Childminder in Hertfordshire

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 10/06/2013 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: Not Applicable How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision is satisfactory

 The childminder establishes warm and trusting relationships with children, so children have a sense of security and the confidence to explore the activities provided.  Resources are stored at a low level encouraging the children to self-select which toys they want to play with and to make independent choices in preparation for their school readiness.  The childminder has an effective understanding of safeguarding children and ensures that their welfare is prioritised.

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It is not yet good because

 The childminder does not consistently use ongoing observations to identify the areas of learning covered by the activities or children's next steps in their learning. Therefore, she does not always use the assessments to provide challenge and fully support children to make the best progress in the prime and specific areas of learning.  Children's learning is not fully supported as parents are not consistently encouraged to share information about their children's development at home or guided about how to support their children's further learning.  Children are not consistently learning about good hygiene practices as the childminder does not consistently promote routine opportunities to minimise the spread of infection.

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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 in all ground floor rooms and the outside area.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a selection of policies, procedures and photographs of children joining in with different activities.

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Inspection activities

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

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Information about the setting

The childminder was registered in 2012 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She lives with her partner and one child aged two years in a house in Hertford, Hertfordshire. The whole of the premises and the rear garden are used for childminding. The family has no pets.

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Information about the setting

The childminder attends a toddler group and library. She visits the shops and park on a regular basis. The childminder collects children from the local schools and pre-schools.

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Information about the setting

There are currently two children on roll, both of whom are in the early years age group and attend for a variety of sessions. She childminds all year round from 7am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, except bank holidays and family holidays.

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must:

 improve the use of consistent ongoing assessment to identify the areas of learning incorporated into the activities and children's next steps in learning, so as to provide sufficient challenge and support them to make the best progress in the prime and specific areas of learning.

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

 develop children's understanding of good hygiene practices with regard to routine activities, such as the washing of hands before eating

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

 extend partnerships with parents to further engage and support them in guiding and sharing their children's learning and development at home so that children's progress is maximised.

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who attend

The childminder has a sound understanding of how children learn and generally adapts the activities to meet the children's age and stage of development. For example, while playing with the bricks, the childminder recognises that younger children like placing the bricks back into the container before emptying them again, exploring their moving and handling skills. Older children use their physical skills to build a tower with the bricks and show pleasure in what they have accomplished as they hold up their tower saying 'look'. However, there is sometimes limited extension of the activity to progress children's skills further or to provide more challenge. For example, the childminder does not include the concept of shape or size into the activity and does not encourage the children to use their physical skills to make the tower taller.

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who attend

Children are generally making independent choices about the activities and resources they use, helping them to soundly prepare for their future learning and school readiness. For example, they decide that they would like to go and play in the garden. They move straight to the sand table where they use the spades and containers provided to fill their buckets. Younger children are introduced to the sand, but quickly move to playing with the balls on the grass as they are not keen on the feel and texture of the sand. They are encouraged to pass the ball back and forth to the childminder showing their emerging control and directional skills.

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who attend

At the start of the placement the childminder discusses the children's level of development with the parents. She then soundly uses this information together with her own observations of the children to generally identify where they are within the areas of learning. She also records basic observations of the children in their daily diary. However, as children's next steps in development are not consistently identified, some learning experiences are not always effectively matched to children's individual needs and occasionally lack sufficient challenge. Therefore, the childminder is not optimally using the assessments to fully support children to make the best progress in the prime and specific areas of learning. Also, there is currently limited information about the areas of learning incorporated into the activities. This means that the childminder is not always fully aware of the breadth of the educational programme covered.

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who attend

The childminder provides a mostly suitable range of resources that generally stimulate children's interests. Resources are mostly stored at a low level encouraging the children to self-select which ones they want to play with. For example, they choose their favourite book and take it to the childminder for her to look at with them. They use their emerging language skills to name the fox and goat on the page and the childminder soundly extends their memory skills by asking if they can remember the colour of the queen's crown and what noise the cat makes. Younger children demonstrate their recall skills as they make a growling noise to indicate that they remember the picture of the dinosaur, also in the book.

