Childminder in Derbyshire

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 17/06/2013 01/02/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 The childminder and her assistant install a sense of well-being and have warm relationships with the children, which means they feel safe and secure. As a result, they are happy and enjoy their time at the setting.  Children's self-esteem and confidence are supported well through the childminder's consistent use of praise and encouragement.  The indoor and outdoor child-focussed learning environment provides interesting and stimulating activities that engage children and builds on their interests. This is complemented by a good range of toys and resources.  The childminder and her assistant work well together and are sensitive to children's thinking and learning when deciding to interact and when to value the child's independent play.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 There is room to further develop the already good opportunities in place for children to investigate the natural world.  Opportunities are not fully maximised to obtain knowledge of what the child can already do, from parents when they enter the setting. Consequently, children's starting points are not fully explored to ensure that the initial monitoring of progress is highly effective.

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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 toured the premises used for childminding.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed practice and interaction between the childminder, assistant and children during play and at snack time.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a range of documentation including parent's written comments, policies and procedures

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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 examined the children's learning journey records and observation, planning and assessment procedures.

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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 lives with her husband and three children aged seven years and 18 month old twins in a house in Glossop, Derbyshire. The whole of the ground floor, the bathroom and the rear bedroom upstairs are used for childminding purposes. There is a fully enclosed rear garden for outside play.

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Information about the setting

The childminder works with a full-time assistant. She drives and walks to local schools and pre-school to take and collect children. The childminder attends the local parent and toddler groups. The childminder visits the local shops and nearby park on a regular basis.

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Information about the setting

There are currently seven children on roll, six of whom are in the early years age group and attend for a variety of sessions. The childminder operates from 7.30am to 5pm Monday to Thursday, except for bank holidays and family holidays. The childminder and her assistant both hold an early year's childcare qualification at level 3. The childminder 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:

 increase opportunities for children to investigate and learn about plants and how they grow in the natural world

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

 develop further opportunities at the start of the placement for all parents to advise where their child is at in their learning by contributing information about what their child can do at home.

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who attend

The childminder has clear knowledge of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, and awareness of how children learn through play. As a result, the childminder plans a wide range of activities around the seven areas of learning, such as painting, outdoor play, story time, singing, and encourages children to initiate their own play. This means that children's development and learning is promoted well through a balanced range of both adult and child-led activities.

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who attend

The childminder is led by children's interests and ensures that the activities appeal to them. The childminder observes children as they play and makes sure they are making progress across all areas of learning by tracking their development in line with developmental milestones. This helps to ensure any areas of concern are promptly addressed with parents so that every child is assisted to meet their full potential. This focussed approach enables the childminder to be clear about children's attainment and the next steps they need to take to ensure they are always appropriately challenged. As a result, children make good progress towards the early learning goals and enjoy their time with the childminder.

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who attend

Children benefit from playing in an environment that is rich in opportunities for conversation and discussion. Children are well-supported in developing their communication and language skills. The childminder talks to the children all the time, asking them appropriate questions and repeats words and phrases. She extends children's understanding and vocabulary and listens carefully to them. An example of this, is when children and the childminder play with the discovery basket. Children play with the sponges and engage in pretend play washing the windows. They have a purposeful conversation about washing windows and hands. The childminder emphasising words which are unclear. As a result, the children are developing the ability to talk in single words and sentences according to their developmental stage. Books are easily accessible and they feature heavily in the children's routine. Children enjoy looking at them on a one

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who attend

to one basis and in a small group, cuddling up with the childminder and each other to share and interact with the stories. They visit the library weekly to choose new books to read at the setting, which further extends their interest and promotes their early literacy skills.

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who attend

Children's personal skills are developing as they learn to take off their shoes when they come indoors and approach the childminder for help when needed with everyday events. Children enjoy painting activities, which are adapted to take into account children's individual free expression. For example, one child paints his hands to make hand prints, another paints with a brush whilst others print with the range of potato prints available. They have developed good skills when posting shapes into a shape sorter, and building tall towers of bricks, which they do competently. Children concentrate, showing pride and excitement when they achieve this. The childminder supports children's learning by encouraging them to count the number of bricks in the tower, building their mathematical knowledge. These skills are all useful preparation for later transition to nursery and school.

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who attend

Children's physical development is enhanced by free flow access from the conservatory to the garden. They enjoy playing on the slide, riding in the sit and ride cars, throwing and catching a ball with the childminder and watching the wind blow the windmills around. However, there is scope to further enhance this well used outdoor space, for example, with a growing area to extend children's knowledge of the natural world, plants and how they grow.

