Childminder in Oldham

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 20/03/2013 06/02/2008

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: 2 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 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision is satisfactory

 The childminder ensures that she maintains up-to-date knowledge of paediatric first aid and safeguarding procedures through attending the appropriate training, to protect children's welfare.  The childminder provides a warm and welcoming environment in which children are happy and secure in their play.  The contribution to children's progress in learning is adequate because the childminder provides some activities concerned with their interests, as well as themes such as festivals and national events. She also provides appropriate outings to support children's learning.

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It is not yet good because

 The childminder's tracking and assessment of children's progress in all areas is not precise, including for their starting points. Educational activities provided for children, including babies, are not precisely matched to their individual needs.  The childminder's evaluation is not effective at identifying areas of practice, including accessibility of resources for children and planning and assessment, which require further development.  The childminder has not begun to pass on information directly to children's future settings about their progress, which is linked to age expected development. This limits continuity in their 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

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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 toured the areas of the premises used for childminding.

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Inspection activities

 Children were observed while engaged in activities in the sitting room and the inspector spoke to them to find out about their views.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke with the childminder at appropriate times during the inspection and observed her interactions with children.

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Inspection activities

 Documents relating to children's progress and activities were examined, along with policies, records and documents relating to the safety and welfare of children.

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Information about the setting

The childminder was registered with the local authority and transferred to Ofsted in 2001. She is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The childminder lives with her husband and two adult children in a house in the Lees area of Oldham. The whole of the ground floor and the enclosed rear garden are used for childminding, along with the first floor bathroom. The family has two cats.

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Information about the setting

The childminder attends a local toddler and baby group. She visits local shops and parks on a regular basis. The childminder is available to collect children from local schools and nurseries. There are currently seven children on roll; five are in the early years age group who attend for a variety of sessions and two are school-age children who attend before and after school. The childminder provides care all year round from 8.30am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday except for family holidays. The childminder receives support from the local authority.

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must:

 improve the assessment of children's progress by ensuring: it is consistently linked to the expected development for children's age and stage, improve the precision of planning for individual children's learning and gather more precise information on children's starting points in order to plan effectively.

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

 explore ways to make a wider range of resources independently accessible to enable children to make more choices about what to play with and develop their own ideas

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

 develop the way in which the setting is evaluated and monitored, especially with regard to planning and assessment

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

 extend the ways in which information about children's progress is shared with other Early Years Foundation Stage providers when children move settings.

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who attend

Overall, children are supported to make steady progress in learning and development because the childminder provides resources, activities and outings that are broadly suitable. However, she does not use accurate ways of assessing children's ongoing progress in order to make regular individual plans for their learning. Consequently, she is not able to accurately identify gaps in learning and address these with early interventions. This limits the precision with which she can plan for individual children's needs. The childminder has implemented the Progress check at age two and provides satisfactory information about children's learning related to expected development for their ages. This enables some next steps in learning to be planned, and for parents to have suitable information available to share with professionals, such as, health visitors. The childminder records the activities and outings she provides across the week and uses festivals and

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who attend

national events when devising activities. However, the lack of individual planning means that children do not consistently receive challenge that is matched to their needs. This limits the effectiveness of how the childminder prepares children for their next steps in learning, such as nursery or full-time school.

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who attend

Parents are encouraged to provide information about children's interests and special events at home, in order for the childminder to discuss these with children, developing their communication skills. The childminder shares information with parents about their children's learning verbally, and through the children's learning journeys, which are composed of photographs and brief written observations. This enables parents to engage with their children's learning. When children join the childminding setting, the childminder obtains some information about their development from parents. However, she does not then use this and her own observations to produce a comprehensive picture of a child's starting points in order to produce individual, initial plans for learning. This also limits the precision of the planning used to help children learn and develop.

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who attend

Babies enjoy investigating cause and effect toys with the support of the childminder. They bang drums and push objects through slots to hear the resulting sounds. They enjoy books with the childminder's support and she directs their attention to pictures of animals that they like, such as ducks. They also engage with boxes of textured toys, and rattles, as part of developing their fine manipulative skills. However, the opportunities for babies to choose to play with malleable materials or mark-making resources on the premises are limited. Although, they can access 'messy' play with water or sand at the weekly local toddler group. Overall, this limits the potential for building on their learning in a variety of areas. This includes manipulative and creative development, as well as for extending their vocabulary, such as, colours and textures.

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who attend

Pre-school age children are offered activities and toys that generally support their learning, such as small world and construction resources. They enjoy activities such as baking, and cutting photos from catalogues, to extend their manipulative skills. The childminder uses their play with wooden blocks that have numbers on them to test their recognition of symbols, to support their early mathematical development. She provides opportunities for them to play with water in the sink, extending their experience of how to fill various sizes of containers and pour from them. This develops children's early spatial awareness, and manipulative skills. They play in the garden on tricycles to develop whole- body control and learn how to take turns on equipment. The childminder offers opportunities for children to make collages, such as on Mother's Day cards, although this sort of activity is not independently accessible. This limits the ways in which children can

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who attend

initiate their own creativity, and hence the provision for them to explore their own ideas. The childminder uses festivals such as Chinese New Year and Diwali to teach children about cultures and religions different to their own, through creative activities and food. This supports the childminder's policy of celebrating diversity and promoting acceptance of others.

