Childminder in Wiltshire

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 02/04/2013 28/10/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 Previous inspection: 3 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 4 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 4

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This provision is inadequate

 The childminder does not provide challenging play and learning opportunities to enable children to be interested and involved and make progress in their learning, particularly communication and language.  Children's learning and physical development is not fully supported because the play space is limited and the toys and equipment are stored in an unsafe way.  At times the behaviour of the older children has a negative impact on the younger children, particularly their personal, social and emotional development.  The childminder does not gain information from parents regarding their children's achievements in their development and ongoing progress.  The childminder does not maintain a record of complaints.  The childminder does not monitor her provision successfully to identify weaknesses and focus on improvement, particularly with the learning and development requirements and resources that promote diversity.

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It has the following strengths

 The childminder takes the children on outings in the community.  The childminder offers nutritious snacks.

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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 activities and interaction between the childminder and children during play.

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Inspection activities

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

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the view of a parent through written comments provided for the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector viewed some documentation such as children's learning records, policies and procedures, accident records and the daily register.

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Information about the setting

The childminder registered in 2000. She lives with her husband and teenage daughter in a four storey house near the centre of Trowbridge, Wiltshire. Access to the front door is via several steps. The childminder is registered on the Early Years Register and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. Currently the childminder is caring for seven children, two of these are in the early years age range. The childminder uses the ground floor for children's play and the first floor for bathroom facilities. There is a fully enclosed garden for outdoor play. The childminder collects children from the local school.

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must:

 implement effective systems to assess and plan for children's learning and development to provide challenging and interesting educational programmes for children, particularly their communication and language, and personal, social and emotional, and physical development

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must:

 improve the organisation of space, furniture, toys and equipment to enable children to have sufficient play space

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must:

 maintain a record of complaints and their outcome

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must:

 develop effective systems of self-evaluation to identify areas of weakness and areas for continuous improvement to enhance children's learning and development

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must:

 ensure any care provided for older children does not adversely affect the care of the younger children, particularly by making sure older children do not dominate activities or behave inappropriately in front of the younger ones

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

 strengthen the systems to gather information from parents about their children's starting points in their development and the ongoing progress their children make at home

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

 provide books and resources which represent diverse backgrounds to avoid negative stereotypes, including disabilities and ethnicity.

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who attend

The childminder does not provide a suitable range of activities linked to children's interests. She is not providing appropriate opportunities for children to make progress in their learning and development, particularly their communication and language, personal, social and emotional and physical development. This is a breach of a requirement. The majority of the time children are left to play independently. During these times some older children dominate the space available as they play with electronic games. The younger children are not included; they sit on a chair watching but quickly lose interest as although they ask to play, older children do not allow them. The childminder does not intervene to make sure all children are included and are able to have a turn at playing. The younger children attempt to negotiate across the room to access other resources. However, this is difficult as the older children dominate the space in the room. In addition, resources are

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who attend

very hard for them to access due to the disorganised storage. For example, toys are piled on top and in front of the plastic storage draws. The childminder does not always notice when older children make comments or control the activities preventing the younger children being able to access appropriate play opportunities. Older children choose to play a game on a console that is not appropriate for younger children. The younger ones stand and watch, asking if they can play. On occasions, the childminder does explain they are not old enough to play the game. However, the childminder does not offer any activities or play opportunities to distract the children and engage them in more appropriate activities. Consequently, the childminder does not sufficiently engage or effectively challenge children to help them make progress in their learning and development.

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who attend

The childminder has completed a progress check for children aged between two and three years. She has identified the next steps in some areas of children's learning, such as encouraging the children to share the tractor and develop their confidence. The childminder has completed some basic observations in some areas of learning, identifying basic next steps to help children progress. However, she is not providing challenging learning opportunities or supporting children sufficiently to help them make progress. For example, a child picks up a rattle and puts it on their wrist. They say to the childminder 'tick-tock', the childminder responds saying 'you've got shaker'. The child loses interest and tries to find an alternative toy as the childminder does not notice that they are pretending it is a watch. Therefore, she is unable to extend their learning through spontaneous play. The childminder gathers some basic information from parents when

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who attend

their children initially start. However, this predominantly relates to children's welfare needs rather than their achievements at home in their development. As a result, the childminder is not able to plan from the onset.

