Childminder in West Sussex

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 19/09/2013 05/11/2008

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 Previous inspection: 1 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 4 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 4

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This provision is inadequate

 The childminder has not sufficiently managed children's safety on outings by identifying risks and hazards for individual children attending and this jeopardises children's safety.  The childminder is exceeding the maximum number of children she may care for in the early years age group at any one time and this compromises children's safety and welfare.  The childminder's self-evaluation is not robust to identify strengths and key weaknesses for improvement.

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It has the following strengths

 The childminder has developed clear and effective systems of documentation to support most areas of her childcare provision.  The childminder has appropriate systems in place to show how children are developing across the areas of learning.

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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 arrived and showed identification documents.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector viewed the premises and spoke with children and one parent collecting.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed the activities and gained evidence through viewing documentation and through discussion.  The inspector provided feedback and gave the inspection judgements.

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Information about the setting

The childminder registered in 2004. She lives with her two children in Crawley, West Sussex. The eldest child attends college and the youngest child attends school. Children play on the ground floor only and there is a ground floor toilet. Children use the open plan sitting room, play room, kitchen and dining area. There is a secure rear garden for outdoor play. Children use the first floor only for overnight care. The family has a dog. The childminder is registered on the Early Years Register and on the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently eight children on roll, of whom four children are in the early years age group. The childminder regularly cares for children over the age of eight years. The childminder drives to local schools to take and collect children. She attends carer and toddler groups; she takes children to the library and to play in the nearby park The childminder has a National Vocational Qualification in Childcare and Early

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must:

 continually review the risk assessments for outings to identify the steps to be taken to remove, minimise and manage risks and hazards for individual children

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must:

 ensure that the numbers of children cared for at any one time meet the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage requirements

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must:

 develop reflective practice in order to identify strengths and key areas for improvement that will improve the quality of the provision for all children.

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who attend

The childminder provides a suitable learning environment with many opportunities for children to experience a wide variety of play activities. Children make independent choices and access play resources easily within the home. This enables children to develop and share play ideas for example, working together to find and join puzzle pieces on the floor. Children spontaneously use various resources to make roads for vehicles. The childminder plans for play and informs children and parents of play ideas in advance. This enables children to come prepared, for example bringing items from home to show and talk about. These small group activities clearly promote children's speech and language skills and when children spontaneously clap each other, this effectively develops their level of confidence.

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who attend

Children are encouraged to count and the childminder uses the daily preparation of chopping fruit at snack time to develop children's counting abilities. For example, she asks children to count the pieces of banana at the start and again after eating two pieces. This enables children to begin to calculate quantity. Children talk about all the fruit they have prepared and use words to describe the amount. Children take part in regular singing activities at the local library to increase their language and pronunciation skills. They carry out cooking activities with the childminder, learning how to make and cook pancakes. Children take part in making pasta and learn how the pasta machine works. These traditional recipes also effectively develop children's understanding of the world around them.

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who attend

The childminder competently understands how to promote children's learning. She provides written assessments of children's early development, which meet the requirement for assessing children's progress when they are two years old. She responsibly shares these summaries of children's learning with parents to ensure they understand the next planned steps in children's development. The childminder has records of learning for all children and she closely observes their play. She uses these observations to measure children's understanding and progress across the areas of learning and to plan children's next steps in development. In this way the childminder is recognising and responding to any gaps in children's progress and she plans activities to promote further learning.

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who attend

The childminder has developed positive relationships with parents and she encourages their close cooperation from the start. The childminder liaises frequently to ensure parents are well informed. She provides notice boards and regular newsletters; she includes daily diaries, learning journals and memory books of photographs. Parents are encouraged to complete questionnaires and the childminder uses these to evaluate and improve her provision.

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who attend

Children are appropriately encouraged to become independent through following the daily routines. For example, children willingly prepare their own fruit at snack time and make their own sandwiches at lunch time. They learn to make decisions and take responsibility and this increases children's level of confidence in preparation for moving on in their learning.

