Childminder in Essex

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 18/09/2013 01/06/2009

p.1

early years provision

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

p.1

This provision is outstanding

 Children are extremely motivated, excited and keen to learn. They are active learners who make superb progress across all areas of learning because the childminder has a sharp focus on their capabilities.  Children enthusiastically participate in learning opportunities, which are rich, varied and stimulating. The childminder's effective planning ensures that children are offered an educational programme, which is tailored to meet their individual learning styles, interests and needs.  The childminder's practices are inspirational. Her secure commitment to working in partnership with parents and other external agencies ensures that children's needs or gaps in their learning are quickly identified and exceptionally well met.  Children confidently explore the world around them as the childminder proficiently develops high levels of self-confidence in children. Her superb experience of helping children to develop secure attachments with the adults caring for them and other

p.1

This provision is outstanding

children, ensures that they quickly settle into her care.

p.1

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

p.2

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.

p.2

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.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities in the childminder's lounge and dining room and viewed all areas of the home used for childminding purposes.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector held discussions with the childminder and children at appropriate times throughout the inspection.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at a selection of records, including children's details, information about children's learning and development, accident and medication records, written risk assessments, the daily attendance register and a range of other relevant documentation.

p.2

Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents provided in records and through parental questionnaires.

p.2

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 two children aged 15 and 13 years in a house in Great Dunmow, Essex. The whole of the ground floor, one bedroom on the first floor and the rear garden are used for childminding. The family has a dog, a rabbit and two guinea pigs as pets.

p.3

Information about the setting

The childminder attends toddler groups 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. The childminder supports children who speak English as an additional language.

p.3

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

 consider enhancing the already outstanding outdoor provision, by providing even more effective opportunities for children to explore visual displays of numbers and to enhance their mathematical skills in the outdoor environment.

p.3

who attend

Children make exceptional progress across all seven areas of learning as the childminder demonstrates extensive knowledge of how children learn through play. Children are offered an extremely well-balanced range of planned and freely chosen play experiences. The superb planning enables children to guide their own learning as well as to participate in focused, adult-led activities. The childminder is extremely knowledgeable about the children in her care and uses her effective systems for observing children to plot their progress and to identify their next steps in learning. She records children's achievements in clear learning journals, which are superbly supported through photographs and examples of their pre-writing and creative work. Parents are actively encouraged to follow their children's progress and to share exciting moments from home through ongoing daily communication and through more formal meetings. The childminder holds informal chats

p.3

who attend

with the children about what they have enjoyed at the end of the week and what they would like to pursue the following week. The childminder works closely with a group of registered childminders, who contribute towards a long term plan. This enables them to share thinking and to plan a wide and exciting range of activities for the collective group of children. Children enjoy their time with the childminder. They are excited, motivated and keen to participate. The childminder uses clear and skilful questioning to extend older children's thinking and to encourage them to develop good use of language. For example, she asks children what colour they think two paints will make when mixed together. When they give her their answer, she asks them why and what things they can think of that are that colour. When caring for younger children the childminder focuses her attention on the three prime areas of learning. She responds to their babbles enthusiastically, encouraging

p.3

who attend

them to develop confidence in making sounds. Babies who are beginning to find their feet are provided with well-positioned furniture and equipment to help them to cruise around the room and to explore life from a standing position. The childminder is on hand at all times to support this development, offering kind words of encouragement. All children are encouraged to develop a very good sense of belonging at the childminder's house, and quickly become members of the larger household. Regular meetings with other childminders and their minded children provide excellent opportunities for children to develop social skills.

p.4

who attend

Children's literacy skills are superbly extended as they are provided with a wide range of resources and equipment to enable them to make marks and to develop their hand-writing skills. The childminder encourages children to use numbers and counting in everyday activities, for example, they count cars as they walk along the road and count how many items they have for their games. Outdoor activities also enable children to use numbers in play, consideration can be given to extending visual reminders in the garden to build on this excellent area of learning when playing outdoors. Children who speak English as an additional language are provided with excellent opportunities to use their home language in play. The childminder asks parents to translate key words for her to use. She also provides children with dual language books and borrows appropriate resources from the local toy library and library.

p.4

who attend

The childminder is very receptive to information about children's development, shared with her by other early years settings that they attend. She effectively uses this information to enhance her planning and provision for each individual child. The childminder provides parents with an extremely clear and regular summative assessment of children's progress. The summary includes the next steps in their children's learning that she intends to cover with them. The childminder has extremely effective systems in place for completing the progress check for children aged two and works well with other agencies involved in younger children's lives. Older children, approaching 'big school' age are well prepared for this transition in their life. The childminder talks to them about their new experiences, shows them photographs and encourages older children to tell them about their experiences. She understands the importance of instilling in children essential skills, such

p.4

who attend

as getting themselves dressed and undressed. She encourages them to learn to listen to and follow instruction and develops their excellent all-round independence by providing activities which challenge them and allow them to take control.

