Childminder in West Sussex

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 10/04/2013 01/06/2010

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 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 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 effectively look at children's individual needs and their stages of development when planning activities.  The childminder does not clearly identify gaps in children's learning and plan activities and assist them in closing these gaps by providing a suitable range of adult and child led activities.  Risk assessments are carried out but do not identify clearly all aspects of the environment that need to be checked on a regular basis to ensure children's safety.  The childminder is not able to meet the individual needs of all the children.  The childminder was unable to produce a record of previous complaints to show to the inspector on request.  The childminder does not successfully reflect on her practice in order to make ongoing improvements to her provision.

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It has the following strengths

 The childminder suitably shares information, about the children's time with her and how they are developing, with the parents.  The daily routine includes appropriate opportunities for children to learn about a healthy eating.

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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 compulsory part of the Childcare Register. This report includes a judgment about compliance with the requirements of that register.

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Inspection activities

 This is a brought forward unannounced inspection that took place during the school holidays.

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Inspection activities

 Observations were made of the children at play and their interaction with the childminder.  The premises and all documentation were inspected.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector left the inspection for one hour over lunch time to allow the childminder and children time alone while she considered the judgements.

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Information about the setting

The childminder registered in 2009. She lives with her partner and their two school age children in Hassocks, West Sussex. The childminder uses all of the ground floor for childminding and there is access to an enclosed garden. The setting is close to shops, parks and transportation links. The childminder is registered on the Early Years Register and on the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. She has eight children on roll, of these, five are in the early years age group. The childminder has a cat.

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must:

 improve the educational programme by considering individual needs, interests and stage of development of each child and by using this information to plan challenging and enjoyable experiences for each child in all areas of learning

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must:

 promote each area of learning by regularly planning a mixture of adult led and child initiated activities, to encourage children's confidence to play and explore

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must:

 ensure risk assessments are reviewed regularly and identify aspects of the environment that need to be checked on a regular basis and how the risk will be removed or minimised

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must:

 ensure a record of any complaints and the outcome is held and ensure these are made available to Ofsted on request

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must:

 ensure that the care of older children does not adversely affect the care of children receiving early years provision.

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must:

 reflect on practice in order to identify strengths and areas for development that will improve the quality of the educational programmes for all children, and take into account the views of children and parents

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who attend

The learning environment and resources are age appropriate and organised to enable children some opportunities for free choice of activity and independent play. The childminder has some knowledge of child development and how to interact and develop children's knowledge and understanding. However, she does not make effective use of this to fully promote children's individual learning and development. For a significant time, not all children are engaged in purposeful play resulting in babies not receiving sufficient stimulation and adverse behaviour from older children. Children are not, therefore, making adequate progress in all areas in relation to their starting points.

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who attend

The childminder understands how to develop children's thinking through the use of open- ended questions, introducing new words and songs. However, due to the number of children present, she is unable to sustain this for all children and sometimes stops an activity before they have finished. For example, the childminder set up an interesting papier mache activity for the children and encouraged them to take part. The older children were enjoying tearing up the paper and covering it with glue to make their models. The youngest children were sitting at the table in high chairs with the others. The childminder gave them the home made flour and water glue to feel and talked about what it felt like, but she did not encourage the youngest children to do anything more. They quickly tired of the activity and were allowed to crawl on the floor, where they found small pieces of paper which they tried to put in their mouths. When the childminder realised this

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who attend

was happening, she stopped the activity and told the children to clear up ready for snack. This resulted in the older children not being able to develop their play.

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who attend

The childminder plans adult led activities for the children; however, she does not always consider their individual needs or abilities. She has set the baby walker out for babies to use to encourage their walking skills. Due to the number of children present, she was unable to spend time encouraging the babies with this activity and they quickly became frustrated and tearful. As in the previous activity, this resulted in none of the children benefitting from the experience and does not help children develop the confidence to play and explore.

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who attend

Most children have learning journeys in which the childminder records her observations and assessments of their development in both writing and pictures. Each term the childminder identifies the next steps in learning for the children. However, she does not use this information effectively, to identify any gaps there may be in children's learning. As children develop at different rates, the infrequent identification of children's next steps in learning results in their progress not being as much as most children, in relation to their starting points and capabilities.

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who attend

The childminder has an appropriate understanding of the assessment of children between the ages of two and three years and has carried out one of these. The childminder talks to parents daily and periodically sends their child's records home for them to view. She shares information about children's progress and achievements, as well as giving ideas on how to extend children's learning while they are at home. Parents also share information on their child's development, interests, events at home and places they have visited together. The childminder is beginning to use this information when planning activities.