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

The childminder consistently supports children's play and she continually interacts with the children in her care. This encourages children's sense of security and belonging, and increases their emotional development. The childminder has effectively built her knowledge and understanding of individual children through recording their needs and preferences at the start. However the childminder is not using this information sufficiently to identify and manage risks and hazards for younger children, especially on outings. This has compromised children's safety and risked their security. The childminder includes house rules, especially for physical play and when using apparatus in the garden. For example, children use the trampoline together and understand that only two children can bounce together. Children take part in regular fire drills and gain an understanding of leaving their belongings behind to remain safe. The childminder uses hi-visibility jacket for

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

all children on outings, and she encourages older children to explore and take risks freely in a natural play environment.

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

The childminder shows a calm attitude and leads by example which clearly encourages positive behaviour. She reminds children to say 'please' and 'thank you' and develops their understanding of taking turns. For example, when the children make sandwiches together at the table, they learn to share and politely pass around the prepared food. Children's self-help skills and opportunities for managing their personal needs are clearly encouraged through these daily routines. Children show they are developing and increasing their independence and building relationships with each other.

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

The childminder has clearly organised her home and included a wide range of resources to meet the needs of the children attending. She has developed a learning environment that supports children's all round development.

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

Children are very active and regular physical exercise soundly encourages their health. The childminder understands the importance of physical play, and she uses indoor play centres with children when the weather is poor. She has included astro-turf in the garden to enable children to use this all year round. Children clamber and slide, they learn to bounce and balance, developing skills of manoeuvring their bodies. Children have healthy food and frequent drinks to sustain them during their play. They learn the importance of personal hygiene by taking responsibility for hand washing and toileting as they grow and develop. The childminder encourages children to develop self-care skills and she provides suitable utensils, for example, small serrated knives for cutting fruit at snack time. Children show they thrive on these opportunities to increase their independence and develop their skills for the future.

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provision

This inspection has been carried out following a notification from the provider that she left a child unsupervised for 30 minutes during an outing to a local park. The notification raised concerns about the children's safety and security on outings and the level of risk assessment in place to meet their individual needs. During the inspection the childminder explained how she assesses risks and hazards on outings and she has written records of risk assessment in place. However the childminder is not effectively using her knowledge of individual children's characteristics to plan for their safety. She has not considered children's age and stage of understanding to identify and manage all hazards on outings. This places children's safety at risk. The inspection also found that the childminder is exceeding the maximum number of children she may care for in the early years age group on a regular basis. However, she has not demonstrated that she is meeting the needs of

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provision

the children attending because of the notified incident which has clearly compromised children's safety. These breaches of the safeguarding and welfare requirements demonstrate the childminder does not ensure children's safety and promote their well- being.

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provision

The childminder has a competent understanding of her responsibility to meet the learning and development requirements. She follows well organised systems to monitor children's progress across the areas of learning. She shows an understanding of individual children's abilities and she recognises children's progress across the areas of learning. This enables the childminder to assess any gaps in the provision and to develop activities and opportunities to encourage children's learning.

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provision

The childminder understands her responsibility with regard to child protection issues. She understands her responsibility to ensure that any adults in the home have suitable person checks. The childminder has attended a wide variety of training to increase her knowledge and this includes training in child protection. She is aware of how to recognise and refer any concerns about the children in her care. The childminder has clearly written policies and procedures in place to support most areas of safeguarding. The childminder has updated these procedures to include how she would manage any allegations against herself and to explain the use of mobile phones and cameras.

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provision

The childminder has evaluated her provision and she uses information from parent questionnaires to make changes. She has recently improved the outdoor play area for children. However, self-evaluation has failed to identify key areas for improvement including making robust risk assessments for outings in order to keep all children safe. The childminder constantly keeps up-to-date with any changes in childcare systems or regulations through attending the local childminding network and through on-line information sites. The childminder has developed partnership working at times with local pre-schools. She understands the importance of sharing information to increase children's learning, when they attend more than one setting.

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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 EY292890 Local authority West Sussex Inspection number 936159 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 8 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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