Childminder in Essex

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 23/05/2013 23/09/2008

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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 has a poor understanding of the statutory requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. In particular, she does not implement effective risk assessments to support children's safety.  The childminder does not provide an adequate range of resources. Those provided are not always safe or clean. This puts children at risk of harm.  The childminder's planning is not accurately based on the child's next stage of development. This impacts on children's progress because learning experiences provided are not matched to their individual needs.  The childminder's partnership with parents does not consistently include an exchange of information about their learning. This hinders children's progress.  The childminder does not effectively reflect on the service she provides. This results in her not identifying improvements or training, which are necessary to improve the provision.

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It has the following strengths

 Young babies are developing adequate communication and language skills because the childminder provides a sound level of interaction. She talks to babies about what is happening, sings action rhymes and shows an interest in the sounds they make.

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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 children taking part in activities on the ground floor of the childminders home and viewed the garden area.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked through a range of documentation including the childminder's policies, procedures, children's development records, planning and self-evaluation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held a wide range of discussions with the childminder and her assistant she also interacted with minded children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents through information provided by the childminder.

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Information about the setting

The childminder was registered in 2007 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She works with two assistants and lives with her partner and two children age 14 and five years in a house in Harlow, Essex. The whole of the ground floor, first floor toilet, one bedroom and the rear garden are used for childminding purposes. The family has one dog a lizard and fish in a garden pond.

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Information about the setting

The childminder attends a toddler group and activities at the local children's centre. She visits the shops and park on a regular basis. The childminder collects children from the local schools.

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Information about the setting

There are currently five children on roll, three of whom are in the early years age group and attend for a variety of sessions. The childminder operates all year round from 7.30am to 6.30pm, 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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must:

 ensure risk assessments are reviewed regularly, that they identify aspects of the environment that need to be checked on a regular basis and how the risk will be removed or minimised. Ensure these are implemented effectively in practice

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must:

 increase understanding of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage to ensure that children learn, develop and are kept healthy and safe

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must:

 make sure that the premises are fit for purpose by ensuring that resources provided are suitable and kept clean

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must:

 use information identified through observation and assessment in order to accurately plan the educational programme based on children's identified next steps in learning. Provide a suitable range of resources to support the educational programme.

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must:

 develop the two-way flow of information with parents and/or carers to actively seek to engage and support them in guiding their child's development at home.

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

 improve the provision for children by using self-evaluation to set realistic targets and drive future improvement.

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who attend

The childminder demonstrates a limited understanding of the requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. As a result, educational programmes provide insufficient challenge for children. For example, the childminder does not place sufficient focus on the prime areas of learning for younger children. As a result, their future learning is not adequately supported. The childminder carries out observations of the children in her care to help her identify their individual development stage. However this information is not then used to inform the planning of learning experiences to reflect the individual needs of children attending. As a result, educational programmes do not effectively support children to make adequate progress to prepare them for their next stage in learning.

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who attend

The limited range of toys and resources accessible to children do not always match their abilities, further restricting learning opportunities. Parents are not provided with information about how they can support their child's progress at home. As a result, their ability to support ongoing learning is extremely restricted.

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who attend

The childminder's poor understanding of child development means that babies are provided with resources which are inappropriate for their level of development. This lack of access to suitable toys and resources inhibits active learning opportunities, which in turn stifles development. At times, babies independently choose from the limited range of toys and resources available. However, the childminder and her assistant intervene in children's self-chosen play and interrupt their concentration too often. For example, babies do not have time to explore the properties of resources because the childminder and her assistant either pick babies up or keep showing them resources. This demonstrates their lack of awareness about fitting in sensitively with babies ideas, preferring to impose their own. Babies are not encouraged to develop critical thinking and self-help skills. As a consequence, they often fail to even attempt to problem solve, demonstrating their

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who attend

dependence on adults. At times, babies strong exploratory impulse is not fully promoted due to poor organisation of the environment and resources. For example, they are attracted to items which are unsuitable such as, compact discs. Young babies are developing adequate communication and language skills because the childminder provides a sound level of interaction. She talks to babies about what is happening, sings action rhymes and shows an interest in the sounds they make. Children are provided with opportunities to access vigorous physical play when spending time in the childminder's garden or at local parks.

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

The childminder's limited understanding of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, impacts on her capacity to provide consistently sound care practices. Information is sought from parents prior to children's placement in regard to personal care. However the childminder's exchange with parents about children's individual learning needs is limited. In addition, she does not constantly implement settling-in visits. This has an adverse impact on the childminder's ability to adequately support children's successful transition into her service. In spite of this, babies demonstrate adequate relationships with both the childminder and her assistant. However, the childminder's poor understanding impacts on behaviour and independent thinking. For example, the childminder fails to support babies' access to resources or sufficiently encourage their independent participation in activities.

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

Poor attention to hygiene practice means that children play with resources which are dirty. This does not effectively protect children from cross contamination or teach them about how to keep themselves healthy. Children are provided with opportunities to access fresh air, for example, on walks into the local community or when accessing the childminder's garden. This contributes towards helping to develop an understanding about how to maintain a healthy lifestyle in terms of being active outdoors.

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provision

Leadership and management is inadequate. The childminder demonstrates a poor knowledge and understanding of how to meet safeguarding and welfare requirements. While a wide range of relevant policies and procedures are in place, they are not implemented in the childminder's practice. She has undertaken safeguarding training and has a written safeguarding policy in place but she has failed to carry out risk assessments and implement adequate safety measures in her home. For example, she has failed to ensure the safety cover on the pond in the rear garden fully covers the pond, and measures designed to prevent children's access to her pet dog are ineffective. While the area used by the dog is fenced off, the childminder has not assessed that children can put their hands through the fence, which poses a risk to them. As a consequence, the safety and welfare of children in the childminder's care is inadequate. These are breaches of the

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provision

welfare requirements and also of the requirements for the Childcare Register. The childminder has undertaken paediatric first aid training, which helps her to provide emergency care to children.

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provision

The childminder demonstrates an inadequate understanding of how to fully implement the learning and development requirements. Consequently, educational programmes are inadequate because they do not meet the needs of children attending. The childminder has developed relationships with parents, but important information about children's development is not shared. As a result, parents are not provided with sufficient information to help them support children's learning at home. There are currently no children attending other settings providing care and education. However, the childminder demonstrates an adequate understanding about the importance of partnership working to support continuity of care and learning where children attend other settings.

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provision

The childminder's self-evaluation is very weak. As a result, she has failed to implement the recommendations raised at her last inspection. In addition, the childminder has failed to recognise areas needing improvement. This has resulted in breaches of welfare requirements regarding children's welfare and safety as identified above. While the childminder has sought the opinion of the local authority development officer, actions taken to tackle areas identified as needing improvement have been ineffective. As a consequence, they have had an insignificant impact on improving practice.

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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 the premises and equipment used for the purposes of the childcare are safe and suitable for that childcare (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that all necessary measures are taken to minimise any identified risks (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure the premises and equipment used for the purposes of the childcare are safe and suitable for that childcare (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that all necessary measures are taken to minimise any identified risks (voluntary 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 EY359627 Local authority Essex Inspection number 878425 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 6 Number of children on roll 5

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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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