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who attend

The childminder has developed links with the local pre-schools. This has resulted in her liaising with the key person to help children with specific tasks, for example, their formation of letters and writing their name. Although no children attending currently have any kind of special educational need or disability, the childminder is aware of how to support the children and make adaptations to the environment and activities. She has cared for children with English as an additional language in the past and has a chart on the wall showing where all the children in her care have come from. This assists in valuing their individuality and culture.

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

The childminder uses appropriate systems to help children settle with her. She includes visits with parents and encourages parents to stay as long as they feel they need to, to help the children settle. Some of the older children are happy and settled and generally display confidence and self-esteem, although babies appear to be less confident. They are often left to their own devices and cry for attention. The childminder encourages children to work together, regardless of age and ability. The childminder encourages children to be polite and say 'please' and 'thank you'. She uses praise and encouragement at times to motivate the children and most of the time discusses inappropriate behaviour when she sees it. However, due to the numbers and ages of children present, together with the lack of effectively organised activities, children are rarely engaged in purposeful play and the childminder spends a lot of time sorting out situations, such as arguments. This means

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

she often misses opportunities to engage in children's own led play to challenge and extend their learning. For example, when sorting out children who were climbing on the furniture, the childminder did not respond to a baby's babbling as they attempted to communicate. When the baby posted a card into the ark, this also went unnoticed, and when another child took the ark away and the baby showed their displeasure, the childminder did not notice this too. This means because the childminder is caring for too many children, she is not able to meet the children's needs adequately and this impacts on children's self-esteem, as their achievements go unnoticed.

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

Children follow clear hygiene procedures and the childminder teaches them effectively about good hygiene and healthy eating. Children have a choice at meal times of a range of healthy options, and, where appropriate, they assist in the preparation of foods for snacks and meals; for example, cutting up bananas for snack time. At times the children assist the childminder to make soup that they later eat for their lunch. Children have access to water throughout the day and always have a drink with their meals and snacks.

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

Children have some opportunities to be active in the garden, on walks to and from school, and during visits to the park, where they can access large climbing equipment. The childminder is beginning to talk to children about the benefits of physical activity. When children are due to move on to school or pre-school the childminder helps to prepare the child. This is done in liaison with the parents and includes taking children on visits to the setting, as well as talking about the different routines they will experience.

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provision

The inspection was brought forward as a result of concerns being raised that the childminder was caring for more children than she is allowed. The inspection found that the childminder was caring for four children in the early years age group plus her own two school aged children. Due to the number of children present, the care of the younger children was adversely affected by the care of the older children. This is a breach of requirements as the childminder is not able to demonstrate she can meet the needs of all the children she is caring for. Consequently, children do not receive appropriate support and are not making consistent progress in their learning and development. The childminder is unable to plan activities to meet the individual learning needs of all the children and this results in children not being engaged in purposeful play.

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provision

The childminder has some understanding of safeguarding children, with regard to child protection issues. However, she does not fully promote safety in the home. The childminder has a written risk assessment in place, although she has not reviewed this for almost three years and has had new children begin in her care. The childminder was alerted to several hazards during the inspection, however, little or no attempt was made to make these safe. This included a trailing wire across one corner of the room, children being able to access acrylic paints stored on the floor and the safety of the fire hearth. The front door is kept unlocked; however, the childminder locked it when the inspector returned to give feedback. This results in the environment not being sufficiently safe and secure for children, which compromises their safety.

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provision

Appropriate risk assessments are in place for all outings and the childminder regularly reviews and updates these. The childminder was asked to provide information about previous complaints but was unable to locate this. It is a requirement to have this information available for inspection. All other required documentation was available for inspection.

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provision

The childminder has begun to evaluate her setting by talking to parents, asking them to write down their opinion of her service and then taking their views into consideration when looking for ways to further improve. This system is not yet fully developed as not all parents have been approached and the childminder has not considered the views of any of the children. She has also attended additional training courses to keep her knowledge as current as possible.

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provision

The childminder keeps parents fully informed about her provision. When they first come to her, parents are shown a folder containing information on her family, how she delivers the Early Years Foundations Stage to the children and the experiences, activities and routines children will be able to enjoy. Parents are given a copy of the policies and procedures to read and are kept very well informed about their child's day through conversations with the childminder and seeing their child's learning journey. The childminder has also developed links with the early years advice staff within the local authority.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are

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

 undertake risk assessments of the premises and equipment to ensure that all necessary measures are taken to minimise any identified risks (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure a summary of complaints made in the last twelve months and the action taken as a consequence is made available to Ofsted on request (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 EY393408 Local authority West Sussex Inspection number 911955 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 5 Number of children on roll 8

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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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