Childminder in Trafford

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 10/07/2013 29/03/2012

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: Met 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 1

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This provision is outstanding

 Children thrive and flourish in a highly stimulating, homely environment, both indoors and outdoors, which effectively challenges them and promotes their learning.  The childminder is highly skilled and sensitive in supporting children to form secure emotional attachments. This provides an exceptionally strong base for them to develop their independence and to explore.  The childminder skilfully plans an extensive range of interesting activities and experiences, which successfully reflect children's individual needs and interests. As a result, each child has an individual learning plan that identifies their next steps and ensures that every child is an enthusiastic learner and makes excellent progress in their learning.  The childminder has a passion and vision for her work and is extremely focused on providing an excellent service for the children and their families, which makes a positive impact to their lives.

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This provision is outstanding

 Excellent working relationships with parents are effectively and quickly established, ensuring that children's needs are consistently and exceptionally well met.

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This provision is outstanding

 There is scope to build on existing knowledge and skills in order to extend and enhance the already first rate practice already achieved.

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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 the lunchtime routine and the activities outdoors children took part in.  The inspector spoke to the childminder at appropriate times during the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector viewed a range of documentation including risk assessments, accident and medication records, training records, the self-evaluation form and children's learning journals.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took into account the views of parents spoken to on the day and their views from letters they had left for the inspector.

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Information about the setting

The childminder was registered in 2002 and is on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. She lives with her husband and two children aged nine and three years in a house in Sale, Cheshire. The whole of the ground floor, with the exception of the front lounge, and one bedroom and bathroom on the first floor and the rear garden are used for childminding. The family has a cat as a pet. The childminder attends a toddler group and activities at the local children's centre. She visits the shops and park 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 three children on roll, all of whom are in the early years age group and attend for a variety of sessions. She operates all year round from 8.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, except bank holidays and family holidays. She is a member of the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years. She holds an appropriate early years qualification at level 3.

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

 continue to attend training to build on knowledge and skills in order to extend and enhance the already first rate practice already achieved.

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who attend

The childminder gives the highest priority to ensuring that children flourish in a stimulating, child-centred and homely environment. She places children's needs at the heart of all that she does and has high expectations of what children can achieve. Children learn through enjoyable hands-on experiences. They highly benefit from the continuous provision and free flow from the indoor and outdoor area which maximises opportunities for children's learning. Consequently, they are motivated and eager, and are totally engrossed in their play. Children actively choose to play and explore in the outdoor area. As a result, the childminder provides an extensive range of resources and equipment, which enables them to investigate, explore and develop their ideas and interests. For example, children use the weather station to record the amount of rainfall, which develops their knowledge and understanding of the world and also early mathematics. The

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who attend

childminder places great emphasis on children following their interests and consolidating their learning. For example, they take great pride in watering the plants and strawberries in the garden area that they have recently planted. They talk knowledgably about what they did and carefully explain that the plants need the sun and water to grow healthily. The childminder extends their learning as they collect different leaves from the garden and hang them in a line. This gives children a highly visual timeline of growth and decay and the effects their actions have on the environment. They use their imaginations freely as they make 'sand soup' or 'pasta' with a range of wooden and metal cooking utensils. The childminder does not place any restrictions on how children can play with the resources, which means they become active learners and can follow their own ideas and thinking. For example, they take their 'sand' food to the table for a picnic.

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who attend

The childminder has a highly developed knowledge and understanding of the children in her care. As a result, she uses the information from her observations of children's play to plan highly interesting and stimulating experiences and activities to support each child's individual development needs. She takes an exemplary and robust approach to monitoring and tracking children's progress. This means that any gaps in their learning are promptly identified and planned for through focused activities. This also ensures that she maintains a robust approach to ensuring that the activities provided for the children have depth and breadth across the seven areas of learning. Her daily practice is flexible to allow her to follow children's interests, capturing the moment and celebrating every achievement with children. For example, children recently observed a spiders nest open and all the baby spiders crawled out. This was captured on camera. The children recall and reflect on this

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who attend

experience as they look at the photograph and they talk animatedly about what happened when the nest went 'pop'. This learning experience was skilfully extended by the childminder as children went on a bug hunt in the garden and recorded the different insects and living things they found on sheets of paper. There is an extremely strong focus on involving parents in sharing their observations of children and planning children's next steps together. This is done in a variety of ways, such as verbally, by sharing photographs of their achievements in their learning journals or via text message and more formally at the regular review meetings. The childminder is fully knowledgeable about the progress check at age two for children but has not had to implement this yet. Although there are no children currently attending who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, the childminder has a very good knowledge of child development and where to seek additional

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who attend

support when needed. This shows commitment to narrowing the achievement gap for such children, so that no child gets left behind.

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who attend

The childminder has an excellent understanding of child development and is enthusiastic and committed to providing a stimulating environment for children. Due to the ages of children attending, she mainly focuses on the three prime areas of learning. As a result, children make excellent progress in their communication and language, physical development and personal, social and emotional development. However, the childminder takes a holistic approach to the quality of children's learning and ensures that all seven areas of learning are covered throughout the day. Children develop early writing skills as they use chalk boards in the outdoor area or practice recognising the letters of their name on a computer program. They are highly encouraged with effective praise and acknowledgement by the childminder. Mathematics is brought to life consistently within the daily routines as children count the different types of fruit and vegetables they have

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who attend

eaten or the number of steps on the stairs after visiting the bathroom. This prepares them well for the next stage in their learning. Consequently, children are well-prepared for the move to school when the time comes.