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who attend

The childminder generally builds positive relationships with the parents. She uses a daily diary system and verbal interaction to share information with them about their children's time with her. However, they are not always consistently guided on how best to support their children's learning at home. They are also not effectively encouraged to share information about their children's development when not at the childminders. Therefore, the childminder cannot use this information to plan for children's further progress and their development is not maximised.

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

Children bond well with the childminder helping them feel safe and secure. They easily come to her for a cuddle when they start to feel tired and are confident in using their voices to indicate when they need her support. The childminder offers a flexible settling-in process at the start of the placement to ensure that the children and parents feel secure with the placement. Ongoing discussions with the parents also ensure that she mostly meets the children's individual needs with regard to routines and their well-being. For example, she works with the parents with regard to children's sleeping patterns and agrees for the child to sleep in their buggy rather than in the cot to maintain consistency with their home life. Children are starting to learn the expectations with regard to behaviour. The childminder sensitively supports them to understand that toys need to be shared and that they sometimes have to wait their turn. Children are also learning to be

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

kind and caring to each other. For example, the older children like to help settle the younger ones by singing a Romanian lullaby taught to them by the childminder.

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

Incorporating boundaries and routines into the children's daily lives helps in their preparation for school. For example, regular visits to toddler groups and the library help the children learn to play alongside their peers. The childminder also supports the children in generally learning independence with regard to their self-care skills as they fetch their coats and shoes before going out into the garden. Children are suitably starting to learn about their own safety. The childminder introduces them to road safety when out and about, and they know to sit down when eating in case they fall over or choke. They are mostly learning about healthy lifestyles as they enjoy developing their physical skills by dancing and singing to music and going for walks to feed the ducks. However, they are not routinely learning about good hygiene as the childminder does not always encourage them to wash their hands before eating. They are, therefore, not consistently learning

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

about the ongoing importance of these practices in the prevention of infection and illness.

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provision

The childminder has a sound understanding of her responsibilities with regard to the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. She is aware of the signs and symptoms of abuse and has the contact numbers for reporting concerns should they arise. She ensures that anyone coming into contact with the children is suitable to do so and carries the parents contact numbers with her at all times in case of emergencies. She continually risk assesses the areas used for childminding to ensure that potential hazards are minimised meaning that children's welfare is protected. Having recently moved house, she invited the parents along to her new home before the children were due to restart with her, to show them the premises and to reassure them that it was suitable and safe.

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provision

The programme of activities and experiences provided for the children supports them in making sound progress towards the early learning goals. However, further monitoring of the assessment system is required to ensure that the educational programmes consistently give a depth and breadth across the areas of learning and to maximise children's development. The childminder soundly works with the parents to ensure that children's individual needs are generally met. She knows who to approach to gain information and support for children with specific needs. She is aware of her responsibilities in working with other settings and providers and plans to put these processes into place once the children start attending other early years settings.

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provision

The childminder has started to evaluate her practice but it is not yet embedded in practice. She completed the self-evaluation form before inspection and plans to use it as a working tool to help her identify areas for future improvement. She provides parents with regular questionnaires to encourage them to share their views and opinions and receives positive comments, such as, 'I'm very happy and think I'm lucky to have you in our lives.'

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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 EY451516 Local authority Hertfordshire Inspection number 899002 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 5 Number of children on roll 2

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Name of provider

Date of previous inspection not applicable

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Telephone number

set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

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Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

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Type of provision

Full-time provision is that which operates for more than three hours. These are usually known as nurseries, nursery schools and pre-schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the higher fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Sessional provision operates for more than two hours but does not exceed three hours in any one day. These are usually known as pre-schools, kindergartens or nursery schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the lower fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Childminders care for one or more children where individual children attend for a period of more than two hours in any one day. They operate from domestic premises, which are usually the childminder’s own home. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Type of provision

Out of school provision may be sessional or full-time provision and is delivered before or after school and/or in the summer holidays. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. Where children receive their Early Years Foundation Stage in school these providers do not have to deliver the learning and development requirements in full but should complement the experiences children receive in school. achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children,

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Type of provision

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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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