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

Children are very happy and confident with the childminder, demonstrating strong attachments to her. The childminder is aware of which toys different children and babies prefer, and uses this to help maintain their emotional security by offering these to settle them when they arrive in the morning or after a nursery session. Children are well behaved, because the childminder is careful to model negotiation in order to solve small disputes such as sharing wooden blocks. This helps to support children's social and emotional development.

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

Pre-school age children are offered suitable activities, in order to help them develop and learn; however, they do not have independent access to a range of resources. This limits the ways in which they can explore their ideas and extend their play. Babies are warmly cared for and the childminder maintains their attention through gently talking to them. Although, the range of activities observed to be offered to them is limited to cause and effect toys and books. As a result, they are not observed to have independent access to malleable materials like dough, or to explore mark-making. This limits the opportunities for supporting their language development and fine manipulative skills. Overall, children are basically prepared for joining larger settings such as full-time school because the childminder has a reasonable understanding of the self-care and communication skills they need in order to be confident and learn. However, this is limited by the lack of

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

independent access to a range of resources, in order for children to engage in child- initiated activities and explorative play.

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

The childminder provides daily outdoor exercise by walking to local schools. She also visits local parks and playgrounds. This enables her to support children's learning about reasonable risk through play, whilst minimising opportunities when accidents might occur. She also visits local baby and toddler groups in order to provide children with the opportunity to develop their social and communication skills through playing with or alongside others. The childminder provides a clean and well-maintained environment for children, to help prevent accidents. She has suitable practical safety measures such as keeping the kitchen door shut to prevent children having contact with pet bowls and trays. The childminder seeks a variety of permissions from parents such as for taking photographs of children and going on local outings as part of her procedures for safeguarding children's welfare. Procedures for organising all outings are thorough,

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

including the equipment needed, to help keep children safe. The childminder carries out visual risk checks of play areas when out, to help to protect children's safety. Children are encouraged to learn about the importance of keeping themselves safe, for example, on walks when the childminder emphasises road safety.

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

Food preparation and storage areas are clean, as are toilet facilities, to help prevent the spread of infection. The childminder asks parents to provide healthy food for children when they are in her care, in order to help them learn about the importance of a balanced diet. Children and mobile babies have access to their individual water beakers, in order to be independent in this respect. The childminder uses appropriate measures when changing and disposing of babies' nappies to help prevent the spread of infection.

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

When children join the setting, the childminder seeks some information from parents about children's preferences and their development. She also holds information such as who has parental responsibility for children, who is allowed to collect them and appropriate contact details, including for emergencies. This helps to protect children's welfare. The childminder shares verbal information with other settings that children may attend, about their individual welfare and development, to support continuity in these areas. She also makes use of the newsletters from other settings in order to complement what they are teaching children. However, the childminder does not yet directly pass on detailed information about children's progress when they leave her care to attend other settings. She gives children's learning journeys to parents, although if they choose not to share these with next settings, the continuity is disrupted. This is because this information

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

is not then available for their initial planning for individual children's learning.

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provision

The childminder has a suitable knowledge of the safeguarding and child protection procedures, through attending training. Her practice and policies demonstrate an appropriate awareness of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. All documentation relating to children's welfare and safety is completed to meet statutory requirements, in order to support the safe and effective running of the childminding service. The childminder carries out daily checks of the premises to minimise risks to children and has a clear understanding of the circumstances when risk assessments need to be reviewed, such as for new outings or when babies start to crawl.

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provision

The childminder uses the Ofsted self-evaluation tool to identify areas for continuous improvement in her practice, although this is more descriptive than evaluative in its outlook. The emphasis on description within her self-evaluation means that the childminder has not fully reflected on how she can make the best use of observations and assessment in order to plan for individual children's learning. As a result, although children make steady progress in their development and learning through the activities provided, planning is not precise to their individual needs. The childminder has established basic ways of monitoring the educational programmes she provides for children, so that she provides a balance of activities across all areas of learning of the Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage. However, monitoring does not yet cover the depth and breadth of the observations she makes about children's learning, or the ways to assess

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provision

children's progress. This means that some opportunities to close gaps in children's learning are not always identified rapidly, limiting the effectiveness of the activities offered. The childminder has not consistently begun to link her observations with expected development for children, in order to work out if children are progressing as expected, above or below expectations, apart from when she prepares the Progress check at age two. Consequently, this also limits the precision of the planning for individualised learning.

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provision

All recommendations from the previous inspection have been met, showing an adequate commitment to developing practice. As a result, the provision for children's welfare has been improved. Attending training on the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage has enabled the childminder to update her practice in order to better support children's learning. She also holds a qualification in paediatric first aid and maintains her knowledge through specific courses, such as child protection. The childminder receives support from the local authority and uses this to improve her provision.

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provision

The childminder has positive partnerships with parents and this is shown by parents returning to use her care for several of their children. Information exchange about children's learning and welfare is mostly verbal, on a day to day basis, with parents aware that they can look through their child's learning journey at any time. The childminder encourages parents to share information with her about children's interests and activities at home, so that she can incorporate this into her talk with children. The childminder has well-established links with local nurseries, who provide her with regular newsletters about the themes and activities they are looking at with children, as well as verbal information about individual children's learning. As a result, this supports continuity of children's care and development. The childminder passes information about children's development to parents when children leave her care, for example when they begin to attend full-time

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provision

school, so that this can be given to the next setting. As a consequence, this may lead to a lack of continuity, if parents do not choose to pass on this information, because there systems are not in place to pass this information on directly, with parents' permission.

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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 505050 Local authority Oldham Inspection number 720728 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 6 Number of children on roll 7

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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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