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

All children show an extremely strong sense of security and belonging and have formed excellent relationships with the childminder, her family and other children who attend the setting. The childminder is highly attentive, sensitive and caring towards the children, which helps them feel safe and secure. There is an extremely strong focus on teaching children to be kind, caring and considerate to others. Children enter enthusiastically, behave well and are confident and happy during the time they spend there. They show great respect and care for each other and older children are particularly caring and helpful to children who have recently started. They hold hands; show them where things are kept while also respecting their personal space when they want to do things for themselves, such as hanging their bag on their coat peg. The childminder handles any conflict situations which arise sensitively and calmly by giving explanations and choices to

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

children. This allows them to reflect on what they have done and what they could do better, such as making sure there is enough space for each other on the bouncy castle. As a result, children learn to manage their feelings and behaviour effectively.

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

Meticulous attention is given to gathering detailed information from parents about children's likes, dislikes, interests and abilities from the outset. The childminder uses this information effectively to build on and plan for children's progress and meet their needs effectively. This enables the childminder to instinctively know what children need to support them and help them settle. For example, the childminder gives the upmost importance to providing continuity of care and consistency. This is achieved effectively in a variety of ways, such as attending local playgroups that children have attended prior to their admission to her care. New parents and their children are also encouraged to attend the weekly activities the childminder takes part in. Consequently, children and parents become familiar with the daily and weekly routines. Parents comment positively on the way this is handled to ensure that children settle and feel secure; they remain happy and

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

confident in their play and interactions with their peers and the childminder.

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

Children skilfully develop a wide range of self-care skills as they confidently help themselves to refreshments by carefully pouring water into a cup and they instinctively know to wash their hands before eating food. The childminder effectively supports children's growing understanding of how to keep themselves healthy. The utmost importance is placed on children having a healthy, well-balanced and nutritious diet. Meal times are a social occasion where children sit together and they are presented with a wide variety of healthy choices from which to help themselves. They are effectively encouraged and supported to make their own lunch as they choose from a good selection of meats, cheeses, vegetables, fresh fruit and tortilla wraps. Each week, they enjoy a 'berry, berry' day where they make their selections from a choice of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. This is highly effective in supporting and encouraging children to have small

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

tastes of new things, particularly those children who are reluctant to try different food. Their success and achievements are recorded on a daily fruit and vegetable chart, which clearly demonstrates their growing interest in different fruits and vegetables. Children have free access to the outdoor area on a daily basis, which ensures that they benefit from fresh air and exercise. This promotes their health and well-being. They know to wear sun hats to protect themselves before they go outside and to change into outdoor shoes. They enthusiastically participate in a variety of activities that effectively promote their physical well-being. Golf is a current favourite with the children. They are able to independently access a wide range of resources from the summer house, which promote their learning in the outdoors. For example, hoops, beanbags, ballgames, inflatable bouncing balls and dice as well as sand and water play and wheeled toys.

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

Children's safety is paramount. As a result, children demonstrate an excellent understanding of how to manage risks and keep safe. They are effectively supported in trying new experiences and shown how to use equipment safely, such as spray water bottles and outdoor equipment. Their daily visits to and from pre-school and school help to develop their understanding of different areas of risk, such as crossing the road. Children use resources with care and help to tidy away toys before collecting the older children from school.

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provision

The childminder takes a robust approach to keeping children safe. She has an excellent understanding of safeguarding and is proactive in keeping up-to-date with her knowledge through attending training. She has attended safeguarding training at level 1 as well as the safeguarding training at the higher level 2 for designated persons. This ensures that she has an extremely comprehensive understanding of the procedures for reporting any concerns and of the appropriate support networks, such as where to refer children who may need additional support from other professional services. All members of the household over 16 years of age have completed appropriate vetting checks. The childminder places the highest emphasis on ensuring that children are safe through the completion of rigorous risk assessments. All visitors sign in the visitor's book. More specific risk assessments are put in place for particular events, such as building work, which is

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provision

taking place in the childminder's home. Parents are kept fully informed at all times about the process both verbally and in writing. This ensures that children are continually cared for in a safe environment.

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provision

The childminder is passionate about caring for children and sees her work as a vocation not just a job. She has an exemplary vision for the future, a strong sense of purpose and is highly focused on providing children and their families with a high quality service. She always strives to do better and continually reflects on her daily practice to drive improvement. As a result, she demonstrates an exceptionally strong level of commitment to ongoing training to continue to build on her already excellent professional skills, for the benefit of all children attending. She has an extremely robust and secure understanding of her responsibilities in meeting all aspects of the requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. She pays meticulous attention to the monitoring children's progress. This ensures children receive educational programmes of the highest quality, which meet their individual needs and offer challenge and interest. Through

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provision

reflecting on her practice, self-evaluation, as well as support from the local authority development worker, she has identified further training courses to attend to develop her knowledge and practice. Her plans for the future are well-targeted, realistic and demonstrate an excellent commitment to drive further improvement.

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provision

The childminder has exemplary relationships with parents. There is an extremely strong focus on the family as a whole, not just children in her care. This open, two-way, communication with parents ensures that the childminder is able to support parents in achieving the best for their children. A range of communication channels keep parents informed at all stages of their children's time in the childminder's care. They share information about children's progress on a daily basis, through the individual learning journals and at the regular parent review meetings. Daily text messages and photographs are used effectively to reassure parents when children are settling. The childminder also displays a range of information and leaflets on a wide range of topics including healthy lifestyles and local community events as well as places of interest. These support excellent foundations for partnership working. The childminder demonstrates a strong ethos to

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provision

support all children, especially those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Parents comment extremely positively about the childminder; the excellent progress their children are making in all aspects of their learning and development, especially their social skills, and the wide range of activities and experiences, which provide individualised 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 EY217056 Local authority Trafford Inspection number 799710 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 4 Number of children on roll 3

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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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