Leader, Katherine Heather

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 12/07/2013 31/10/2011

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early years provision

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

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This provision is satisfactory

 Children have secure attachments with the childminder. They enjoy being in her company and respond well to the care and nurturing offered by the childminder.  The childminder respects parents' wishes and maintains appropriate contact with them to meet their child's care and learning needs.  The childminder provides toys that children enjoy playing with to help support and enhance their learning and development. This is because the childminder understands how children learn through play.

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It is not yet good because

 Record keeping is not sufficiently robust because the childminder does not maintain a record of any complaints received and their outcome, and there is no record of the children's hours of attendance.  The childminder does not always maximise opportunities and activities to further enhance and challenge children's exploratory skills.  Although there are appropriate fire evacuation procedures in place, children are less familiar with the procedures because the childminder does not involve them in practising them.

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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 spoke with the childminder and interacted with children at appropriate times throughout the inspection, both in and out of doors.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled a selection of documentation, including children's daily diaries and development records, risk assessments, written policies and general welfare requirement records.  The inspector completed a joint observation with the childminder.  The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day.

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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 lives with her two school aged children aged six and eight years in the village of Collingham, near Newark, north Nottinghamshire. The whole of the ground floor and the rear garden are used for childminding. The family have some tropical fish as pets.

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Information about the setting

The minded children attend a toddler group and activities at the local children's centre. They visit the shops and park on a regular basis. The childminder collects children from the local schools and pre-schools. There are currently four children on roll, three of whom are in the early years age group and attend for a variety of sessions. She operates all year round from 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, except bank holidays and family holidays. She is a member of Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years.

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must:

 maintain a record of all complaints you received and their outcome

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must:

 maintain a record of the hours of children's attendance.

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

 maximise opportunities and activities to further enhance and challenge children's exploratory skills

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

 increase children's safety awareness by involving them in practising the emergency evacuation procedures.

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who attend

The childminder gathers useful information from the start as agreed and discussed with parents, which is used as a base line for her to plan interesting and age-appropriate activities for individual children. She understands that children develop and progress at different paces and have different interests in their play. The childminder plans play ensuring that the seven areas of learning are incorporated in to the activities and everyday tasks. She observes children in their play and uses written comments to track their progress. The childminder presents this evidence in each child's own learning journey file and an 'All About Me' file. She comments on what she will do next to support them in reaching their next challenge. These records are also shared with parents, helping them understand how well their child is developing and what activities they have been participating in. This also helps the childminder share ideas for parents to continue their

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who attend

child's learning at home. The childminder is aware that liaising with other professionals helps prepare children for their move to school. For example, children with skills in literacy are encouraged to read words and letters in more detail to continue their already suitable progress.

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who attend

Children enjoy outdoor play. They confidently use push along toys manoeuvring them around obstacles with appropriate control. Children play imaginatively with dolls, attempting to undress them stating that it will help the dolls feel cooler in the warm weather. The childminder extends this by asking the children if they would like to play with water. Children use paint brushes, tubs and buckets with water in. They make marks with the paint brushes. However, the childminder misses the opportunity to extend children's imagination and ideas. Over time, the childminder then gently directs children and they start to add small stones to the water. They mix them with water and listen and compare the varying sounds they make. The childminder then extends their mathematical skills by asking children about the differing sized stones and the noise and size of splash each stone makes. Children eagerly drop the stones in the bucket and share their

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who attend

thoughts as they problem solve and work out the differences. Other children enjoy their time in the play house as they develop their imaginative skills well. They initiate their own play and take the lead directing the childminder pretending it is a shop. They ask questions with confidence and inform the childminder of what they would like her to buy. They have fun because the childminder gets down to their level and engages well with them asking thought provoking questions to help them develop their language and communication skills. Children play cooperatively as they take it in turns to provide food for the childminder and wait patiently for their turn to ask questions. Overall, children are happy and making steady progress in their learning and development because the childminder has suitable teaching skills in supporting their individual learning and development in readiness for school.

