Childminder in Suffolk

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 03/07/2013 11/02/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 The childminder is highly skilled and sensitive in supporting children to form secure emotional attachments and building a strong base for them to develop skills in independence and exploration.  The childminder provides a vibrant, highly stimulating environment that promotes children's learning, both indoors and out.  Children are happy, motivated and eager to learn. They show high levels of independence and are confident and inquisitive. This builds a strong foundation to secure their learning.  The childminder strives for excellence and is keen to increase her knowledge and understanding further. She regularly attends courses and workshops, and uses the new ideas successfully to improve her good practice further.  The childminder has a secure knowledge and understanding of how to promote children's learning and development to ensure that they make very good progress.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 The childminder does not consistently share ideas with parents about what they can do at home to complement and link with the learning experiences she provides to ensure that children make the best progress possible.

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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 the childminder's home and garden.  The inspector made a tour of the premises, including the outdoor area.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records, planning documentation, the provider's self-evaluation and a range of other documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day of inspection, written references and information included in the self-evaluation documents, and also discussed a joint observation.

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Information about the setting

The childminder was registered in 2008 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She lives with her husband and two children aged 10 and seven years in Martlesham, near Ipswich, Suffolk. Childminding mostly takes place on the ground floor and in the enclosed garden, although children also have access to some of the bedrooms upstairs. The family has a pet dog, three chickens in an outdoor coop and goldfish in a bowl.

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Information about the setting

The childminder attends a local childminding group and activities at the local children's centre. She visits the shops, play areas, the local woodland and a dancing class on a regular basis. She takes and collects children from the local schools and pre-schools.

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Information about the setting

There are currently eight children on roll, five of whom are in the early years age group and attend for a variety of sessions. The childminder operates all year round from 8am to 5pm, Monday to Thursday, except for family holidays. She 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:

 extend opportunities to consistently share ideas with parents of what they can do at home to complement and link with their child's learning and development in the setting, to ensure children make the best progress possible.

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who attend

Children are keen to get involved and have enthusiasm for learning because the childminder knows how to capture their interests. This prepares them well as they develop the skills needed to support their eventual move into school or pre-school. Robust observation, assessment and planning across all areas of learning are significant in enabling children to make good progress. The childminder plans fun, stimulating activities, following the children's interests, and adapts them well to ensure all children are involved at their own level. For example, children of all ages have lots of opportunities to explore paint and feel it with their hands and fingers as they mix the colours on the paper. Very young children are supported to stand at the sand tray and get involved in pouring, filling and emptying buckets. Many of the children are interested in insects and wildlife, and watch the life cycles of butterflies in an enclosure. They observe the whole process from

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who attend

the eggs and excitedly watch the butterflies hatch from the chrysalis.

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who attend

Children are developing a love of books. They bring them to the childminder and cuddle up on her lap as they help to turn the pages and point to the pictures they recognise. The childminder helps the older children to understand the sequence of a story. As they go through it for a second time, she skilfully encourages them to think for themselves and asks questions to prompt their memories and recall what happens next. Children happily use number in their play; they count items in books and the bricks that they use to build a tower. Older children show an interest in their written names and are beginning to point out a few letters they recognise. The childminder skilfully extends their interest by displaying their names on the walls and regularly refers to them, for example, as she copies their names onto their pictures.

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who attend

The childminder uses songs and rhymes to support children with their language and communication skills. They play with sounds and rhyming words, and the childminder teaches them songs to cover most occasions. For example, when they find a worm when walking home from school they join in singing a song about a worm. They express themselves through dance and enjoy attending regular dance classes. Children make links in their learning after watching a dancing show which was performed with the use of shadows. They notice their own shadows and delight when they realise that they can make their own shadow move. The childminder extends this interest further and displays photographs of fun they had with shadows, and children recall the activities as they look at the photographs.

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who attend

The childminder involves the parents though daily diaries and discussions. She makes books with photographs of the places they visit, such as the farm. Some children have opportunities to take them home to share with their parents, helping them to recall favourite moments of the outing. Parents are aware that they can look at their child's developmental records at any time, and their comments about their child's learning and development at home are added to create a fuller picture of each child. However, parents are not actively encouraged to contribute to the termly summary sheets or to look together at identifying targets for their children's future learning. As a result, the childminder does not consistently share ideas of what parents can do at home to link with what their child is learning in the setting to consolidate and further enhance children's learning at home.

