Childminder in Gloucestershire

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 11/03/2013 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: Not Applicable 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Children make good progress overall across all areas of learning because the childminder knows children's individual needs and interests well to provide stimulating experiences and effective challenge.  Children make good progress in their communication and language through effective interaction and questioning and modelling of language.  Stimulating, vibrant play areas and well-presented toys and resources actively encourage children's independence and learning. Good use of the garden and frequent visits within the local community enhance children's experiences.  Excellent emphasis is given to nurturing children's personal, social and emotional wellbeing. Children are happy, confident and rapidly grow in self-esteem because of strong bonds with the childminder and excellent relationships with their friends.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Clear use of guidance, such as Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage, to help guide activity planning is not always consistent. This means that children are not always consistently supported to make the very best possible progress.

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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 children's play and childminder interaction in the playroom and during lunchtime routine.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the childminder at appropriate times throughout the observations.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at the childminder's Baby Days website to view children's progress information, and observed the childminder's self-evaluation, a selection of policies and risk assessments.  The inspector took account of parents views through questionnaire responses.

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Information about the setting

The childminder registered in 2011 She lives in Berkeley, Gloucestershire with her husband, their two children and their pet cat. The property is within walking distance of local amenities such as schools, shops, parks and Berkeley Castle. The childminder is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The whole of the property is used for childminding, with care mainly taking place in the conservatory playroom and hard standing back garden. The childminder provides care Monday to Friday, all year round and offers weekend care on request. She currently has six children on roll; three are in the early years age group and attend for a variety of sessions and three are school age attending before-and-after school and during school holiday periods. The childminder drops off and collects children from Berkeley Primary School and attends various local groups and activities within the local

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

 make better use of guidance, such as Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage, to help guide activity planning to enable children to make the best possible progress.

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who attend

Children are motivated, active learners who make the most of the stimulating experiences, good quality support and effective challenge. They engage in active play and exploration with good opportunities to use their imagination, to create and think critically because the childminder accurately identifies this as the basis of effective learning. She skilfully fosters this through good quality interaction and by encouraging children to lead and initiate play and problem solving for themselves. This significantly enhances children's enjoyment, engagement and learning. Cleverly weaving different aspects of learning into play and daily routines provides effective challenge and extension to develop children's skills further. As a result, overall, children make good progress in all aspects of their learning and development from their individual starting points.

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who attend

Reflective assessment, two-year progress checks and clear evaluation of children's progress show children regularly exceed expected levels for their age across the seven areas of learning. The childminder regularly monitors this by recording useful observations, which parents can access and contribute on the childminder's website. These show what the children do, their interests and any achievements made. The childminder uses this information to identify next steps that successfully challenge children's interests and learning well. This helps the children to develop new skills and build on what they already know and can do. However, the childminder does not make full use of guidance, such as Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage, to focus more sharply on children's stage of development and therefore further enhance activity planning for children's learning. As a result children are not consistently supported

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who attend

to make the very best possible progress that they can.

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who attend

Children make good progress in their communication and language. The childminder talks clearly and extends their vocabulary successfully by describing what they do. Children confidently choose and share books and enjoy regular singing to foster their language acquisition further. The childminder models new language during the shopping game, such as 'washing powder', and instinctively extends their sentences. This cleverly increases children's confidence in their communication skills. As a result, they respond well to the childminder's enthusiastic interaction and purposeful questioning when playing with the trains. They have fun naming the colours and confidently describe what they are doing, 'I topped'. The childminder systematically repeats words spoken to reinforce pronunciation of letter sounds, such as 'you've stopped'.

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who attend

The childminder effectively encourages the children to take an active part in the local community. They enjoy regular visits to the local shops, the fields to see the tractors and horses, and have fun exploring the local farms, castle and wetland areas. This encourages the children to become familiar with their surroundings and to talk about the things they see. Children enjoy wonderful opportunities to explore the natural environment, to develop understanding of sustainable living and to care for living things. Intelligent use of a butterfly farm, entices children to spend long periods observing changes as they occur. This nurtures children's curiosity as they talk about what they see and learn, first hand about the life cycle of a butterfly. Before planting their potatoes in the garden, children regularly compare the size and colour of roots. This encourages children to use appropriate language to talk about and compare size and to develop understanding of

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who attend

The childminder models the language for shape, position and measure, such as 'high' as the children construct a tower with wooden bricks. They understand the concept of counting well, pointing to each brick in turn as the childminder counts to 11 and encourages them to join in. They repeat this several times, which helps to extend their comprehension that a group of things change in quantity when something is added or taken away. Children are creative and use their own first-hand experiences well to initiate play. They invite their friends to join them in their role-play kitchen, using the play food and equipment to make sandwiches and cups of tea for the childminder. Children have fun exploring recyclable materials for art and crafts and use paint brushes and glue spreaders with increasing control and co-ordination.