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

From a young age children learn the importance of hand washing. Each child recognises and uses their own coloured hand towel to dry their hands on. This daily tasks helps them learn how to keep themselves healthy and stop germs spreading. They know to wash their hands before and after eating demonstrating suitable personal hygiene practise. Parents provide a range of well-balanced light lunches for their children, which the childminder monitors to ensure these are healthy. Children also recognise when they are thirsty and independently help themselves to drinks, as the childminder makes sure they do not become dehydrated in the warm weather. The childminder uses fire protection equipment, such as smoke detectors and has a procedure to help children leave the house quickly. However, the childminder does not actively involve children in practising this. As a result, children are not as familiar with what to do should they need to leave the house quickly.

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

The childminder closely supervises young children in the home and helps them learn some safety awareness, such as making sure they all wear sun cream to stop them from being burnt from the sun.

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

Children settle well and they form secure attachments with the childminder. The childminder understands the importance of working with parents and respecting their wishes. This helps children settle when they are new to the childminder's care, or it is time to move on to a new setting. The childminder helps children become independent and confident by placing toys and activities so they are easily accessible for them and provides choices of whether to play inside or outdoors. For example, the play house outside provides children with suitable opportunities to enhance their imaginative skills because of the appropriate range of toy food and crockery. Toys and resources are in a suitable state of repair and are age appropriate for the children in attendance. Children's self-esteem is good and they are active learners, happy and interested in their play. The childminder praises them on their achievements, helping them feel good about what they do. For

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

example, she uses positive words, such as 'well done', 'clever boy and girl' and supports this by smiling and using soft tones in her voice. The childminder is consistent in the messages she delivers to children about boundaries and expectations. As a result, children learn about appropriate behaviour and what is expected of them.

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provision

This inspection has been brought forward because Ofsted have been notified about a concern regarding the supervision of older children during outings. The childminder is vigilant about supervising young children, but recognises that during a particular outing she did not supervise older children closely enough to ensure their safety and welfare. This is a breach of the requirements of the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The childminder understands her role and responsibility to safeguard children. She is confident in what she needs to do should she have any concerns regarding a child in her care. Parents are informed of her role and responsibility to safeguard children because the childminder shares a clearly written and updated policy, supported by discussions. Suitable risk assessments are in place for the home, garden and outings minimising potential hazards to children, such as using safety gates preventing children

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provision

from going upstairs. An appropriate range of written policies and procedures is shared with parents from the onset. Most records are maintained and adhere to the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework. However, the childminder does not keep a record of children's hours of attendance, which is a breach of the requirements of the Early Years Register, and both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The childminder discusses issues and concerns with parents. However, she does not keep a record of all complaints she receives and their outcome. This is also a breach of requirements of the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. Records are shared sensitively and confidentially with parents and are stored securely.

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provision

On the whole, partnerships with parents work well. The childminder understands the importance of keeping parents up-to-date with their child's progress as well as meeting their overall changing needs. Information is shared in various ways, such as daily discussions and the sharing of children's development files. From the onset she shares information about the service she provides by talking and going through the written policies and procedures. This supports parents in understanding how their child will be cared for and the flexible routines and activities that they will be involved in. The childminder also understands the value of sharing information between settings when children attend more than one provision. This enables the childminder to plan pertinent activities to complement children's learning and development and to continue to meet children's ongoing and changing needs. The childminder has a positive attitude to

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provision

reflecting on the service she offers to children and their family. She looks at how well the children have enjoyed the activity and what they have gained from participating in it. This helps the childminder monitor the educational programmes to ensure that children take part in a balanced and pertinent range of activities both inside and outdoors. Furthermore, she talks to parents and children to gather their views in order to make improvements or changes to continually improve the practice she delivers.

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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 that children receiving childcare are kept safe from harm (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that each complaint is fully investigated (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  keep a written record of these complaints including the outcome of the investigation and the action the provider took in response (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  keep a daily record of children's hours of attendance (compulsory part of the Childcare Register).  ensure that children receiving childcare are kept safe from harm (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that each complaint is fully investigated (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  keep a written record of these complaints including the outcome of the investigation and the action the provider took in response (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  keep a daily record of children's hours of attendance (voluntary part of the

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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 EY336440 Local authority Nottinghamshire Inspection number 923025 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 6 Number of children on roll 4

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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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