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

The childminder provides a highly stimulating, bright and vibrant environment, where children feel extremely comfortable and very much at home. They are happy, confident and settle exceptionally well due to the high priority that the childminder puts on her settling-in process. Children show enhanced levels of independence as they move around the childminder's home making choices as they select resources and activities that interest them. Recent training has provided the childminder with additional knowledge, understanding, skills and ideas to ensure that children make very smooth transitions from home to her care. For example, she follows the children's lead in their settling-in process and provides high levels of attention as they build strong attachments from the beginning. The childminder has also built very close links the schools and pre-schools to ensure smooth transition arrangements support the children's next phase in their learning. The

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

childminder gets to know the children, their families and their backgrounds well, and close relationships develop between her family and theirs. Parents speak highly of the childminder and comment on how well their children settle. They value the fact that the childminder takes such a genuine interest in their child and their lives. Babies' emotional and physical well-being is promoted extremely well because of the close working relationships. The childminder closely follows their home routines and happily embraces any initiatives the parents use for weaning, feeding and sleeping. Daily diaries detail each child's day, and parents provide valuable comments from home, ensuring a successful two-way flow of information.

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

Children enjoy a varied, balanced and nutritious diet which includes a wide variety of fruits. The childminder purposefully involves them in taking part in planting, watering, harvesting and eating produce from the garden and collecting fresh eggs from the chickens for their tea. These rich experiences provide valuable opportunities for children to learn about and understand where food comes from. They follow well-established routines when washing their hands after collecting eggs and before eating, and older children clearly understand the reasons for good hygiene. As a result of the childminder's practice, children are actively supported in developing a very good understanding of how to keep themselves healthy.

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

Children learn to keep themselves safe as they take part in fire drills and learn about road safety when out. They are able to take risks in a safe environment as they practise their climbing and balancing skills in local play areas. The childminder has a calm, consistent and positive approach to behaviour. She values each child's unique personality as she strives to meet their evolving individual needs. She is affectionate and treats the children with kindness and respect, providing an excellent role model for them to follow.

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provision

The childminder is well organised and professional in her approach to childminding. She is qualified and uses her knowledge and experience to ensure that children make good progress. She clearly demonstrates her very good understanding of how to meet the learning and development requirements. A clear and concise set of policies and procedures support her practice and are shared with parents. These provide a detailed explanation of her practice and her duty regarding the safeguarding and welfare requirements. The childminder has recently attended training in safeguarding to support her to protect children from abuse and neglect. She is confident to follow appropriate procedures when necessary. The childminder is vigilant about children's safety and they are supervised well at all times. Thorough risk assessments ensure that the premises are safe and secure, and children remain safe on all outings and visits.

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provision

The childminder has successfully addressed all the actions and recommendations from her previous inspection. For example, a comprehensive list of parental consents are in place for each child; these are signed by parents and confidentially kept in individual children's files. Registers are carried out and accurately reflect the hours that children attend. Regular monitoring and evaluation of the practice clearly demonstrates how the childminder intends to maintain continuous improvement. She is very keen to increase her knowledge and skills further, and regularly attends training courses and workshops and has some booked for the future. She uses these training courses to improve her practice by bringing back ideas and putting them into practice. For example, she involves parents in her self-evaluation process by completing evaluations sheets; this ensures they play an active role in shaping the provision. The childminder is always looking for new ideas to

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provision

extend the children's learning. For example, she has recently introduced transparent growing bags to show children the root systems of cress and carrots, and she has plans to develop more sensory resources, such as herb bags to smell.

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provision

The childminder fully understands the importance of working in partnership with parents and other agencies to ensure all children have the support they need to make good progress. Parents report that she always gives both them and the children a warm and enthusiastic welcome. They receive a lot of information daily and are confident that she has a very good understanding of the children's next stage in their learning and development. The childminder works closely with other early years settings that the children attend, and they share children's records to ensure a consistent approach.

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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 EY379178 Local authority Suffolk Inspection number 821500 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 6 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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