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

The childminder makes the children's transition into her care smooth because she takes great interest in their personal likes and dislikes. Consequently, children are happy and content because of the effective settling-in arrangements, which ensures their individual needs are met. For example, information is obtained from parents about children's care needs to enable the childminder to offer a consistent approach, which supports children's well-being.

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

The childminder provides a calm environment and displays genuine concern for them. Good, warm and caring relationships between the childminder, her assistant and children are evident. Children are valued and the childminder helps them to feel good about themselves by frequently providing positive support, praise and encouragement, while managing their behaviour well. The childminder ensures that children understand the need to share and how being kind to each other prevents children from being hurt or upset. For example, extra sunglasses are provided for children to wear when dressing-up. This helps build children's self-esteem. The childminder gives diligent attention to assessing risks while being mindful not to restrict children's play and exploration. For example, she stands close by the slide and watches young children climb the steps being ready to offer support if needed.

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

The childminder provides a range of good quality, age-appropriate toys and resources, and effectively organises her home to enable children to make independent choices about their play. The welcoming, well-resourced dedicated environment provides a good range of easily accessible toys and play equipment inside and outdoors. The garden has recently been renovated and consists of child friendly artificial grass and a decking area accessible from the sun lounge. The childminder is committed to keeping children safe. The home is safe and secure and toys and resources are checked and cleaned regularly to ensure they do not pose a risk to children's health or safety.

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

Good hygiene procedures mean that children learn from an early age the importance of hand washing before eating. They develop a good understanding of healthy eating through eating fruit and other healthy snacks. Children are very active and engage in a wide range of physical activities, including visiting the nearby local park. Children show good behaviour due to the praise they receive and the consistent, yet gentle reminders to share. The playroom is set out to entice children to access toys and resources at will, to enhance their play or initiate their own activities. As a result, they become confident in making choices and become independent learners.

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provision

The childminder is well-organised and has a high level of awareness of children's safety. Children are supervised well and receive high levels of support. The childminder has a good understanding of child ratios and these are adhered to at all times. The childminder has obtained permission from parents for her assistant to supervise the children whilst she takes and collects children from school and pre-school. The childminder ensures at these times that they are both operating within required ratios. The provider has a general understanding about notifying Ofsted of significant events. For example, she has recently notified Ofsted of the birth of her twins and is aware of the significance of this in terms of the numbers of children she may care for.

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provision

The childminder is aware of the importance of partnership working with parents and others involved in the children's lives. For example, she has systems in place to provide information for the children's parents and health visitor when needed. The progress check at age two includes developmental information, providing a holistic view of the child and identifies any required support. The childminder is also keen to undertake training to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities showing an understanding of the importance of developing skills to help meet every child's individual needs.

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provision

Children's welfare is consistently promoted because the childminder is trained in safeguarding and has written policies and procedures in place. Therefore, she understands the process should she have concerns about a child in her care. All adults living on the premises and her assistant are checked to ensure they are suitable to be with children. The childminder and her assistant both hold a current paediatric first aid certificate and have undertaken training in food hygiene. The childminder has a good awareness of how to promote children's safety and carries out both visual and written risk assessments to ensure children can play and explore confidently in a safe and suitable environment. For example, fire blankets are in the kitchen and the main entrance doors are kept locked. The childminder carries out daily checks of the garden and home to ensure that children are cared for in a safe environment. All required policies, procedures and records to

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provision

underpin the children's care are in place and shared with parents. Therefore, they understand the service provided to them.

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provision

The childminder is developing an ongoing computerised programme. This allows parents to log in with a secure pin number and view up-to-date information on all aspects of their child's development. This is an asset to the setting and as the childminder expands the range of information available, it will actively enhance the service she offers. It will also help parents to be even more involved in their child's learning and development and enable the childminder to increase even more, the effectiveness of monitoring children's progress and the educational programmes provided. The childminder has ambitious plans for further development of the service she provides. The local authority have passed plans for a downstairs extension which will extend the dedicated playroom, provide a downstairs toilet and cloak room and allow the childminder to enhance the already good provision. The childminder has addressed previous actions recommendations promptly. For example,

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provision

she now effectively tracks children's progress and matches this to the expectations of the Early Years Foundation Stage. The childminder is effectively evaluating her provision and uses self-evaluation to effectively prioritise change.

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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 EY363354 Local authority Derbyshire Inspection number 918864 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 8 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

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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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