Childminder in Leeds

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 08/07/2013 01/12/2008

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 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 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision is satisfactory

 The childminder is friendly and approachable. This allows her to quickly develop strong relationships with children and their families. This means children feel safe, happy and secure in her care.  The childminder is experienced and provides exciting activities to promote most areas of children's learning and development. This means children make satisfactory progress towards the early learning goals.  The childminder is very safety conscious and makes daily checks to ensure children are safe. She is knowledgeable about how to keep children safe and is aware of signs that might indicate that children are at risk. This means children are safe in her care.

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It is not yet good because

 The childminder does not reliably use observations of what children are doing to assess their interests and development in detail. This means she cannot use this information to plan activities that fully build on children's interests and next developmental steps, or ensure that they make good progress in all areas of learning.  Some resources, such as crayons, paint and other creative materials, are not consistently available for children to select for themselves. This means that there are few opportunities for children to find inventive ways to add, mix and explore interesting materials.

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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 watched the childminder play with the children and talked to her at convenient times throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records and a range of policies and other records and other documents.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector had a tour of the premises used for childminding, both indoors and outdoors.

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Information about the setting

The childminder was registered in 2006 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She sometimes works with an assistant. She lives with her four children aged 13, 11, nine and six years in a house in Belle Isle, a suburb of Leeds. The whole of the ground floor and first floor bathroom are used for childminding purposes, and there is a large garden available for outdoor play. The premises are accessible to people with limited mobility.

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Information about the setting

The childminder runs a weekly group with other childminders at a local community hall. They also attend activities at local community centres. She visits the market, petting farm and parks on a regular basis. She collects children from the local schools and pre-schools.

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Information about the setting

There are currently nine children on roll, four of whom are in the early years age group and attend for a variety of sessions. She operates all year round from 7:30 am to 6pm, 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:

 use observations of what children are doing to assess their interests and development in detail and use this information to plan activities that fully build on children's interests and support what they need to learn next.

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

 allow children opportunities to add, mix and explore interesting materials and resources for their own projects, so they can experiment with colour, textures, make marks and practice techniques that adults have demonstrated.

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who attend

The childminder is experienced and uses her general knowledge of children to ensure that she provides them with interesting resources and activities. She has adapted her premises well to ensure children can move freely between indoors and outdoors. She provides a large safe decked area that is surrounded by an attractive Perspex fence on which there are displays of words and pictures. These help children become familiar with letters and words, but also provide opportunities for discussion. For example the childminder talks about the photographs of the animals they saw at the zoo. This helps children develop their communication skills as well as learn more about their world. She also uses laminated posters to introduce new language, such as colours, the names of the days of the week, shapes and numbers. She provides posters of mini-beasts together with trays of realistic looking insects that children can investigate, count, match and sort. She also

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who attend

provides a number puzzle floor mat and uses these resources well to promote children's mathematical skills. For example, the childminder encourages children by saying, 'Look number one, what number shall we put next?' This helps children to become familiar with numerals and encourages them to think about and talk about numbers.

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who attend

Young children are appropriately supported in developing the skills they require to learn effectively and to achieve. For example, they sit and enjoy many books and stories with the childminder. She chooses interesting stories with rhyme and repetition to help children develop language skills. They also enjoy singing sessions, for example, young children join in with words and actions to 'Wind the Bobbin Up' and 'Sleeping Bunnies'. There are activities available that offer early technology and children investigate these to see what happens when they press the buttons. The childminder introduces children to tactile play, such as sand and dough, to provide opportunities for moulding and pouring. They particularly enjoy baking activities. The childminder meets up with other childminders to provide a greater range of activities on a weekly basis. Here they take it in turns to provide, for example, creative activities. These activities lay the foundations for children's

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who attend

future learning and provide experiences that will support them when they move on to new settings. However, not all resources, such as crayons and paint, are consistently available, and opportunities for children to find inventive ways to add, mix and explore interesting materials and resources that inspire exploration are limited.