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who attend

The childminder takes the children on outings in the community to the local children's centre and toddler groups. This provides opportunities for the children to socialise with others of similar ages. The childminder is inconsistent in her approach to promoting children's communication and language. For example, children take some toys from the drawer. The childminder says 'you're emptying the toy box, you've got a spoon' she follows this up with and 'a cube and a sports car'. However, there is no discussion to extend children's communication and language by talking about the objects to help children extend their vocabulary and build on their sentences. In addition, for long periods of time, the childminder fails to interact with the children sufficiently to make them feel valued and included.

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

Children follow appropriate hygiene routines to support their awareness of keeping healthy, including having regular nappy changes according to their needs. They benefit from healthy snacks. Children have opportunities to walk to and from school and play in the park to support their physical development. Children use tricycles and bicycles in the garden, supported by the childminder. Older children use a dance programme. However, even though younger children are keen to join in saying 'me dance', their interest is not supported by the childminder. Therefore, they are not able to participate in the dancing games and this does not support their physical development further. Children are beginning to learn about staying safe. The childminder reminds younger children to sit still on their chair, and to be careful on the stairs, otherwise they may fall. Children practise the evacuation procedure, enabling them to become familiar with what to do in an

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

Children's behaviour varies. Younger children understand the simple rules, such as sharing and being kind to our friends and behave well. However, at times older children disregard these rules. They dictate what activities take place and are not always considerate in the way they speak to younger children. This is a breach of a legal requirement. At times this goes unnoticed by the childminder. Consequently, children are not always learning to respect and value others. In addition, young children are not included and this does not help promote their self-esteem. Therefore, children's personal, social and emotional development is not always fully supported. Overall, the childminder is not meeting children's needs sufficiently.

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

The childminder has an appropriate range of resources. However, toys and equipment are not stored to enable young children to easily access independently. Resources that promote diversity are limited. Consequently, children's independence and understanding of respecting differences is not supported.

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provision

Overall, the childminder does not demonstrate an appropriate knowledge and understanding of the safeguarding and welfare, and learning and development requirements. The childminder has limited understanding of the seven areas of learning and how to provide effective challenges to enable children to make the maximum progress. Consequently, children are not engaged in purposeful play, and as a result they do not make sufficient progress in their learning. The childminder demonstrates appropriate knowledge of how to safeguard children and promote their welfare. She has previously attended training. She is able to identify possible concerns and the appropriate measures she would take in the event of a concern with regard to children's welfare. This includes notifying the appropriate authorities and keeping a written record. The childminder has systems in place to complete risk assessments and provide a safe and

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provision

secure environment. However, at times the space available in the room used for childminding is not used effectively. For example, a rowing machine is stored under the dining room chairs and consequently young children stand on it as they try to get down from the table. At other times, older children move chairs away from the table to enable them to follow dance routines displayed on the television. This limits the amount of clear space for younger children to play in. This is a breach of a legal requirement. The childminder supervises the children appropriately. Older children choose to play in the garden and the childminder takes the younger children to make sure all children are supervised. However, because there are insufficient resources and play opportunities to engage the children they become bored and the older children decide to go indoors. As a result, the childminder takes the younger children inside as well. This means children have

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provision

limited choices about where they want to play and when, due to the older children making the decisions about play.

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provision

The childminder has basic systems to monitor and evaluate her provision. She gains the views of parents through discussion. She offers them information on how to make a complaint if they have any issues. However, the childminder does not maintain a written record of complaints and their outcome. This is a breach of a legal requirement. The childminder is also not meeting the requirements of the Childcare Register. The childminder has visits from the local authority to help her to evaluate her practice. However, she is not successful in identifying areas that require development. For example, monitoring the educational programmes to make sure that children are making progress.

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provision

The childminder develops positive relationships with parents and carers. She provides them with information about her policies and procedures covering all aspects of her service. The childminder reports that she involves parents in their children's learning through discussion. Parents comment that the childminder is 'easy-going and approachable and as a result they develop a good rapport'. There are some basic systems to share information with other early years providers. For example, if children are learning their colours at the nursery setting, the childminder will help them.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are

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actions)

The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

 ensure that where older and younger children are together, the behaviour of children over the age of eight years does not have a negative effect on the younger children (also applies to the voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  keep a written record, for a period of three years, of complaints including the outcome of the investigation and the action taken in response (also applies to the voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  ensure the premises and equipment used for the purposes of the childcare are safe and suitable for that childcare (also applies to the voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  take action as specified for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register

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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 144842 Local authority Wiltshire Inspection number 908815 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 8 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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