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

Children are very confident and happily move around the playroom because of the trusting relationships and secure emotional attachments they have with the childminder. This helps the children to feel safe and develop good independence. As a result, children confidently select toys and resources for themselves. The childminder knows children's individual needs very well. She obtains good information about children's starting points, their interests and daily routines through effective communication with parents and helpful settling-in sessions. This enables the childminder to focus her support and provide consistently good quality care for children.

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

The childminder's relaxed and friendly manner has a calming influence on the children. They love the regular cuddles and close contact with the childminder who takes time to listen and talk with each child so they feel special and valued. Children form particularly close bonds with their friends and show great maturity in managing their own behaviour. They understand from a young age the concept of sharing and turn taking, kindly stating 'it's your go' or 'my go' at appropriate times. The childminder recognises children's achievements through frequent praise and encouragement, which inspires the children to keep trying. This invigorates their enthusiasm for learning and encourages them to clap and cheer each other's successes.

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

The childminder is very proactive in encouraging children to make good choices about their play and daily routines. They make healthy decisions about the food they eat and enjoy boundless opportunities for outdoor activities and exercise. As a result, children develop good understanding about the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle and extend their large physical skills. Children enjoy free access to the garden, use of large play equipment at the local park and frequent walks in the local community. As a result, children are energetic, eagerly build on their love of animals and outdoors and have fun at various childcare groups. This also enables children to develop good social skills, confidence and independence in situations away from the main care setting. The childminder works closely with parents to assist them with toilet training, providing valuable support and a consistent approach to children's care. Following instructions,

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

making friends and learning good self-care skills means children gain essential skills and attitudes necessary to support their eventual move to school.

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

The bright and cheerful playroom is welcoming for children. Examples of their work and various number and shape posters decorating the walls help them to feel special and valued. The wide range of stimulating and well-presented toys, games and equipment encourage the children to explore resources safely and increase their independence. Toys based around children's interests and resources that skilfully extend their experiences and skills, such as more complex jigsaws, successfully promote children's learning. Close supervision of children during play and consistent, clear explanations, help children understand the consequences of their actions. They learn that hot things are dangerous and they know that they must not run inside in case they slip. Routine practice and discussion of road safety and the emergency escape plan help support children's understanding of safety well.

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provision

The childminder is enthusiastic and very committed in her approach to childminding. She clearly understands her responsibility to safeguard children's well-being and provide safe play environments for children. The childminder has competent knowledge of child protection issues. She understands fully procedures to follow with any child welfare concerns to ensure prompt action is taken. This helps to protect children's welfare effectively. Safety and security arrangements are robust and well implemented. Risk assessments are thorough and daily safety checks enable the childminder to identify hazards quickly and take appropriate action to eliminate risks for children.

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provision

The childminder acknowledges that reflective practice and collaborative working with parents are necessary to the success of the setting and children's development. She has high expectations for the children through her good understanding of the learning and development requirements. Regular assessment of progress provides an accurate account of each child's skills and stage of development. This enables the childminder to provide a stimulating range of activities and experiences that, overall, challenge children's learning successfully. The childminder is continuing to develop her methods of self-evaluation by recently introducing questionnaires for parents and seeking children's feedback where appropriate. Regular liaison with other childminders is helping the childminder to gain new skills and knowledge that help to enhance children's care and learning. The childminder has started to complete a written self-assessment. She is honest in her opinion of areas

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provision

she needs to develop and is keen to seek support and training to develop her skills and knowledge further. This will help improve the outcomes for children even further.

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provision

The childminder establishes good partnerships with parents. Tailored settling-in arrangements mean children and parents get to know the childminder and her setting very well. This helps the children to settle quickly and the childminder to gain thorough knowledge of each child's needs, therefore ensuring they are well met. Parents are impressed and express appreciation of the service the childminder provides and the good quality communication. The informative parent pack, regular emails and the childminder's detailed website provide parents with detailed information and updates about the setting and their children's learning. Parents value exclusive access to their children's individual diary, observations and progress information to keep abreast of their children's development. Meetings to discuss their children's development enable parents to contribute and take an active part in their children's learning and development to help

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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 EY427207 Local authority Gloucestershire Inspection number 752750 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 4 Number of children on roll 6

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Name of provider

Date of previous inspection not applicable

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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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