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who attend

Effective procedures mean that the childminder gathers information from parents about children's needs and preferences. She uses this information, and her general knowledge and experience of children, to plan the daily resources and to help monitor children's progress in relation to their starting points. The childminder is aware of the required progress check for children age two and plans to introduce this at the appropriate time. The childminder is aware of the children's next steps in their learning and the areas of learning, this helps her to offer balanced opportunities to support children's steady progress. However, she is not yet using a fully effective observation, assessment and planning cycle to ensure children make good progress in all areas of learning. The planning of activities is, therefore, not sufficiently informed, to promote children's learning and development to the maximum.

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

The childminder generally organises her home well. She offers children a range of play opportunities, both indoors and outdoors, that support their learning. Children move confidently between the rooms available and make decisions about activities that interest them. The childminder monitors the range of resources used by children and selects provision each day to match their interests or development. However, some resources, such as paint and crayons are not available for children to select for themselves and children cannot see what is stored in the indoor storage boxes. This reduces children's independence. The childminder understands children and uses her experience to care for them very well. She has flexible settling-in procedures. She gathers information from parents so that she has a clear understanding of children's needs and can offer them appropriate support. This means new children settle in quickly and children form good

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

attachments with her. They demonstrate that they feel secure by readily including her in their play and approaching her for a cuddle.

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

Children have many opportunities to be physically active, indoors and outdoors, and this enhances their physical well-being. They regularly attend groups in the community hall, and visit the park and the market. Younger children are encouraged to wash their own hands and faces with wipes and dispose of these themselves. This helps them develop health awareness. All children make choices from healthy snacks, including fresh fruits. For example, they have a weekly roast dinner of gammon and chicken that they buy from the butchers when they visit the market. Children particularly enjoy pesto on their roast potatoes. They also enjoy homemade meatballs and sausage and Yorkshire pudding. The childminder encourages children to understand their own behaviour and feelings. As a result, children learn to think about how they affect others and the childminder is a good role model to children. This means children's behaviour is very good and helps children

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

develop a positive attitude towards their future. The childminder is experienced and very safety conscious. This means children are kept safe. Children begin to develop awareness of their own safety because they receive regular reminders about playing safely.

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provision

The childminder has a sound understanding of the requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. She reviews her procedures and documentation and ensures that this is all in place. The childminder's understanding of safeguarding is good and she ensures that children's welfare is maintained. She has a range of written policies and procedures that help her inform parents about how she cares for their children. These include a policy for safeguarding. There is a clear policy displayed on the entrance door which ensures that all visitors are aware that they cannot use mobile phones or photographic equipment in the setting.

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provision

The childminder is very enthusiastic and committed to providing an constantly improving provision for children. She has made a number of improvements since the last inspection, including the very effective decked area, and plans more for the coming year. She also attends training opportunities that will help raise the level of her practice and has been accepted on a level 3 course due to start shortly. She seeks formal and informal feedback from parents to help her to implement any changes that will improve the provision for children. Consequently, she shows attention to improving her practice and the care for children. The childminder implements procedures that protect children when they are away from the home and uses detailed risk assessments. As a result, children are safe both within, and outside of, the home. The childminder is not currently caring for any children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. However, she is aware of the

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provision

importance of working with other professionals where necessary and will seek training when needed. The childminder understands how to work with other key persons and with schools, when children attend or are due to attend other settings, to ensure a consistency of approach in learning and development. Observations and assessments of development provide parents with a much appreciated record of activities. This also helps to support transition to other placements. The childminder demonstrates a generally sound understanding of the learning and development requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. Although she is confident she can identify circumstances where children are not making appropriate progress from her general knowledge of children, she does not track children's rate of progress in all areas of learning to ensure any additional needs of children are quickly identified and addressed.

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provision

She does not use a cycle of observation, assessment and planning to ensure children are given opportunities to make good progress in all areas of learning.

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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 EY331428 Local authority Leeds Inspection number 878102 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 4 Number of children on roll 9

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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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