Treen, Mandy Karen

Inspection date

Previous inspection date 02/10/2013 19/01/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 Previous inspection: 3 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 met a significant number of statutory responsibilities, in order to promote safe practices and safeguard children. These include obtaining required documentation for some children and having a robust understanding of safeguarding issues, including an up to date knowledge of child protection procedures.  Children do not make suitable progress in their learning because the childminder does not understand how to plan a supportive range of experiences to challenge or motivate children in their play based on assessment of their prior learning and development.  The childminder has also failed to obtain permission to administer some medications and does not have proof of a first aid certificate. She has not identified all risks, especially on outings to school; ensured all children's attendance is recorded or implemented robust hygiene procedures. This does not support children's good health

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This provision is inadequate

or well-being and are also breaches of legal requirements.  Self-evaluation and monitoring systems are weak and are ineffective in identifying key priorities for improvement. Partnerships with parents and others are not sufficiently focussed on providing continuity of care or learning.

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It has the following strengths

 The childminder takes children to groups in the community that allows them to access a further range of activities.

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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 activities in the main play spaces including the dining room and lounge.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector engaged in ongoing discussion with the childminder about her practice.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled a range of documentation including some policies, children's records and suitability checks for adults in the home.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector discussed the process of self-evaluation and how the childminder obtains the views of all the users.

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Information about the setting

The childminder opened in 1997 and registered with Ofsted in 2001. She lives in the Middleleaze area of Swindon, Wiltshire. The whole of the property is available for childminding, although children spend their time in the downstairs of the home. There is an enclosed garden available for outside play.

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Information about the setting

The childminder is registered on the Early Years Register and on both the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. She is currently caring for six children in the early years age range who attend on a part time basis. The childminder has a pet dog. The childminder has completed a recognised childcare qualification at level 3.

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must:

 implement a policy, and procedures, to safeguard children that is in line with the relevant Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) and covers the use of mobile phones and cameras in the setting

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must:

 obtain a current paediatric first aid certificate

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must:

 maintain a daily record of the names of the children being cared for on the premises and their hours of attendance

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must:

 ensure risk assessments take into consideration the risks or hazards which may arise for individual children, and identifies the steps to be taken to remove, minimise and manage those risks and hazards

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must:

 record the following information for each child: full name; date of birth; name and address of every parent and/or carer who is known to the provider (and information about any other person who has parental responsibility for the child); which parent(s) and/or carer(s) the child normally lives with; and emergency contact details for parents and/or carers

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must:

 obtain and share information regularly with professionals, parents and carers and other early year providers to allow an effective two-way flow of information that informs planning and supports effective teaching

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must:

 obtain written parental permission for children to take part in outings

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must:

 improve knowledge of the learning and development requirements in order to consider the individual needs, interests, and stage of development of each child and use this information to identify their next steps and plan a challenging and enjoyable experience for each child in all of the areas of learning and development

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must:

 comply with, requirements of health and safety legislation (including hygiene requirements)

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must:

 obtain written permission to administer medication

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

 develop evaluation systems to accurately identify areas for development in order to drive improvement better.

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who attend

Children's learning and development is not supported sufficiently by the childminder. She does not plan or provide a range of activities that help all children make good progress towards the next stages in their learning, given their starting points. Planning does not meet the differing needs of individual children and is weak because it fails to adequately cover all required areas of learning. In addition, the quality of the childminder's observations, assessments and tracking of children's progress is variable. Overall, she fails to track children's learning regularly or with enough rigour and focus to help them to succeed.

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who attend

Children enjoy activities in the childminder's home, such as playing with dolls or watching a favourite DVD about Dolphins. These activities do very little other than occupy children in the day because there are no clear learning outcomes or challenge planned. Much of children's play is self-directed and the childminder has a poor understanding of how to link what children are working towards in their learning, with the activities she offers or that children choose themselves. These weaknesses prevent children from making adequate progress.

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who attend

Overall, the level of support that the childminder offers children is weak because she does not demonstrate the levels of confidence required to interact purposefully with the children to promote active learning. For example, children are provided with a box of toys which are selected for them by the childminder. The children quickly become bored through lack of interest in these and of the limited interaction from the childminder; they ask for the television to be put on. Although the childminder has a range of toys she does not suggest they play with other resources and children do not actively go and select toys for themselves but sit and watch a DVD instead. Children are merely occupied and are not becoming active learners who enjoy learning through exploratory play because of the lack of interesting experiences provided. They are not becoming independent learners owing to a lack of motivation. These weaknesses do not help children to acquire strong foundations

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who attend

for the skills and attitudes necessary to prepare them for their next stage in learning.

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who attend

Basic systems are in place to engage parents in their children's learning. Some information is gathered during initial discussions with parents to form some basic starting points for the children in their learning. Ongoing information is provided to parents in the form of daily information sheets and verbal feedback about the children's day. However, as the childminder does not track and assess children's progress accurately, or support it appropriately, the effectiveness of information that she is currently sharing is variable. Therefore, this information is not of sufficient quality for parents to continue to support their children's progress and development at home.

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

The childminder has built adequate relationships with the children, who appear to enjoy warm relationships with her. A concern was raised that the childminder does not adequately manage the safety of children on the return walk from school. The childminder has not completed a risk assessment for the school walk and is unable to sufficiently demonstrate that she teaches children about safety or keeps children safe on this regular outing.

