Atkinson, Susan

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 25/03/2013 28/11/2008

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 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 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 The childminder treats all children in her care with great affection and respect. They feel very secure and safe because of their close relationship with her. This includes supporting children with special needs and/or disabilities, by working with external agencies, as well as liaising with other early years providers.  The childminder has an exceedingly good understanding of how children learn. She expertly supports them through providing a wide range of exciting and challenging opportunities. This enables them to have fun while making excellent progress in their learning and development.  Children have excellent opportunities to learn about the world through visits and activities and are, therefore, very well prepared for the next steps in their learning.  The childminder shows a clear ambition to provide high quality care and education for all children, and works extremely hard to achieve this. Excellent use of reflective

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This provision is outstanding

practice forms the basis of the challenging targets she sets herself in order to develop and enhance her practice further.

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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 and talked with children as they joined in with planned and child-initiated activities.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's files, planning documentation and a range of policies and procedures.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the feedback from parents, children and other professionals.

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Inspection activities

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

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Information about the setting

The childminder was registered in 2004. She is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She lives in a house in Shap, near Penrith, Cumbria. The whole of the ground floor, apart from the living room and one upstairs bedroom, are used for childminding. There is a fully enclosed garden and a garage converted into a playroom for outside play. The childminder has two cats and a rabbit as pets. The childminder attends a local toddler group and activities at the children's centre and library. She visits the shops and takes children out into the community on a regular basis. She collects children from the local nursery and school. There are currently 23 children on roll, of whom six are in the early years age group and attend for a variety of sessions. She supports children with special needs and/or disabilities. The childminder works with the social services department to provide family support and respite care. She

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Information about the setting

operates all year round from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, except bank holidays and family holidays. She is a member of the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years.

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

 continue to develop resources parents can use and share with their children to extend their learning at home.

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who attend

Children thrive in the care of a very experienced and enthusiastic childminder, who displays a passion in caring for children. The childminder has an exceptional knowledge of promoting equality of opportunity and displaying empathy. She ensures all children are valued and respected. Consequently, children are extremely happy, content and motivated to learn. Children make excellent progress in their learning and development because observation, assessment and planning is robust and highly effective in supporting children's needs. Through close observation she identifies what children can do already and what they need to learn about next. For example, painting and decorating Easter eggs was planned to encourage children to experience the texture of paint and develop their manipulation skills. She praises children's efforts highly and celebrates their achievements with them. As a result, children's self-esteem is exceedingly well nurtured. The childminder

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who attend

uses her experience and considerable knowledge of how children learn best to plan many engaging and challenging experiences. She enthusiastically joins in their self-chosen play and scaffolds their learning through discussion, questions and adding resources. For example, when playing with the train set the children talked about tunnels and to encourage their thinking, the childminder asked about living in the dark. She set up a tunnel for the children to crawl through and asked how they could make it dark. The children were thrilled when they discovered that by putting a blanket on top they had a real dark tunnel to explore and using their imagination they were eager to play and learn together. Through her skilful interactions children's communication, physical and problem solving skills are effectively promoted and children become deeply involved in their play and motivated to learn.

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who attend

Children's physical development is fostered extremely well as they enjoy daily opportunities for physical exercise both indoors and outdoors in the childminder's well equipped garden. Children benefit because the childminder takes them to sessions in a local hall where they have plenty of space to run around. Playing on large equipment they face new challenges and develop their coordination and balance. Living in a rural area children have wonderful opportunities to learn about nature and the wider world. Children are regularly taken out on visits, such as to the farm to see and feed the lambs. They visit the library in Penrith and travel to the dance and movement class in Kendal. These varied experiences and meeting new people enhance children's understanding of the world and prepares them very well for the next stage in their learning.

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who attend

The childminder has established strong relationships with families and she spends considerable time with parents to keep them very well informed of their child's development at every stage. The progress check at age two has been put in place and this means parents are provided with detailed information on children's progress in the prime areas of development. The childminder is fully committed to include parents in their children's learning. To support continuity of children's learning at home, she has made some superb themed story bags containing books, soft toys and puppets for children to take home to enjoy and share with their families. This approach successfully helps parents to extend their children's language and communication development at home. The childminder recognises there is scope to extend this approach further by providing more ideas to share learning and by directing parents to relevant websites.

