder. They are fascinated as she

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who attend

shows them that the wheels on the cars spin, and how to push these to make them travel across the floor. They laugh with pleasure as they copy her. The childminder acts surprised when children push buttons on toys and a character pops up or music plays. She points to other buttons and asks what happens if they push 'the red button' and so on. Each time she laughs and claps her hands with surprise, and children eagerly push the buttons again, clapping along and delighted with themselves. The childminder plans very well for children's overall mathematical development. However, the childminder offers fewer activities that support children to measure size, length and capacity and fully explore these ideas.

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who attend

Systems of monitoring children's progress are excellent. Parents are routinely involved in their children's learning from the outset because the childminder uses her extremely good settling in procedures to gain extensive information about their children's individual needs and abilities. This information is used along with the childminder's initial observations to establish children's starting points. The childminder uses daily discussions, individual diaries, and regular meetings with parents very well to share ongoing information about children's progress and to consider how parents can support this at home. The childminder makes accurate and precise assessments of children's current stages of development and uses these extremely well in planning for the next stage in their learning. This supports the exceptionally good progress children make over time. The childminder has a very good understanding of the requirement to assess children's

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who attend

progress at age two. She has implemented this most effectively, involving parents in the assessment and providing clear and concise reports that reflect children's progress to date. The childminder's emphasis on promoting communication and language skills, and children's physical, personal, social, and emotional development, results in children making rapid progress. As a result, children are building their capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive. They are extremely well prepared for the next stage in their learning, including moving on to school.

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

The childminder supports children's emotional wellbeing exceptionally well. She uses her excellent understanding of each child's individual needs to provide a nurturing environment where children's self esteem and personal confidence are consistently supported extremely effectively. As a result, children develop strong attachments to the childminder and show they are secure that their needs will be met. They are happy and content and develop warm and affectionate relationships with the childminder. For example, children eagerly greet the childminder with hugs and kisses and are keen to share their latest news with her. Babies enjoy lots of cuddles and chuckle gleefully as the childminder tickles them and encourages them to explore their toes. The co-childminding arrangements mean that children of all ages receive very good levels of adult support according to their individual needs. For example, babies who are fretful because they are

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

teething are soothed and cuddled by the childminder and provided with as much comfort as they need until they feel settled and content. Children benefit from an immensely inclusive environment and the childminder celebrates the uniqueness of all children and their abilities. As a result, children learn to show respect and care for each other. They feel confident to ask questions about difference and diversity, and take pride in understanding that not everyone is the same. For example, children eagerly explain how they make biscuits with 'special ingredients' so that everyone can eat them. They demonstrate awareness of different dietary needs by explaining that if they do not use these ingredients, some friends may 'get very sick'. Meals and snacks are provided by the childminder, who discusses menus with parents to ensure these meet their children's dietary requirements, which are varied. Children learn about the

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

importance of a healthy diet through helping to prepare food and having discussions about what they are eating and why it is good for them.

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

Children's behaviour is extremely good. There is a strong emphasis on teaching children how to conduct themselves and express their emotions appropriately. The childminder is an excellent role model, showing respect for children, listening to what they have to say and valuing their thoughts and ideas. This encourages children to show respect for each other. For instance, children who are extremely socially confident and tend to dominate activities are praised for their enthusiasm and good suggestions while the childminder reminds them gently to also let others contribute their ideas.

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

Children enjoy a highly stimulating learning environment. The childminder has organised this extremely well to enable children of all ages to make their own choices and to explore and investigate safely. Children enjoy a very good variety of activities that encourage them to be physically active and to move, co-ordinate and control their bodies. For example, children proudly demonstrate how they can balance a beanbag on their head while walking around. They confidently initiate energetic activities that stretch their abilities. They see how far they can jump from a starting point. Children demonstrate their good safety awareness when organising this activity. They talk to the childminder about how much space they might need and where they should position themselves so not to present a danger to babies playing nearby. Babies have a wonderful time as they empty large toy boxes, pull themselves up and clamber inside, learning to balance and co-

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

ordinate their movements. Children freely choose whether to play indoors or outside, and both areas are very well resourced to support a wide range of learning opportunities. Children enjoy daily routines such as helping to prepare meals and snacks, and regular cookery with the childminder. These teach children of all ages how to use knives and other kitchen utensils confidently and safely.

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provision

The childminder demonstrates an excellent understanding of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Her knowledge of how to safeguard children is extremely good, and she has experience in working with safeguarding agencies to protect children. She and her co-childminder have put in place clear procedures to follow should they have concerns that children are at risk of harm. These, and other policies and procedures that support children's welfare, are shared with parents so they have an understanding of the childminder's responsibilities to protect children from harm. Risk assessments, and related health and safety procedures, are thorough and are implemented rigorously to help keep children safe and well. For example, the childminder conducts safety practices such as fire drills regularly. She organises these so that every child will practice evacuation procedures at least once every month. This results in children

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provision

having an excellent awareness of how to conduct themselves safely in an emergency such as a fire.

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provision

The childminder demonstrates a strong commitment to continuous improvement in order to achieve and sustain the highest standards of practice. For example, she develops her skills and knowledge through training, and sources tools that help her to develop her practice. For instance, she has made very good use of guidance for practitioners such as 'Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage.' She uses this to review children's progress in each of the seven areas of learning. The childminder's systems of self-evaluation are excellent, and result in improvements that benefit children. For example, the childminder has been highly successful in encouraging parents to become actively involved in their children's learning and development. Parents regularly review their children's progress in learning with the childminder, sharing their observations of what their children achieve at home and helping to identify objectives for future learning.

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provision

Where applicable, the childminder has taken care to ensure parents understand the relevance of the two-year-old progress checks. They have been fully involved in these assessments of their children. The childminder has improved her systems of self- evaluation to include children's feedback. She and her co-childminder have developed simple picture feedback sheets to use with children to gain their views.

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provision

The childminder understands the value of partnership working to support children's all round learning and development. She develops strong relationships with other providers of the Early Years Foundation Stage, such as nurseries or pre-schools, when children attend more than one setting. The childminder uses extremely good ways to share information about children's progress. The childminder makes sure that learning objectives in each setting complement and support each other and provide consistency for children. The childminder has extremely good partnerships with parents, and she monitors the learning and development programme, effectively. The childminder is able to offer excellent support for children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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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 action. 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 132888 Local authority Bath & NE Somerset Inspection number 825541 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 6 Number of children on roll 12

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Telephone number

set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: 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, which are usually the childminder’s 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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