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

In addition children's health needs are not met because the childminder's first aid qualification has lapsed. Although she states she has renewed this recently, she currently lacks the required certificate to prove this. Children's well-being is further compromised as the childminder lacks a clear procedure to obtain prior permission from parents to administer medication to children. These are all breaches of requirements that have the potential to put children at risk.

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

Accidents that involve the children are recorded in an appropriate way and parents are suitably informed. Children develop some understanding of healthy lifestyles; they eat fruit in their packed lunches. Good hygiene procedures are not always followed, however. At lunchtime, the childminder's dog was observed taking food from children's hands at they sat at the table. Children's physical development is suitably encouraged. They enjoy fresh air and exercise as they go out regularly to parks or walk to and from school.

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

Children's behaviour is adequately managed by the childminder. Children gain some personal and social skills as they take part in activities to aid their developing understanding of early friendships and learn about taking turns and sharing. For example, they share dolls with each other and help include everyone in their game. These attributes will help children in the next stage of their learning. Resources in the childminder's home are situated in a designated area for children and include a suitable selection for children to play with. However, the childminder does not use these resources effectively to support children's learning and progress.

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provision

This inspection was brought forward as a result of a concern raised with Ofsted. This referred to the childminder being seen caring for too many children, particularly at school pick up time and that these children were not supervised appropriately to safeguard their well-being. At this inspection, the childminder was found to be in breach of a number of legal requirements. These include the failure to gather important information for some children or ensure children's well-being is assured on the walk home from school. These are breaches in legal requirements and as a result, the childminder does not meet the safeguarding and welfare requirements.

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provision

Safeguarding responsibilities have not been met as the childminder has failed to ensure that she implements effective policies and procedures, to safeguard children. Risk assessment procedures are ineffective in identifying risks to children, particularly during trips to and from school. This is because the childminder has failed to gather contact details or further information for the extra children she is caring for on the school trip home or to maintain an accurate daily record of children's attendance for these children. This places children at risk because it may lead to a delay should an emergency situation occur, such as an accident or a child becoming lost. In addition, the childminder does not have written permission to walk them home because permission for outings have only been obtained for the children she cares for on a more regular basis and does not extend to this after school arrangement.

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provision

There is a further lack of secure procedures to promote children's welfare as the childminder does not have a suitable understanding of the reporting procedure to follow if she has a concern about a child. Although she has booked onto a safeguarding course, she has done little to ensure that her current knowledge is up to date. Her policy on child protection is out of date and her overall understanding is poor. The requirements of the Childcare Register are not met. She has also failed to implement a mobile phone and camera policy and demonstrates very little awareness of the importance of this in her role to safeguard children.

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provision

Self-evaluation procedures are poor overall. The childminder does not monitor the educational provision sufficiently to check that children are making suitable progress. The childminder has made some changes to the provision that she offers since her last inspection. She has attended training to improve her understanding of how to observe and track children in their learning and completed a recognised childcare qualification. As a result of this training she has introduced a scrapbook of photographs of activities that children undertake, some of which relate to areas of learning and document some progress. Overall, this training has not been used effectively because observations of children are not conducted regularly enough or with enough focus to plan activities to support children's learning and development in preparation for the next stage of their learning. The childminder has made her resources more readily accessible to children by

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provision

adding labels to boxes so that children can help themselves and know where to put things away. However, this change has not driven improvement sufficiently because children tend only to play with what has been put out by the childminder and are not observed making selections to lead their own play. Consequently, children are neither motivated to learn through purposeful play, nor are they supported sufficiently by the childminder who does not support their learning.

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provision

Parents have some opportunities to input their views and feedback on the service provided by the childminder through daily discussions. The complaints policy that is provided to them lacks details of the procedure the childminder will follow if a concern is raised. This also means that the childminder is not complying with the requirements for the Childcare Register. There are ineffective procedures in place to work in partnerships with others supporting children who share their care between more than one setting, which has also led to a number of breaches of requirements and does not support a shared or consistent care approach for children.

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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:

 keep and implement a written statement of procedures to be followed for the protection of children, intended to safeguard the children being cared for from abuse or neglect (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  keep records of the following: the name, home address and date of birth of each child - and of their parent/guardian/carer - who is looked after on the premises; a daily record of the names of the children looked after on the premises and their hours of attendance and a record of a parent/guardian/carer's consent for the administering of medication (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  keep a written statement of procedures to be followed in relation to complaints which relate to the requirements of the Childcare Register and which a parent makes in writing or by email (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that all necessary measures are taken to minimise any identified risks

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

(compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  obtain an appropriate first aid qualification (compulsory part of the Childcare Register)  obtain an appropriate first aid qualification (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  ensure that all necessary measures are taken to minimise any identified risks (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  keep records of the following: the name, home address and date of birth of each child - and of their parent/guardian/carer - who is looked after on the premises; a daily record of the names of the children looked after on the premises and their hours of attendance and a record of a parent/guardian/carer's consent for the administering of medication (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)  keep a written statement of procedures to be followed in relation to complaints which relate to the requirements of the Childcare Register and which a parent makes in writing or by email (voluntary part of the Childcare Register)

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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 506047 Local authority Swindon Inspection number 935384 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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