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

Children thrive as the childminder places the highest priority on children's personal, social and emotional development. She has formed very close attachments with all children in her care. Consequently, children are settled, happy and feel secure. Inclusion and equality are real strengths within the setting. The childminder welcomes all children and is completely committed in supporting children to fulfil their potential. The childminder is a superb role model and includes children, regardless of their age and ability, in all activities. This has a positive impact on children's developing awareness of others individual needs. To ensure high quality care the childminder discusses children's needs carefully with parents and carers. She is flexible in her approach and makes provision for children to meet their unique needs and as a result, transition from the home to the setting is smooth and children quickly settle. For example, when developing friendships with their peers,

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

children talk with enthusiasm and fondness about the photograph displays of themselves and their families. This supports children's self-awareness as they develop a strong feeling of belonging and respect for each other's differences. The behaviour of all children is managed very well as the childminder sets, explains and consistently maintains clear and reasonable expectations. As a result, children's behaviour is excellent and they learn that their wishes may not always be met and that their actions have consequences on others.

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

Children's health is exceedingly well promoted. Children are encouraged to develop good self-care skills and an awareness of the importance of healthy practices through regular routines, such as hand washing and learning to put on their own boots to go outside. The childminder's love of cooking is reflected in the excellent quality and variety of food provided. Eating together, the childminder expertly supports children to adopt good table manners and encourages them to eat well. In learning about the importance of healthy lifestyles children are introduced to different kinds of vegetables, such as baby sweetcorn. Consequently, children enjoy mealtimes and the opportunity to talk to each other. The childminder has an excellent understanding of the importance of children's physical development and children gain by taking part in a wide variety of activities to promote their physical well-being. Children benefit from plenty of fresh air through daily walks in

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

the community and visits to local farms. The childminder uses her high regard for children's safety to manage her own home and when she takes children out, she supports them to experience managed risks, such as running ahead of her to a designated safe spot. This approach helps children develop an awareness of risk.

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

The childminder offers a stimulating and richly resourced learning environment where children have access to a wide range of age-appropriate resources. Outdoors she provides children with many exciting opportunities to use their senses to explore and investigate, such as jumping in the snow and investigating their footprints. In their play children are totally at ease with each other and as a result, they are confident and display high levels of independence. For example, children initiate their own play and using role-play equipment they imaginatively make cups of tea and toast and confidently invite adults to join in.

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provision

The childminder is inspirational in striving for continuous improvement of her practice. Attendance at early years training and Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years conferences demonstrates her commitment to continuous professional development. She has successfully developed a culture of reflective practice and evaluates all aspects of her provision. She listens carefully to the views of children and parents and this means areas for development are clearly identified. For example, to support children's acquisition of skills and use of Information Technology the childminder accessed funding to purchase an interactive whiteboard. She works extremely hard to ensure children are provided with high quality care and that they are given every opportunity to meet their potential. Letters and cards from parents and external agencies express their appreciation for the excellent progress children have made in her care. The childminder monitors her planning to ensure

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provision

she covers all areas of learning and accurate tracking of children's progress. Using audits and regular observation means she quickly identifies any gaps in children's learning. This rigourous approach by the childminder strongly contributes to the excellent progress children make in their learning and development.

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provision

The childminder is fully aware of her responsibilities in meeting the learning and welfare requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years foundation Stage. A fully comprehensive range of policies and procedures are in place, which reflect the ethos of the care provided and ensure the safe and efficient organisation of provision. She works extensively with Social Services' support networks and consequently, has an exceptionally good understanding of safeguarding and how to keep children safe in all situations. The premises are safe and secure and she fully supports children to develop their awareness of risk.

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provision

Excellent relationships have formed between children, parents and the childminder and written comments seen during the inspection were delightful. The childminder works in close partnership with other professionals and settings involved in children's lives. This means children's unique needs are fully shared and planned for to give children the best possible opportunities to learn and develop. To ensure continuity of learning for children the childminder strives to involve all parents in sharing children's learning and celebrations.

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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 EY298257 Local authority Cumbria Inspection number 861646 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 6 Number of children on roll 23

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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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