Childminder in Milton Keynes

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 17/09/2013 24/08/2009

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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

 The childminder has good systems in place for the planning and delivery monitoring of the educational programmes. Therefore, children are making good progress in all areas of their learning and development.  Children are building secure relationships with the adults who look after them.  The childminder engages fully with parents and supports them well, which helps to extend children's learning in readiness for school.

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It is not yet good because

 The childminder does not provide children with appropriate equipment at sleep times. Therefore, children are not always able to sleep comfortably when they need to.  The childminder's self-evaluation is not thorough. Therefore, it does not capture all areas for improvement in her practice.

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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 children's activities indoors.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's assessment records and discussed activity plans with the childminder.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector reviewed documentation and discussed self-evaluation and improvement plans with the childminder.  The inspector spoke to parents and took note of parents' feedback questionnaires.

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Information about the setting

The childminder registered in 2007. She is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The Family lives in Oldbrook in Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire. The childminder contains childminding activities to the ground floor of her home, where children have access to the living room and the conservatory. Toilet and washing facilities are located at this level and there is an enclosed garden available for outside play. The childminder holds a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) in Childcare and Education at level 3. She currently works with two assistants. There are a total of 22 children on roll, of these 15 are in the early years age group. The childminder supports children who are learning English as an additional language. The childminder regularly takes and collects children to and from nursery classes.

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must:

 improve the provision for children needing to sleep so that it is equipped with appropriate furniture and bedding to promote their comfort and well-being.

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

 review the self-evaluation process to ensure it continually evaluate all aspects of the setting's performance to thoroughly identify strengths and areas for development.

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who attend

The childminder and her assistants engage with children well and this encourages children to share their interests with others. Children communicate openly with their friends and the adults who look after them. As a result, children extend their communication, language, and social skills. Older children are confident to ask questions and put forward their ideas. Younger children make and hold eye contact and use sounds and gestures to engage others in play.

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who attend

The childminder plans and delivers good quality learning experiences that cover all of the areas of learning. The childminder uses ongoing observational assessment to inform her planning and sets clear learning intentions for future activities in partnership with parents. She and her assistants provide good levels of challenges for children through structured and free play activities. Through topics and themes such as under the sea, they develop children's understanding of the natural world. The childminder and her assistants differentiate activities well to make them accessible to children who are at different stages of learning. For example, this includes messy play, which includes different types of underwater creatures. Children explore the activity with fingers and a range of implements, such as whisks, wooden spoons and spatulas. Children make good use of the activity to develop early writing, explore the textures and test their senses. These activities

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who attend

are engaging to all of the children. The adults clear questioning and specific words support all of the children to extent their vocabulary and helps children who are learning English to repeat and practice new words.

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who attend

The time and attention that the adults give to children supports their learning and development well. This helps children to move from individual activities to joining in with others. For example, the group story is engaging for the children and babies enjoy the story with the comfort of close personal contact. The childminder recognises when younger children lose concentration and makes sure that they are able to leave the group, without disrupting the other children. Children's enjoyment and participation show that they are developing a love of books and stories. The childminder uses the stories and children enjoyment of books to consolidate children's understanding of colours, and to give them reasons to count. Children show that they are confident to use numbers in context. Through well-planned routine activities such as these children, begin to build their concentration and listening skills in readiness for school.

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who attend

The childminder and her assistants promote children's physical development well; for example, children regularly play outdoors and use these activities to support other areas of learning. They experiment with sand and water outdoors, they learn about space and safety as they use a variety of toy vehicles and make use of equipment such as climbing frames and slides. The learning environment is bright and attractive to children. Children make purposeful choices about play. The childminder knows the developmental stages and the interest of the children in her care. This enables her to provide resources that are appealing to them, for example, children build and construct, they use train sets and other resources, which brings their pretend play to life. They express their creativity with many arts and crafts activities. The childminder makes good use of children's work to brighten learning environment. This also helps children to develop pride in their achievements and