p.4

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

Highly effective and well-established settling-in systems ensure that children form extremely secure emotional attachments with the childminder and her family. The settling- in procedures enable parents to guide their children's early days with the childminder and to make informed decisions about the right time to leave them in her care. This results in extremely confident children who approach the childminder with ease and behave in ways which show that they feel safe and secure in her care. The childminder demonstrates a wealth of knowledge about the children in her care and uses her knowledge to tailor her provision to meet every child's needs superbly. This enables the childminder to provide children with warm, loving and consistent care and ensures that she responds to their needs in a timely manner. For example, she recognises signs that younger children are getting tired and follows their individual sleep time routines. Children demonstrate high

p.5

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

levels of self-confidence as they move excitedly around the childminder's home. They make informed choices over their play and learning by safely accessing the extensive range of resources on offer to them.

p.5

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

The very effective and well-considered use of the childminder's home enables her to provide children with a secure and exciting learning environment. Children develop extremely effective self-care skills as the childminder promotes independence and encourages them to learn skills to help them to remain safe and healthy. For example, children have their own dedicated towel in the ground floor toilet, which they use for drying their hands. They know which one belongs to them as the childminder places laminated photographs above each hook and towel. The childminder consistently gives high priority to the safety of children, through effective and comprehensive risk assessments. Children are encouraged to consider risks for themselves, for example, when trying to climb on high bar stools, they are reminded of the possible dangers and asked to think about what might happen if they were to fall.

p.5

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

Children learn about keeping healthy as the childminder is meticulous about providing them with healthy options. They regularly eat fruit and vegetables and enjoy fresh drinking water throughout the day. Children learn about where food comes from when they visit another childminder's allotment and tend to the produce, which she grows there. Discussions about foods which are good for them and those which are not so good, provide children with information and knowledge to help them to make appropriate choices. Children have superb opportunities to experience fresh air and exercise when they play in the childminder's garden, or visit local parks and playgrounds. A programme of planned and freely chosen outdoor experiences enable children to learn about keeping fit and active.

p.5

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

Children are effectively prepared for further stages of learning, for example, they are provided with superb opportunities to develop confidence when meeting new people. They regularly attend events in the local area, visit shops and meet people in the community. The childminder carefully supervises them at all times to ensure they remain safe, but also uses these opportunities to develop children's social and emotional skills. Transitions to school are extremely well supported as the childminder has excellent links in place with teachers to support children's care and learning.

p.5

provision

The childminder demonstrates an outstanding knowledge of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. This knowledge enables her to deliver all aspects of the framework to an exceptionally high standard. Robust systems for monitoring the childminder's provision ensure that she successfully evaluates the effectiveness of her childminding service. The childminder reviews her written policies and procedures regularly, involving parents in this process, to ensure that all documentation is up to date and contains current guidance. A daily review of the activities offered to children, the amount of child-participation and their interest, provides the childminder with an overview of what to consider for future planning. The childminder constantly reviews her educational programme to ensure that she keeps an extremely sharp focus on children's capabilities and changing development.

p.6

provision

The childminder has an extremely secure knowledge and understanding of safeguarding procedures and how to protect the children in her care. The childminder regularly updates her safeguarding knowledge through appropriate training and has extremely well written and comprehensive safeguarding procedures in place. The childminder's written policies are shared with parents to ensure that they understand her responsibilities. All adults living on the premises have been appropriately vetted and proof of their clearance is on file. The childminder demonstrates secure knowledge of the vetting procedures for all adults reaching the age of 16 years. The childminder demonstrates a secure understanding of the requirements regarding the number of children she is able to care for at any one time. She follows all current guidance when extending her provision to offer families continuity of care. The childminder ensures that she is able to meet every child's

p.6

provision

needs proficiently through very well-considered risk assessments when agreeing any childminding arrangements. Highly effective risk assessments are conducted indoors and for outings. These successfully enable the childminder to identify risks, address any safety issues and keep children safe and secure. Extremely effective communication between the childminder and parents ensures that she is kept up to date with any changes to the children's needs. This enables the childminder to keep abreast of any changes in children's physical abilities, medical needs or allergies.

p.6

provision

The childminder's firm commitment to achieving and delivering extremely high-quality childcare is achieved through careful planning and monitoring of her provision. She very effectively uses self-evaluation to review all aspects of her childminding service. She constantly makes changes, which will be beneficial to children. For example, toys and equipment are regularly alternated with the larger selection, following a weekly review of which resources have been used well and which have not. Parents are very actively involved in the childminder's self-evaluation process and frequently provide her with written and verbal feedback on her provision.

p.6

provision

The childminder has many years of experience of working in effective partnerships with parents and other professionals. This enables her to provide the necessary support for every child in her care. The childminder's systems for working in partnership with parents are exemplary. She provides them with clear and well-presented documentation, which enables them to play a highly active role in their children's early education and care. The childminder meets regularly with parents to enable them to review their children's learning and to discuss the next steps in their development. The childminder has extremely good links with other early years settings which children attend and regularly meets with the key persons from these provisions. They share relevant information about children's development to enable them to complement the learning that takes place in both provisions. Children's transition to 'big school' is assisted by the childminder having very

p.6

provision

good links with the local primary schools and reception class teachers. Younger children become familiar with the local school building and routines when they accompany the childminder to take and collect children from school each day.

p.7

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

p.7

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.

p.8

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.

p.8

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.

p.9

Setting details

Unique reference number EY229457 Local authority Essex Inspection number 934084 Type of provision Childminder Registration category Childminder Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 6 Number of children on roll 16

p.9

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.

p.9

Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

p.9

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.

p.9

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.

p.9

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.

p.10

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,

p.10

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’.

p.11

Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.11