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

There is warm interaction between the children and the adults who look after them. Hugs and smiles are commonplace, and this shows that children they are making secure emotional attachments. The childminder works closely with parents to settle children and she allocates each child a key person. She gains sufficient information about children's routines. The childminder's settling-in procedure is appropriate because it enables her to engage with parents to find out about children's starting points and their personal and cultural needs. For example, the childminder and her assistants learn some familiar words in the children's home language. They use children's home language along with other resources such as picture exchange to support children's learning of English and promote equality and inclusion well. The childminder regularly shares information with parents about children's achievements. These records are helping parents to understand more

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

about their children's learning experiences in the early years. For example, she provides parents with resources packs, which make it easier for them to extend children's learning at home. The childminder works closely with parents to identify and promote the next step for individual children's learning. The childminder is working effectively with parents to promote children's readiness for school.

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

Children are happy and contented in the childminder's care because she and her assistant give them their time and attention. They are supporting children well to develop some aspects of their self-care and this helps the children to begin to understand that their needs are important. The childminder provides children healthy snacks including fresh fruits, milk and water each day. This improves the overall quality of the food that parents provide. Therefore, she is increasing the opportunities for children to begin to learn that balanced and nutritious food is important to promoting their good health. The childminder takes some other effective steps to develop children's understanding of healthy lifestyles. For example, children remember to wash their hands before they eat and after using the toilet. Overall, the childminder and her assistant take appropriate care of children's personal needs. However, the childminder does not manage the arrangements for young

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

children to sleep properly. All children who need to sleep are not able do so comfortably. In addition, children do not use individual linen when they sleep. These practices do not properly promote children's good health and well-being.

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

The childminder takes suitable steps to minimise risks to children and to develop their understanding of personal safety. For example, she supervises the children appropriately, the home is secure and children cannot reach hazardous substances. However, there have been times since her last inspection when she has been over her registered numbers and she has not been safeguarding and promoting children's welfare. At such times, she did not safeguard children well, although her current practice is sound. Children behave well, and they are responsive to the guidance of the childminder and her assistants. They redirect children positively and children show good behaviour and cooperation with others. Children's positive response shows that they understand that it is important to listen and be respectful of the adults who are responsible for them. Children are learning to listen and respond to guidance from trusting adults and this serves them well in readiness for

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provision

The childminder now meets all the learning, development and the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Since her last inspection she has breached requirements on two known occasions. At such times, the childminder's practice demonstrated that her arrangements for safeguarding children's welfare were inconsistent. This means that she did not always do all that is necessary to safeguard children well. She has a good understanding of the educational programmes and she has good systems in place for the delivery and monitoring of this area of her practice. Under the childminder's guidance, all children are making good progress in their learning, development and readiness for school.

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provision

The childminder's records of attendance show that she meets the required adult to child ratio requirements. The childminder manages the required documentation properly. The childminder is knowledgeable about the child protection matters. She ensures that her assistants know what to do if they have concerns about a child's well-being. The childminder makes sure that children are only alone with adults who are properly vetted. She maintains the necessary contact details, which enables her to act immediately for the benefit of the children. The childminder and her assistants know what to do if concerns arise about children's well-being.

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provision

The childminder's systems to evaluate her practice in order to improve the quality of her provision do not capture all areas for improvement. For example, she does not realise that arrangements for children to sleep are not good. Even so, she has taken actions to address weaknesses that were identified at her previous inspection and she shows keenness to achieve good quality care and education for children. She has improved her observations and assessments of children's progress, along with her recording of children's accidents. Additionally, she has achieved a qualification in childcare and education at level 3. The childminder has completed some assessments for children at age two. She engages fully with parents and supports them well to extend children's learning and development.

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provision

Parents praise the childminder for the information that she provides them with, as well as her care of children. They especially praise her for the way in which she supports children to develop their confidence, communication and language skills. They also praise her for the successful manner in which she sets appropriate behaviour boundaries with children. The childminder maintains appropriate open two-way communication with teachers at the local school to which she takes and collects some children.

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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 EY357165 Local authority Milton Keynes Inspection number 926538 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 17 Number of children on roll 22

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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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